Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends (both of you...you know who you are).

At the end of our last post I said, and I quote:

"We'll let you know how the ocean carriage and subsequent trip to Long Beach turned out in about 3 weeks.  If it doesn't go well, we'll welcome any friends courageous enough to stop by on visitors day at the La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Mexico."

I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version of the story by taking the statement above in reverse order.  Let me start by saying we are safely back in the USA and not in La Mesa.  This post is later than the promised three weeks because our boat was delivered 11 days late.  And we are in San Diego not Long Beach.

This might be a good point to hit the little "x" in the box at the upper right of this tab otherwise here comes the "War and Peace" version.

After we loaded Temptation on the mothership, M/V Arubaborg, in Fort Lauderdale, we drove back to Williamsburg.  Based on the shipping company's estimate of a Dec 12-14 delivery in Ensenada, we flew to Southern California around Dec 7 and bought a new car.  This is about when we got the news of the first ETA delay.  So we had some extra time to kill in Orange County.  This was not bad since we could spend time with the kids and grand kids.

The projected delays kept coming (with no explanation) while Arubaborg hung around the Panama Canal for about a week.  Canal transit takes about 10 hours so who knows what the hell they were doing.  The shipping company gave us an almost, final ETA so we headed off to San Diego to leave our car at our new marina.

Which brings me to an annoying California oddity.  In the last post I mentioned that we had narrowed our marina choice to two places in Long Beach Harbor.  As we were completing the paperwork at our 1st choice, the dock master mentioned that we could live aboard 12 days each month.  I asked what about the other 18 days and he gave me the government worker shrug.  We needed a live aboard permit for full time live aboard status.  Fine I said, what does it cost?  Cost isn't the issue, there is a 2 year waiting list.  I almost went full Joan Cusak from In and Out :  "..is there any other time you could have told me this?".  I had been speaking to this guy routinely for almost 2 months about docking our boat at his marina and he never mentioned this.  BTW this situation does not exist on the East Coast.  It turns out there are LA county restrictions, blah, blah, blah.  I'll stop now in case you haven't already set yourself on fire ( Airplane reference).

Leaving our car at our new marina in San Diego, we headed for customs in Tijuana.

We got thru customs without trauma and went on

Welcome to Mexico

to Ensenada about 65 miles south of the border.  

















We stayed at a nice resort hotel and waited for Temptation to sneak across the finish line.  

Hotel Coral - view from our balcony

The extra days let us explore Ensenada a bit.  The busts below are about 15 feet high and seem to be their equivalent of Mount Rushmore.  The guy on the left  is Benito Juarez.  I didn't recognize the other two.

Montar Prisa Mas

They delivered Temptation off the mothership on Christmas Day, late in the afternoon...11 days late.  Since it had been onboard for over three weeks with no electrical power, the engines wouldn't start and needed a tow to the closest marina.  We had anticipated this and weren't surprised.

Tow boat Captain Juanito

Ensenada harbor is a typical commercial harbor anywhere in the world.

Christmas Day in Mexico is very different than the USA.  It is a big fiesta and all the families are out at the street markets all day and long into the night.  There is music, dancing and lots of fun being had by all.  Most public places in the US are deserted on Christmas. 

On the day after Christmas, we headed to Mexican customs where we had to import our boat, get permission to leave Mexico and one other step that I still don't understand.  Luckily the hotel sent a guy with us to help navigate the bureaucratic maze.  Several hundred dollars changed hands but I think it was all on the up and up because it was paid via credit card.

The day after customs clearance the ocean weather forecast looked good so we headed out just after sunrise for the US.

Hotel Coral and Marina - Ensenada in the rearview mirror

Things were going fine as we headed north at a stately 10 mph.  Light winds, long rolling swells, the sun was shining, 70 deg F.

Use your imagination to listen to your favorite ominous music as you read further.  

The winds picked up a bit in the afternoon, the seas got choppy and we started getting some spray up on the fly bridge...no big deal.

Ed note:  For our non-boater readers, all intense boat stories start with the phrase, "..no sh_t, there we were...".

About 75% thru the planned day, I noticed that our bilge pump indicator lights started to illuminate intermittently.  At first I thought that it might be the boat motion up and down energizing the float switches.  But the condition lasted too long.  So I went down into the engine room to check it out.  When I opened the hatch there was water sloshing around on the engine room floor.  It could be our fresh water tanks leaking (~250 gallons, not enough to sink the boat) or maybe something else (the Pacific ocean contains 187 quintillion gallons, more than enough to sink the boat).  I needed more data.  So, being a graduate of of one the finest engineering schools in the country and someone who worked for a company with sophisticated testing labs all over the world, I performed an infallible, high tech test.  I stuck my finger in the water and tasted it...salty!

No sh_t, there we were taking on the Pacific ocean 20 miles from any harbor.  Further investigation (crawling around the engine room) revealed the culprit to be our "dripless" shaft seals.  Boaters understand this.  Non-boaters want to be spared the explanation.  We came up with a mitigation plan (a wing and a prayer) that got us to the customs dock in San Diego late in the afternoon.  After we cleared customs, we limped on to our marina at the south end of San Diego Bay.  BTW from the last post, I was wrong.  Mexican customs was far more annoying than US customs.

San Diego

So Temptation is safely ensconced at Pier 32 Marina, slip 310.

Does this angle make her ass look big?

This marina has the nicest facilities we've ever seen.  They have the usual bathrooms, showers, etc but they are all done in tile like your home.   The laundry is great (important to Susan).  There is a heated pool, hot tub, excellent fitness center, on site restaurant, cruisers lounge, courtesy bikes, free wifi, a guest suite and a putting green.  The only disadvantage, and it's a big one, it is a bit farther away from our grand kids and WAY farther from our daughter Dana.  We'll keep exploring marina options.

We've already started enjoying San Diego and have found their Little Italy.

Lunch in Little Italy

Ultimately this is working out as we hoped since we get to spend lots more time with family.

Youngest grandson Jack Murray (age 6) and Zephyr

We probably won't post for a while but if your travels take you to San Diego, drop in.

Sea-Change

Ed. Note:  Sea-change or seachange, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means "a change wrought by the sea."  The term originally appears in William Shakespeare's The Tempest.  The term sea-change is most often used to mean a metamorphosis or significant alteration.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We haven't posted on the blob in a while since we were wandering around Florida and you all (y'all for our Texas friends) have seen this Florida stuff before.

Long time blob readers recognize that our cruising plans often change and are, indeed ... chiseled in sand.  Our entire cruising plan has undergone a sea-change (metamorphosis seemed a bit pretentious ... particularly for us boat bums).

March 2016

We left Temptation, at the end of March 2016, in hurricane storage on the Okeechobee Waterway in Stuart, Florida.  She has been resting comfortably, out of the water and staked down since then.  Hurricane storage worked as advertised and was thoroughly tested since the eye of Hurricane Matthew passed within 40 miles of the storage location with no damage to Temptation. 











Our winter "Prime Directive" (nod to Star Trek) has been for Mike not to suffer cold, i.e. no snow nor any ice not in a cocktail glass.  So rather than South Florida, our sea-change has us heading to Southern California as the new home for Temptation and winter home for its crew.  This change makes complete sense for us since two of our five kids and all four of our grand kids live in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.  More than one person has asked why didn't I think of this sooner.  Duh!  

If you're wondering how Temptation will get to Southern California...hold that question.  Susan & I will fly the friendly skies.

In mid November we drove the 900+ miles to Florida, stayed at the Bass B&B in Fernandina Beach (thanks to Lin & Bill) and then on to Stuart where we got Temptation out of hurricane storage and put it in the water.  

On our drive down to Florida, we loaded up the car with so much stuff that we looked like the Clampetts.  If you look carefully, you can see Susan on the roof in a rocking chair.

Could I have a show of hands for whoever thinks I will pay dearly for the Granny reference?

The boat launching process is fairly interesting since they move the boat on a crawler and then to a lifting sling that lowers it into the water.  The crawler and lift are both operated with wireless control consoles.

After Temptation was in the water we recommissioned & tested all of its systems.  There were only a few minor problems, primarily with older electronics.

What the heck do you come to Florida for if not to boat and swim?

At this point, we were ready to start cruising and it's easy to tell you're back in Florida.

Leaving Stuart we cruised to Palm Beach (about 40 miles) where Susan cooked Thanksgiving dinner onboard.  A friend from Virginia Beach (Fred) who was there on his sailboat enroute to the Bahamas joined us for dinner.  

Army friends will recognize the M249 machine gun

From Palm Beach we were on to Fort Lauderdale (about 50 miles).  The President-elect was in Palm Beach for the holiday and it did cause a slight travel disruption when a Coast Guard patrol boat, complete with bow mounted machine gun, pulled alongside to give us instructions about approaching a bridge near Mar-a-Lago.

Waterway welcome

After we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, we had a few a few days to prep Temptation for ocean carriage before handing her over for loading on the M/S Arubaborg (NL) on December 1st.  We needed to get supplemental insurance from Lloyd's of London for the days at sea.

Arubaborg uses its cranes to snatch our boat out of the water and set it on deck

Temptation was the 2nd boat loaded.  Boat #1, about the same size, is shown going up in the sling.  Divers get under the boat to properly position the lifting slings.  Boats are set in a cradle on deck and strapped down for the voyage.

Wagenborg is the shipping company name

Arubaborg will carry Temptation thru the Panama Canal, up the Pacific coast of Central/North America and unload her in Ensenada, Mexico (~80 miles south of San Diego).  Remember, I asked you to hold the question about how Temptation got to Southern California.

The voyage requires 12 cruising days at 14 knots totalling 4,058 nautical miles (4,667 "road" miles at 16 mph to spare you the conversion).  Calendar time could be as long as 20 days due to loading/unloading delays at intermediate stops along the way or from back ups at the Panama Canal.

During the prep days, Susan found time to walk the Ft. Lauderdale beach.  It was windy but 80 deg F so who can complain.  Floridians go to great lengths to get in the Xmas spirit. Giant snowmen made from sand amid the palm trees are a fine example.

BTW: The type of pictures we take can give away our age.  Susan took this from across the street to give proper snowman size perspective.  Younger folks took selfies to prove they were actually there.







Getting back to the primary topic, Temptation should arrive in Ensenada by mid-December, "agw wp" as the shipping companies say, i.e. All Goes Well, Weather Permitting.  Susan & I will fly to LA and shlep ourselves to Ensenada to greet Arubaborg.  After it arrives, we then need to jump thru the various Mexican customs small, flaming hoops to enter and depart Mexico soon followed by US Customs small, flaming hoops to enter the US at San Diego.  We're starting a betting line on which country has the most annoying customs personnel (hint: the smart money is on the US).  

From San Diego  we will cruise Temptation ~ 120 miles to the Port of Los Angeles (Long Beach/San Pedro) where we are deciding between two marinas (upper right corner and lower left corner of the satellite pic).  The lower left corner marina (Cabrillo Way) is the lead candidate.

If you're not familiar with LA, this spot is halfway between Hollywood and San Juan Capistrano

Our current plan is to keep Temptation in the Long Beach area, pester our California children unmercifully and spoil our grandchildren for about five months each year.

We'll let you know how the ocean carriage and subsequent trip to Long Beach turned out in about 3 weeks.  If it doesn't go well, we'll welcome any friends courageous enough to stop by on visitors day at the La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Mexico.

Back in Florida

When we last bothered our readers, Temptation was in Jacksonville, Florida, at one of our favorite marinas.  We left her there for the holidays and while we were gone I had a local mechanic repair some plumbing / electrical problems.

When we returned to JAX, we hung around for about 10 days and got together with some boating friends from the area.  We decided our ultimate destination this winter would be Ft. Pierce.  To save you the trouble of looking it up on Google Earth, Ft. Pierce is south of Cape Canaveral and north of Palm Beach.  

On our departure day, we had trouble starting the boat's engines.  I followed Bobby's advice (from King of the Hill) and "jiggled the handle" which got the engines started.  We headed down the St, Johns river toward the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) and anchored for the night in a cut off the river.  The next morning...the damn engines wouldn't start again.

No amount of handle jiggling would get them going so we called Sea Tow.  The organization's name is self explanatory.  While they were en route, a final round of jiggling was successful and we waved them off.  At this point, we are seriously concerned about this problem and vowed no more anchoring until we got it resolved.

So on to St. Augustine, one of our favorite stops, where we had a diesel engine expert come look things over.  When he was there the engines started right up.  Dang!  We tried to take off the next day and the problem resurfaced?  Another round of jiggling got us going so at that point we decided to move to the Palm Coast Marina and get this figured out.  To save you the trouble of looking up Palm Coast on Google Earth, it is south of St. Augustine and north of Daytona.

If you've never been to St. Augustine it's worth the time.  It's the oldest city in the U.S. and has lots of historical sites.  Their cross is the tallest in the world at 208 feet.

The diesel expert met us at Palm Coast and, thankfully, the engines would not start.  After some extensive diagnosis (which violated the "think horses not zebras" principle) we found the problem.  The fix included buying new batteries (~ 400 pounds and ~ 2 BOAT units) which had to be shipped from California (read one week).

At this point, we had been in Palm Coast for 10 days.  It's a common feature of marina pricing that the daily rate for 10 days is the same as the monthly rate.  So we decided to stay for a month and then head to Ft. Pierce.  Below is a picture of Temptation at the marina.  We don't have any other pics because we haven't been many places very interesting yet.

Once we get underway, we hope to have more interesting reports.

East Coast Redux

We started our trip to Florida via the Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) from Yorktown, VA.  The map below outlines the first phase of our trip to Jacksonville, FL, or about 800 statute miles (sm).  Since we travel at about 9 mph this is about 12-13 travel days.  With stops to see friends, weather, etc, the entire trip should take about 3 weeks.

The trip got off to a literal bang when, driving away from a gas station, another driver ran into my left rear wheel.  I was able to drive the car home and we took off for the marina with our neighbor Kevork.  

We left Yorktown on October 16, at the unusual time of 2 PM due to approaching bad weather.  It was a short day (37 sm) but we needed to cross the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and get into Norfolk ahead of the bad weather.  Your first sight as you enter Norfolk are the Navy ships berthed on the east side of the Elizabeth River.

About 10 miles south of Norfolk we came to the only lock on Atlantic ICW from Norfolk to Miami in contrast to the summer phase where we transited 60 locks in 6 weeks.  There were quite a few boats waiting to lock through at Great Bridge.

The locking was uneventful with no collisions, yelling or cursing.  After hanging out in Chesapeake, VA, for two days, we then headed south for North Carolina to cross the last two large bodies of water on this trip:  Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.  Both went well.

After that we stopped near Beaufort (Bow-furt), NC, to get diesel.  We paid $2.05 per gallon, a record low for us, but because we took 200 gallons the ticket was still healthy.  

South of Beaufort we passed thru Camp LeJeune where this warning sign cautions you to stop when the Marines are firing across the ICW.

We could hear artillery & mortars that day but the waterway was open.  We did see some AAV's (amphibious assault vehicles)  loaded with troops.

Continuing south to Wilmington, we stopped to visit friends Jim & Susan and to have a diesel engine mechanic look at something that was puzzling me.  The mechanic found nothing and only charged me $100 to tell me that.

We had several uneventful days (the best kind on a boat trip) before a stop in Charleston, SC.  The Charleston stop was a disappointment because the marina assigned us a slip with faulty electricity.  Our boat has a gizmo (Susan made me promise not to explain it further) that will not allow "bad" electricity onto the boat.  We had planned to stay a few days in Charleston but the juice problem encouraged us to move on.

We cruised the South Carolina low country and stopped at Beaufort (Bee-yew-furt), SC, and enjoyed dinner at a nice waterfront restaurant.  It's hard to see, but our boat is the 2nd one from the left on the dock in the background.

From Beaufort we quickly entered Georgia where we anchored every night - no marina stops.  We did stop at fuel dock in Brunswick, GA, where we picked up 300 gallons of diesel at a new record low price:  $1.96 per gallon.  I've sent a note to some senior associates still working at Exxon suggesting they fire all of the people in charge of the conspiracy to keep oil prices high.

One day after the fuel dock, we got to Florida and stayed at some friends' dock in Fernandina Beach.  Bill and Lin were great hosts and Lin even threw a birthday dinner for Susan with some other Florida friends.

After mooching off Bill & Lin for a few days we headed for Jacksonville.  Shown below is Jacksonville Landing - a shopping and dining venue.  The Landing is about 1/2 mile down the river from the Jags stadium so their fans don't need to go far to drown their sorrows after a game.

We'll be off the air until mid January.  We plan to leave Temptation in Jacksonville until early January (while we visit the grandkids in California and do some stuff in Billy-burg).  We'll then wander around Florida from January thru March/April.  The 1Q16 phase is still...wait for it, wait for it...chiseled in sand.

Summer Phase Complete

Ed. note:  someone has noted that the self description in the "looking for Waldo" picture was somewhat inaccurate but nonetheless hopeful.

To refresh your memory... 

 "I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with gray hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with gray hair."

The suggested correction...
 "I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with NO hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with NO hair."


Anyway, the summer phase of our trip to St Petersburg, FL, is complete as we have returned to the marina where this saga began two months ago.  I know we initially claimed the trip plan would take us to Chicago and down the western rivers but...chiseled in sand.

Susan promised that this entry would not be full of details about fixing the boat's running gear (propellers, shafts, struts, bearings, rudders).  She did not know how prescient she was...the boat is not fixed yet.  We did stop at a Hudson River marina fully intending to effect repairs but, after talking with several staff there, I was not brimming over with confidence about the facility.

So we decided to soldier on, baby the injured propeller and see how that worked out.  Since we made it all the way home, so far so good.  Other impacts of our decision get revealed soon since we pulled the boat out of the water last week, had the experts look it over, discover the true damage and actually make repairs.  We're hoping to know the full story by the end of this week.  My guy at Morgan Stanley is working the over/under on BOAT units.

Back to the Hudson River, we continued south after filling our diesel tanks (200 gallons @ $3.15 per gallon) anchoring just north of New York City.  From there through NYC, out into the Atlantic and back into NJ with stops at Barnegat Bay, Atlantic City and Cape May.  I must say the NJ Intracoastal Waterway is not in good repair and many cruisers skip it completely and run that part of their trip in the Atlantic.  The weather did not cooperate for an ocean run, so we took the inside route.

After Cape May, we crossed Delaware Bay and then back into the Chesapeake.  Our last several nights before getting home were spent in Solomon's, MD, across the Patuxent River from the Pax River Naval Air Station.  NAS proximity results in far too many "crabs".  Ed. note:  at West Point, critters that attend the Naval Academy are referred to as "crabs".  I'll let readers ponder for themselves whether the reference honors decapod crustaceans or human parasites.    

One Solomon's homeowner (a crab?) clearly is not sensitive to some visitor's delicate feelings as evidenced by his porch banner. 

I was riding by on my bike and, just glancing over quickly, thought  "Hey, I've got one of those banners too!"  But something didn't feel quite right, so I stopped to discover the antimatter version of the banner we've used for years on our boats.

One summer in Annapolis (one time at band camp) we cruised past the Naval Academy flying our banner just after the new freshmen arrived.  There was a near riot ashore as several hundred plebes screamed and yelled what, I am certain, were words of encouragement.

So after Solomon's it was one day to our home marina on the York River wrapping up the summer phase.

Readers who worked with me know I'm a data guy, so here's a summary of the summer phase.

• Miles travelled:     1900
• Diesel gallons:        800    (includes about 50 gal for the generator) 
• Days:                        64
• Locks:                       60
• Avg Speed, mph:        7
• Marina nights:           33

We'll suspend blob posts until we take off in mid October for Florida.

Roger Arrowood : 1952-2015

The day we left West Point we received news that a good friend, Roger Arrowood, died while on a diving excursion in the Florida Keys.  Roger was a good friend and a very good man.  He, and his wife Jacki, both retired from the Navy as Captains.  We first met them, and their dog, Rowdy, in the Bahamas in the winter of 2007-2008.  Just like Gene Hackman in  the movie Crimson Tide, Rowdy is a Jack Russell terrier.  The Arrowoods were in the Bahamas on their trawler, Pelican.

My first contact with Roger was at a Chili Cook-off where we were competitors.  He is shown at center leaning forward wearing the goofy chef's hat.  I'm on the left in my Exxon apron... which did little to enhance my cooking credentials.  The smile on his face was a Roger trade mark.  He was up beat about everything, enjoyed life and had many friends.

Roger's sense of humor was well known amongst his friends.  He once gifted me with a t-shirt and made me promise to wear it before I unwrapped it.  

Another time, we let him borrow our car while they were visiting Florida.  He and Jacki made an unauthorized modification to my car's license plate that I did not notice for quite some time.

I've been planning my revenge and those who know me realize that I don't hold a grudge more than 20, 30 years...tops.

Since that first winter in the Bahamas, we've gotten together with the Arrowoods at our places in Florida and Virginia, at theirs in North Carolina and Roger crewed for us sailing around Cape Hatteras.  Most recently, we visited them at their new home in the Florida Keys last February.

Roger died from a dilated cardiomyopathy, something that has no symptoms and is often the cause of sudden death in athletes.  He was swimming back to his boat after diving when it occurred.  The memorial service plan includes the Navy spreading Roger's ashes at sea with full honors.

Roger will be missed by everyone who knew him and the world is lessened by his passing.


Roger Arrowood:  Requiescat in Pace

Cruising is like a box of Chocolates...

Ed. note:  If you click on a picture in the blob, it should blow up to a much larger size.  I realize many of you know that, but it came to my attention that not every reader was aware.

At the end of our last episode, Susan & I were headed back to the NY State Canal system.  We left the little town of Fair Haven and headed for the canal entrance in Oswego.  When we arrived and passed thru the first lock to tie up at the wall, my brother Mark had left his car there for us with the keys hidden inside.  What a guy!

We headed south from Oswego with only 29 more locks to the Hudson River.  The locking on the way south & east went much better than the trip north mostly due to much lower water flows and our recent practice on the way north.  I'm going to take a moment here to elaborate on locking and docking since quite a few folks have asked questions.

This pic shows our boat (center, left) in the standard size lock with six other boats, after we are secured to the lock wall.  To get us secured, you can see Susan (below), using a boat hook to snag a line that she then ties to the 40,000 lb boat.  The captain is required to put the boat in reverse to stop the boat at the correct point and but not reverse too much and pull her into the water.  The captain then moves smartly to the stern and secures another line before the boat goes sideways in the lock.

Once the water level goes up/down, the boats motor out like a row of ducks to the next lock.  We transited 60 locks on this trip, about 7-8 each cruising day.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the highest lock, Little Falls, had a guillotine gate on the east side.  Susan got a great shot as we exited the lock.  The boat must pass under the guillotine and it disturbs us to do this more than it should.

Cruisers on the canal often stop at the same places and get together on the docks at the end of the day for what is called "docktails".  This gathering occurred in Amsterdam, NY, after a nine lock day.  Temptation's crew is seated farthest from the camera.

Lest you think the trip is nothing but stunning views and unlimited booze, as we were motoring east on the canal after one of the locks, we heard and felt a large BOOM.  I jumped up and looked astern to see one end of a large tree pop up from under our boat.  It then sank back out of sight.  (Ed note:  Robin, cover the grand kids eyes.)  @$%^$%#$#!$%^&% we struck a submerged log!

I then went into discovery mode to check for damage.  Luckily I could find no water coming in nor were our water intrusion alarms sounding.  However, a check of the propellers revealed that the starboard (right side for the infantry) prop had a serious vibration starting at about 1,400 rpm.

As a result, we need to find a boat yard to haul the boat out of the water, remove the prop, send it to a prop shop for repair/replacement, inspect the prop shaft, rudder, yada, yada, for damage and repair as necessary.  This will likely cost us 3-5 days of delay and several BOAT units.  For non-boaters wondering what the heck is a BOAT unit?  The acronym BOAT stands for Break Out Another Thousand.  Hey, one definition of cruising is " fixing your boat in remote places".

The eastern terminus of the Erie Canal is in Waterford, NY, at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers.  This is a great stop and we enjoyed three days there including lunch with my sister, Patsy and her husband Stan, who live nearby.

Waterford has a long Erie Canal history.  Since the early barges were pulled by mules (circa ~1830), they have a mule statue on the dock to honor the beasts.  That is not graffiti on the mule, it is part of the monument, somewhat like a mural.  There would a picture of us astride the mule but for several signs with dire warnings not to.

From Waterford we enter the Hudson River and head towards NY City, albeit slowly because of the propeller problem.  The Hudson has several light houses on small islands in the river.  They are quite picturesque.

When we decided to revise our plans, Susan recalled that we could now include a stop at West Point for a reunion of the West Point Glee Club.  I can almost feel and hear the astonishment from many readers at the thought that this organization would have me as a member.  Nevertheless, over 100 alumni voices gathered for the event whose highlight was a joint concert with the West Point Band.  The concert venue was the outdoor amphitheater at Trophy Point.  You are over a hundred feet above the Hudson River looking north in this shot.  

Aside:  Just after this shot, a group of new freshmen (plebes) wandered though the amphitheater in combat uniforms with rifles.  Well, wander is probably a bit unjust since they were on a training patrol.  However, I, like many other old goats, suspect that everywhere we ever worked, went to school, etc, has gone to hell since we left.  It's a requirement for Old Goat status. 

The concert seemed to be a big success and was great fun for our group.  In the "looking for Waldo" picture below, I am in the last row, due north of the director's right hand.  I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with gray hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with gray hair.

During the reunion weekend, we docked at Cornwall-on-Hudson just 4 water miles away.  We depart here tomorrow for Haverstraw Marina where we will begin the repairs from the log incident.  Susan promises that the next update will not be full of details about props, cutlass bearings, rudders, shafts, etc.  I think there are at least two readers who, if those details were included, would not set themselves on fire.  I'm willing to defer to the vox populi.