Spreek je Nederlands?

Do you speak Dutch? Not really, but we learned a few words and expressions when a flotilla of Dutch sailing vessels arrived at the Albany Yacht Club on Sunday, September 20th. They sailed to Albany to cap off the Hudson River Quadricentennial before returning to the Netherlands. The Dutch vessels will be loaded on a transport ship in early October for the journey across the Atlantic to their homeland.

We rolled out the red carpet and scrambled to move boats to provide space for them to tie up at the Club. They returned the favor by welcoming us aboard their ships and regaling us with their stories. Their sailing vessels are like works of art. Here are a few photos.

Cruising is for the Dogs!

Bella here.

So, here's a play-by-play account of our cruise from the only point of view that matters - MINE! There's much to be said for our trip:

• Because we were captive to this 42' vessel, I got lots of attention and a heavy dose of dog treats.
• We stopped at many cool places I've never been so I got to do you know what to make my mark.
• Some eateries were very accommodating and dog friendly - more on that later.
• Nothing beats the sunny breeze rustling my floppy ears and the sound of waves lapping on the hull.

There are, however, some downsides for those of us of the animal persuasion:

• Cap'n Mike likes to cruise all day long and I can't go all day long, if you know what I mean.
• The docks at most marinas are not dog-friendly - got my paws stuck between the slats in a few places.
• There's lots of walking involved when we go sight-seeing, so I just pretend I'm tired so they'll carry me everywhere.

Here are my favorite photos from the cruise.

Do you see a pattern here? I'm mostly lounging or being carried. We stopped at a few restaurants along the way. For all you dog cruisers, here are my reviews:

• Steel Pier Restaurant, Kingston - 3 paws: They let me dine at a table on the deck overlooking Rondout Creek. Food and service were good.
• Hudson Water Club Restaurant, Haverstraw - 0 paws: I was denied access - not a dog-friendly establishment.
• Liberty House Restaurant, Liberty Landing - 4 paws: Excellent five star restaurant with a spectacular view of the Hudson River and lower Manhattan. I dined on the patio and was lorded over by the staff. This place is great. And, they know a classy dog when they see one.

The Cruise to Nowhere

Sailing...the fine art of getting wet and becoming ill while slowly going nowhere at great expense.

Our Summer 2009 cruise was supposed to be to Block Island for a few days of rest and relaxation. Last minute scheduling conflcts shortened our curise window from two weeks to 10 days so we scaled back our plans and set our sight on Long Island Sound and the north shore of Long Island. Even this abbreviated cruise was not meant to be, but I'm getting adhead of the story.

Bad weather delayed our departure a day and we finally cast off mid-morning on a partly cloudy August 29th. The run from Albany Yacht Club to Kingston was uneventful. We turned up Rondout Creek and tied up at the Hudson River Maritime Museum's dock behind a spectacular schooner, the Belle Adventure. Here are a few photos of the Belle Adventure and our stay at Kingston.



The second day we continued down river past the West Point Military Academy. This section of the Hudson River offers spectacular views of the Catskill Mountains. Just north of West Point, the Bear Mountain Bridge spans the River.

Our destination was Haverstraw Marina located north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. This is a large marina (1,000+ slips) on the west side of Haverstraw Bay. We grabbed a slip on the T-dock, enjoyed a relaxing evening and turned in early so we could get an early start on the third leg of the trip down the Hudson River to New York Harbor.

We arrived at New York Harbor late afternoon on Tuesday and pulled into Liberty Landing Marina to take on fuel. That's when the excitement began. As we were topping off the starboard tank, the fuel dock attendant asked us to quickly move Serena to her slip so a large motor yacht could dock and take on fuel. Admiral Mary went to start the diesel and it was totally dead. We had experienced this starting problem in the past and was told by a mechanic in Annapolis that it was most likely the neutral safety switch on the transmission lever. Jiggling the lever had always solved the problem. However, nothing seemed to work this time.

We summoned a mechanic who fiddled a bit with the wires and starter switch. The diesel finally started, but the mechanic had no idea why. So, we moved Serena to her slip and decided to stay in New York Harbor a couple of days to regroup and find a Yanmar (the make of our diesel) repair facility.

New York Harbor is always exciting. Liberty Landing Marina is located in New Jersey directly across the Harbor from Lower Manhanntan and just above the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There's a large park with scenic walkways along the Harbor. Here are a few photos and a panoramic view of the Harbor from Liberty Landing Park. Double click on the panaromic shot to see a larger view.




We departed Liberty Landing early Thursday morning and headed back to Haverstraw Marina where we had located a Yanmar service facility on the internet. The folks at Samalot Marine Service were fantastic. We arrived at 2PM and they quickly dispatched a mechanic to check out our starting problem. After about an hour of checking and testing, the mechanic determined that we needed to replace the starter switch, tighten a loose cable connection at the main battery switch, and clean up some corrosion where the main ground cable attaches to the engine block. Our trusty Yanmar now starts like a champ. We're confident the starting problem we've had since 2002 is finally solved.

By the way, the mechanic was quick to point out that our vessel does NOT have a neutral safety switch. Much to Bella's delight, it would appear our wiggling of the shift lever all these years has been nothing more than a human illustration of the phenomenon of classical conditioning made famous by Pavlov's dogs!

We stayted an extra day at Haverstraw to relax and then continued our journey up the Hudson River. We stopped for a night at the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club and then made the final run to Albany, arriving at the Albany Yacht Club about 5PM on Sunday, September 6th.