Cheryl's Notes:

We woke up to a gray and rainy morning. We decided to take our time getting started. Thank God that this is New York and there is always a Dunkin Donuts on a street corner. We loaded up the laptop and headed out for wifi and donuts. We found wifi in front of the hotel where we did our laundry last night. We checked on train and airfare to get me home this weekend. We found that a one way ticket on Sun Country was only $40 more than an Amtrak ticket. Seems like a no-brainer to fly instead of a 30 hour train ride that would go from New York to DC to Chicago to Saint Paul. I would have to get started on Saturday to get home on Sunday.

We finally headed out in a slight drizzle. It was the first time in days that we had on long pants and sweatshirts. The Hudson river is lined by big homes and very old architecture. The pictures we took will never do justice to the beauty. We were traveling along just great with the current when suddenly the engine seemed to be having a hard time pushing us down river. We finally checked our navigation software and realized that we were reaching high tide. Most people do not know that the Hudson river is affected by tides once you get south of Troy. We had to chug along for the next two miles until we entered Catskill Creek. The high tide actually helped us because their launch well tends to be very shallow. As it is, they were not able to pull us all the way forward into the well. Two hours later and our mast is back up. We still need to attach the boom and do some fine tuning on the rigging, but we will finish that tomorrow. We also have to put the sails back on. We might do the headsail first and the main the next time we stop. We won't be doing much sailing on the river anyway.

I think that I have been elected to go up the mast tomorrow to fix the anemometer. Long story, I am sure that John will mention it. It will be easier for the two guys to get me up the mast. We will probably run one of the halyards through the windlass and let it do most of the work. Makes me wish that I had one less donut this morning. John is already telling people that I weighed about 500 pounds soaking wet when they pulled me out of the lake. He is Irish, and every time he tells the story I gain weight.

John's Notes:

This is our first day out of the Erie Canal. There is a remarkable difference between the Canal and the Hudson River....................the river is much wider.

Saw a couple of interesting sights today. Too bad there were too far away to get any great pictures though.

We stopped at River View Marine Services on Catskill Creek. The guy here knows exactly what he is doing and we had the mast re-stepped and secured in about two hours. The only problem is with the anemometer (wind instrument). While the mast was still down, the yard guy arranged a way for us to swing the stern of the boat around so that I could install the antennas, windex, and anemometer on the mast head. I had to use a stepladder on the dock and it must have been the way I was looking at it, but I installed it wrong. Tomorrow either Cheryl or I will have to go up the stick and re-install correctly. Just another one of those dumb things that happen. Should have noticed before we started to raise the mast.

Tommy gave up watching Cheryl and I tuning the rigging. He said tonight that we work as such a team that he was just going to be in the way. He did a recon on the local establishments so we would have a place to eat tonight.

Forgot to mention that our last couple of days on the Canal were saturated with trains. . We must have had every famous train to ever exist pass us during the night. The Orange Blossom Special. the Wabash Cannonball, the Orient Express, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, the Hooterville Special, the Stillwater Zephyr, the Rock Island Line, and so many more. It was a real treat to say the least.

Tomorrow we will finish the rigging and be off to New York City. I can hardly wait. I've got to dig out the flare gun, my only weapon other than my leatherman.