Turning Point

We had very relaxing and enjoyable cruising days on the Hudson River. The weather was beautiful and the scenery very green, sometimes hilly and sometimes not.  We were able to see West Point from a different perspective . . .

West Point classroom buildings

The "$500,000 View":
West Point's
 "Million Dollar View"
from water level :)

 . . . saw a number of interesting lighthouses . . .

 . . . and had pleasant stays at Norrie Point Marina (June 15) and Castleton-on-Hudson (June 16).

Evening at Norrie Point Marina in Mills-Norrie State Park

We also saw the industrial side of the Hudson as we passed Albany, the New York State capitol, but that didn't last long.

The Port of Albany

The passage up the Hudson River was extremely easy. It's deep, the channels are well marked, and we didn't encounter much boat traffic, either commercial or pleasure.  What did surprise us was the significant tidal nature of the Hudson. Even as far north as Troy, the river has 5-foot tides. We tried to time our cruising to take advantage of the currents, but that wasn't always possible.  On Sunday we had current pushing us along at a good clip, but on Monday we were cruising against current most of the day, which slowed us down considerably.

Yesterday (June 17) we pulled into the harbor of Waterford, NY, a historic village at Lock 2 of the Erie Canal (Lock 1 is the Federal Lock on the Hudson River at Troy).

Old Champlain Side-cut, now
 a spillway for the
Erie Canal

Pat in front of Lock 2

The village of Waterford has beautiful docks for transient boaters in its harbor.  They offer the use of these docks for up to 48-hours, charging only a nominal fee for electricity.  It's hard to pass up a bargain like that, so we took advantage of their offer and used the time to explore this "oldest incorporated Village in the United States", do laundry, buy groceries, and take care of boat cleaning and maintenance.

CARIB II (second from left) in Waterford Harbor

Deer on Peebles Island

Biking to dinner at The Angry Penguin 

Vandenburgh House (1876)

General Samuel Stuart House (1802)

We are at what we consider a significant point in our journey. Up to now we've been moving generally north, but tomorrow we enter the Erie Canal and start heading west. We'll be interested to see how canal boating in the U.S. compares to the canal boating we've done in Europe.