Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Back at Poughkeepsie YC - That's All Folks!

The rising moon at Atlantic Highlands
I went up top last night to check on the anchor and found the rising moon so I tried a shot with my Canon point and shoot. It was a beautiful night and calm too. It was a good thing since when we looked at the tides, we saw that it would be a flood tide in the morning. With an early morning (5:00 am, off the anchor by 6:00 am) it was possible to get all the way to PYC, 90 miles north. As I've related in the past, you can ride a flood tide if you can maintain 7 kts which is just what we did. We caught the tide at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and it was with us all the way north until we were within 5 miles of PYC.

West Point on the Hudson River is always an impressive sight
However, going through New York Harbor was interesting. We had a dense fog and there were lots of big boats moving around. What saved the day was AIS. I could see all the big boats and ferries (there are a LOT of ferries) complete with a vector of where each one would be in 10 minutes. Comparing that vector to a similar one projected out from my bow on the screen, I could tell if there was any chance of a meeting. We had radar too but AIS is much better. The radar was useful for small boats but almost all the sailboats and cruisers over 30 ft broadcast AIS. I looked at the radar but the AIS screen told the real story.

The Clearwater sailing on the Hudson. 
The fog cleared and the sun came out, a great welcome back to PYC. We really have mixed feeling about leaving the boat. It's been our home for 9 months of the year. Our house in Lagrangeville is really just our temporary home, our real home is on Fleetwing.

Our two resident eagles at our club
Now it's a whirlwind of doctor appointments, vet visits for Hoolie, getting a new dinghy, visits with family, PYC functions, a two week cruise with our grandkids on Long Island Sound, one week with all families at Ocean City, hauling Fleetwing for the prep for returning to the ICW in September, and writing the 2018 edition of my ICW Cruising Guide. It's going to be a busy, busy, busy time. I'm sure I left out a few things.

Fleetwing needs a cleaning but we're back safe and sound
This entry concludes the blog for my ICW trip in the spring of 2018. Mark your calendars for a resumption of the blog on September 15 for our next trip down the coast to Key West. There will probably be a few entries here and there, especially when we sail to Long Island Sound with four grandkids so you might want to check in from time to time. Otherwise, I'll see you in September. I hope you enjoyed the blog, I sure did in writing it!

13 comments:

Bob said...

Bob - I dislike this time each year as I won't get my first thing in the morning batch of photos and progress report to start my day....Have a wonderful summer, a great trip with the grandkids, and looking forward to September 15th there or about. Great writing, great pics.

Anonymous said...

We followed your progress on your SPOT Track from time-to-time yesterday and were amazed by how fast you seemed to be going "up River". I can't imagine a transit of NYC harbor in the fog. That must have been nerve wracking! N'any case, we're glad you're home safe and sound. Good trip. Have a fun, happy, safe summer!

Kitt'n Scott
s/v HyLyte

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a vicarious adventure from those of us that dream of making the journey. Have a great summer and I’ll be on board your blog in the fall.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on another successful trip! It was fun being able to follow along. Have a great summer.

Ken and Peigi

Janice Roehr said...

I willi will miss your daily updates-but we will be making our own soon. We plan to leave Newport around Aug.20 this year. We will look for you on the water.

TimC said...

Bob,
I want to thank you for all the time and effort you and Ann have put into helping us cruisers. We are on our first transit from st pete, fl to Chesapeake. I purchased your guide and downloaded all your GPX files. We've gotten to the point where we call our cruise partner on the radio to say "we're going Bob thru here" when one of your tracks shows up on Aquamap.

We are currently nessled in at B and Seafood which we would never have found we're it not for you.

So thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Bob and Ann-
Congratulations on completing your cruise. Thanks for sharing it all with us in the blog and in our happy encounters. See you next Fall!
Gail and Laura

Unknown said...

Thank you Bob. I’ll miss your regular updates this summer. Glad you & Ann made it safely. Peace & fair winds

Cheryl said...

Thank you Bob n Ann for your AC posts n blogs. It has saved us alot of not so fun times. We are now on Gulf Coast and miss "the Bob Route". Take care.

Fred Brillo said...

Bob,
When we met in Ft. Lauderdale I asked when you planned to be home. You said the end of May! You did well this trip even with the extended stay in West Palm. You made your ETA! It was so nice meeting you two that day. Have a great summer.

Dennis

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your blog. Another great year of useful information and entertainment.

SV Puffin said...

Glad you are home safe. As always, I learn a lot from your travels. We enjoyed meeting you and Ann in Titusville. Enjoy the summer.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Bob. Your blogs get better each year. Aqua Map was a great recommendation that I enjoy. Y’all have a good summer. We look forward to your next adventure