Departing Westbrook- heading to Old Lyme for fuel

So how do you get to Lake Champlain? From Westbrook, CT on the north shore of Long Island Sound, here’s the route- if you are in a boat that is: head west- oh wait, first head east and then up the Connecticut River to Old Lyme for the best fuel deal around and pass under the decrepit Old Lyme Draw- twice without needing an opening.

Ok, so now head west. Make a right hand turn into the East River, riding a favorable current of course. At the infamous Hell Gate you have a decision to make, which hopefully you made before you got here; continue on the East River and hang a right at the Hudson, or be daring and hang a right up the Harlem river with its winding ways, barges galore and a very often closed train swing bridge at the north end which dumps you out into the Hudson.

The end.

No, wait, there’s more. You don’t think I’d write that teeny paragraph when I could tell you all about our first few days, do you?

Sunday, July 30 was a lovely day and just perfect for a final boat and cushion washing and getting everything put in its place and ready for heading out into the big blue water. The batteries got equalized, the dry packets got cooked in the oven (they eat moisture), lights and sounds tested, bridle re-attached and charts reviewed. I’d read about a product on The Boat Galley, called Concrobium, which was touted as being a near miracle killer and preventor of mold and mildew, two determined nasties on a boat. Sprayed it on our exterior cushions, dinghy life jackets and the horribly mildew prone VHF radio cord on the flybridge. Maybe I’ll remember to let you know well it works.

After two months of not moving, except to turn the boat around with lines and one very short test run, would we still remember how to do everything?  Let’s hope so.

Come Monday leaving the slip was easy-peasy in a no wind morning kinda way. After that two hour detour for diesel we cranked up the RPMs and the watermaker and zoomed down LIS toward the skinny west end, anchoring in Manhasset Bay near Port Washington. Ok then, Day 1- check!

Busy, busy

Tuesday ended up being a 10-hour, 90 nm day and no we did not go up the Harlem River which would have saved time. Instead, we chose the bustling, scenic, wild ride route around the tip of Manhattan. We had a favorable current carrying us along in the East River but once we turned up the Hudson, wow we got a major slap back, making only 5.5 kts at normal 2000 rpm, aka 8kts!

Before the Hudson and the spot of Sully’s Miracle, we watched a seaplane touch down near the United Nations on the East River, probably scaring the crap out of the boat behind us who swerved to avoid what he figured would be a collision.

Right in front of that sailboat!

Well, that’s a first.

East shore of Hudson- New Jersey. I am used to Lackawanna being much further west!

So yes, the Hudson was a busy place- did I mention that? Ferries crossing left and right, boats leaving marinas, tour boats- the old Circle Line was alive and kickin’ and we watched for the general vicinity where Cap’n Sully performed his miracle… and I think it’s right about here….

About where Captain Sully performed his miracle on the Hudson

The George Washington was a sight to behold and one we had never seen from the water. No tolls or traffic jams this way. A bit further north is the Tappan Zee which is a better choice if you are in a land vehicle. Three years ago we crossed over on our way to a small RV Show and saw the very beginnings of footings for the new bridge.

Can you see the weird face?

Now the bridge is nearly complete. Just need that one span- kinda important.

Old and new Tappan Zee

Continuing north, you find Sing Sing Prison on the eastern shore. A rather large and imposing complex.

Sing Sing

The trains,oh the trains! Little red caboose, boose, boose…. Blowing that horn, all night and day!!

Train tracks run very close to shore

And there’s West Point- hard to miss.

West Point- on the western shore, on a point that juts out a bit.

Don’t know the history of this arsenal, but it’s a historic site on a tiny island very close to New York’s eastern shore.

And then we anchored- yes, close to shore and thus the train tracks. Hey we needed to get going in the morning, so why not get a wake-up whistle every few hours???

Next stop Waterford, NY. We will pass through Albany, Troy and our first lock. Not looking forward to locking through 12 locks before arriving in Lake Champlain, but at least we aren’t doing the Erie Canal!

Shelly Island- newly formed off Cape Hatteras. More beach to explore!

Well, at least we ate lobster, got together with friends and family, gorged on donuts, ice cream sundaes (twice!!), DQ and made a steady habit of not straying from our happy hour libation and snack.

The other 90% of our waking hours were spent getting it done, researching and purchasing needed supplies – I guess that mostly came first, and Russ was a great magician- kept pulling more to-dos out of the darn hat!

Lots of little things too along the lines of getting better organized and stowing loose items so that we didn’t have to worry about them while underway.

But you don’t want to read about this; you’d rather see proof of our hard work!

After an intense Spa treatment- looking like new. Even a rubber gasket at the bottom to keep rust from forming and off our boat

The marina Russ owned a long time ago

We managed to sneak in a dinghy tour of the marina and up the Patchoge River toward where Rte 1 crosses. Lots of memories here, especially for Russ who not only grew up in Westbrook, he owned a small marina for roughly eight years.  It’s in the above photo. See the white hulled boat on the left, Restless? Hiding behind the piling near her stern is a red phone booth. Between that and the small brown building to the right (over a couple of boats) was Rackliffe Marine, also home to Rackliffe Lock and Safe. 🙂

Look what we picked up. Returning from a visit to Linda & Thom’s SeaRay in the North Yard we snagged a prize. First prize of this nature.

This cutie, and what I assume are other family members, could be spotted on a regular basis.

Mr Jack Rabbit

Creative use of wok strainer- was a perfect fit to keep out snakes, rodents. Break off handle and place into the opening. Seal well then replace the vent cover.

A sunny day with very little breeze was perfect for spraying 303 Protectant on our canvas and dinghy seat cover.

Three canvas tops to wash then waterproof- one at a time. Sure looked much cleaner when we finished.

This was one project left to the experts at Affordable Boat Cushions who we found online last summer. The narrow back cushion held up well and we were very satisfied with the price and quality. This summer we ordered a bottom cushion to match. Lounging will be far more pleasant now.

Our new stern bench seat cushion to match the back

Our horn had become temperamental and when we needed it, didn’t work. Soooo toss out the old and install the new, much louder horn.   Twins also received new bow lights- one green and one red, naturally.

Installing the new horn- earplugs needed for testing!

Somewhere along the line during the window treatment ordeal, I decided I wanted to own a sewing machine again. Not gonna sew curtains mind you, but Russ had mentioned a slew of small sewing jobs that we really needed to do. I also wanted to turn the one exterior front window cover into two so that the left and right windows could be covered, but leave the middle (opening) window uncovered. We planned to take it to a canvas shop in Old Saybrook that we like, but doing the job ourselves probably paid for the machine which cost less than any machine I’d ever owned.

The disintegrated top cover of the LifeSling is replaced

Our fridge has been a two-year troublesome piece of equipment. It likes frequent defrosting and is happiest if the outside temp is below 80 and not humid. Gee, I thought I was a princess! Calling in a marine refrigeration guy is unthinkable; not only because of the exorbitant cost, but in this area we’d be told, “oh we might be able to come out to take a look in a month.” Sigh. We replaced the gasket just in case that would help, but mostly for the challenge :-).  Purchased a re-charge kit but then discovered our fridge didn’t have the proper port for DIY-ers. The company took it back. The struggle continues, and we will resort to prayer if need be.

One of the last, and by far the most unpleasant, item on the to-do list was to try to sell our beloved Bonny, aka the Escape Pod. She was getting on in years- 14 to be exact- and the signs of aging were getting more costly each year. Rather than let her crumble, we thought the decent course of action was to sell her while she still had life remaining. Hopefully to someone who would love and cherish her as much (or nearly) as we did- and still do!

Would she prove to be the one thing we couldn’t sell easily? Would we find a suitable buyer? Would we sell her in time before we headed off, but not so quickly that a rental would be needed? Lady luck smiled on us once again and we almost had a bidding war.

Her new home remains in Connecticut and the owner has already written to say how much she loves her “new” Mini Cooper. Bonny will be instrumental in helping several young ladies learn to drive a stick shift, and for that I am delighted.

Our faithful escape pod is for sale

But before we let her go, we took a road trip for donuts!! The perfect last trip and look how coordinated she is with Allie’s!  Yes, they were excellent and super fresh. Worth the one hour drive.

Busier than it looks. On weekends those waiting-in-line gates are needed!

Allie’s is known for their jimmies/sprinkles/shots, Big Donuts  (serve 12-20) and novelty shaped donut cakes

I’m sure you are just itchin’ to know the window treatment outcome. I’ll spare you the gory details of what transpired between placing the order and installation, but if we EVER do this again, we will be much better informed and prepared. But then, we thought we were.

It’s curtains for us!

A final get together with family before we bid farewell to Bonny. What better meal than pizza?

PizzaWorks before we leave. Years ago we’d all get together here on New Year’s Eve and it remains a favorite place to get together for delicious pizza.

A handful of final preparations, (a few very enjoyable for me) and we’d be off on Monday, July 31. See you up the Hudson somewhere as we venture into new waters. And locks, locks and low bridges.