Heavy fog was floating by on the Hudson as we prepared to leave Riverview Marina. We couldn't see much beyond our docks so we showered, then settled in with a hot cup of coffee to wait out the weather. There is a 100% chance of rain again. We hoped to make it to Castleton before it started.
The fog lifted quickly and allowed us to head up the Hudson. We passed several small river towns including the Village of Coxsackie. It had been hit hard by severe weather earlier in the week. We saw massive trees downed and debris everywhere. The area reminds us of the St. Croix River. It's very scenic. We hit more logs, a constant concern; but managed to move the 24.6 miles in just under 5 hours. Of course, the rain began as soon as we arrived.
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| Hudson Athens Lighthouse |
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| Hudson Power Association Docks |
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| Smoke stacks from brick building era line the Hudson |
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| Hudson Power Association |
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| Osprey family at marker 191 |
We slipped Mystic along the long face dock, tied off then walked up toward the Castleton Boat Club (CBC). The train tracks sit parallel to the dock we are on. We are surprised at how fast the trains zip through town without stopping. We hear the rumble of the tracks long before the train blows it's warning whistle. It is alarming and will grab our attention every hour when they pass.
Trains Racing Through Castleton
CBC is a yacht club owned by the members. Every single person we passed greeted us with "Welcome to Castleton". We entered the captains lounge and met Rob, Marion, and Craig, the bartender. Craig poured us a beer as he got Dave started on the paperwork for dockage which includes the use of their crane to drop our mast. Marion was so excited to talk about the Great Loop, one of her bucket list items. We chatted for hours! CBC is a very welcoming and friendly spot to drop your mast. There isn't much in town but the members of CBC are willing to take you for groceries and errands. You just have to be willing and able to drop your mast yourself.
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| Mystic on the dock at CBC |
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| View looking aft on the dock at CBC |
It is surprisingly easy to drop our 40 foot mast. It is deck stepped which means it sits on top of the boat rather than slipping down into the keel. There is a lot of prep work involved beforehand. As we begin this work, we see a catamaran working it's way into the dock. We stop and help Jeremy and Mary aboard Panacea with their lines. Jeremy helped us with our lines at Half Moon Bay. They are here to drop their mast as well. Running into boaters you already know is a treat. We are a community on the water.
The first thing on our list is building the custom cradle, consisting of three parts; a bow, mid ship and a stern cradle. We'll use ratchet straps to secure our mast to them once they are installed. Next, we removed our sails, folded and stored them on board then loosened all of our stays, which hold the mast in place. Dave had already marked each turnbuckle to show where they were tightened to so we can rig her back where she originally was.
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| Dave building mast cradle |
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| Bow cradle in place |
We walked Mystic back until she was directly in front of the crane arm and secured two ropes to the mast. The crane cable is hooked to these ropes. As the crane is lifted, the ropes slide up to the spreaders where the crane will lift from. Just as we were about to attach the cable a barge came into view south of us. Two CBC members came running down to the dock and told us we had to move away from the crane. Although the barges are moving slowly, they throw a huge wake. We were at risk of hitting our mast on the crane arm. Between the four of us, we pulled Mystic out of the way until the wake passed. We notice tons of debris flowing south on the Hudson. Much of it made it's way over to us at the docks.
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| Debris on the Hudson |
When we were ready, I worked the crane remote control up and down while Dave handled the mast. Once we had the two ropes snuggly under the spreaders, he carefully removed the stays then loosely tied them to the mast. As I raised the crane, our mast slipped up out of the boot. It naturally swung the top of the mast aft and the bottom forward. The crane moved very slowly so it took a while to lower our mast down as Dave guided the bottom of it to our bow then our mid ship and finally to our aft cradle. We spent the rest of our day securing our rigging and ratcheting the cradles to our deck. Dave removed the wooden spreaders. Some sailboats leave their spreaders in place. It creates a maze to maneuver around when traversing the locks so we decided to store ours during our trip through the Erie Canal.
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