June 29, Day 16 - Coeyman to Waterford

After topping off the tanks with diesel and getting a pump out, we departed Coeymans Marina. We traveled past Albany on to Troy and the Federal Lock.

This was our first lock. We did okay (Linda was a little nervous), but we encountered no problems. We told the dockmaster we were “virgin” lockers and he was very helpful. We locked through with two sailboats and one other trawler, a PDQ.

Right as we were leaving the lock Bill called to congratulate us on our first lockage. Bill (of Bill & Ruth) were the owners of the boat before we bought it from them. They have been very helpful in planning our trip and giving us advice along the way. They had been tracking us on the “Spot” and knew we had just completed the first lock.

After locking we proceeded to Waterford where we docked at the free docks for the night. Fortunately, we ended up right below a bridge and had great shade the rest of the day.

We mixed up a pitcher of Sangria to celebrate our lockage. After relaxing a bit, Gerry took the mast and antennas down so we would be ready for the fixed bridges as we proceed through the Champlain Canal.

We had plans to walk to the grocery store for some fresh produce. However, early in the evening Tom, from the sailboat Mover, and Sterling and Judy from Sterling Lady dropped by for a couple of drinks. Everyone had lots of stories to tell and the time passed quickly. Sterling and Judy are on their 2nd Loop. Last time they took the Erie Canal route. This time they are taking the Champlain Canal.

During the course of the conversation, Sterling mentioned a great website of a previous looper. Turns out that it was the Adventures of Integrity … Bill and Ruth’s boat. He was amazed to learn that Monk’s Vineyard was Intergrity. Small world!! And – Tom knows Joan Burleigh from Alameda – our friend that we financed a couple of boats with. Small world!!

Still no rain – could be a record – 2 days in a row!!

After everyone left we had a quick late dinner and then off to bed. Walking to the grocery store will have to wait until morning.

P.S., if you have checked out Bill & Ruth’s webpage (a favorite listed here on our blog), you will notice that a lot of their pictures look like ours, purely coincidence – just so happens that they knew where we were going !!!

Double bridges

Albany New York

Approaching Albany

Locking through behind a PDQ 34 - are we nervous - damned right we are!!

Linda - all calm and collected prior to locking up - notice the death grip on the lines.

The lock wall and two sailboats behind us. Linda is looking pretty serious.

The famous "decision sign". We will head back to the Champlain Canal tomrrow.

Mast is coming down in preparation for the 17 foot bridge tomorrow. Hey, this boat has done this before - should be no sweat - - - - - - - -?

On the wall with Erlane, an American Tug 34 that will be heading up the Erie Canal tomorrow.

The mast is down and we are ready for Lock #2 - ? tomorrow.

June 28, Day 15 - Eddyville to Coeyman

Woke up to a beautiful day … blue skies. Could this really last?? (We did a quick calculation and noted it has rained on us everyday except Day 1/Departure and Day 12/Newburg). After a quick breakfast and a check of the systems we made our departure at 8:00 a.m.


The weather was gorgous today. Linda even managed to get her 10K walk in today just walking around the deck of the boat. Because the weather was good, there was quite a bit of pleasure boat traffic today. The area we traveled today was very rural looking with rolling green hills, trees and lots of beaches where boats had anchored or grounded so they could fish or go ashore. We passed several bridges and lighthouses (see pictures below).


We decided to stay overnight in Coeyman at Coeymans Landing Marina. It has a restaurant associated with it named Yanni’s Too. We read in the local boating magazine “On the Hudson and Beyond” that they are famous for their calamari. The chef’s website is calamariking.com. We LOVE calamari so it was an easy decision on where we’d eat dinner tonight.

For dinner we had 4 appetizers: calamari, sliders, fish tacos and sweet potato fries. Everything but the calamari was great …. Unfortunately, the calamari was disappointing. Perhaps our expectations were too high.


After doing a load of laundry and taking nice, long showers in the marina facilities, it was off to bed. No rain today ! ! !



Not much room to spare at these docks - until later - every one seemed to leave about the same time. Must have been a group. Gerry did a great job of "parallel parking" the boat right in her spot. We had to actually move one of the boats a few feet, as they were trying to put our 36 foot boat in about 34 feet ... just wouldn't fit

Nav aids on the Hudson - several are located on rock piles and the water 10 feet off is 50 feet deep.

Not sure what this is, but it looked kinda neat and we took a picture - maybe a kiln of some sort.

Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. This is the northern-most lighthouse on the Hudson River

American Tug "Erlene". Doing the loop and headed for the Erie canal.

Rip Van Winkle Bridge. We think the proximatey to this area has made us very sleepy.

Saugerties Lighthouse. The lighthouse welcomes visitors for tours and has overnight B&B accommodations. As we passed, we noticed a couple relaxing on the deck.

June 27, Day 14 - In Eddyville (Kingston)

We slept in this morning, and then did a few maintenance chores. We decided to spend another day in this anchorage and take the dinghy into Kingston to explore the local area. The weather is a little threatening but, so far, no rain. Since the anchorage is at the end of the river just before a waterfall it is relatively quiet especially since all the signs not only say “no wake” they say “dead slow”.

We dinghied to the waterfall and then turned around to head to Kingston. The skies were growing darker so we did a quick stop at the boat and picked up some rain gear. About half way to town, the heavens opened up and we got soaked. It was our second freshwater shower in as many days. Once in Kingston we parked the dinghy at the town dock and slogged through the pouring rain to find a place to eat and dry out. We ended up at Rosita’s where we had Mexican food and a couple of drinks. By the time we finished it had stopped raining and we were somewhat dry so we walked along the streets exploring the town.

Skies started darkening again so we headed back to the boat. Did a few odds and ends and then decided to dingy ashore for a walk. Because we were using the docks at the local marina we decided to grab a quick drink so we wouldn’t have to pay for the dockage. At the bar we met Larry (the owner), Erin (the bartender), Captain (not sure who he really was) and Kathy (the waitress). Quite the entertaining group. Definitely lots of “local flavor” at this bar.


After a drink we were going to leave when a couple wandered down the docks from their boat. One of the locals mentioned they thought the couple were doing the Great Loop so we introduced ourselves. Turns out this couple, Ralph and Ann, had circumnavigated twice on their Amel sailboat. They had since sold the Amel and bought a powerboat, A Four Winns, Harmonie II, and were doing the Loop on that. They were definitely full of all kinds of stories and information, especially about the Bahamas and where we should go during our time there. Even though they were originally from Ohio they had kept their sailboat in Annapolis, so we had quite a lot to talk about. Needless to say, we never got our walk in. We ended up eating and talking with them until the mosquitoes got too thick and we each departed for our respective boats.

All in all, it was a very pleasant evening.


View of a small waterfall and the current at the bridge close to the area where we anchored.


A view of the city marina in Kingston. Taken from an overhead bridge while we were exploring the town (during a non-rainy period).

Lots of old ships on the way to Eddyville where we anchored. This was a floating hospital. Workers were refurbishing some other ships a little further upriver.

The waterfalls at the head of the river. Current was pretty strong here.

Monk's vineyard at anchor.

June 26, Day 13 - Newburg to Eddyville (Kingston)

We called Edna a bit before 8:00 and she let us know that Peter was on his way to pick us up for breakfast. We left the boat and there was Peter, dragging our laundry bags with him. You get really great service up here!!

After a terrific breakfast (hot cakes, eggs, sausage, lochs, strawberries & coffee), Edna & Peter dropped us at the boat and we headed to Kingston. TERRY & KAREN – THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, WE HAD A TERRIFIC TIME!!! EDNA & PETER, THANKS FOR ALL OF THE CHAUFFERING AROUND AND SWINGING THE INVITE FOR US!!

Lots of debris in the river again – had to dodge some pretty big logs. Chatted with folks on the American Tug, Elena, from Belfast, Maine. Turns out that they are on the loop as well, but headed to the Erie Canal instead of the Champlain Canal.

Passed a couple of lighthouses (Esposus and Rondout) and arrived at the anchorage in Eddyville on Rondout Creek. A sailboat from California that Gerry had helped dock at Torches the night before was there. He got distracted while talking to him and did a poor job of anchoring. About 20 minutes later, a thunderstorm hit us and we started to drag into the sailboat. Linda had to come out in the drenching rain to help with the anchor while Gerry started the engine and moved to a better spot. Linda didn’t hesitate to remind Gerry that he need to “Focus” on the task at hand – especially anchoring. Linda didn’t appreciate the opportunity to get a free freshwater shower – we were both soaked.

View down the Hudson from Newburgh area

Flotsam - saw lots more today.

Esposus Meadows Light House

Rondout Lighthouse

Rondout Creek Anchorage

A short "Flotsam & Current" clip

June 25, Day 12 - Croton to Newburg

After some long hot showers at the marina and a final garbage drop off, we visited the pump out and then headed to Newburgh to meet Edna, Peter, and Terry. Edna and Peter are friends from our neighborhood in Maryland and Terry is Edna’s daughter who works for the DoD at West Point. The sun was shining, the current was pretty much with us and just a slight breeze out of the north – what a day!!

This part of the Hudson is really beautiful. A few of the sights along the way included Sing Sing Prison, the Bear Mountain Bridge, a nuclear power plant, the Catskill Mountains and West Point. (See pictures below). There had been quite a few storms and lots of runoff lately, so there was lots of flotsam in the river, in some cases entire trees floating by.

We docked at Torches Restaurant and Edna and Peter were there waiting for us. We had lunch there (thanks Peter), and hauled our laundry up to Terry’s place. We met Karen and “the cat” (not sure which name Peter called it was the right one). We started laundry and took sort of a cat nap while chatting with everyone.

Terry had set up a boat trip on the one of the boats at West Point and we were lucky enough to (1) be here on the day of the trip and (2) get invited to join them. Although we had passed most of the places the boat went earlier in the day, it was interesting to hear the local’s version of the sights (not always in agreement with the various guide books). We dined on sandwiches, salads, crab claws, wine, and desserts.

We came back on the road that follows the river and up the side of Bear Mountain – cool views, but too dark to get a good picture. By the time we got back to the boat, we were beat and went right to sleep. It had been a good day!!

Approaching Bear Mountain Bridge

West Point Military Academy

On the West Point dock (in case you can't read it, it says "Beat Navy")

Bannerman Castle - real or fake??? The locals say it was created as a ruin to draw tourists.

Gerry & Linda arrive at Newburgh

Gerry, Linda, Ed, and Peter aboard the Army tour boat.

Gerry & Linda on the Army Tour Boat

Linda & Edna board the Army tour boat.

Ed and Terry

The Army tour boat.

June 24, Day 11 - In Croton

Linda took a walk early this morning along the Westchester River Trail that fronts the Hudson River while Gerry got a little extra sleep. The trail, when finished, will run from Yonkers all the way to Peekskill.

We spent the day doing chores. Linda whipped the lines that will be used for locking once we reach Troy. Gerry inflated the large round bumpers. We decided to try out our washer and dryer. The drain was plugged and we had the bilge pump running like crazy to keep up with the overflow. After crawling around the aft bilge area (a space that only a 3 ft tall 50# person should attempt), Gerry figured that out that the aft cockpit drain scupper was plugged (washer drain connected into that), cleaned it out and things worked fine after that. The washer uses a lot of water and the dryer uses a lot of electricity, so this will be a marina only exercise from this point on.

We figured out how to watch Netflix streaming movies and watched a movie that neither of us can remember the name of. The movie was interrupted several times with fading internet connections and the laptop turning itself off every 30 minutes (as it was set up to do – no longer). Another learning experience. We might have this stuff down pat by the time we finish the loop.

Sorry, no pictures today – you wouldn’t want to see Gerry all scrunched up in the aft bilge or pictures of the washing machine doing its thing.

June 23, Day 10 - New York City to Croton

We left NYC and headed to Croton, NY. Caught a favorable current (2-4 knots), but had 20-25 knots on the nose all the way up river. 3-4 foot waves – felt a bit like the Delaware Bay.

Stopped at Half Moon Bay Marina – lots of positive recommendations from other Loopers. The marina manager, Steve Plotkin is an incredible ball of fire – was doing about 10 things all at the same time while making us feel like we were the most important people on earth.

Talked to Terry (Edna’s daughter) and let her know that we wouldn’t be in Newburgh until Thursday – we need a break from wind and waves for a day or so and a little “on-land” time so we are staying here 2 nights.

Walked into Croton and had dinner at a great pizza place – Cappriccio II. We'll do the walk to the nearby state park tomorrow. That should be enough walking for a while-- anyway for Gerry.

Along with all the other guidebooks we have on board, we have been reading (or, Linda has been reading to Gerry) the sections in the “Honey, Let’s Buy a Boat” book that relate to where we are – interesting stuff – and has a lot more meaning to it now than it first did when we read it several years ago.

Think we will watch a movie, have some popcorn and hit the rack. Don’t have to get up early to catch the tide tomorrow.

Sights along the way -- Empire State Building




Look, it's Yogi Berra. Found it interesting that all the NYC transport boats have names ... this one was Yogi and another was Frank Sinatra. However, not being native New Yorkers we didn't recognize most.


Half Moon Marina in Croton-on-Hudson in Haverstraw Bay

Linda at the Marina

Sunset overlooking Haverstraw Bay

Short video - waves on the Hudson River

June 22, Day 9 - Glimmerglass Bay, Manasquan Inlet, NJ to NYC

We made it to New York!!

After listening to the weather forecast and checking out the conditions where we were anchored, we decided to head out at 7:30 a.m. This allowed for an easy departure through the bridge that had been a bit tricky as we entered (slack tide).

Once we were out in the ocean things settled down to a gentle roll. The skies were threatening and it finally started to rain mid-morning. We sighted NYC around 9:30, but still had 4-5 hours to go. The wind picked up significantly as we approached Ambrose Channel, but even more significant was the current we encountered. We averaged only 4 knots the last part of the trip – fighting a 3-4 knot current and 20 mph wind on the nose. I swear that the bouys were going faster than we were. We passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which connects Staten Island on the west with Brooklyn on the east. We made our first sighting of the Statue of Liberty a little after 1:00 p.m., about 6 miles out.

During this part of the journey we encountered many barges, freighters and ferries. However, there wasn’t much recreational traffic … just a few sailboats. We dropped anchor just off of Liberty State Park. We are the only boat in the anchorage and it is good to get out of the current and wind.

Linda is making spaghetti for tonight and we are even having a salad with it. We are finally getting to a point where we can actually see what is in the fridge. Still have some Bon Voyage cake and some of Grace’s baby cheese cake thingy’s left (boy, they are really good!!). Then we might even be able to start building up our ice supply.

We plan to leave around 7:00 tomorrow morning to take advantage of a flood current to get us up to Half Moon Bay Marina at Croton, NY. It has received several recommendations from other Loopers and a quick conversation with Steve (the manager) seemed to bear that out.

Gerry & Linda




Some of the big guys we encountered.

The Staten Island Ferry

Lady Liberty with our AGCLA burgee flying

A little closer shot of Lady Liberty

Small boats playing in the anchorage

A short video of our approach to NY harbor.

June 21st, Day 8 - In Glimmerglass Bay

Well, after making Gerry a terrific Father’s Day breakfast (not made from scratch pancakes, eggs, and bacon), Linda re-organized things again. Gerry checked the alternator connections (found a loose wire), fixed the leak in the rear hatch (again), and spent 3 hours on trying to get the macerator pump out working. Finally found that the sea cock valve was simply not opening when you turned the lever. Had no luck trying to free it, so that will be one of those things that will be repaired when we get a haul out (we expect that we'll have to do that at some time along the way). We definitely need to do it before we go to the Bahamas – they don’t believe in pump out stations, so we will need a way to dispose of the “stuff”.

It quit raining long enough for us to go for a dinghy ride and do some exploring. We eventually went into Point Pleasant for lupper (meal between lunch and supper) at the Shrimp Box. It was ok, but not great. We also took a walk down the inlet breakwater and over to the boardwalk to get a bit of exercise. The sky took on a nasty black look, so we headed back to the dinghy and a quick ride back to the Vineyard. We almost made it, but ended up getting pretty wet before we finally got to the boat.

Had a new neighbor in the anchorage when we got back. A sailboat from Rhode Island had pulled in while we were out playing. We will have to go meet them when it stops raining.

Listened to the weather and it sounds like the forecast is changing for lighter winds tomorrow. Hope so, would like to get back on the road again.


The Vineyard in Glimmer Glass Basin

The fishing fleet in Pt. Pleasant.

Gerry at Manasquan Inlet after lunch at the Shrimp Box.

Manasquan Inlet from shore.

I think it is time to go back to the boat. It was too late, we got soaked.

Gerry & Linda

Monks' Vineyard