Short trip on the Hudson 5/14/2022

[CharlieO.]

Little 25 mile shakedown run to the Tappan Zee bridge and back to the marina.
Had to change slips when we came back. Extremely proud of ourselves for backing into a slip for the first time ever, only second time we docked into a slip. Single no thruster. All the advice and pointers I get really pays off to pay attention. Don’t worry not going be over confident. I was able to use prop walk and wind to our advantage.

 

[JohnP]

Congrats! Good Job! The river looks very calm is this Today? May 14th or April 14th?

 

[CharlieO.]

Congrats! Good Job! The river looks very calm is this Today? May 14th or April 14th?

Sorry I’m a big dummy with fat fingers. 5/14/22

 

[CharlieO.]

Doesn’t seem I can edit the title

 

[Comodave]

Doesn’t seem I can edit the title

No, but I can and did.

 

[CharlieO.]

No, bit I can and did.

Thank you kind sir.

 

[CharlieO.]

Quite a bit of debris in the river too.

 

[Comodave]

No problem that was a simple fix. Congrats on your good trip.

 

[Bacchus]

Great start. Now just repeat under different conditions and try to note what comoensation it takes due to various conditions.

 

[Comodave]

We went up the Hudson in early May 2016. We hit a lot of submerged debris.

 

[alormaria]

Piece of cake.

 

[backinblue]

Yesterday (5/14) was our first day out too, bringing the boat home from winter marina to summer slip. Nice calm day for it. Glad you had a successful trip.

Only unfortunate thing for me was the timing. Had to dock against a strong outgoing tide in a river where my slip is. Had to spin my boat almost 180 degrees while being pushed downstream towards adjacent docks and boats. My thursters got a good workout. My boat has next to zero propwalk. I don't think I would have attempted docking at that time w/o at least a bow thruster.

 

[rslifkin]

Sounds like a good day to me! And it also sounds like you might be one of the lucky ones where the way a boat moves in close quarters and how that relates to docking, etc. all comes naturally. There are definitely people who just have the touch and can get good at it pretty easily (even on different boats). And then others who really have to work to get good at it (and often have to learn all over if the boat changes).

 

[CharlieO.]

Sounds like a good day to me! And it also sounds like you might be one of the lucky ones where the way a boat moves in close quarters and how that relates to docking, etc. all comes naturally. There are definitely people who just have the touch and can get good at it pretty easily (even on different boats). And then others who really have to work to get good at it (and often have to learn all over if the boat changes).

I'll credit it to proper visualization for now. The slips across from me were empty and I had no boat next to my slip to worry about. Got our boat positioned to back in and let the wind push us down the fairway till we could back in with the prop walk pulling us to the starboard where the slip was. According to my son I didn't look calm cool and collected though.
Came in slow, used neutral and reverse a couple times to slow my forward momentum.

Next up is a four day trip up the Hudson to the Champlain canal (locks) and to our summer slip on Lake Champlain. 5/27/2022 departure hoping to be on the lake on Memorial Day. Planning one marina stay in Kingston if we can get a easy side tie at the museum. Plan on tying up to a couple of the locks on the way up the canal.

 

[backinblue]

We managed the canal pretty easily with only 1 overnight half way. We weren't pushing hard and certainly did not have long days of travel. You can take longer if you want to spend time in some of the towns along the way. I'm just saying that is not difficult to do in 2 days unless you run into a lot of traffic and long delays at some of the locks. Don't fear the locks, they are very cool and also fun.

 

[CharlieO.]

We managed the canal pretty easily with only 1 overnight half way. We weren't pushing hard and certainly did not have long days of travel. You can take longer if you want to spend time in some of the towns along the way. I'm just saying that is not difficult to do in 2 days unless you run into a lot of traffic and long delays at some of the locks. Don't fear the locks, they are very cool and also fun.

Thanks, I started a new thread on the trip planning. I would like to take longer and explore more but have 4 days allotted to the trip. Of course a safe trip is more important than being back to work on Tuesday. I am curious to how the traffic will be on Memorial Day weekend.

 

[backinblue]

Thanks, I started a new thread on the trip planning. I would like to take longer and explore more but have 4 days allotted to the trip. Of course a safe trip is more important than being back to work on Tuesday. I am curious to how the traffic will be on Memorial Day weekend.

A few years back we did the reverse trip. It was some time in mid to late May, but prior to Memorial day. I think it was about 1 week after the canal opened. Most times we were the only boat in the locks and saw very little traffic. Good luck and keep us all informed.