Southbound on the Hudson River

 

The homeward journey continues through more incredibly beautiful areas.  We were all ridiculously excited to complete our FINAL lock of this adventure, although Lisa (my counterpart on Midnight Star) and I have become quite accomplished with our line handling skills.  (It is duly noted that Lisa is much more skillful than me on all other aspects of boating - you go, girl!!!).  I am absolutely okay with my non-navigational/non-operational role, and I generally follow orders well (as long as they're boating-related) to help when needed.  I believe Mark and I have developed a pretty workable arrangement......

The latest leg of our adventure is renown for its low, fixed bridges, which therefore limits the size vessels that can even take this part of the journey.  Oceanus generally requires an "air draft" of 19.5 feet; as most fixed bridges (ones that don't lift or rotate) are usually designed to have at least 25 feet of clearance, it's not often an issue for us.  However, several of the bridges on the south end of Lake Champlain provide only 17 feet of clearance.  In addition, all the recent rain/flooding in the area (Vermont/New York), meant water levels are higher than normal, which in turn means less clearance than usual under the bridges.  Fortunately, we are able to lower the radar arch on Oceanus but it is a quite involved process (taking off the bimini canvas,  disassembling the newly added solar panels, lowering the VERY heavy arch itself).  I was apparently neglectful and failed to photographically document this process, but there is one photo showing the boat with the arch lowered:


Here are some pictures passing under the low bridges:






Mark hitting the bridge with a fly swatter LOL


The view out the back door while at anchor (it rained hard later that night!)



Some typical scenery along the way


A marina stop in Whitehall, NY




Whitehall, NY

Whitehall, NY



Near the lock at Whitehall, NY









You can see the "high water" mark on the shore vegetation.  The locks in this area had actually been closed for several days after the flood in order to let all the excess water flow out as much as possible



Things are not looking good for this building.....




We actually were able to reconnect with our friends, Tracy and Mike, for another wonderful dinner and the most awesome local ice cream.  They are also now the proud grandparents of a darling little girl (Peyton) and are soon to be grandparents for a second time late this summer!  The lucky grandbabies will definitely be very well loved - congratulations!

Back to Waterford, NY - where we could raise the radar arch back up!  



"Downtown" street in Waterford, NY


Back on the scenic Hudson River!


We stopped this evening in Kingston, NY (we stopped here as well on the way north back in June), but this time Mark had some mechanical issues to work on.  While underway today, a high temperature alarm had gone off for our battery bank, but luckily we were able to make it to the Kingston marina without any other problems, thank goodness.  With some much appreciated help from the marina staff, Mark was able to purchase some temporary replacement batteries from a local auto parts store, which should allow us to get safely home.  Fingers crossed there are no more surprises in store!

Mark's good friend, Chris, has agreed to do us a huge favor by driving up to meet Oceanus this weekend (hopefully in New Jersey).  Sheryl will then drive back to Virginia, stopping first in Richmond for some LONG awaited time with her absolutely adorable granddaughter, Addison (and provide some requested babysitting).  Mark and Chris will then plan for an offshore jaunt, possibly from NJ all the way to VA, depending on the friendliness of the weather and waves.


So we are now heading home IN EARNEST, but still trying to appreciate our good fortune in being able to take this wonderful trip together.  We are so very grateful to all the support we've gotten (Chris U., Chris F., Troy, Marianne and Rob, Brandt, Julia and Gary, Mike and Tracy, all Sheryl's supervisees, and many more!!!!) - we truly could not have been able to do this without all of you!!!!


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