Mon. Sept. 22, 2008

It's a beautiful morning, ah, ha! Beach Boys' song right. Truly, it is & an early one at that. All 4 of us ( Sweet Chariot, Waterparke, Celtic Cross & Sandcastle) are on the move at 0700. We are approaching Lock 1 which is a Federal Lock; no one knows why. There is no charge. We enter tha lock at 0750 & are out at 0805, & motor on down the Hudson passing Troy on the east bank & Watervleit on the west. Soon Albany is in sight & down at the harbourfront we see a tall ship & naval destroyer. The river depth is 20-45 ft. Water temp. is 20C. At about 1130 we are at Castleton-on-Hudson, a distance of 16.2nm where we plan to step the mast, lower the dinghy from the bow deck, put on sails & tune the rigging. A very busy spot; there were 3 other boats that had use of the crane before us. Three of us got done by dusk; the 4th will be done the next am at 0800. At this location you can mast yourself fo $50.00. We also pumped out for the first time (free) & fuelled up (diesel-$5.00 per gallon x 14 gallons); mooring out on balls on the west side of the river is $5.00 per night, were as we decided to tie up at dockside (space was very limited) for $49.50 taxes in; this will probably be our last time for a while so we are taking advantage of this kind of luxury.