We left Sheepshead Bay early to move with the tide. As we were moving along Connie Island we noticed a string of Naval vessels moving toward the Verrazano Bridge. This was an official parade of vessels from the US Navy, Coast Guard, Army Core and even one from the Canadian Navy. Luckily our timing was just right that we didn’t have to wait for them, since we definitely did not want to get within 1000 feet of them!

Our views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan were stunning. I feel particularly moved sailing past Ellis Island since all my grandparents and my mom came into the US that way. The movement up the Hudson is best described as a steady plod. We took a mooring at the Nyack Boat Club to let a front with strong N winds move through. The town of Nyack is cute and we enjoyed walking around a bit before getting back to the boat before the front would hit. The club has an active race program and there were many boats heading out for a race that night in spite of the forecast. They even finished, after it came on bringing steady 25 kt winds.

Wed night was the second rockiest night we have had on the trip, this time on a mooring though. It was a bit like sleeping in a washing machine. At about 1 am as I lay there thinking, “I am so glad we secured the anchor away from the pendant to avoid chafe since it would SUCK if the pendants broke in this” it occurred to me that our insurance runs through the 23rd-ish of May (and it is the 25th) and did not recall either of us paying. I jumped out of bed, and paid the insurance which was going to lapse if not paid by the 25th!

We spent Thursday on the mooring waiting for the wind to die back which it did not do until late. My sister came to get me after work to help me get to Middlebury on Friday and I left Roger to move up to Poughkeepsie over Friday and Saturday. I got a wonderful albeit short visit with AnneMarie, Matt and Kian on Thursday night before taking the train on Friday from Poughkeepsie to Albany. I rented a car in Albany and drove to Middlebury arriving at 4 pm with plenty of time to pick up the food and set up a dinner celebration for my scholars and their families. It was a great evening! Luckily it ended before dusk since I had worn my sunglasses when leaving the boat and forgotten my regular glasses on the boat. I spent the night with our friends Deb and Mark since our house is rented, enjoying great company and a delicious special cookie 😊.

We anchored at Saugerties for Sunday night where Roger spent about a week on the way down. Roger had stayed at Stan’s marina and on anchor then and it was nice for him to see Stan on this side of the trip. The weather was VERY different this time as we were hiding from the sun and heat in the afternoon instead of bundled up in all our winter clothes. This may be the last time that we anchor on our trip which was a bit bittersweet to realize.

We are currently motoring up the Hudson to the Castleton Boat Club where we will hopefully unstep the mast tomorrow. Our friend Fritz will join us tonight so he can lose his lock-virginity and to help unstep the mast. Finger’s crossed that the unstepping is entirely uneventful!