42°12′51″ N 73°51′36″ W

Aug 9 – Catskill Marina

Yesterday afternoon we changed our destination to Catskill, NY. There were more choices for marinas here & the town also looked appealing in the cruising guide.

Photo above – looking back the channel towards the Hudson River from our dock at the Catskill Marina.

En route to the marina we passed several lighthouses that were not the conventional pillar with red & white stripes.

These lighthouses all look like small mansions. Not sure if they were ever lived in but they all look well maintained on the outside.

After we got settled in to the marina we took a walk through downtown Catskill which was only a couple of short blocks from where we were docked.

The downtown area is full of small restaurants, antique stores & curiosity shops. The town also has dozens of fiberglass cats perched on short posts along the sidewalk. Each cat has a different pose & is decorated differently from the others. The photo below shows Catherine standing beside “The Great Catsby”. This fellow was wearing spats & had a martini glass between his front paws.

Catherine had cooked Tikka Masala the night before, so we had that for dinner & then began planning the next day’s journey, which will take us through Albany & Troy & then to the entrance to the Erie Canal at Waterford. We also learned that we will have to take down the boat’s mast as it is too tall to pass under all of the fixed bridges along the canal.

The top of the boat’s mast is 28 1/2 feet above the water & the maximum clearance under the bridges is only 20 feet. We will stop for the night in Waterford & use the mast hoists there to help us with this task. Once the mast is down we will lay it along the side deck & keep it there until we exit the canal system at Oswego. Then we will put it back up again.

We got up at 6:00am this morning to a gentle, misty sunrise.

Before we had a chance to leave the dock a few of the local neighbors & their kids dropped by for breakfast. Catherine fed them all some Quinoa that she had cooked last night to go with the Tikka Masala. I was happy to share my portion of the leftovers with the ducks 🙂

By the time we were ready to cast off the mist had rolled in from the hills above & our visibility dropped to less than 100 meters. We got as far as the marina fuel dock & decided to tie up there until the sun cleared off the mist.

Time for a second cup of coffee for me & another tea for Catherine. The fuel dock opened up at 8:00am so we topped off our diesel tanks & pumped out our holding tank. By the time all that was done the sun had burned off the mist & we were able to get back underway.

Cheers!