05/19/2012

Thursday 17 May, brother Tom dropped me off in Newark, near the train station and I made my way via PATH and Amtrak, back to Croton-on-Hudson.  Jubilee was not at the dock, as Dean and John (who met us when we came in) had taken the boat up-river a short distance where they could have a crane help drop the mast.  Controlling height or "air draft" is 20' in the canal system between the Hudson River and the Great Lakes.  Roger also made his way back to the boat from New Jersey and when Jubilee came in, we helped secure the lowered mast, as well as gear displaced by the change.  

Friday  18 May, 0600 Jubilee got underway, against current for a bit, but soon the tide turned and the current was with us the rest of the day, ultimately making 70 miles for the day.  Not a great deal of boat traffic:  small fishing skiffs, a couple of cabin cruisers racing (compared to our pace) up or downriver, trains, flights of geese heading north, castles -- yes literally, google "Bannerman's Castle"-- and an interesting light house design (I've uploaded some Hudson River pics to FB), including several of the lighthouses.

Saturday, 19 May
Early morning (0530) on the Hudson brings mostly clear skies and mist dancing on the water's surface. We anchored last night tucked in behind Coxsackie Island [tired sigh] (yes, you're all so clever and I'm sure your mothers would be proud of those scintillating remarks).  Sharing the overnight anchorage, was an older Nordhaven 46' with a light blue hull -- beautiful boats. 

As we pulled anchor, a sailboat with mast secured down on the cabin top, passed going upriver -- going our way.  The current was against us, but only slowed us a bit, and by mid-morning we locked through at Troy NY into the NY State Barge Canal System.  I posted an elevation profile of the canal system locks on FB.  

Now we're tied up at the Waterford NY town dock.  The town's official website includes cctv facing the next lock and another pointing downriver.  Both show portions of the dock, and at the moment -- 19 May, 1345 EDT -- Jubilee's aft end is in the downriver camera.  

We checked out the town, got some groceries (the grocery store has an "invisible fence" similar to the shock collar fence for dogs, that activates brakes on the shopping cart wheels to keep them from wandering away -- anybody remember who the R-COP deputy was who specialized shopping carts? -- anyway, since we were walking to the harbor, the clerk sent a bagger out to the parking lot with us to disarm the brakes when they locked up, so we could continue with the cart to the harbor.  Geezers get perks like that.  Roger's in town doing our laundry; Dean's getting ready to nap and that sounds like a great idea to me, as soon as I finish this blog.

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05/16/2012

12 May, Roger left the boat for a shuttle ride up to Philadelphia Airport where he met his family; they're spending time with Karen's family and showing off the grandkid.  Dean and I made an early morning departure from the Chesapeake City Dock and continued eastbound through the C-D Canal, then into Delaware Bay and south.  I posted several pics from the run down the bay on FaceBook.  Something I didn't expect, was the Cape May channel.  Down at the end of Delaware Bay, rather than rounding Cape May, NJ up into the Atlantic, there's a short canal cut through to an inner bay which among other things, includes the USCG East Coast Training Center.  My old Banzai Bozo mate, Jim K trained there many, many, many years ago -- did I mention it was a long time ago? -- as did his daughter's husband Jeff.  Through Cape May and early evening out into the Atlantic.  

Dean and I split the night up into 2-hour shifts, alternating napping and watching, going sea buoy to sea buoy up the Jersey Shore, admiring the lights and occasionally playing a bit of Dodge 'Em with other coastal traffic.  10-15 knot winds on the stern or quarter and 1-3' seas made for a very benign passage.  We rounded Sandy Hook into what is essentially outer NY harbor, tying up at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina about 0900 Sunday 13 May.  

My cousin Pete's whole family -- Jo, Carl, Maggie, Cee-Cee, Jackie and Laurie -- who live nearby, as well as my brother Tom and cousin Steve (Pete's brother) all stopped by the boat, and we had a nice evening.  Cousin Steve, you may remember, has a family in Dumageite, Negros Island, Philippine Islands; there are photos on the blog back at 29 Feb '08 - 3 March '08.  Steve has a business in NJ which he works part of the year, the remainder spent with Connie and the kids in PI.  They are currently building a house there on property they own.  Steve is dreaming of a "cat boat" to either ship or sail to PI.

Monday morning 0600 14 May, Jubilee departed Atlantic Highlands with Dean, brother Tom, cousin Carl and me aboard, heading up through NY harbor and past one icon after another -- Verrazano Narrow Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Manhattan skyline, the new World Trade Center, Sing Sing prison etc, etc.  I've posted quite a few photos of these on the DavidEllis Nagle Boat page of FaceBook.  We started with high overcast skies, but further up the Hudson River, well beyond NYC, it started to rain, very much in earnest by the time we tied up at Half Moon Bay Marina, Croton-on-the-Hudson.  

We were met, in the rain, by John & Carol (and Steve the harbor guy) members-in-waiting of the Joy Duck Club.  I saw their boat under construction at Seahorse Marine last March, when David and I were there doing inspections on his DD462 Shearwater.  John has made some pretty major changes to the boat, including moving the bulkhead between the galley and aft cabin back and having a stern-thruster built into the swim step.  A quick visit with Dean, John and Carol and off to the local Amtrak station for a commuter run down to Penn Station NYC.  Whoa, talk about stepping from one world to another -- the serene cruise up the Hudson to the bustle of train station, subway, and Manhattan sidewalks was a bit dizzying (I need some foreplay here!)  Tom, Carl and I ducked into McSorley's Irish Pub (oldest such in NYC) to soothe my nerves.  We did serious damage to their stock of ale, and also to a couple of New Hampshire physicians celebrating their 13th anniversary -- kids!  Upon being thrown out of McSorley's (only kidding), a cab ride brought us to the Sea Streak high speed ferry back to Atlantic Highlands and Tom's car.  A long, but very interesting day!

15 May, brother Tom and I hung out, something we haven't done in many years, and it was great.  Tom is 13 years younger than me; I'm the oldest, and he's the youngest of 8.  Though we have the same parents and siblings, our perceptions of our childhood, are very different (and very much the same).  We hung out in Killkenny's, McGovern's and the Spanish Pavillion.  We don't seem to do the local pub thing well in CA; I know it's 'mother's milk' for my friend Mac in AUS; but it's definitely alive and well in Newark.  At McGovern's, one of the owners being a Newark fire-fighter, and former rugby player, we had a great time trading cop-fireman insults and other such banter.  Turns out the other brother-owner is married to a Nagle from the old country, and her brother,  Mike Nagle, also works there and has an interest in the business.  I was in there 5 minutes and felt entirely at home. 

It's 16 May, as I'm writing this.  Tom and I will head into NYC this evening to meet Kate, a member of our extended family, who I haven't seen since she was at SRJC.  I'm looking forward to re-connecting with her.  Tom's great friend Louie, also a NJ lawyer, will hopefully join us.  I anticipate a fun night.  I miss Dorothy, Rusty & Rascal; wish they were here to experience all this.  Dorothy though, is hanging with daughter Kate, who has an appointment with a C-section next week.  I'm looking forward to meeting DJ!  

Tomorrow morning, Roger and I will hook up at Penn Station NY, and take the train back up to Jubilee, getting underway later in the morning.  The adventure continues....

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05/11/2012

So, kind of a little adventure today.  While I cruised up the Chesapeake, blissfully unaware of events unfolding 3000 miles away, Dorothy had the misfortune to lose her phone into Bodega Bay trying to juggle dogs and phone. Going into town to replace the phone, she discovered that on our plan, my phone was eligible for upgrade, and it would save significant bucks to upgrade "mine" rather than replace hers.  But in the course of making all this happen, my phone number was put out of service and could not be re-activated. Upon arrival at the Chesapeake City Dock, Maryland, I located an AT&T store 11 miles away in Bear, Delaware.  I arranged for a taxi to take Roger and me "across state lines for immortal porpoises"; the folks in the AT&T store had everything ready for me; the AT&T lady on the phone who activated my number, was great and we made it back to Chesapeake City in time for happy hour... I should note that the round trip cab ride was $60!  But, all's well that ends well -- in this case, with a beer.  

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