What luck ... 3 Looper boats pulled into Catskill Marina by us for 2 days. Great, fun folks all from Florida and traveling the Loop together. They told us about a weekend Steak & Lobster Bake at a yacht club up river. The deal sounded to good to be true, but what the heck. We quickly decided this was a great way to slow ourselves down and not race up to the Erie canal which had closed for days as the current was deemed unsafe for boats. With no one moving there ... no reason for us to go quite yet. We will let the crowds move on, free up dock space for us and let the water calm down. Well, that's the plan anyway.
Before we left Catskill ... Some trawlers/power boats needed to lower their radar masts to fit under upcoming bridges.
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| Radar mast lowered back so the boat fits under upcoming bridges Both the Erie & the Champlain routes have low bridges Erie ... 21' (which we fit under & where we are going) Champlain ... 17'6" (not going that way) |
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| Mast lowered on neighbor boat (left); ours is still up (right) |
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| Here's what a sailboat looks like with their mast lowered & stored on the boat. Quite odd. |
LOOPERS to the RESCUE - Along the way ... the 3 boats in front of us (friends traveling the loop together) spot a boat in distress. The boat had hit something and was taking on water. They all, Firestorm, Bad Habit & Kia Mae, circle to help. A plan is devised and Jim from Kia Mae drops his dinghy so he can tow the boat to shore. With that much help, there isn't anything we more we can do. We motor on knowing the 3 faster than us boats will catch up to us.
The Hudson is still beautiful ... even on a deary day
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| Our 3 Looper boat friends and a sailboat with mast down on deck |
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| LOTS of debris to watch out for in the water |
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| Lab Partners center of pic at RCYC |
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| Our view for the night; weather turned nice finally |
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| Cally enjoyed all the people and all the attention, too |
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| Fire pit both nights |
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| Our traveling friends by the fire pit, Cally, too. Though she looks like the donkey from Winnie the Pooh |
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| Steak & Lobster Bake!! |
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| Some of the crowd ... 330 for Saturday dinner |
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| Band Sat night |
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| Kids fishing tournament |
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| Band played to midnight ... we were back on the boat by 10 or so |
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| RCYC Note, the RV's to the right ... not everyone comes by boat |
Even with my mistake, it was a wonderful weekend. AND ... no cooking and no dishes!! Felt like a real vacation. The down time was fun for all.
The show didn't end there ... a boat ran aground on top of the sea wall that protects the docks we are on from the passing boat waves. There was an astronomical high tide because of the full moon and the sea wall was under water. HOWEVER, it is marked on charts (paper & electronic) and has danger buoys out, too.
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| the white boat is hard aground on the concrete /rock sea wall |
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| Kim on Kia Mae watching the show with the rest of us |
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| Fire boat pulling the wrong way |
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| Fire boat trying to help |
The line snaps as the original small boat trying to help pulls and the distress boat doesn't move. The helping boat called it quits and left. Our boats were to big to go help and be able to maneuver adequately and our dinghys were too small to be of any help. Sea Tow and Boat US (paid towing insurance companies; most boaters are a member) are too far away; the tide is going out and the boat won't be able to be pulled with the tide out; he will be high and dry. Members think this guy has 20-30 minutes before he can't get off.
Finally a fire boat pulls up to help, but still tries to pull him off the wrong way. It doesn't work. Then, this odd looking push boat with a small crane pulls up. The push boat pushes the boat in distress while the fire boat pulls and in the correct direction to get him in deeper water quicker.
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| Push boat arriving to help |
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| Push boat pushes and the fire boat pulls and he get off the wall See how far he is out of the water now compared to before |
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