This morning we’re hanging out at Half Moon Bay Marina in Croton-on-Hudson, NY:
According to the readers of Northeast Boating magazine this is the best marina in the northeast. It is very nice, and we’ve delayed our departure to enjoy it longer.
Yesterday we anchored behind Pollepel Island for lunch and a nap. We’re a day ahead of schedule, so we knew we didn’t need to push too hard. We thought we might spend the night in Peekskill. After lunch, the tide turned to be in our favor, and we weighed anchor and headed down the river.
We’ve been playing tag with the tug Scott C and the barge Liberty for days, and yesterday they overtook us as we passed Breakneck Ridge:
As we neared Peekskill we began trying to arrange docking for the night. Phone calls to both the Peekskill Yacht Club and the Charles Point Marina went unanswered, as did calls on the radio. We went into Charles Point Marina to see if we could find a person. The place looked deserted — there were a few boats in slips and a lot of brand new docks waiting to be installed, but we didn’t see anybody who seemed to be in charge. We tied up in a slip, and Karen went ashore to find, well, anyone. She found one person who worked in repairs; he was leaving for the day and had no idea if we could stay or not. We decided to beat a hasty retreat.
A few more phone calls to marinas did not lead to a slip for the night, until we reached Steve at Half Moon Bay. We plugged the coordinates into the GPS and headed into Haverstraw Bay. This area of the river is quite wide, and the wind had been blowing steadily from the south, so we had choppy conditions with 1- to 2-foot waves. This picture doesn’t really capture it, but we had spray over the bow for most of the transit of the bay:
These conditions were quite a change for us after days on the smooth waters of the upper river.
It was supposed to be an easy day, but we ended up doing 51 nautical miles. After we arrived at Half Moon Bay, Karen’s parents took us to a great dinner in Croton, which we appreciated hugely. The food from packets and boxes has actually been quite tasty, but it sure was good to eat a real meal with vegetables and everything!
