Cruising with Crossroads: North of Albany to End Week 3

Day 21 | Kingston to Menands | 50 Miles | 6.3 Hours

We cast off from Kingston City Marina at 6:30 and exited the Rondout Creek jetties into the Hudson. The 2-knot current was assisting our progress and we routinely saw boat speeds in excess of 9-knots -- fast for us. Our first point of interest was the Saugerties Lighthouse (below, left) which is unique in the fact that it is an active Bed & Breakfast destination. A short distance up-river we passed the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse (below, center). Its mission is to guide traffic around the Middle Ground Flats. Also spotted along the way were several furnaces and smokestacks positioned along the riverbank. I'm not sure of their history, but they were interesting to observe.

Time passed quickly and we did not yet want to call it a day, so we kept going. Before we knew it we were entering the refinery district south of Albany. We had been following the Interlink Nobility from a distance all morning. As we rounded the bend we discovered that the large, empty bulk carrier was in the process of being spun 180-degrees by two tugboats for docking and loading. We hung back until we were notified all was clear and we passed starboard to starboard.

The Albany skyline came into view.

The criss-crossing of highways along the river reminded me of Shockoe Bottom in Richmond. The "Historic Albany" sign was a nice touch even though all we could see was a seawall and highway. The ornate building is part of the State University of New York (SUNY).

At this point we had travelled a great deal past our planned destination and found ourselves facing a bridge with a 25-feet clearance. We found no air draft markers on the bridge, so we hastily decided to error on the side of caution and lower our two antennae and the mast. Barry scurried up to the flybridge while I kept Crossroads away from the railroad bridge by driving in circles at a slow rate of speed. We passed under the span with plenty of room to spare, but the practice was good. We have plenty more low bridges to navigate in the next couple of days. Just like on our sailboat, its difficult to judge clearance heights, but with enough experience you at least begin to trust the numbers. When needed, we can lower the mast and remove our bimini to clear a 15 bridge.

Adrenaline was still flowing, but it was 1:00. We found a nice little spot on the west shore of the Hudson to pull over and anchor for the night. The lush green trees disguise the fact that Interstate 787 lies just on their opposite side. We hear the low rumble of traffic and could occasionally make out the branding on a fast-moving tractor trailer through a break in the foliage. Target was moving a lot of inventory today.

The sky, however, was blue and the water still, making for great reflections. We had a quick bite of lunch, did a little reading/napping, then lowered the dinghy and went for a quick spin around Crossroads. We had not used the dinghy since Chesapeake City, almost two weeks ago, and wanted to give it a run. Our wake made for interesting ripples on the water.