Canterbury Sails by Chasseur: Haverstraw, NY

September 9, 2012 Sunday

If we could be in NYC Wednesday, we could possibly be able to attend a matinee Broadway show. We would need to get to our Jersey City marina by Monday in order to buy our discounted tickets on Tuesday. If we stopped too soon on the Hudson this day, we would not be able to take advantage of tides on Monday. We decided to skip Newburgh, NY (George Washington's Headquarters), and go straight to Haverstraw, which would put us within 33 miles of New Jersey's "Liberty Landing Marina" for Monday.
This transit was absolutely breathtaking. It seemed at times we as if we were sailing right through a post card! We both love the Hudson River. It would be the most spectacular place to cruise for fall colors. This will be added to the bucket list. The mountains come right down to the river. The Hudson River is considered a fjord, reminiscent of Norway's fjords. Storm King Mountain marks the northern entrance to the Hudson Highlands, where forested mountains slope steeply into very deep water. Fjords are defined as valleys eroded well below sea level by glacier, and then filled by the sea after the glaciers melt. The deepest water in the Highlands is at West Point - up to 175 feet deep. The Hudson River is a tidal body of water, the American Indians called it "the river that flows two ways". We could not get enough of the scenery.
Trains, trains and more trains run along the shore, and through tunnels at the base of the mountains. Terry was in "Train Heaven." Looking like the Model Trains running throughout the landscape, he thinks he is dreaming...we both do.
We passed West Point, the oldest military academy in the U.S. Another spectacular sight with it's old buildings. The athletic center had a message on top of the roof. Terry said "wishful thinking". (see photo below)
We encountered the Hudson River Sloop, "Clearwater" along this transit. This ship is owned operated by the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. It is the centerpiece of public education programs that seek to protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways. This organization was founded by folk singer Pete Seeger with his wife Toshi Seeger in 1966.
Other cruisers tell us we are ahead of schedule. We are comfortable with being "early". We know we have plenty of "weather" in front of us, including an unexpected repair that could slow us down. We also want to be able to stop and site see wherever, whenever and for as long as we like without a timeline. For us, it is more about the journey not just a destination.
We arrived at Haverstraw Marina in the early afternoon, a 1100 slip marina!!!! We were optimizing the help of tides. This stop gave us another advantage of tides to get us to New Jersey for our time in New York City.

"The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it."

Ralph Waldo Emerson