June 15 - Athens, NY

Relaxing Day

Riverfront Park Dock

We woke to another beautiful day...clear blue skies and 57 when we got up. Stan fixed breakfast on the grill and we sat on the flybridge and had a leisurely morning enjoying our peaceful little anchorage. We decided today would be a short cruising day. We only traveled 16 miles up river to Athens; they offer a free dock to cruisers. It's located in a pretty park. The park and dock were all replaced last fall after Hurricane Irene flooded this whole area. We were told that the buildings at the top of the park had 17" of water in them. The Riverfront Park is very pretty, the people in town are very nice and there are a few restaurants, but very little of anything else.

It was the perfect day and place to catch up on a few things. After a quick bike ride around town and a trip to the convenience store I worked on getting all my June photos in order. If I don't get them labeled quickly...I forget where they were taken. Stan did a few little projects and made sure things were ready for the locks. Tomorrow we will go through The Federal Lock in Troy and start the Erie Canal in a few days. For happy hour the guys found a place in town that brew their own beer, while Pam and I enjoyed margaritas on the boat.

A little history of this area: Henry Hudson was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company on January 8th, 1609 to find a passage to the “islands of spicery” that would eliminate the lengthy and expensive voyage around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Provided with an 80-ton ship, the Half Moon, and a crew of twenty, Hudson embarked on his journey in early April of that year.

Over a century later, a town bearing the name Hudson was established along the river of the same name. A group of whalers on Nantucket, fearing that England would reclaim her colonies, decided to move their business inland. After sailing one hundred miles up the Hudson River, they selected a site on the east bank of the river for their new home. Directly across the river from Hudson, the city of Athens, which would become a shipbuilding town, was subsequently founded. Together, the cities became an important and busy port on the Hudson River during the nineteenth century.

Relaxing morning on the flybridge

 Cruising up the Hudson River

Todays scenery

Hudson/Athens Lighthouse - Midstream between Hudson and Athens was a large mud flat called Middle Ground Flats that was completely submerged at high tide. Many a ship found herself unexpectedly stranded on the flats, prompting Congress to appropriate funds for the construction of a lighthouse to help ships avoid the obstacle in 1872.  Its beacon was lit for the first time on November 14, 1874. 

Athens & their 80' aluminum floating dock

Stewart House

The Pearl in Athens

Gallivant & The Pearl

Stan airing up our "balls"...we'll need them in the locks. Notice we had to move our boat...there is a ferry that uses this dock on Friday and Saturday, so we are rafted off of Gallivant again.