Day One

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.