Black Sheep Boatmen

2009-12-22T08:10:00.003-05:00

Well winter is here once again. The 09 season was something of a wash given the huge amount of rain we received. Hope is once again tucked in the boat house , dry and toasty for the winter. This winter's project will be a new sail rig for her and some sculling notches in the rear transom. The water is not quite yet hard but certainly the river working on it.

Summer 09 taking it up

2009-06-03T10:34:00.003-04:00

They call it taking it up. What happens is the wood dries out during the winter and you need to rehydrate it. Boats that are in the water all the time have no problem but trailer sailors need to address the issue. You can simply chuck a bucket of water in before you drive to the boat ramp and you are good to go. Its like a wooden barrel and needs to get soaked. Wooden boats are always sinking. Its just a question of how fast.

Winter Projects and Pics

2008-12-01T09:06:00.002-05:00

Here is a nice Pic taken by a student at Hallmark school. We were out for a row and this student stopped us to take some pics. Winter is here and we will be bringing the spars in the shop to complete the sailing rig and get her a proper suit of sails.

No I just need to clean out the shop...

Winter arrives

2008-11-12T10:00:00.003-05:00

One last row for the season and Hope must be put away. It turned out to be a great day for a final row of the season.

LARGE Row

2008-08-26T07:23:00.002-04:00

Its not Big its Large. We plan to do a 20 mile row on the CT river late September along with the Batteau Black Sheep. We will camp at Munns Ferry and this is a picture of us scouting the site out. It was a nice day with a southwest wind at times. The river was rocking with a strong current , something that has been typical this year. Hopefully the rains will calm down for the Large Row...

Trim

2008-07-25T13:52:00.001-04:00

On Barton's Cove , CT River.

"Hope" she Floats

2008-06-11T20:18:00.002-04:00

Outta the shop and into the Drink

Lord I hope she don't sink.

Getting out

2008-06-03T06:55:00.002-04:00

Of the Garage that is

Mast

2008-05-31T14:08:00.002-04:00

Here is a mast I and getting out of a piece of spruce I have had about six years.
It will get a small square rig for down wind use. The race is on to get ready for the Big Row 08. 34 miles up Lake George for the 250th battle of Carllion.

Flipped and a Painted Lady

2008-05-31T13:57:00.001-04:00

Five coats on the bottom and away we go.

Primah

2008-05-31T13:51:00.001-04:00

First we prime.

Bung and sand

2008-05-24T07:42:00.003-04:00

All the screw holes are now plugged and the whole thing gets a sand job.

Side rails and caps

2008-05-24T07:13:00.006-04:00

I decided to finish off the inwale with blocks and a top cap. I have seen boats finished various ways . Gardner shows this method and says it produces a good stout job and hey I like stout ! The thole pins will ride in this area producing a fair amount of stress so this construction can handle it. Beside if Hope had wimpy inwales the other boats would make fun of her and kick sand in her face...

Best seat in the House

2008-05-13T19:41:00.005-04:00

Now its on to the Stem , caulking (with cotton in the bottom seams) and paint.

Thats where I left those pencils.

Roll me over

2008-05-06T17:41:00.002-04:00

We flipped the boat last night. Now its time to think about a whole new phase to the project. I was surprised how light it was , we estimated it at about 150 pounds.

Floor is done

2008-05-03T12:54:00.002-04:00

Well the floor its done! It was interesting working on the rear section as it has quite a curve to it. It requires you to plane a bevel on each face . Its kind of like making a barrel. Everything is planed fair and I just need to fill screw holes.

More Floor

2008-04-29T18:32:00.003-04:00

The floor is a little over half done. Its starting to get close to the curve at the stern of the boat. The weather this week decided to turn cold , with upper 20's predicted tonight. So we are on hold till it warms up above 40 degrees at night. Shouldn't be to long. All the screw holes are filled and all but one frame is also in.

More screws on order we will use about 250 of the 1 3/4 and 100 of the 1 1/4. Jamestown Distributors loves me.....

End of the Weekend

2008-04-21T08:40:00.003-04:00

Thats it for the Weekend. Now its time to clean up. The 3M 5200 adhesive gets everywhere !

We floor it

2008-04-21T08:36:00.002-04:00

The floor is cross planked. Its screwed and glued to the sides and just butted up tight in the center. I can't see any light between the seams so that's a good sign. The whole boat is fastened with silicon bronze screws.

A new view

2008-04-21T08:29:00.003-04:00

I have no idea what I am checking out. I thought it was a pretty funny picture. Anyways we plane and plane some more. Its neat working with a sharp hand plane and nice wood. But man are my forearms sore today ! Every thing is now flat, level and square. We are about 1/16 on an inch off at the rear over 16 ft. I think I can live with that!

Nice rear end !

2008-04-21T08:27:00.002-04:00

More transom . Check out the foot print!

Bow shot

2008-04-21T08:25:00.002-04:00

Here is the bow all snug and cozy

Transom and spanish Windlass

2008-04-21T08:21:00.003-04:00

We continue with the transom and employ multiple Spanish windlasses in out quest for alignment. I big thank you to my wife of the great photo work !

Transom

2008-04-21T08:19:00.002-04:00

It takes a lot of thinking and measuring but the transom starts to take shape

Putting it all together

2008-04-21T08:17:00.003-04:00

We attach the inner stem to the sides and crank it down. Over the midship frame we go and on to the transom

Hope moves outside

2008-04-21T08:08:00.002-04:00

Here we go!. The first picture is my Dad thinking about what he has gotten himself into. I certainly enjoyed having him come up and help with the build. He is a fine carpenter and I will remember the day every time I go out for a row.

She has curves

2008-04-12T17:34:00.003-04:00

This is a fairing batten fasten to one of the 1x12's . I was trying to see what the curve looked like in the bottom at the stern. The 1x3 piece of oak will need to be steam bent to this curve. We were walking this afternoon and I found an old tea kettle in the woods. Just the thing I needed for my homemade steamer.

Mid Ship frame

2008-04-12T17:31:00.002-04:00

Here is the mid ship frame. Its a temporary mold that we will bend the sides around. The oak keel is sitting in the groove in the frame.

The Boat House

2008-04-12T17:25:00.003-04:00

It's actually the garage my wife keeps her car in. But the snow is gone and the boats have taken over. My daughter painted me a very nice sign that says Bob's boat yard and I need to hang it up after I varnish it.

Stem a soarus

2008-04-12T17:17:00.002-04:00

Here is the stem I hacked out last week. Its 1/2" on the face at the top and goes to a taper at the bottom. The bevel changes from 26 degrees at the top too 16 degrees at the bottom. The aft face is 2 2/3 at the top and 1 1/2 inches at the bottom. Sounds more complicated than it is. The last picture is looking at the bottom of the stem. This is the "inner" stem.

Pine and more Pine

2008-04-12T17:12:00.002-04:00

A big old pile of wood. 4 -1x12x16 and a whole lots of 1x4x8's plus a 1x3x8 oak .

Spring is Springing!

2008-03-31T12:49:00.004-04:00

Time to think about boats and the next Big Row. I started building our very own skiff. Hopefully we will be done in time for this season's activities. I will trace the boats progress as it happens. The first step is to build an inner stem. I found some oak that I had picked up on the side of the road last spring. Someone was cleaning out a cellar and must have been a woodworker. The result was lots of odd pieces of hardwood and one if them if the bill for an inner stem. I hacked it out with a spoke shave and it took about two hours ! Here is a picture of the same boat on the water. I will get a picture of the inner stem up next.

We made it

2007-10-31T08:55:00.000-04:00

To say it was an adventure would certainly be an understatement. We covered 53 miles in 4 days and during the remainder of the weekend, we participated in the reenactment of the Burning of Kingston. This involves you guessed it more rowing and a race on Saturday. No we didn't win but we looked salty. We also survive a huge storm Friday night ,that I thought was going to blow the tent into the Hudson.

Would I do it again ? Sure in a minute , we met great people , except for the pirates and saw some beautiful sights. Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way . A big thanks to our Captain's - David , Dave and Chris with out their boats it would have been a long swim. Thanks to David and Heather for the planning and logistics, Dean for the victuals and to John for the hospitality at Chelsea. Hope I didn't leave anyone out. Here are some pictures from Kingston. Thanks for reading. I will continue to post if I receive new pictures and will update you all on next years plans once they are established. I may also get going on a boat project this winter and will update as that progresses. Oh yes, Thanks for reading my blog.

Land Ho

2007-10-31T08:47:00.000-04:00

Actually Kingston. We are racing in and the Cod Peace is in the lead. We land on the sandy beach just North of the Rondout river entrance and proceed to setup camp. The beach is nice and sandy but contains theses thing called water chestnuts the seed pods have sharp horns and everyone is tip toeing around or wearing shoes.

I am Sailing!!!

2007-10-30T18:24:00.000-04:00

We can see the Cod Peace off our Larboard side , they don't have a sail up but are making good time under oars. Several large boats come out and throw wakes into the already choppy Hudson.
We kind of start rolling a little and Mr Dill asks me if I am sculling. I reply no sir just holding on.

Here Comes the Desager

On to Esopus Lighthouse

2007-10-30T18:06:00.000-04:00

Dawn comes and we start to see the first rustle of the wind. You can see the high clouds moving in and we hope to sail into Kingston before the storm.

We row past Esopus Lighthouse a wooden lighthouse marking a shoal in the river.

We hoist the sail and start to head past the lighthouse. I am at the helm and Mr Dill is running the sail. A square rigged sail setup like the Black Sheep's is like flying a spinnaker. We tear down wind as the wind increases and white caps form.

The River's Dark Blanket

2007-10-29T18:57:00.000-04:00

We are moving up river into the dark. Its kind of weird running on so little sleep and traveling upstream with very little light. We can usually see where we have been and the Captain can see where we are going , but the dark ,combined with the single candle on the bow ,robs both positions of visual input. So you just fall into a groove and move upstream in silence. The other two boats are ahead of us, but we are moving at a surprisingly fast clip. The one good thing about our early start is we taking advantage of the tidal change. The difference can be as much as 6 knots. But its dark and quiet , I think about the fact that this is the final leg to Kingston. The weather is changing and a storm is moving in. Capt. Dave is on the Cod Peace , Mr Nick is on the DeSager , Mr William and I are on oars. Mr Dill steers through the night.

Marist

2007-10-28T17:13:00.001-04:00

We arrive at Marist Pictured here in and early photo and settle in for the night. We had a nice day of sailing and had covered about 12.5 miles for the day. Various people stopped and chatted with us and we had engaged the crew of the Clearwater earlier in the day. Shells rowed by from rowing clubs and we commented on the wonderful view.
Several of or group decide to camp under the buildings overhang. In fact we setup just three tents on the well cared for lawn. Trains were actually a little ways off , probably 100 yards distant. It seemed like and ideal place for a actual whole nights sleep. One of the rowing coaches stopped by and suggested we tie the Sheep around on the inside of the Tee shaped dock, he had seen large wakes from barge traffic ,pick up boats tied parallel to the river and set them on the dock. We decided to retie the Cod Peace and Black Sheep together in a creative yet secure arrangement of lines. Mary from the Kingston Committee brought us Cider and doughnuts and Heather , David's bride to be, stopped buy in support with much needed eggs. The cider and doughnuts rocked and we were happy to see Heather. She drove many miles in support of the group and we thank her for her help . With out her help the trip would have been much harder.

All was well and we retired for the night around 9pm.

Chris, Mary, Kevin and Capt Dave we all camped by the dock. Chris had had a hard time sleeping , as he is from a quiet part of Maine. The trains we causing him grief and sleepless nights. At midnight he had to pee. Ah to leave the nice warm bed in search of relief or try and sleep through it. Never and easy choice. He rolled over and noticed the mast of the DeSager moving down river ! Pirates! They are stealing the Desager. Two guys had rowed up stream in a work skiff to steal the boats. We shout at them but they are strangely quiet. Chris runs down to the dock in pursuit.

Chris had considered jumping into the DeSager but wisely didn't , he didn't know if the thieves were armed. They had tried to untie all the boats but only managed to free the Desager , the Sheep and the Cod Peace were partially free. Mr Dill threw me the Sheep's bow line and Chris , Don, Dave and David jumped into the Cod Peace in hot pursuit. the chase was on. I secured the Sheep while Mr William was on the phone with 911 trying to explain what was happening. Talk about a strange call. I ran down river along the shore with a big stick in hand and noticed the Cod Peace was gaining fast. The pirates let go of the the DeSager in the middle of the river and slunk into the night. Dave and David jumped into the DeSager and started rowing back. All the boats were in the middle of the Hudson with no lights, no boats we in the area luckily. The boats all made it back safely and the police showed up to try and sort things out. Lets see people camped at the dock, wearing strange clothes talking of pirates. Pretty normal call I would guess. Well we talked to the police and finally calmed down. After much discussion and disbelief everyone decided to try and get some sleep. There would be a watch posted and all would be well. Departure was scheduled for predawn and we needed some rest. Mr Dill took down his tent and he and Mr Nick joined the dock crew. I awoke to heavy rain, really heavy rain , kind of super downpour. Then it stopped ! Mr William cried out Sprinklers! The lawn sprinklers were on , these were sprinkler heads that would pop up at various locations and shoot water 20 or 30 yards in a circle. We threw stuff back into dry bags , as I was packing I saw a sprinkler head pop up about 6 inches from Capt Dave's bedroll and go off! We ran for safety of the dock . We looked back and saw Capt David's dad Mr Bill trying to exit his tent only to have a sprinklers blasting into the door. We were laughing so hard we cried. What else could happen! After much laughter we said the heck with it and put on the coffee. The boats we packed and we left the dock with candle lanterns hanging from our bows and slipped off into the night. Good riddance Marist...

Marist College

2007-10-27T09:38:00.000-04:00

Here are some clues as to what's next.

Off to Marist

2007-10-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

We bid farewell to our plush digs at the Chelsea Yacht Club and thank John one again for his help. He shoves us off and we are excited to be back on the river.

Suppa Time

2007-10-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

This is our nightly ritual. First the one pot meal , usually some type of stew. Dean set us up with the needed ingredients and we added lots of stuff from the vast stores of the Cod Peace. We put on a pot of hot water also and people can have tea or hot chocolate. After that we use the water to hard boil eggs for the morning as breakfast. It is usually hard boiled eggs , coffee and maybe bacon. We would cook the bacon at supper as well. We then use the same water to wash dishes. Kevin is our fire lighter and we all pitch in to get supper out. At breakfast we only need to make coffee and off we go.

Time to set up Camp

2007-10-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

After a warm welcome from John we unload and setup camp.

Chelsea welcomes Us

2007-10-27T09:06:00.000-04:00

The Desager and Cod Peace come through the mooring field.

Chelsea at last

2007-10-26T14:52:00.000-04:00

We make it in just before sunset.

Thwart Blanket!

2007-10-26T10:52:00.000-04:00

We have blankets that sit on the thwarts to protect our gluteus maximus . Turns out most of the power is transmitted through this contact point. We are still rowing and we have how much further ???

18.5 miles

2007-10-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

This day turns out to be 18.5 miles We would have camped at Beacon and had a 15 mile day but the fine folks at Beacon would not let us camp at any of the city parks. I surfed the web and noticed that the Beacon Sloop club was in the area , it is home to the Sloop Woodie Guthrie. I contacted , John the clubs president , with our plea for help and to my surprised he answered with and offer to stay at the Chelsea Yacht Club ! Very generous indeed. Here is a picture of the Woody Guthrie. If you are ever in Beacon by all means support these fine people.

Breaks over

2007-10-26T10:02:00.000-04:00

Here comes the
De Sager crew time
to get movin...

Break

2007-10-26T08:31:00.000-04:00

Even

Batteaumen

need

a break.

Big Lift and West Point

2007-10-26T08:21:00.000-04:00

Heres Mr Nick steering with Big Lift in the background. We would see Big Lift later in the week . Here is West Point from the river and a shot of World's End from our bow.

Bear Mountian Camp

2007-10-25T18:03:00.000-04:00

Here is Bear Mountian Camp. Ah I can still here the trains..

Pics are In !

2007-10-25T17:50:00.000-04:00

Here are the pictures from Georges Island day one launch. Also all the gear piled on our porch. Takes alot of stuff !

World's End photo

2007-10-25T11:52:00.000-04:00

Heres another shot of World's End that I found on the web . It really gives you and idea of the size of the mountians on either side. Hopefully our film will be back tonight ..

World's End!

2007-10-24T12:23:00.000-04:00

We come up to a section called World's End where the river is reported to be 216 ft deep. This picture is looking back down river.
The river is narrow here and we are passed by several large ships one of which is named Big Lift. The thing is huge with large cranes on top and it makes us feel like a tooth pick. They sound the horn and we sound ours back as a form of greeting. We come out of the World's End to a spetacular view of The Hudson and Bannermans Castle.

Its a castle built by Mr Bannerman to oddly enough store muntions from his arms business. Heres a link Mr Dill sent click for more info Bannermans . Kind of a wierd structure you can just make it out on the island in the picture.

Day two World's End

2007-10-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

We proceed to leave Bear Mountain around the 9 o'clock time frame after a breakfast of coffee cookies and hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs turn out to be a constant companion on the trip. We will row 18.5 miles this day and pass West Point. We stop at a marina for a head call , you can see it pictured in the lower corner. It was called Highland station and was a rail station in the day. We stop at the creaky docks and Mr Dill proceeds to put on his waistcoat ( we are proper sailors ) and inquire about use of the head. There are three gentleman seated under a tent and after they come to grips with who we are and why we are dressed funny , point to the head. They explain that as we head up to World's End, we may get a favorable wind . They claim to know every inch of the river and I believe they probably do. This picture is looking towards West Point with the Marina in the bottom left. On towards Worlds End!

Bear Mountian

2007-10-24T11:59:00.000-04:00

Here is a Picture of the Bridge at Bear Mountain. I forgot to mention our brush with the law. As we passed the India Point nuke plant we strayed inside the no trespassing buoys. We then noticed a fast boat heading out from the nuke plant and on that boat are guards with m16's and they are not happy. After some quick rowing peace was restored and we had a nice chat with them. Our boat is crewed by Mr Dill , Mr William , Mr Nick and myself. The captain has gone over to the Cod Peace to help row. We send crew to the Cod Peace for the remainder of the trip to help out. Its warm out and the sun is beatin down.

Day One

2007-10-23T18:10:00.000-04:00

We start out at the crack of dawn. Not really dawn but at 4:30 the alarm clock rings. So its coffee and on the road by 6am. We hope we have everything we need and if its not packed I guess we don't need it. Turns out we had more than enough stuff. We arrive at Georges Island boat ramp in Verplanck, Ny and the first thing we see is a huge barge and tug moving up the Hudson. Mr Williams says " Oh my word" or something to that effect. After a while boats start to show up. First it is the De Sager from NY. Next comes the Cod Peace from Maine followed the Black Sheep from N .H. We quickly find out that we cannot park here overnight much less a week. David M says he knows of a marina just north and heads off to scout. Turns out Kings Marina lets us park there no charge. Very nice of them indeed! We proceed to launch and row about 7.5 miles to Bear Mountain Park. Its a nice row and works out the kinks. The only problem is Cod Peace is short crewed. Just Chris and Mary. We settle in for the night and get our first Rum call , welcome indeed! Everyone comments on the train tracks 50ft away but no trains have come up to this point. We talk to some guys fishing for crabs and learn that the Hudson brackish all the way to Albany. We retire for the night and here comes the train. Not just any train but one with lots of cars. They can stretch two counties and Mr Nick counted 101 cars on one train. They keep coming one every 15 minutes or so. They rattle your teeth they are so close. No sleep tonight..

But its good to be on the river.

Huzzah!

2007-10-21T18:45:00.000-04:00

We made it! Probably 60 miles in all more or less. Kind of strange to not be on a boat. What and adventure it was freighters, weather, Priracy and sprinklers mixed with the smell of gunpowder. I will post more tomorrow. Now for an whole nights sleep in a real bed.

Cast off the Bow Line

2007-10-15T07:39:00.000-04:00

But first Pack pack pack. Today is an exercise in laying everything out and packin.
You have to keep in mind ,the fact that every ounce of stuff you bring ,means more
weight to move up river. Weather is looking a little unsettled during the period.
Possible Gale on Saturday. That will fan the flames.

Pressed... or as we say Drafted

2007-10-14T20:22:00.000-04:00

In the day the Britsih Navy had a habit of pressing sailors into service. The idea is we go a shore and visit the bars.
We basicly get a gang together from the ship and drag them on board. Big sticks were involved. The persons wife would wake up and say where the heck is my husband ? Well he is a sailor now and you may not hear from him again. Or he may jump ship next port and we will press some more fine lad's into service.

As nice as that may seem we are Battteaumen. The men you could scrape up to be the mules of the river. Strong backs and weak minds. We may be British sailors or your average criminal. But is all about the river at this point. We climbed Tully Mountian today and the lakes were empty.. Gettin cold.

Dude its gettin cold out!

2007-10-14T20:09:00.000-04:00

You would be considered not properly
dressed if you had less than a vest on.
Granted it would be a thing of beauty
right about now but in August its
a different story. Anyways you would
always have a jacket. Here is mine.
The cuffs are a seamans cuff.

Dave the captian of our boat said
you will sew them on backwards.
I had a picture he sent me so I figured
yeah right. Sure enough backwards they went.
Here they are on right.

We are getting ready to ship out mate!

Old Soft Shoe

2007-10-13T19:57:00.000-04:00

The interesting thing about 18th century shoes is that
that they are "straight lasted". There was no left or right shoe.
The reason being that shoes were the most expensive thing
that you owned. So you switched the foot they were
worn on every other day. So you didn't have to know
you right from your left!

Heres a pic of ours.

You must be out of your canteen!

2007-10-12T21:54:00.000-04:00

I purchased this canteen up at the Fort at Number Four during an event with my friend Jimmy. Its a gourd that the person grew in a box and fashioned into a canteen. I don't know if its period correct but its pretty cool. I lined it with bee's wax and have used it for a number of years . Jimmy can you help me remember when the heck that was? I think George was King.

Wait a minute !

Get yer rations Lad!

2007-10-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

Rum that is. Sailors were given a daily ration of rum. Changes were introduced by British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon on 21 August 1740. His enduring claim to fame was his 1740 order that his sailors' rum should be diluted with water. The idea was to cut cost but also lemons and sugar were added to combat Scurvy so some benefit was derived. The lemons and sugar would also cause mixture to have a limited shelf life. Sailors would often save the daily ration to consume multiple rations later. The prior ration was 1/2 a pint a day or straight rum.

Those boys were not Happy Campers after the introduction of H20 , the new mix was called Grog after the coat that Admiral Vernon favored.

Here are some pictures of the ration cups we carry. My very talented daughter made these.

Schedule and background

2007-10-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

Row to Kingston – General Information – October 16 to October 19, 2007

Also known as ‘The Big Row, 2007’
Last update of this document, October 6, 2007.
by David Manthey, Bateaux DeSager and Bobbie G, Captain

General Information

Overview

We will be rowing and sailing two bateaux, plus possible a dory, from Verplanck, New York to Kingston, New York starting on Tuesday, October 16 and arriving Friday, October 19. On October 20th and 21st, we will participate in the reenactment of the “Burning of Kingston”, a
commemoration of the British destruction of the town in 1777. The trip is roughly 53 miles long. It will be done in replica 18th century bateaux (flat-bottomed cargo boats) owned by the Mabee Farm Historic Site and crewed by the Revolutionary War reenactors from the Second Albany County Militia and other groups. The crew will stay in 18th-century clothing and use
period equipment and gear throughout the entire trip.

Schedule

General notes:

Arrival and transit times are very difficult to predict, as our speed is very much the subject of tide, current, wind, and crew. If there is a consistent north wind, our times will be slow. In practice, the average rowing speed we can expect is around 2 to 2.5 mph. Because of crew limitations, we will be taking the Bobbie G from the Mabee Farm. We will be joined by the Black Sheep, and possibly by the dory Codpeace.

Preliminaries, Monday, Oct. 15: Moving the boats to Verplanck
A few of us will be trailering the bateaux from the Mabee Farm to a marina in Verplanck, most likely King Marine or Viking Marina. We have used Viking Marina in the past, and know that they provide good service. The boats will be launch by sling and moored at docks at the marina for the evening. The marina is a short walk from the river front park where we will camp
(subject to town approval). We will leave boats trailers and other vehicles at the marina. Similarly, King Marine is the winter berth of the Half Moon, and will likely provide us with excellent service as well.
Camping will be in the town park on Riverview Avenue. I think this is the Steamboat Riverfront Park.

First day, Tuesday, Oct. 16: Verplanck to Bear Mountain State Park

We will be launching from the boat launch at George’s Island Park. This is a Westchester County Park that has what appears to be a decent ramp. Based on tides, we’ll depart sometime around noon. This means that many rowers don’t
have to arrive until that time. We will have acceptable tidal conditions until around 7 p.m.
Today is the shortest day – only about 7.5 miles. Our docking spot will be at Bear Mountain State Park on the west side of the river a short distance before the Bear Mountain Bridge. The Park has a large public dock with a floating dock at the south side. We have a permit to camp at this site. I have reserved a portajohn, which will be placed in the parking area a short walk along
a path under the railroad tracks.

Second day, Wednesday, Oct. 17: Bear Mountain State Park to Chelsea

Based on tides, we’ll depart around noon again today. The distance for the day is about 18.5 miles. We will pass West Point and Bannerman Castle en route.
Camping will be at the Chelsea Yacht Club in Chelsea. This is a nice looking private yacht club that is allowing us to camp and dock there under the conditions that we don’t have charcoal fires near any structure and don’t camp in the way of ordinary club activities.

Third day, Thursday, Oct. 18: Chelsea to Poughkeepsie

Based on tides, we want the earliest possible departure. The tides become contrary around 9 a.m., at which point we’ll make a layover until 2 p.m. One possible layover spot is Wappinger Creek or the marina in New Hamburg. The distance is about 12.5 miles. Camping will be at the Marist rowing club, docking in front of the Cornell Building. I have reserved a portajohn for our use.

Fourth day, Friday, Oct. 19: Poughkeepsie to Kingston

Another early start as the tides are favorable until around noon. If we need to, we can layover until late afternoon and proceed then. Our final destination is Kingston Point Park where there is a small artificial tidal lagoon. Distance is about 15.5 miles. Camping will be at the park. Note that this is the one spot where we will not have a dock, and therefore must take appropriate precautions against the tide.

Reenactment, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 20-21:

We will continue to camp at Kingston Point Park. Much of the reenactment will take place here. I am placing our bateaux at the convenience of the event organizers for these two days, and we will serve in whatever capacity is most useful for the event. I know on Sunday we will be participating in a battle reenactment along Rondout Creek and the Kingston waterfront.

When the time comes, we will row the boats up the Rondout Creek to the Esopus boat launch (around a mile and a quarter away).
A note about the weather: We will be proceeding with the trip unless the weather is actually dangerous. Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.

About the Bateau

The bateau DeSager is a replica of a 1792 bateau, similar to that used by Philip Schuyler for the survey of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers that was done in that year. The design is similar to a scaled drawing of a bateau recorded by the British admiralty sometime between 1750 and the late 1770s. The boat is 23’ long, 5’ of beam, and is capable of hauling a ton of cargo along
with a crew of 5 men. The boat is the size of an original Albany Boat, as would have been frequently used on the upper Hudson River or used for small, express cargoes on the Mohawk River in the late 18th century.
The bateau is a flat-bottomed vessel, allowing it to have a very shallow draft. With a full crew, it only draws five or six inches of water. With a one-ton load, crew, and a month of supplies, it would draw twelve or thirteen inches of water. This shallow draft made the bateau an
excellent river craft prior to the navigational improvements that were made on both Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. The principal motive power of the bateau is oars. It is generally crewed by a steersman and from two to four rowers, though we have occasionally had as many as six rowers, and have occasionally maneuvered the boat by a single crew member. When there is a following or side
wind, the bateau can be sailed to good effect. With a head wind, the bateau can make some progress, but rivers and narrow lakes are not generally conducive to tacking upwind. Historically, the bateau would have also been poled when in the shallows. As the lower Hudson River is quite deep, poling is not a useful means of propulsion to us on this trip.

The bateau Bobbie G is very similar to the bateau DeSager, except that it is 5’ 8” of beam (somewhat wider) and a bit deeper. Both the bateau DeSager and the bateau Bobbie G are owned by the Mabee Farm Historic Site, which is a property of the Schenectady County Historical Society.

The boat is crewed by volunteers, mostly from the 2nd Albany County Militia / Schuyler’s Company of New York Provincials, which is a group dedicated to historical reenacting in the Revolutionary and French and Indian wars.

The bateau DeSager was built in 2002-2003 by the Capital District Maritime Center in Alplaus along the Mohawk River, which is a BOCES school for grades 6 to 9. It was constructed under the direction of shipwright Greg Patterson. The bateau Bobbie G was built in 2003-2004, also by the Capital District Maritime Academy.

All of the rigging, the rope fenders, and the sail were constructed by David Manthey, who is the captain of the bateaux. Various iron work, pennants, and other items were made by a wide range of volunteers.
The DeSager has been in use for the last four and a half years. Its longest voyage so far was a trip from Rotterdam Junction to Kingston. This was a 92 mile, 4 day trip down the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The bateau has also made numerous voyages from its home dock down the Mohawk River to Schenectady, and also been as far afield as Vergennes, Vermont on Lake Champlain, and Oswego, New York on Lake Ontario.

Information on the Reenactment

Copied directly from the website maintained by the 1st Ulster County Militia
(http://www.firstulster.org/page/5_2_1_burning.html)

The Burning of Kingston – Background

In October 1777, the war of the Revolution was on the verge of a major shift. After two years, the British army had not succeeded in subduing the American rebellion which had spread from New England to every other province. General John Burgoyne, putting into effect a new strategy, had maneuvered his army of 6,000 to a situation twenty miles above Albany, NY, on the west side of the Hudson River. This was to be the northern spear of a three-prong attack on
Albany, intended to sweep the length of the Hudson River and choke off New England from the rest of the continent. However, the second prong, which had been marching eastward along the Mohawk, was stopped 200 miles short of its goal by a rebel army at Oriskany and Fort Stanwix, and Burgoyne found his own progress south blocked by the appearance of a massive force of 20,000
Americans, a large part of which was militia, commanded by General Horatio Gates. To turn back was not an option – he had to break through, outnumbered though he was. Burgoyne's hope was in the third prong of the attack, to come from New York City, the British headquarters. General Sir Henry Clinton, British commander there, feared leaving the city vulnerable to attack by Washington's army, and didn't wish to jeopardize its security by sending a large part of his force all the way north to help Burgoyne. As a compromise, he sent a fleet of ships and about 2,000 men part of the way up river to "create a diversion", in hopes that this would force General Gates to divide his army in front of Albany and send part of it south to save the lower Hudson
Valley.

On October 6th, the diversion began with attacks on the two American forts guarding the riverway, Montgomery and Clinton. Both fell to the British. The fleet, under the direct command of General John Vaughan, continued northward, and on October 15th arrived opposite Kingston, the rebel capital of New York and seat of the New York Assembly.

Here, on October 16th, the troops landed and proceeded to set fire to the village, house by house. By the end of the day, every house but one was destroyed – the Van Steenbergh House on Wall Street – and the soldiers had returned to their ships to continue their trek further north to
create more diversions at Rhinebeck and the Livingston manor on the east side of the river.

It was too little, too late: the day before Kingston's destruction, General Burgoyne, defeated in two battles and a long standoff, had given up hope of rescue and signed his surrender to General Gates' army at Saratoga.

Kingston's Defense

When the Crown Troops entered Kingston, they found a largely deserted city. The approach of the fleet had allowed time for residents to gather their most valuable belongings, and flee to Hurley and other neighboring towns. Resistance within the city was scattered, as most of the local militia were with the American army at Saratoga, or deployed in other theaters of the war.
Further up the Rondout, however, a larger militia force was able to assemble and harry the British. General George Clinton, in command of Fort Montgomery until its fall, anticipated a possible attack on Kingston and attempted to reach the city with what troops he had, but was unable to move fast enough to intercept the British.

This left the citizens of Kingston with the burned-out shells of their homes, and little choice for many but to make what shelter they could to get through the winter. As many of the buildings in Kingston at that time were stone-walled, the structures survived the flames, and were eventually rebuilt, surviving (with some changes over the years) to this day.

Interestingly, the Burning of Kingston was regarded as an atrocity of war by many in Britain, as well as in America. Two British political cartoons of the day, "The Closet" (1778) and "Mr. Trade & Family, or the State of ye Nation" (date unknown) show "Esopus" (as Kingston was
commonly called) in flames in the background. General Gates deplored the destruction of the town, castigating General Vaughan directly by letter: "With unexampled cruelty you have reduced the fine village of Kingston to Ashes, and most of the wretched Inhabitants to ruin... Is
it thus your King's General thinks to make Converts to the Royal Cause?"

Ah Kingston... I can smell the wood smoke !

2007-10-12T07:35:00.000-04:00

Oh pillage and plunder.

Burning Down the House

Buttons

2007-10-11T22:48:00.000-04:00

I made something like twenty buttons. They had to be shaped on a grinding wheel. What a nice smell. Nice if you like burning hair. Kind of like a dentist visit gone bad.

Stuff and Lots of it

2007-10-11T19:44:00.000-04:00

Slops- With bone buttons I made from deer leg bones.
I boiled them in a bucket, in the back yard, to get them clean .
The Neighbors loved it !

Needle work

2007-10-10T19:38:00.000-04:00

Mr William ( my wife's persona as a batteauman) is French hitching our water bottles.
Here is a gromit on the sea bag I am working on. Sew on we go.

The Black Sheep

2007-10-09T23:28:00.000-04:00

Heres an older picture of The Sheep...

Gromits

2007-10-09T20:58:00.000-04:00

No not- Wallace but gromits on the bag. Working on a second sea bag and its gromit-ville till further notice.

Fort at Number Four

2007-10-09T12:45:00.000-04:00

Here we are at Number 4 in August. We have new pants and shirts etc for the row.

Big Row

2007-10-09T12:36:00.000-04:00

Hey all this is just a quick blog so we can keep in touch regarding the Big Row.

At this point we are still getting ready. Lots of stuff had to be made everything from Slops--the pants sailors wear in 1750-- to bags and tents. Did my first long splice last night ... very salty of me.