Day 41, Thursday, October 9th
Pollepel Island to Nyack
Track on Viewranger
I had a nice night anchored behind the castle, and did some cleanup of the boat before heading south today.
I was picking up crew for a day or two, my good friend Natasha who lives in New York City. I had figured to pick her up at Cold Spring Yacht club, but when I approached that place against the strong headwind, I saw that the club had already pulled up their docks and was shuttered. That's why they didn't answer my phone calls...
There was a big dock that's normally used by tour boats and luckily a very nice and sprightly gentleman hailed me and told me to dock there. It took me a few attempts because the current and the wind was pushing the boat around a lot. After a few scrapes however I was safely docked and soon Natasha appeared who had taken the train from NYC.
We took off and passed some beautiful scenery - West Point and Bear Mountain.
We arrived in the Tappan Zee quicker than expected, the current from the tides was getting stronger the further south we got and our timing has been lucky to usually catch a helpful current. Also, even though rain and thunderstorms had been predicted they didn't appear before we approached our next stop - the Nyack Yacht Club. We hadn't actually planned on staying there but we were glad we did. The club members greeted us as warmly as if we were members. The rear commodore himself gave us his spot in the mooring field and ran the launch to bring us to shore, where we first had some drinks in an Irish pub before dinner at a Thai restaurant. Timing was perfect, the rain was fierce outside but we had a roof over our heads. By the time we went back to the Caprice the rain had stopped and we got back without a drop.
The night brought a strong south wind with balmy temperatures, so Natasha didn't even run the propane heater in the salon. However, the strong wind combined with a opposing current lead to big choppy waves and the Caprice did a wild dance overnight that woke me up several times. Poor Natasha had it much worse, she got pretty sea sick and threw up in the bathroom sink and eventually decided to sleep in the cockpit, while her captain slept oblivious through her ordeal.
Track on Viewranger
I had a nice night anchored behind the castle, and did some cleanup of the boat before heading south today.
I was picking up crew for a day or two, my good friend Natasha who lives in New York City. I had figured to pick her up at Cold Spring Yacht club, but when I approached that place against the strong headwind, I saw that the club had already pulled up their docks and was shuttered. That's why they didn't answer my phone calls...
There was a big dock that's normally used by tour boats and luckily a very nice and sprightly gentleman hailed me and told me to dock there. It took me a few attempts because the current and the wind was pushing the boat around a lot. After a few scrapes however I was safely docked and soon Natasha appeared who had taken the train from NYC.
We took off and passed some beautiful scenery - West Point and Bear Mountain.
We arrived in the Tappan Zee quicker than expected, the current from the tides was getting stronger the further south we got and our timing has been lucky to usually catch a helpful current. Also, even though rain and thunderstorms had been predicted they didn't appear before we approached our next stop - the Nyack Yacht Club. We hadn't actually planned on staying there but we were glad we did. The club members greeted us as warmly as if we were members. The rear commodore himself gave us his spot in the mooring field and ran the launch to bring us to shore, where we first had some drinks in an Irish pub before dinner at a Thai restaurant. Timing was perfect, the rain was fierce outside but we had a roof over our heads. By the time we went back to the Caprice the rain had stopped and we got back without a drop.
The night brought a strong south wind with balmy temperatures, so Natasha didn't even run the propane heater in the salon. However, the strong wind combined with a opposing current lead to big choppy waves and the Caprice did a wild dance overnight that woke me up several times. Poor Natasha had it much worse, she got pretty sea sick and threw up in the bathroom sink and eventually decided to sleep in the cockpit, while her captain slept oblivious through her ordeal.
Day 42, Thursday, October 10th
Nyack to New York City
Track on Viewranger
We had liked the town so much that we decided to go to shore this morning and walk around a bit, maybe Natasha would also feel less nauseous if she got some firm ground under her feet. The town was charming and after we had walked around a bit she was feeling well enough to have breakfast.
We strolled some more afterwards trying to find some shops selling apples from the local orchards, but unfortunately didn't find any.
At lunchtime we took the launch back to the Caprice and took off across the Tappan Zee to Tarrytown, where we wanted to get fuel and pump out the poopy tank. The pumpout was located in a shallow part of the harbor and we promptly ran aground. The girl running the fuel dock decided to tell us AFTER we ran aground that it was shallow there. Luckily we managed to escape out of the mud with full reverse power. The fuel dock however was deep enough and we filled the tank and the jerry cans, so we should have enough fuel to make it all the way to Norfolk if needed.
Now we turned south under the giant construction of the new Tappan Zee bridge, and got to see the destination of all the pieces of steel we'd encountered along the way. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2017 and will be a beautiful sight, I'm sure.
The wind had shifted to the North now and we raised the sails and tried our luck without the engine. The wind didn't last very long and shifted around and we decided to motorsail to reach NYC quicker. We arrived at 79th street boat basin and finally found a pumpout to relieve our poor overfilled tank.
The crew of a megayacht moored there helped us to dock - nice guys.
I dropped off Natasha here before I went north along the shore to look for an available transient mooring, luckily I found what appeared the last available one, but it was pretty far from the dinghy dock.
I had established that the dinghy didn't leak after all, and fashioned a seat from one of the fender boards. Rowing to the dinghy dock from my mooring was a hard job as the current was starting to run against me. Supposedly the current can reach 2 knots, which would be very hard to row against in that ancient rubber dinghy. I'll have to be careful on my return not to overshoot and miss the Caprice.
On shore I paid my mooring fees (an astonishingly cheap $30 per day) and took off on foot along the river path and then took the train across town to meet Natasha again for dinner.
Track on Viewranger
We had liked the town so much that we decided to go to shore this morning and walk around a bit, maybe Natasha would also feel less nauseous if she got some firm ground under her feet. The town was charming and after we had walked around a bit she was feeling well enough to have breakfast.
We strolled some more afterwards trying to find some shops selling apples from the local orchards, but unfortunately didn't find any.
At lunchtime we took the launch back to the Caprice and took off across the Tappan Zee to Tarrytown, where we wanted to get fuel and pump out the poopy tank. The pumpout was located in a shallow part of the harbor and we promptly ran aground. The girl running the fuel dock decided to tell us AFTER we ran aground that it was shallow there. Luckily we managed to escape out of the mud with full reverse power. The fuel dock however was deep enough and we filled the tank and the jerry cans, so we should have enough fuel to make it all the way to Norfolk if needed.
Now we turned south under the giant construction of the new Tappan Zee bridge, and got to see the destination of all the pieces of steel we'd encountered along the way. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2017 and will be a beautiful sight, I'm sure.
The wind had shifted to the North now and we raised the sails and tried our luck without the engine. The wind didn't last very long and shifted around and we decided to motorsail to reach NYC quicker. We arrived at 79th street boat basin and finally found a pumpout to relieve our poor overfilled tank.
The crew of a megayacht moored there helped us to dock - nice guys.
I dropped off Natasha here before I went north along the shore to look for an available transient mooring, luckily I found what appeared the last available one, but it was pretty far from the dinghy dock.
I had established that the dinghy didn't leak after all, and fashioned a seat from one of the fender boards. Rowing to the dinghy dock from my mooring was a hard job as the current was starting to run against me. Supposedly the current can reach 2 knots, which would be very hard to row against in that ancient rubber dinghy. I'll have to be careful on my return not to overshoot and miss the Caprice.
On shore I paid my mooring fees (an astonishingly cheap $30 per day) and took off on foot along the river path and then took the train across town to meet Natasha again for dinner.
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