Riverfront Marina

After a wonderful dinner at The New York Restaurant downtown Catskills Nana and Nandad were intrigued with the Cats.

Later we learned from Mike - the owner of Riverview Marine that the town has this community artist event seasonally which is sponsored by local businesses and at the end of the season an auction is held where the Cats are purchased. A great event that pulls the community together while also providing necessary funds for community projects. 

Unfortunately when Nana and Nandad returned to NH the emergency bilge pump light was on - never a good sign! After checking down below we find that water is pouring into the starboard stern side of the boat. A call to Boat US and two hours later we discover that the outdoor shower tubing burst under the pressure of the water pump. It was with much relief that we discovered the issue and after an evaluation by Boat US and turning off the valve to the outdoor shower we could return to somewhat normal! Many thanks to Joe from Boat US and Mike from the boatyard. Nana and Nandad slept in the Vberth while the fans and the air conditioning dried out the area that got wet - fresh water leak much better that salt water ! 

The next morning Mike checked out the electrical panel and decided that no damage was done so Nana and Nandad continue to cruise the Hudson and head for Riverfront Marina.

A pretty tug busy pushing its cargo along the way. The river was not as busy as we had expected so after six hours cruising at 10mph NH arrives at Riverfront which is in Newburgh.

This is just one collection of debris which we encountered along the way. Lots of weeds and drift wood to avoid. Check out the beautiful house in the background.

As we pull in to dock this pretty cruiser is docked at the waterfront. Unfortunately it is no longer in operation. There are at least three large waterfront restaurants in this area so with recommendation from the local dockhand Nana and Nandad head to Captain Jacks for dinner. A beautiful evening and after a brief rain shower we were once again witness to a beautiful full arch rainbow. Mother Nature once again at its best.

New Horizon on the dock with the mountains in the foreground. Tomorrow we will head towards those mountains to dock at Liberty Landing for two days and hopefully rendezvous with The Nevins.

Mechanicville NY to Riverview Marine Services

August 25th Thursday and New Horizon is leaving Mechanicville heading South to Riverview Marine Services which is just off the Hudson up the Catskills Creek.

 The wall in the background is where we spent the night just after Lock 3. Nandad finally found a pub that was open and we had a delicious late lunch. A sports bar called End Zone so it was fun to watch some of the horse racing at Saratoga Race Course on TV. 

NH had company today for our last locks. This picture captures Lock 1 which marks the beginning of Lake Champlain Canal.

Nandad looking a little stressed at Lock 1. The Federal Lock at Troy marks River Mile 147.75. We are officially on our return journey heading down the Hudson to New York City. What a great journey.

The dam right beside the Lock 1 - an impressive sight and Nana’s bike in the foreground.

Riverview Marine Services is River Mile 107.3. Tomorrow we will cruise to Riverfront Marina which is River Mile 56.0. We will spend the night there before heading into the big City. We have booked two nights at Liberty Landing - Nana wants to visit Ellis Island and two nights at One 15 Brooklyn so we can have a different view of the City. We are also looking forward to the Nevins joining us again for a few magical days. 

(Temporary Backup) The Champlain Canal

The Champlain Canal is a total of 64 statute miles beginning at Troy NY and ending at Whitehall NY. Construction began in 1817 and was completed by 1823. Over one hundred years it was rebuilt and rerouted several times. In the 1800s the boats were pulled by mules or horses sometimes on loan from local farmers. Today it is mostly pleasure cruising with 11 locks ( Lock 10 was not necessary ) and 27 bridges some with a clearance of 15.5 feet ! The canal climbs from Troy - which is sea level - to Lake Champlain an average of 95 feet above sea level. 

Before leaving this morning Nana confirmed that indeed those machines are for harvesting the waterchestnut plant which is very invasive. Here is a picture for the machine doing its job. 

Also while enjoying breakfast Nana and Nandad heard the clip clop of horses. The pictures shows the horse and carriage crossing the bridge.

New Horizon is headed for Fort Edward’s today which will take us through Lock 11,9,8, and 7. As of writing the blog we are on the wall at Lock 11 waiting for a pin to be fixed! The canal can be completed in a day however with a speed limit of 10 mph and the unexpected at the locks it is better to plan on at least two days. As always boating teaches you patience and also provides lots of opportunity to simply pause.

Nana and Nandad docked at Fort Edward which is actually on the Hudson River. After NH came through Lock 7 she took a hard right which took her upstream on the Hudson. Along the way we came across this unfortunate property which is about to topple into the canal! 

Lots of bridges today so Nana stood at the bow looking up to make sure the antennae were not touching. The last two bridges of the day Argyle St. and Broadway St. with Lock 7 just ahead.

The village of Fort Edward is named after a British fort built here in 1755 - which was dismantled shortly before the Revolutionary War. The village has a long history of Native American activity which is documented by archeological evacuation. Many buildings in the downtown area are closed and The Smyth House at the Old Fort House Museum was also closed. 
After a long day of heavy rain, thunder and lightening, the reward of a wonderful rainbow.

Nana is busy planning the next journey into the Hudson, New York, Long Island Sound and finally back home to Newport RI.

(Temporary Backup) Chipman Point Marina, Orwell, VT and Whitehall NY

Sunday August  21st New Horizon cruises underneath the Samuel de Champlain Bridge. At the base is the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse and the ruins of two forts: French-built Fort St. Frederic and British-built His Majesty’s Fort at Crown Point. The memorial has a bronze bust of “La France” by the renowned sculpture Auguste Rodin. Unfortunately Nana’s picture does not capture the bronze sculpture as she was busy looking at it through the binoculars and did not take the picture in time- hence the blockage with trees. You can dock your boat at that boat dock and tour the memorial and forts however the wind picked up and the Captain wanted to continue on.

This part of our cruise also bring us to Fort Ticonderoga. The Fort was built in 1775 by the French, captured by the British the same year, taken by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain boys in 1776, only to be taken again by the British in 1777. There is a cable ferry that leaves from Larabee’s Landing on the VT side and docks at the Fort site. There is no landing for private boats. Also there is a tourboat called Carillon - which was the Forts original name - that leaves from Teachout’s Warf at Larabee’s Landing, Shoreham,VT. The site is surrounded by Mount Defiance on one side and Mount Independance on the other. 

The tourboat Carillon on its way to the Fort.

So much history in this part of the lake. New Horizon docks at Chipman Marina. This is a family run Marina and they are some of the friendliest people we have met on our journey. The two magnificent four story buildings, one built in 1810 and the other 1824, still provide multi purpose use. At its busiest time a variety of boats- sloops,schooners,and canal boats, stopped at Chipman Point to unload a variety of goods. 

Pat - who continues to operated the Marina with her family, offered her car for us to visit the Fort

 but unfortunately the Fort closes on Mondays. We will just have to return. 

While taking a short stroll Nana was impressed with this basketball hoop and pickle ball court. Very creative use of space and lots of fun.

Monday August 22nd we are our way to Whitehall NY which will take us to the into the Champlain Canal. The southern most part of the lake has many farms, industrial plants, and a variety of agricultural land so the water reflects this with its muddy brown color. Despite this Nana spent most of the cruise bird watching. The lake is almost river like with its windy, narrow and sometimes shallow waters. The water Reeds and Rushes provide the best camouflage for the waterfowl, great blue herons, eagles, turkey vultures, terns etc. Despite several attempts Nana just could not capture these magnificent birds. To watch them in their natural habitat, wading through the mud with their curled necks, some simply standing still, some perched on drift wood drying their wings, but always just as NH would get close they would spread their huge wings and fly away. On occasion they would just stay still with their neck elongating to its full potential and simply stare.  

As you can see the cell phone simply does not do the job. Nana did take some shots with her Canon but has not as yet figured out how to post it on the blog!

Lock 12 , the last lock if you are coming from the north however NH is heading south so for us it will be our first lock into the canal. Seems like we are cruising backwards! 

Whitehall is the Birthplace of the U.S. Navy, in 1776 the ships of the nation’s first navy were constructed here. The village is now much neglected despite what seems like a lovely visitors centre and museum both of which were closed. Lots of historic buildings in disrepair and businesses closed. A sad sign of the times. The magnificent Skene Manor - a Victorian Gothic-style mansion was also closed. 

Nana noticed these machines when we docked at the wall and thinks they are for harvesting waterchestnuts. She will try to confirm tomorrow.

Tomorrow Nana will write a little blurb about the canal.

Point Bay Marina NY, Basin Harbor Club, Bridgeview Harbor Marina NY

Again the cruising on the lake is certainly dominated by the mountains on either side. The shadows of light on the peaks are just beautiful and impossible to capture on camera. Nana enjoyed watching these two motor boats cruise north on NH’s cruise to Thompson’s Point. The Point Bay Marina is a small marina in the northern-most portion of Town Farm Bay. It’s was a little intimidating with sunken barges which act as breakwaters. There are lovely homes all along the waters edge with lots of sail boats on moorings. A quite evening here with dinner onboard. In the morning we met one of the locals - a lovely gentleman Ben who recommended that we visit Basin Harbor.

August 19th NH docks at Basin Harbor Resort which is in Vergennes VT. A very large family and events resort run by the Beach Family since 1886 with 700 acres,74 unique cottages, walking and biking trails, a small airstrip, pools, tennis, golf, boat rentals, a choice of four different places to eat and lots more.

This is a picture of the Lodge from the Boat Club.

As we had lunch at The Red Mill we watched the small aircraft take off and land. This particular one looks homemade and Nana is not too sure she would volunteer for a ride. 

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is walking distance from the airstrip. A wonderful museum with many outdoor and indoor exhibitions. 

This is Philadelphia11,the Museum’s 1991 replica of Benedict Arnold’s Gunboat Philadelphia, which sank during the Battle of Valcour Bay October 11, 1776. We learned a lot about clean water from a wonderful student which reinforced the importance of keeping our waterways clean and each of us playing our own part to make a difference. 

Nana was very brave to challenge Nandad with the large chess set on the lawn! In the background you can see a small sample of some of the gardens. 

Sunset from NH looking over at the NY side of the Lake.

August 20th Nana and Nandad dock at Bridgeview Marina NY which looks directly at the Samuel de Champlain Bridge in Port Henry. Another small marina with very friendly staff. The cafe is no longer in operation and it’s a long uphill walk downtown. We are well provisioned so have a wonderful pork tenderloin onboard. Tomorrow we will maybe stay at Chipman Marina which would be our last stop on the Lake before entering The Champlain Canal. 

New Horizon on the dock. A very shaky and narrow dock!

Nana watching the sun go down.

Willsboro Bay NY

New Horizon was docked at Champlain Marina Colchester VT from August 4th through August 15th. A wonderful two days with the Nevins and a great time watching the local boys catch fish from the dock. Avie, Ailish and Ollie were fascinated with the boys and the boys were really patient with them. We had a successful sleepover the first night, watching the sky and trying to identify the constellations. The next night we all went into Burlington downtown, which had lots of street entertainment. Nana and Nandad left the Nevins to enjoy the chaos and returned to NH for a quite night.

A very relaxed Dave on the bow of the boat.

Waiting for the fishermen to arrive on the dock.

 Nana and Nandad returned to Franklin for Maeve’s 4th birthday and to catch up with family and friends.

August 15th back onboard NH and heading to Willsboro Bay. On our cruise to Willsboro Bay Marina we decided to anchor at Spoon Bay for lunch. Spoon Bay is along the west shore of Valcour Island. The entire island is part of the Adirondack Park. The only access is by boat, there are no cars and only a few campsites. A beautiful stop and so peaceful.  Nana was so relaxed she forgot to take a picture so the one you see is directly from the Cruising Guide - a view from the air.

The cruise through Willsboro Bay is just picture perfect. The mountains, rocks, trees, and steep shoreline are stunning. The water is very deep and gives the feel of fjord-like body of water. It feels good to be among all the sail boats. While on our bike ride today we came across a wonderful piece of history The Adsit Cabin. We also had a great lunch at the Indian Bay Marina. Dinner at The Upper Deck was a little disappointing however the staff were very courteous and the view simply stunning.  Tomorrow we will cruise to Thompson Point which will bring us back to VT. 

The log cabin 1794

Mallets Bay

Now this picture is to show you that not all of Lake Champlain has water. Approaching the area into Mallets Bay NH had approximately 2.3 ft registering on the instruments! Mallets Bay is actually two bays. The inner and outer bay. The outer bay to the west is protected by a one-time railroad causeway where the entrance to the bay is through a former swing bridge opening.

This is NH approaching the opening. You can see people on the wall. Well , they are waiting for the 18 passenger bike ferry to take them to the other side where they can continue their bike ride. Pretty cool.

The Bay has four Marinas, an International Sailing School, the Mallets Bay Boat Club and the resort at Marina at the Marble Island. It is no wonder that this is a very popular boating area. The Scenery is just amazing with rocky coves and wooded headlands surrounding the boats which are anchored, moored and on slips. A very lovely Marina , clean with new docks and facilities. 

Here is the view from where Nana took a bike ride. Looking out over Sticks Beach Northshore Burlington which is along the bike trail.

Nana could not resist this beautiful sunset onboard. We are so excited to have the Nevins for the weekend before we return to MA. There may be no more blog until our return August 14th .