Half Moon Happy!

Half Moon Bay Marina, Croton-on-Hudson, NY – Monday, 6/14

The weather was forecasted to be rainy all day, but that wasn’t going to keep us from leaving today. With Maine as our final destination, we knew it was time to start heading that way again. We left Shady Harbor Marina just before 8:00 am and headed down the Hudson River, for the first time ever. It started out drizzling, but eventually stopped and we had almost no rain the rest of the way.

Our journey took us passed all the sights we had written about in prior posts, but this time we did not stop, including Kingston. Our goal was to get to Haverstraw Bay and spend the night somewhere there. It was a bit different seeing some of the sites from a different perspective, especially around West Point and Bear Mountain. Here the low-lying clouds and slight fog provided a whole different look and feel to this area.

Along the way Denise worked on cataloging pictures and writing part of the blog updates. Periodically, Mark even let her drive. For most of the day we had the current in our favor and since most of the Hudson is protected, the southern wind was not really an issue. It got a little bumpy around Newburgh where the Hudson opens up for a bit, as it did in Haverstraw Bay. Here we again stopped at Panco to top off the boat with fuel before settling in on a destination for the night. We could go back to Shattemuck Yacht Club in Ossining, but we wanted a few more offerings (grocery, restaurant, etc.) than they had to offer. We had been in touch with Steve, the dockmaster at Half Moon Bay Marina (HMB), and remembering us from prior visits, gave us a favorable rate for a 2-night stay.

So, just after 1:00 pm we pulled into Half Moon Bay and docked on a side-tie slip that was as far in (and protected) as we could go. This was a good location for us, hoping the breakwater wall and other boats behind would offer protection from the coming west winds. Steve was there to greet us and help with the tie-up, and when Mark mentioned that Denise wanted to run up to the store, he offered a ride.

Mark settled into some work and Denise went to Apple Farm; a small grocery store with fresh produce, a deli, seafood and meat counter. It is like a miniaturized version of Whole Foods. She walked the half-mile back to the boat for exercise, before settling into emails, work and blog updating.

In the afternoon, Looper Herb (“Phantom”) pulled into the marina, and we were surprised. He too is headed to Maine and left Shady Harbor earlier in the day, but had told us he was stopping in Newburgh. Herb is a Platinum Looper (meaning he has done the Great Loop at least twice) and is known throughout the AGLCA for his “Porchtails” – “docktails” on the back of his boat every afternoon. He always has snacks and stories to tell. As usual, he invited all the Loopers in HMB to his boat, so we obliged, mainly to meet some of the other Loopers we did not know. There were about 5 boats who were unable to make it to the Pig Roast, and who were trying to decide what to do should Canada not reopen the borders again this year. This has hampered so many Loopers in the last two years and we feel for these people.

Again it started to drizzle, and realizing we had left the boat hatches open, Mark suggested we leave. We wished all who were leaving the next day a safe journey up the Hudson, and said good-bye to Herb who was headed up Long Island Sound. We may bump into him when we are cruising the Maine coast.

On the way back to the boat, we met Rosie & Clarke Gillespie on “Alegria”; a boat we had passed on the ICW weeks ago. It was fun to meet them (finally) and to learn we shared the same last name. Due to the rain we did not stay long talking and were hopeful our paths may one-day cross again. We returned to the boat for a dinner of leftovers and watching TV before calling it a night.

Half Moon Bay Marina, Croton-on-Hudson, NY – Tuesday, 6/15

It was a beautiful morning and the weather begged for being outside, so Denise went for a run along the water. Here there is a path that leads around the condominiums, to Croton Point Park, and back towards a 9-11 memorial in the other direction. Having run here before, she knew the route and was able to log almost 5 miles on nice flat land.

Once back on the boat, Denise worked on getting a blog post together while Mark did some itinerary planning. We had already identified certain locations (Sag Harbor & Montauk, NY; Block Island, RI, etc.) we want to go to on our way north, and we were trying to secure a marina or mooring for the July 4^th weekend in the southern Massachusetts area.

During the day the wind from the west picked up and the boats in the marina really started to rock. We were bouncing a good bit most of the afternoon, making it difficult to get any reading or writing done for Denise. At one point she went for walk around the marina and adjacent condominium grounds just to get off the boat. When she returned, Mark was talking with “Rick” (“RAMA”) who is originally from Rhode Island. He and his wife Marie are Loopers and he shared his knowledge of Block Island with us. He has long-time friends who live there and he put us in touch with them so we may have a resource once we get there.

Finally in the evening we decided to go out to dinner and get off the boat. We decided to try a restaurant that came highly recommended and was about a mile away just north of the marina. We had to walk first on the pathway Denise had run on in the morning, then take the crosswalk over the freeway and train tracks, then down the street to a small little neighborhood. Here we found The Tavern at Croton Landing and had a wonderful meal in this small but delightful pub.

On the way back we to the boat, we stopped at Croton Landing Park to enjoy the sunset and view. There is no doubt the setting sun over the tops of the mountains on a clear day is quite spectacular. We made it back to the boat just as the sun kissed the earth, ending the day happy that we had stopped here.