"Is that two kayaks...with a sail?"

Got on the water just before sunrise today after a night of being woken up several times by trains blaring their whistles fifteen feet from where we were sleeping. We met up with a friend I got to know in planning this trip, Bill Quick. He was pivotal in planning the Erie Canal and Hudson river portions of this trip, as he is experienced in paddling both waterways and gave us a lot of good advice during the planning process. We passed a really neat old castle as well as some beautiful mountains that rose directly up from the riverbanks. It felt like we had our own personal tour guide as we paddled from Newburgh to Cold Spring with Bill. He pointed out all of the features of the area, giving us detailed history and other interesting background information. He's even writing a guide-style book on the Hudson that sounds like it will be pretty awesome when it's finished.

After lunch at Cold Spring, Jay and I decided to take advantage of the steady wind at our backs, so we attached the boats and put up the sail. We even had an audience as we did so. Some day trip kayakers were very interested in Boldy and watched the whole process involved in getting the boats hooked up and underway. We bid farewell to Bill and then let the wind do the work for a bit. A couple of guys on jetskis provided us with the title of this post. They were staring at us for a while, probably trying to figure out what we were as we sailed towards them just before we passed West Point.

The wind died down just as we got to the bridge at Bear Mountain, so we unhooked the boats and paddled the rest of the way to our campsite for the night at Croton Point. It's a beautiful evening looking out over Haverstraw Bay, and if we look south we can see the Tappan Zee bridge in the distance. We'll be paddling under it tomorrow on our way to Yonkers, our next destination.

~Shannon

Marlboro Yacht Club

After a short day on Monday we woke up ealy to catch the tide on its way out today. I didnt't even hear the alarm and we ended up getting on the water at 6:30 instead of 5:00. Everything worked out anyway. We paddled for a few hours in the rain and then took a break for some food and a nap. We had one of the greatest camp sites of our entire trip! It was a secluded site with a gazebo to hang our hammpcks under. It was a little sad to have to leave the area after only a few hours. The rest of the day was a lot dryer but very hot. We made it under our first suspension bridge of the river near Poughkeepsie which was pretty cool and then we found ourselves at the Marlboro Yacht Club. All the people here are so friendly. They all came by to say hello and ask about our trip. One man gave us a menu for a great pizza place down the road which was amazing! We even got to shower! We have been extremely fortunate with all the great people we have run into along the way. I know I have said that before but it happens just about every other day. Tomorrow we are meeting up with a man name Bill that Shannon has been in contact with and he is going to kayak with us for a while as well as give us some fruit and toilet paper! Yay! Tonight our hammocks are hung from a jungle gym which is probably our most creative setup yet and worth sharing in my opinion. Another early start tomorrow means it is time to sleep. Good night!

-Jay

Change in Tides/Change in Plans

I'm not convinced that the Hudson River has a current. It seems more like it is a giant inlet to the Atlantic and is completely vulnerable to the changing tides. The river actually flows upstream as the tide comes in. As stupid as it sounds, we were paddling downstream and against the current for the better part of yesterday. Right now the tide starts to roll in during the late morning and finally starts to roll back out mid afternoon. This will change as the days pass but for now we are stuck with paddling against the tide during prime paddling time. Today we decided to sleep in and start later in the day so we can paddle going out with the tide and be well rested for tomorrow's plan. We hope to get up very early and catch the better part of the lowering tide and then pull over and take a nap after lunch and continue down the river once the tide is going out again later in the day. This will hopefully allow us to double dip a little on the falling tide and optimize paddle to distance ratio instead of spending our energy fighting against currents.

-Jay

Troy to Athens

We're in Greece. Booya.

: The Witch's Bwew

Hello Hudson

We made it to the Hudson River! It was sad to pass through the "Flight of Five" (The last five locks of the Erie Canal) but it feels so good to know that we have the current and no more locks. There was a nice island only a few miles down the river so we called it early and are looking forward to a good night sleep and hopefully an early departure tomorrow morning. I love that I am in my hammock and the sun is not down yet! I also love all the texts I get from various friends. You all are great and its really good to hear from you!

-Jay

Who needs to paddle when you can sail?

We never expected to be able to put in a full day of sailing on the canal, but we certainly took advantage of the blustery conditions today. The banks of the canal were a veritable blur as we sped downstream, Boldy the Beluga Whale cutting through the whitecaps as Jay and I sat back and let the sail and wind do most of the work. We caught up to our canoeing friends, too. They were also taking advantage of the wind with their giant umbrella held by John sitting in the prow of the canoe as Doug steered in the back.

Going through the locks was a bit hairy for us. Our sail would be trying to pull us forward as we hung on to the rope on the side of the lock, attempting to keep our boats from running into the forward door of the lock. We nearly lost our boom to the depths of one of the lock chambers. This being the first day we used our sail while going through the locks, we received a lot of compliments on our odd little vessel, and two lockmasters had a dilemma as to how they should classify our boat. Boldy certainly is one of a kind.

Tonight we're camping in another nice backyard just east of Scotia, and tomorrow we'll make it to the Hudson if all goes well. No highway and freight trains nearby to keep us awake tonight, so we ought to be well-rested for a good day of paddling tomorrow.

~ Shannon

Erie Canal Video from Michael Miller

Thanks Uncle Mike!