ALBANY IS CLOSED ON SUNDAY. 8.23.2017

Today is Wednesday 8.23.2017 and we have spent the last three days at Hop-O-Nose Marina on the Catskill creek. They have been kick ass days when we have gotten a lot done but also great days as we have met some interesting people and truly enjoyed ourselves.

We motored to Albany on Sunday and Ubered in to the city to see the sites. Well the city enter is absolutely lovely.

Port of Albany from the water

Albany has striking architecture in the government buildings; The Egg, which is a musical venue; the NY Capital/government buildings; and museums, all in the city center.

Capital building

Map of city center

The Egg

Fire fighters monument

Can you find me??

Bob with Karen and Hugh in front of Veterans monument.

Unfortunately everything was closed. There were a number of tourists walking around and enjoying the great weather, and the outside of some amazing buildings and monuments. We couldn’t believe that the museums were closed – when do people have time to go to museums if not on the weekend???? We had a great dinner at the Pump house – then back to the boat.

The Albany Yacht Club was the most expensive dockage so far at $2.25/foot plus an amount for electric usage. The dock guys were helpful and the bathrooms clean but didn’t feel it was worth the price. Okay – it was only one night.

Monday morning we were off for Hop-O-Nose (“HON”)(I believe this is the name of an Indian tribe) to finally put our mast up and again become a sailboat. When we got to HON there was already one boat in the well, one waiting and then Trekker and us. The boat in the well was another Freedom 38, the owner of which Bob had met at West Marine in Cleveland. We had met them in Waterford, the last stop on the Canal, so we were not surprised to see them. It was very unusual for one marina to have two Freedom 38s at the same time, as this is not a very common boat type. The second boat opted not to have their mast stepped next as they were going to have to be at HON for a couple days until they got a package in the mail - so we went next.

The yard guys (Tim and Bryan) did an awesome job and the mast for Her Diamond went up without any issues.

Brian guiding the mast at HON

Bob did his magic and shortly thereafter we were moved out of the well and into a slip so that we could but our sails on and do the rest of the re-rigging. We went to sleep Monday night exhausted but happy that the mast was up, boom back on and feeling like a sailboat once again. Tuesday was spent putting the other sails on, connecting wires and sweating like I don’t remember ever doing. It was so hot, that we had to take multiple breaks, ducking into the air conditioned boat just to catch our breath. Karen and I went grocery shopping – thanks to someone who permanently docks at HON we got a ride both ways.

Around six, we called it a day and went for a quick swim before showering. Severe thunderstorms were due to hit at eight and we wanted to be snug in the boat prior to that happening. After dinner Karen and Hugh joined us in a rousing game of Euchre on our boat. We had all agreed that we needed one more day in HON to wash the boats and try out the restaurant right at the marina which everyone told us was excellent. Wednesday was also Karen and Hugh’s anniversary, so I invited them over to our boat for French toast for breakfast.

After breakfast we washed the canal off the boat. This was no small task and it took most of the day to finish. We also took the time to wax the cockpit. One of the issues with an older boat (her Diamond is a 1991) is protecting the finish - waxing helps with that and also helps keep the boat cleaner.

I took a quick walk into town with Karen and Hugh while Bob finished the waxing. On the way we saw a house where the original Uncle Sam lived.

The town had numerous cats throughout, painted by various artist.

This is done as a fundraiser much like the guitars were done in Cleveland. There was one amazing antique store that sold decoys and old tools among other things.

Once back at the boat, we relaxed for a bit and then showered for dinner. The restaurant was as good as we had hoped and capped a nice day and a great stay at HON. I would recommend using this facility to anyone that needs to either put their mast up or take it down.

We took the time after breakfast to plan the rest of the trip down the Hudson and where we are going to stay in New York. There is an incredible amount of planning for each day of the trip. I was happy to finally be able to tell people where and when we would be in NY. We are hoping to take in a play, see ground zero, maybe check out an Improv and meet up with Loren and Monica, the Packers and my friend Andy. Bob and Hugh are also working on a West Marine order. More later = good night. pictures to follow