Catskill New York - Riverview Marina

Catskill, New York is a village about 38 miles north of Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River with a population of around 4,000. We had an easy time cruising there, however we hit a couple huge logs along the way. A big part of our day was spent watching for "river alligators". With all the rain, these trees and debris are a huge concern for us. We saw a lot of barge traffic and more trawlers than we'd seen since Long Island Sound. We also passed several lighthouses.

Barge on the Hudson River

Esopus Meadows Light

Rip Van Winkle Ferry

Roundout Lighthouse, Kingston, NY

Eagle pair fishing along the Hudson

Saugerties Light

We arrived at Riverview Marina at 3:00. Mike, the Dock Master, met us at our slip and greeted us with a warm welcome. We liked him immediately. He is retired from the Coast Guard and grew up in Bay Shore Long Island. He bought Riverview Marina 44 years ago. Mike was friendly and attentive. 

We paid $2/per foot for a nice sheltered slip on the Catskill River, not far from town. This is our kind of place, quaint but comfortable and clean. They rent kayaks and canoes, a very popular outing for the locals. While we were paying for dockage, a kayaker came barreling up to the docks, gasping for breath. He explained that there was another kayaker up river in a tandem boat that was having a seizure and needed assistance. Mike dropped what he was doing and called 911. Local police had already gotten to the stricken kayaker. This is small town life. Everyone pitches in when there is a need.

Riverview Marina - Catskill New York

Mystic tucked in at Riverview

We met Brian, a looper on a Pacific Seacraft sailboat named Serenity. He had just dropped his mast at Catskill. The crane operators do not work for Riverview, they are subcontractors who do the work through the marina. Brian had a great experience dropping his mast at Riverview. He left a wonderful review on the Looper forum. We exchanged boat cards, not knowing we would run into Brian again later, then travel many miles together.

Brian aboard Serenity

Once Mystic was secured, we headed into town. Mike told us that we'd find a lot of cats there. He was talking about cat statues. They were everywhere! Mike explained how this popular fundraiser works. Local stores sponsor artists who design, decorate and name the cats by theme. They are mounted near the sponsoring business for one year then they are auctioned off. Apparently they go for top dollar during bidding wars, the highest bid has gone over $7,000. We took  a lot of cat photos during our stay but it would take longer than one day to get a photo of them all.

  

As we walked through town we passed lots of friendly locals. One man, sitting on his porch, took a long look at us and muttered, "BOAT PEOPLE!" We smiled and waved! He asked where we were from, nodded his head at our response, then told us to go enjoy his little village. 

We walked through old Catskill looking for Subversive Malt House, a farmhouse brewery. It is one of a handful of microbreweries that produce their own malts. Their tasting room is covered by canvas awnings and surrounded by beautiful gardens and grape vines. In addition to the microbrew, they offer brick oven sourdough pizza baked on site. We loved this place! The beer was great and the ambiance fantastic. 

Relaxing at Subversive Malt House

We needed provisions so we headed up to the commercial area where we found Harbor Freight and Walmart. We bought a 5 gallon water jug to replace one of ours that had split it's seams. When we left Minnesota we had four jugs; we were down to one. Our inverter stopped working in Oyster Bay. We purchased a smaller one at Harbor Freight.

On our way back we meandered through old town until we found a second microbrewery called Crossroads. This one sits just above the creek. It was more modern, and less busy but there was live music. If we had time for only one stop we'd pick Subversive Malt House for the atmosphere. We're glad we had time to visit both.

We walked back to Mystic and retired early. Tomorrow is a big day for us. We'll cruise to Castleton where we will drop our mast in preparation for the Erie Canal. We're making progress, excited to be heading back to the Great Lakes.

Rock found in the park