Home at the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club - Where to begin?

Still in progress

With a favorable tide predicted for the trip north, we decided to make a run for PYC, using the favorable tide for added speed although it was 92 Nm north on the Hudson River. So we got started around 6:30 and made the trip in 11.5 hrs. The first part of the journey was through New York harbor and this is where AIS really comes in handy. Looking ahead, you could see a dozen very large ships in view. Which ones were moving and which ones were at anchor? If moving, which direction and speed? One could study the radar intensely and perhaps come up with answers while navigating to avoid other hazards (those water taxis!!) but it's easier and safer to just look at the AIS targets displayed on your chartplotter.

Yikes - they're all headed for me!

A line is drawn from the red triangle representing each AIS target in the direction of travel in proportion to the speed of the craft. Comparing that line and direction to your own line drawn by the chartplotter, one can easily determine if there's a collision possibility and if there is what evasive action to take. If a dozen targets on the screen, you need information in a hurry!

We negotiated the harbor without issue, after dodging a few of the larger vessels but then played dodgeball with the high speed ferries criss-crossing the river. Their favorite tactic was to aim their bow directly at yours (who flinches first?) Still, we made it through okay but then it started to rain for the next 6 hours!

However, we were not complaining, we were making 8.5 to 9.0 kts with the current behind us and the water was flat, very little wind. In fact, things were going fine when the first of two very sad incidents happened.

Ha, you missed me!

The first one happened when I was placing the iPad2 back onto the holder over the binnacle. I was off to one side since Ann was at the helm and did not have a good grip, apparently. The iPad cascaded down onto the floor, landed face down and broke the glass! Oh no! To add insult to injury, Ann tried to break the fall by putting her foot out and was rewarded with a large hit on the top of her foot, very painful - she suffered through the night with throbbing pain but it does seem to be better this morning. We thought this was bad enough but it was nothing compared to the next incident.

Missed me too

Now I was looking up repair facilities near Poughkeepsie New York and called several using the iPhone.  I had the charging cable plugged into the bottom of the iPhone and as I reached to pull it up out of its cradle, the charging cable caught on something and jerked the phone out of my hand. In an instant of time, it caromed off the side of the port locker and out the back of the boat in 50 ft of water!! Oh no! It happened so fast that neither one of us actually saw it disappear overboard. We hopefully search the boat, hoping against hope, that it had lodged out of view somewhere inside the boat - but it was not to be, it had gone overboard! Naturally, I did not buy the insurance when offered by Verizon - after all - I had no intention of losing it!

So after a suitable mourning period and with great gnashing of teeth - I am now trying to find a way to buy another iPhone without paying full retail - but it's not looking good. So the short of it is that the iPad and iPhone survived 2600 miles of ICW with alligators, groundings, snakes, assorted dogs, many dinghy trips to and from shore in remote locations - but could not survive a trip up the Hudson River! Groan...

So at the moment, we're in a funk, mostly me, now that Ann appears in recovery mode in trying to save the iPad2 with her foot. Eventually I'll get it replaced, it's too useful on an ICW trip - buy my foot is getting sore from kicking myself...