After several miles the buildings were replaced with greenery and trees.
This very impressive set of buildings, about 50 miles up the Hudson from NY City, is West Point, the US Military Academy.
Lighthouses come in all shapes and sizes, some cuter than others. We particularly liked this one!
Kingston was a fun stop with a wooden boat building competition going on.
However, we saw many old towns and historic buildings.
The first lock we came to on the Hudson was just above Albany at Troy, sometimes called the Federal Lock. Wish we had pictures, but we were so stressed about the approach and technique of handling it, we didn't dare loose focus for a silly picture. Angie barely slept the night before. Here is a picture of a typical lock we encountered later on the Erie Canal. The lock is on the left and a dam on the Mohawk river is on the right.
All of the locks we encountered were about 40 ft wide by 150 ft long and have some arrangement of ropes, cables, or pipes running vertically up the lock sidewalls. The boater's task is to get along side, grab a couple of these appendages and hang on while the water is either released into or out of the lock. There is always some turbulence pushing the boat around and if it is windy that adds to the dynamics. Get 2-3 boats in there with various crew abilities and it can become a real circus.
We found that trying to steady a 25,000 lb boat while holding on to a couple of wet ropes dangling 20 to 40 ft above you is a rather ineffective and futile task. We quickly adapted and while Angie stood on the deck holding the rope or cable, John stayed at the helm and would simply use the boats power to stay put. Our side thrusters really earned their keep and they never failed! We've gone through 22 locks so far, with 13 left before reaching the canal's end in Buffalo.
The canal was first started in 1817 and has been upgraded and rerouted several times since then. Small sections of the older lock system still exist.
There are no anchorages along the canals, but many of the locks and towns have concrete walls to tie off on. Most are free, others offer electricity and/or water and charge a small fee $10-50/nite.
It rained a lot the last few days (and for months according to the locals), but when it stopped the water was like glass.
We stopped in Breweton, NY at Winter Harbor. They will pull Happy Daze out and store her on the hard while we return home. She will get a hull cleaning, bottom paint, oil change, wax job, and couple of small repairs taken care of before we return.
We've cruised almost 2400 miles since leaving Pensacola last December, so we're probably a little less than half way around our Loop. When we get back around Aug 1, we'll do the western section of the Erie Canal and into the Great Lakes portion of our cruise. Looks like we are still on schedule to "cross our wake" in December this year, but there is a lot of water and new places to see, still ahead.
