New York to Croton-On-Hudson

Course:  Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City N.J. to Half Moon Bay Marina, Croton-On-Hudson, NY
Distance run by GPS: 32.4 (N)
Distance through the water: 27.37 (N)--we caught the tide right
Weather:  pissy
Seas:  none to speak of
Wind:  < 5 knts S

Its been a few years since we travelled up a river. It was more calm and less foreboding than I recall but river travel, which we will do for the balance of the summer is different than the open waters of the Atlantic in one immediate way: its predictable.

The good thing about rain is that is washes off the salt and gives the flybridge a cozy feeling underway.  I put on some Paris café music to set the mood for our misty run today.  Passing under the George Washington and the Tappan Zee bridges, hearing the roar of rumbling civilization 150 feet overhead and thinking that many of the traffic bound commuters were perhaps gazing at us, an incredibly gorgeous sight to be sure, with thoughts to really get away someday added a different contrast to our day.  We were alone on the Hudson River for most of the day passing only a couple of barges being pushed up river and one other cruiser coming down river.

I keep wondering if this lifestyle will become less satisfying , but it feels just the opposite.  As the days meld into weeks and both of us loose track of the day of the week, the character of our being is reforming to focus on reading, shipping, boat maintenance, and the daily challenges of navigation and sea states.  These days become even sweeter as we continue this adventure on VELOMER. 

The news on the web is that the Erie Canal is closed to navigation from Waterford, on the Hudson, to Lock 22 in Herkimer.  The current, as of this morning, schedule may not open this section for 2-4 weeks so we will see what evolves.  Leaving the boat for a few days and return to Maine for a load of lobsters is a thought, or flying home to Colorado to hug the grand kids, and Phoebe and Erik is also being considered. If we delay here for a week, we will have time to do other stuff perhaps. Our original plan was to go west on the Erie to Lake Oneida and then north in Lake Ontario but with the canal closure, we can transit the Rideau Canal from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario counter clockwise going north into Lake Champlain from Albany and then up the St Laurence to Montreal, up the Ottawa River to Ottawa and back southwest to Lake Ontario at Kingston.  Plans often change depending on weather while travelling on the water.  When we get back to New York in September will the City be renamed New Venice?

So we continue, finding simple moments of geese flying north against a magenta sunrise, meeting happy people at the marinas, discovering we can figure out the train schedules into Brooklyn, and enjoying each days newness in ways we did as kids.