Sailing on the Hudson

Maggie's Boat "Incredible"

Yesterday I went to visit my friend Maggie and to see her new boat. The three of us me, Carly and Maggie took a ride up to George Washington Bridge and back. It was a gorgeous day...a little chilly but great sailing. It is good to see the excitement in Maggie as she has been for so long wanting to buy a boat and do what she is doing now. She was on the waiting list for a while now for a slip at 79th st boat basin...well it was her turn and she needed a boat to put in it.

Capt'n Maggie

Carly

Me

The Hudson has a lot of factors affecting your sailing day. We have to go out just before high tide and be back only a few hours after high tide otherwise its too shallow to get back to the slip. The wind is very shifty not to mention its a river so tacking is often. Barges, Coast Guard and ferries are frequently passing by. Also we were keeping eye out for the "dead body" of someone who jumped off the GW bridge or was it the Tapenzee bridge?

Barge with Subway cars

(Pictures of people done by Carly...edited by me)

Artists of NYC

Marta and Dror

Anthony

Marta my 8 month pregnant Brazilian friend from Bronx-leb, her husband Dror and their friend Anthony came for an afternoon sail this past Saturday. I have now been exposed to some of the artist of NY. Besides Marta being a Nurse she is a Belly Dancer. Dror (Israeli) is a Sculptor and makes Fine Jewelry. Anthony (from St. Maarten) is a watercolor Artist. It was breath of fresh air to spend time with those that use the other side of the brain. Thank you all for coming.

Marta and Dror near their home in Brooklyn NY.

Chanty being blown in the North Easterly

Sailing with Freinds

This was my crew today. My friend Kojo from work back at Bronx-leb came with his friend Mike. I also invited Carly and later Aggie sort of last minute. This group was a good group with a lot of laughing. You will soon find out why.

Our natural helmsman, Agatha

Since there was hardly any wind...well no wind...we went off to the closest beach, threw the anchor and went for a swim. We all eventually made it in the water some with a lot of encouragement. Kojo and Mike are not the worlds best swimmers. Mike however was brave and jumped in after Aggie and I, and practically drowned. Here he is hanging on for dear life to the boat.
Once we got out in the water...we realized that I never put the ladder back on since I was doing a little sanding earlier in the day. So here is GI Agatha getting back in.
After a deal with Carly that she would jump in with her cloths on...(no swim suit along) Kojo promised he would go in. Carly went in but Kojo didn't. Finally after a life jacket, a life ring, 2 fenders that float and a ton encouragement Kojo made the plunge. It was the highlight of the whole trip...not to mention the most laughing by all.
Here you can witness that it was impossible for Kojo to drown.
And here you can see Kojo getting more comfortable in the water. Kojo...for not knowing how to swim and getting in water that you can't see the bottom...I am proud to see you went in!

Mike at the helm

Kojo at the helm still wearing his life jacket

Trusty Carly

Ghana friends Kojo and Mike

Sunset

French Sailors

I noticed a few days ago this steel hulled boat anchored out side of Consolidated. It looked like it had seen a lot of ocean. On my out to scrub the bottom of the Catalina, I stopped over to see if they needed anything. I met Julien and Anyes (pretty sure i am spelling this wrong) on "La Mandragore," a couple from France. It was such a delight to meet some real young cruising sailors. We exchanged websites and later they came in to see about where they could find a mooring for a week with facilities for some family that will be coming to visit them for a week. We are meeting again tonight for dinner.
So here is Chanty in her current home. I scrubbed her bottom after the Catalina. The Catalina was very bad, lots of barnacles leaving me with cuts and scrapes on my hands. Thank goodness I have a wet suit. It was covered in wiggly squirmy bugs by the time I was done. When I was out of the water for a bit, I could feel them wiggling in my hair. baa a a a...too bad I wasn't finished yet. Another time I took in a mouthful of the bug infested waters. That was really bad...I can just image them clinging on my intestine walls sucking my blood...I hope I don't die.

Any way, then went to finish up Chanty which was super easy compared to the Catalina with only a thin layer of grime and not barnacles yet. Then went to go take a very thorough shower.

Work has been great! I feel like a broken record but it is like heaven compared to Bronx-leb. I have no complaints.

What else? Oh yes, the first week of October my good friend Ursula and I are going to deliver the Catalina to Yarmouth, NS. This is sort of a half way point to Newfoundland where the new owner is. The new owner is Steve, who helped me the first few days of my trip from Newfoundland. Yarmouth happens to be the calculated point I can get to with the amount of time that I have. From there I leave her to Steve to take care of and say goodbye.