Canterbury Sails by Chasseur: Catskill, NY

September 1 - 3, 2012 Saturday- Monday

"Chassuer" is now in port for her "Reconstructive Surgery" after her "Mast-ectomy" 14 days ago. We are at "Hop-O-Nose" Marina in Catskill, NY. We had to wait our turn while "Cool Hand" was getting her mast back on. The wait allowed us to meet the people in the marina, hop around town and learn more history.
We have really enjoyed the state of New York. It is quite beautiful and the people are delightful and fun. Everywhere we walk, when we get to a New York port there are historical markers. It is interesting to see how the locals just take it all for granted, and in contrast we are so excited to experience the site of this and the site of that, clicking photos. The town of Catskill is not short of historical markers. Across the road from the marina is what once was the home of Samuel Wilson, AKA "Uncle Sam", the official symbol of the United States. It is also the home where our 8th President, Martin Van Buren, was married in 1807. The house was built in 1787.
The town of Catskill is the home of the fictional character Rip Van Wrinkle. Walking through town we saw lots of townsmen that resemble Rip, with long hair and beard. A carving of Rip is prominent in the middle of the road up Main Street . The bridge that crosses the Hudson River here is the "Rip Van Winkle Bridge".
If you have ever been to Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin you will see throughout the town artistic sculptures of the Sturgeon fish on pedestals. If you go to Ocala, Florida (the world's capital of horse farms), you will see beautifully painted horses scattered about the town. Here in Catskill, yep, you've got it, there are "Cats", beautiful colors and style cats everywhere.
Sunday afternoon was a hot day and the marina pool was busy. We took a break to cool off. Sean Meagher, the owner of the marina and restaurant was grilling next to the pool. He is the chef for the restaurant and not only does a great job re-stepping masts, but is also a great cook. He was grilling fresh Little Neck Clams and steaks, accompanied by salad and Thai Linguine for the guests of the marina. He invited us to partake. This was one of the best meals we have had this whole trip.

Our neighbors at the Hop-O-Nose dock, Andy and Donna Marie, were party animals. They and most of the other boaters on the dock gather at the outside bar of the adjacent restaurant to the marina, drinking and heckling anyone that offers material for them. "Chasseur", being a sailboat without a mast, provided them lots of material. Sunday night we were their victims. They were harmlessly funny. We decided that if you can't beat them, to join them. With their persistent encouragement we went up to the bar. They were very intent upon getting us drunk buying us drinks. We both had to keep our glasses full to avoid refills . This is one happy marina!

Hop-O-Nose Marina was badly damaged from Hurricane Irene last year. Sean and friends have done an incredible job bringing the marina back to life. All the docks had to be replaced, the water levels were so high that boats on the hard floated away, and even landed on top of cars in the parking lot.

Monday, Labor Day, "Chasseur" finally had her mast re-stepped. Sean and Tim did a great job. Terry spent the rest of the day re-rigging and tuning the rig.

"If you want to get along, go along." Sam Rayburn