Upon Friday's 8:45 AM departure from Middle Ground Flats the current was in our favor for the first hour and a half, and then again for the last few hours of the day's passage. The wind assisted for a few intervals of motorsailing. A couple of hours before our 5:30 PM anchorage south of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the gear shift lever began to rattle. Presuming the cause was similar to a previous occurrence, in the reverse gear, we were pleasantly surprised to find everything normal upon inspection of the reverse gear the next morning (after allowing the engine compartment to cool); at first we thought the rattle might have been caused by oversized bolt holes between the reverse gear and the lever, but later found a loose nut on a bolt on the gear lever mount.

Saturday we spotted s/v Turquoise Serenity approaching the bridge as we prepared to raise anchor at 11:45 AM. The crews of both boats shared a picturesque ride and the shorts-wearing weather during happy hour when Jason and Yves joined us aboard Grace after both boats were anchored among a plethora of other local boats, including many sailing nearby our 3:45 PM anchorage off Croton Point in Haverstraw Bay. Above was that evening's sunset.

Yesterday after Kevin replaced a gasket on the engine raw water pump, we moved Grace slightly closer to shore, dinghied to the Croton Sailing School dock, and wandered around the town of Croton on Hudson for our first time, returning with fresh bagels. We hauled anchor and moved about an hour down river, anchoring north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Based upon today's weather forecast, which includes tornado watches, severe thunderstorms, and strong winds we came back up river to Croton Point, anchoring just as the first of the rain arrived, which quickly passed. The two short passages each way gave our batteries a nice charge, after yesterday's lack of sun; and, now the solar panels are keeping them topped off with the sunshine currently upon us ahead of the strong band of storms headed this way. And, thankfully, it is shorts weather - 78 degrees inside the cabin with the forward hatch and the companionway open.

During these passages we have seen geese, ducks, a pair of white swans, one osprey, and other feathered friends, in addition to two tires and one sneaker floating along the Hudson River, plus numerous large parts of trees.