June 3, 2025 Statue of Liberty Day! Great Kills Yacht Club to Half Moon Bay Marina, Croton on Hudson 47.2 NM, 4:28 h, 11.6 kn. We left GKYC about 7 AM and arrived at the Statue of Liberty around 8:15 AM along with our buddy boat, Decompressing (who gets photo credit for our pictures with Lady Liberty). After dealing with ferry and barge traffic on the Hudson River on our way to the Statue we arrived in a 10 minute window of no other boat traffic, it was perfect timing! After taking each others pictures, we continued our cruise up river against the current to Croton on Hudson. It was smooth sailing, dodging a bit of boat traffic and enjoying the scenery all the way to Half Moon Bay. We had gyros for lunch in Croton on Hudson with some loopers we met along our way, Dennis and Linda on Texas True and heard all about their travels on their little boat. They’ve taken it all the way to Venezuela! After a walking tour of town we headed back to the boat to relax a bit and decided that after all the excitement of the last two days, we were pretty worn out, so we had a quiet evening watching, “Hyde Park on the Hudson”, in anticipation of our trip to FDR’s home on Thursday.

June 4, 2025 Half Moon Bay Marina, Croton on Hudson to Hyde Park Marina 36.9 NM, 4:52 h (45 minute stop for diesel and pumpout), 8.8 kn. We departed Half Moon Bay about 7:30 AM and cruised over to Panco Petroleum for diesel and a pumpout. By 9 AM we were on our way again and enjoyed a leisurely cruise dodging logs and fighting current up to Hyde Park. Along the way we saw West Point, Bannerman Castle, the Bear Mountain Bridge where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Hudson and the Walkway over the Hudson. It was a lovely cruise. After we tied up safely at Hyde Park Marina, we hiked up the hill and down the road to the CIA – Culinary Institute of America. It has a gorgeous campus and we enjoyed the gardens, fountains and main building where we visited the bookstore and had lunch at the tavern. We had a lovely 3 course dinner at Bocuse, the French Restaurant complete with homemade vanilla ice cream made tableside with liquid nitrogen and topped with caramel sauce and caramel corn – WOW! Thursday morning we accidentally (due to my mis-picking a destination on the Uber app) drove up to Top Cottage then quickly redirected to the FDR home and Presidential Library & Museum. We got tickets for the 11:30 home tour and visited the rose garden and gravesites of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt and the Presidential Library & Museum until it was time for the tour. It was an amazing step back in time and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and learned a little history. One of my biggest surprises was that FDR was such an advocate of people with disabilities. It makes perfect sense but I’d never heard about it prior to our visit. When we returned to the boat later in the afternoon, our friends on Decompressing were docked behind us and ready to join us for drinks and dinner at the CIA’s American Bounty Restaurant. Once again, a good time was had by all!

June 6, 2025 Hyde Park Marina to Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina, New Baltimore 45.9 NM, 5:02 h, 9.6 kn. We had a warm, hazy, mostly cloudy and very smooth cruise up tthe Hudson River to New Baltimore. The river is becoming more narrow as we go. We passed the Rip Van Winkle Bridge near Catskill, several lighthouses and surprisingly a couple of barges along the way. We arrived and docked at Shady Harbor like pros with the help of dockhands, Ryan & Aiden. We cooked some brats for lunch, did some laundry and prepared for Pig Roast Weekend 2025, a weekend long event with live music, bonfires and of course a pig roast. We’re meeting lots of new loopers and reconnecting with others we’ve met along the way, Call Me Curly is here and Texas True is completing their loop here. We enjoyed dinner at the Boathouse Grille and live music by Joe DeFelice on Friday evening. Saturday morning we had donuts, the flag raising ceremony and the Blessing of the Fleet by the local Bishop. Very cool and not too much rain until the festivities were completed. The rain became a steady downpour in the afternoon and Doug cleaned teak while I paid bills, updated the website and baked cookies for the pig roast. I awoke to the sound of logs and debris battering our hull around 2 AM but there was nothing to do about it until morning when we found ourselves surrounded by solid debris, including a railroad tie with 4″ spike sticking out of it, a 50 gallon drum, a pallet, and several good sized trees as well as smaller logs and vegetation. We cleared what we could ourselves and finally the dockhands brought out the Gump to help drag away some of the larger logs and railroad tie. Decompressing arrived as we were clearing debris and getting ready to move our boat and that brightened our day. We eventually moved to a new dock where we would be comfortable leaving the boat for a week while we go home, stopping to pumpout and top off our diesel on the way. Then we cleaned up and were ready to relax and enjoy the Pig Roast and band. We enjoyed the company of Loraine, Steve, Nancy & Jim, June & Eugene on Barefoot Jones and Grant & Sharon on Call Me Curly and had a wonderful evening! Monday morning, Vince picked us up about 11 AM and we headed to the Albany airport for a week at home while we wait for the Erie Canal to open. On June 16, we flew back to Albany (Vince was waiting when we arrived) and spent the next day getting ready to head up to Troy to begin our Erie Canal adventure. Lunch at the Halfway House Tavern in Ravena and a trip to the local hardware store took most of the afternoon as we depended on Uber to take us to and fro.

June 18, 2025 Donovan’s Shady Harbor, New Baltimore to Troy Downtown Marina 18.3 NM, 2:37 h, 7.8 kn. We departed Donovan’s around 9 AM for a relaxing cruise up the Hudson to Troy. We passed Albany along the way and a tour boat full of school kids who made us feel like celebrities with their waves and cheering. We were hoping to beat the rain that was forecast and miraculously it never rained! After securing the boat and receiving our wine delivery from the FedEx man, a huge thank you to our dear friends, Craig and Melanie for their kindness and generosity, we went for a walking tour of downtown Troy, stopping at Dinosaur BBQ for lunch – delicious, the Veteran’s Memorial – impressive, the cutest hardware store of our loop so far and the Uncle Sam Monument – he was a real patriot who at the age of 14 joined the Continental Army and provided meat for the troops throughout the war. We enjoyed the music of a U-2 cover band playing at the bar above our dock from our boat until our dinner reservation at the Roosevelt Room. Dinner was delicious and our server Javier made it entertaining as well. We changed our plans again and decided to only stay one night in Troy due to a high winds forecast for Friday. Tomorrow we start the Erie Canal!

July 19, 2025 Troy Downtown Marina to Mohawk Harbor Schenectady 19.5 NM, 5:53 h, 5.8 kn. Today we locked through the Troy Federal Lock, Erie Canal Locks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (The Flight of Five) and 7. It was an absolutely beautiful day to begin our Erie Canal Adventure! We were at the Troy Lock before it opened at 7 AM and at Erie Canal Lock 2 (there is no number 1, when they rebuilt the canal they did not renumber the locks and Lock # 1 was eliminated) before it opened at 8 AM. We breezed through the flight of five using cables and lines and improvised with a ladder and boat hook when we found ourselves without the expected cable. With the help of Ted on refraiche and Bob on Livin It, we tied up safely in Mohawk Harbor and went out to explore Schenectady, The Electric City (and birthplace of GE). We met a delightful local bar owner, TC at BL’s Tavern and tried Stewart’s Ice Cream. We returned from our walking tour in the 94* heat ready to cool off and for me a nap. We enjoyed a late light dinner at Shaker & Vine at the Harbor and slept well. On Friday, we stayed put due to high winds in the forecast and rode our bikes on the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Trail to Max410 for a wonderful lunch and to Schenectady Yacht Club to pick up an Amazon package (a 2nd boat hook) that was delivered there. It was another good day.

June 21, 2025 Mohawk Harbor Schenectady to St. Johnsville Municipal Marina 42 NM, 8:24 h, 6.7 kn, and 8 locks! Today was a long but good day! We departed Mohawk Harbor Marina about 7:24 AM along with Livin It and Claude, the delivery captain on a powercat. We fell in behind another boat that was passing the entrance to the marina and followed him up to the 1st lock of the day. It was a gloriously beautiful day and we fell into a pretty easy routine of cruising and locking. We arrived at St. Johnsville earlier than anticipated – YAY! and tied up to the wall with our friends on Livin It rafting off of us. Franny, the dockmaster helped us pump out (we didn’t really need to but it proved to be fortuitous choice) and we connected to shore power and water. It was our first time using rings on a wall to tie off and the dockhands made it easy. Franny arranged a ride for us, Robin & Bob (Livin It) and Trent (a solo looper on a jet ski) to Riepepi’s for dinner and after dinner the restaurant dishwasher gave us a ride back to the marina. It was a hoot!

June 22, 2025 St. Johnsville Municipal Marina to Lock E-16 St. Johnsville Lock Wall (free wall, no amenities) 1.3 NM, :53 h, 3.2 kn. After a night of rain and thunderstorms, we left the marina after letting our friends on Livin It loose about 7:35 AM. We followed Ionis, Livin It and Trent up to the next lock, Lock 16, which was part of the canal system that had damage and held up the opening of the Erie Canal until June 13th. There were 6 boats on the wall and another anchored so we were # 9 for the 8 AM lockage. They are currently only locking 1 group of boats through at 8 AM, 10 AM, 12 PM, 2 PM & 4 PM each day due to infrastructure issues and seepage in the embankment between locks 16 & 17. It’s about 8 miles from 16 to 17 and this section has a 5 MPH speed limit so Lock 17 opens to westbound traffic at 8, 10, 12, 2, 4 & 6 each day. The lock opened at 8 AM as scheduled and all the boats proceeded in and grabbed lines. Unfortunately, we were the last boat and we didn’t quite fit (a foot or 2 too long) and the gates wouldn’t close. So, we backed up, waved goodbye to our friends on Livin It and tied up to the lock wall to wait for the 10 AM opening. At 9:14 AM the New York State Canal Corporation issued a NOTAM closing Locks 16 – 22 until further notice due to high waters and electrical outages. We found out later that not only were there severe thunderstorms and 2.5 inches of rain, there was a tornado that touched down about 40 miles west of us killing 3 people and causing massive power outages and wind damage. That certainly puts our delay and inconvenience in perspective. We made the most of our surprise stop with no shore power, water hookups, pumpout facilities or bathrooms and counted our blessings. It was the perfect opportunity to cook some good dinners and enjoy some excellent wine (So grateful for our dear friends, Craig & Melanie!). Locktails and pizza (so thankful for leftovers) with the other boats stranded on the wall was a hoot, the group started a pool of guesses as to when the locks will reopen (our guess proved ridiculously optimistic) and we utilized the nearby bike trail for walks and a nearby spring water access point for icy cold water bottle refills along the way. We dinghyed back to St. Johnsville for lunch and bought the last loaf of bread at the gas station. And we met some interesting people, got some good book recommendations and have even more stories to tell.

June 25, 2025 Erie Canal Lock 16 East Wall to Little Falls Marina – Rotary Park 7.7 NM, 2:15 h, 6.8 kn. Further Notice finally came! Our 2 hour wait turned in to an 80 hour wait. On Tuesday afternoon, we heard from the lock admin that we would be allowed to lock through locks 16 & 17 on Wednesday afternoon at 4. They would only allow the 9 boats tied up since Sunday morning to go through on Wednesday and would open to all boat traffic at 8 AM on Thursday. We were hoping notice might come sooner rather than later on Wednesday that the lock was opening for us and sure enough around 2 PM the lockmaster called our group into the lock. Woohoo!!! We were moving again. All 9 boats on the wall squeezed in to the lock, they had added 2 more lines since Sunday morning, and we were on our way. Since we were first in and first out, we were also in the first group of 5 to make it through lock 17 after the 5 mph speed limit between 16 and 17 due to damage to the embankment earlier this summer. We were the only boat in the first group to stop in Little Falls so we had no problem finding dock space at the town dock at Rotary Park. After a bit of a fiasco tying up (the dockmaster did not secure the bowline and it let loose while we were securing the stern – wild!) we got off the boat and headed in to town to see what there was to see. It was SO hot, we stopped at a little local bar on Main St. and met some locals while we cooled off. What a HOOT! The bartender, Jenna, recommended Trattoria Giorgio, where the owner of the dive bar we were in, Jessica, tends bar on Wednesdays, for dinner so we continued on to there. We had an absolutely wonderful time. Ody was there, providing live music and entertainment, we tried the local delicacy, Long Hots, and Jessica and the other locals at the bar kept us laughing. The highlight of the night was Doug & I winning the grand prize at music trivia – a loaf of sourdough bread as big as your head! It was good to be out again after our 4 days/3 nights stranded at the lock wall.

6/26/25 Little Falls Rotary Park to Ess-Kay Yards Brewerton 60.9 NM, 9:53 h, 7.6 kn, 5 locks and Lake Oneida We departed Little Falls bright and early with hopes of making the first lock through at Lock 18. We did not make the first group (only 7 boats fit) but the turn around was pretty quick and we were soon on our way. Patiently relaxing and enjoying the ride under gray and sometimes rainy skies. Locking was pretty easy with a group of 4 – 6 boats all day. There were shallow spots, lots of trees down in the areas hit by Sunday morning’s tornado and channel markers off station. We kept it all in perspective and had a good day. After Rome, the high spot on the canal, we began locking down instead of up which caught us off guard at first but we soon got in sync and did just fine. There was a long no wake zone near Sylvan Beach but once through it, we cruised a little faster across the choppy waters (2 -3 feet on the stern) of Lake Oneida as the winds picked up. When we arrived at Ess-Kay Yards in Brewerton, we tied up to the fuel dock for the night and pumped out our holding tank and topped off our diesel. Margie and Doug picked us up in their dinghy and we cruised across the river/canal to The Wildhorse Bar and Grille for dinner. It was awesome catching up again and we said goodnight and goodbye with the hope we would see them again in the 1000 Islands.

6/27/25 Ess-Kay Yards Brewerton to Oswego Best Western/Dockside 27.7 NM, 6:25 h, 6.4 kn, 8 locks! We finished the Erie and Oswego Canals today and are now tied up at the dock looking out at Lake Ontario! We departed Ess-Kay Yards after picking thousands of mayflies off the boat. We arrived at Lock 23 – the last of our portion of the Erie Canal, an hour early and waited patiently for close to an hour for it to open at 8 AM. There was a group of 4 boats for the first opening. We continued on the Erie Canal observing the No Wake Rules (around docks, canal walls and when passing other boaters) and 10 mph speed limit. At Three Rivers Junction, 3 boats, including us headed north on the Oswego Canal. The winds kicked up for our last 3 locks (very close together in Oswego) and made it quite sporty to lock through. We arrived in Oswego and considered ourselves extremely lucky to have found space on the dock wall with shore power and water. What a win! Ed and Marietta on Sweet Dreams helped us tie up and in appreciation of their help we shared half the loaf of our sourdough bread. For the very first time on the loop we hauled our laundry to a laundromat. It was too bad and I learned that the big 60 pound washers are pretty awesome but also more expensive at $6/load to wash! After laundry, we showered, poured some wine into our Yeti cups and went for a walk on the dock running in to Rick & Jennifer on Iron Marriage and Amy & David on Selah Way. The lockmaster at Lock 8 discouraged them from going through due to high winds and sporty conditions so they stayed between Lock 7 and Lock 8 on the lock wall. Later Ed & Marietta joined us on our flybridge to listen to live music from Dockside (it was perfect) and share stories from the loop and our pre-loop lives. We had a blast! On Saturday, we walked around town after doing some chores and later in the day were joined in Oswego by Her IV and Sweet Melissa, what a wonderful surprise. We had dinner at Dockside and enjoyed the live music from our fly bridge once again while we swapped stories.

June 29, 2025 Oswego Dockside/Best Western to Clayton Harbor Municipal Marina 56 NM, 4:42 h, 12.6 kn. We left the dock a little before 8 AM and hit some pretty big rollers as we left the river and entered Lake Ontario. 2 – 3 foot waves for the 1st hour and then 1 foot for the rest of our cruise across Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River and on up to Clayton where we will stay for 2 nights. We walked around town and enjoyed Sunday Brunch at Bella’s complete with live jazz. We had dinner at the Thousand Islands Hotel with Margie and Doug and celebrated Margie and my birthdays a little belatedly. We sat outside and it was beautiful! A glorious sunset, the first we’d seen in a while. On Monday, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise about 4:55 AM and then went back to sleep. We went to the Antique Boat Museum with our friends on Her IV and Sweet Melissa and then the 6 of us enjoyed lunch outside at Bella’s. We had a relaxing afternoon walking to the post office, reading and walking to Channelside for dinner where we enjoyed more live music and chatting with the bartenders. While we were walking home we ran into a group from our days on the Lock 16 wall standing in line at the ice cream store. We shared some laughs and discussed who won the “When will we get through the locks?” pool, then we went back to the boat, relaxed and watched “Blindspot” on Netflix.

July 1, 2025 Clayton Harbor Municipal Marina to Thousand Islands Club, Wellesly Island 9.1 NM, 1:23 h, 8.2 kn. After pumping out our holding tank in Clayton, we cruised up the St. Lawrence River/Seaway through some of the 1000 islands – very beautiful, cool houses and so peaceful. Unfortunately the skies were gray but that did not dampen our enthusiasm. Once we were tied up safely for the next 6 days, we did some laundry and cleaned the boat. Chris (an air conditioning repair guy recommended by Dometic, who we found out later was the best friend and bandmate of our boat broker, Anthony) showed up to look at our master air conditioner around 6 PM and got it running again, YAY! We had a lovely dinner at the TI Club with our friends, Barb and Mike (Sweet Melissa) and Margie and Doug (Hers IV) and said farewell to Sweet Melissa as they were leaving in the next morning. Over the next several days, we explored the islands by dinghy, visited Boldt Castle and Yacht House, went to Alexandria Bay for lunch and relaxed in the pool. Anthony (our boat broker) and his girlfriend, Abby, visited us for a tour of the boat and dinner at the TI Club. It turns out Anthony is somewhat of a celebrity there as a former employee and entertainer. His band, On the Fly, has played several big parties at the club. We celebrated the 4th of July at the TI Club with our friends on Hers IV, Livin’ It, Decompressing and Shay Chalet II and had a blast! Malinda & Keith on Sea Cottage joined our group for the 4th of July Fish Fry but dinghyed back to their boat before the fireworks show over Boldt Castle.