Hook Mountain anchorage at Haverstraw Bay

The Bear Mounting bridge, once one of the longest in the world

After a day of rain we awoke to sunny skies but a very brisk day. It's getting cold! All the more reason to hurry south so we pushed off around 9:00 for Haverstraw. We have always enjoyed all our trips on the Hudson River. The passage is through highlands on either side that plunge into the river so steeply that you can be within 20 feet of the river bank and still be in 60 ft of water.

Barge traffic near Storm King

The Hudson River is a busy highway for barges, sea going ships and all manner of commerce. The river is deep all the way to Albany and even requires a Pilot to be aboard all ships to ensure safe navigation.

Storm King - A great view from the top - 1340 ft high

We continued south to the Hook Mountain anchorage where we had a bad experience last year. On the Hudson River, the wind always blows north or south, very seldom does it ever come from east or west. So a northwest wind will be out of the north, any wind with a southern component will be out of dead south. Last year we had anchored at Hook Mountain and thought we were protected from a northwest wind, wrong! It was a bad night of bouncing with the wind driven waves. However, tonight is another story. The wind has abated to less than 5 kts and it's perfectly calm.

We plan on getting an early start Monday to take advantage of the ebb tide to reach the Atlantic Highlands anchorage, a staging area for our Tuesday venture down the New Jersey coast to Atlantic City. So far the weather looks okay but that can always change, we watch the reports every morning.