I can see the towers

Caja and I arrived safely after a really nice motor sail from Haverstraw Bay to Tarrytown. This is where Graham will report later this evening. The train station is all of about 100 meters from the marina. No taxi needed this time! Since I last wrote we covered about 60 miles in 3 stops. The first was at Kingston where I took a slip at the Rondout Harbour Marina. This was located up a very protected creek where I found a really well equipped boat club. It has nice grounds, good showers, laundry, and a helpful staff. Because the tidal currents are not very favourable, I left later in the morning and did some laundry while I waited for the current to change. It makes a huge difference to one's boatspeed if the current is against you. With the current we go around 6 knots; against it goes down to about 3.
There were a couple of interesting events that took place along the way to our second stop. Just before we arrived, an old sailing vessel (or a replica) appeared nearby. I have included a photo of it. The second was near Pockiepsie (?) when another fairly large sailing vessel appeared. I think that Pete Seeger has a similar boat - it looked as though there was a film crew aboard the boat. I have also included a picture of that one.
The docking at our second stop was scary. It was at a marina on the waterfront at Newburg. There was a strong current flowing across the marina and the dockmaster recommended that I try to go to an inside slip. As soon as the boat was crosswise to the current, away we went. It took about 10 minutes, and a lot of work before I was tied up. The only damage was to my ego and to the Lifesling that was hanging on the port stern rail. It got caught in the anchor on the front of a powerboat that we came too close to and the straps got ripped off. My first job today after we arrived in Tarrytown was to sew the straps back on. It took me about an hour using whipping twine and a sailneedle.
Yesterday was a 25 mile day as we went from Newburg to Haverstraw Bay in a very strong north wind. One of the places that I wanted to try to get a good look at was West Point. It occupies a very striking location on an elbow in the Hudson River. I took a number of pictures but the one I will attach to this is of the soldier at the top of the point. An interesting event took place as we were coming into the marina at Haverstaw Bay. I had noticed a tour boat going into the West Point area as we went through. I noticed it again behind us as we approached Haverstraw Bay Marina. Out of the blue, I received a call on my radio. It was from the captain of the tour boat. He called to compliment me on the boat. He asked a few questions over the radio and offered to take me shopping once we were tied up. He waited for me and took me about 2 miles over to the shopping centre and waited while I did the provisioning. His name was Tim and I included his picture. Caja and I came across him this morning as we were doing our morning walk.
The trip to Tarrytown today was easy and short. It took us about 2 hours to cover the 9 miles. There was a nice breeze from the east and while it was not strong enough to keep us moving at 5 knots, we had both sails up and motorsailed to maintain the 5 knots. The marina here is another good one. Great facilities. I spent the afternoon today getting the boat all filled - with water, diesel, and food. As I came into the area near the Tappan Zee bridge, I could see the skyscrapers of New York down the river. The foot of Manhattan Island is about 25 miles away, and the clear air, thanks to a Canadian high pressure system, made it easy to see the skyline of The CIty that never sleeps.
The dog has been fed, the boat is ready, I am up to date on my blog, but I need to eat. Another leg of this trip is almost over.