Treasures

One of the things that this sailing life naturally gives us is a sense of appreciation.  We are constantly checking the levels of various things that matter to us – weather, batteries, water, waste, diesel, laundry and, yes, our own energy levels.  When one of those things is on the positive side (be it “full” or “empty”), life just gets a little easier.  We definitely appreciate those small moments.
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Enter Hop-o-Nose Marina.  This marina was only supposed to be important to us because it was where Wild Horses would become a sailboat again.  But, really, we were able to use our time here as a real rest stop.  We had the luxury of shore power which meant that we could use our on-boat laundry machine plus our boat batteries could get totally topped up.  We also had (free) dockside water usage and pump out.  Best of all, Thursday’s stormy weather meant we had an extra day to get some boat things done.  It also meant we could sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast.  Wow.  Our own personal battery levels were able to get filled up.  We got some energy back.

Ocean watching the Troy Federal lock gate open, showing us our first views of the Hudson River

An easy first leg on the Hudson River on our way to Hop-o-Nose

An early morning view of Hop-0-Nose Marina from the Bridge in Catskill

Of course, the last few days weren’t exactly about relaxing with a good book and a cocktail.  We arrived at Hop-o-Nose on Tuesday afternoon and were placed in the queue for an early morning mast stepping.  By 1100 hours, we were a sailboat again!  Ten days after her mast was laid on deck at Oswego Marina to transit the New York State Canalway (Oswego and Eastern Erie), it was put back up.  The whole process went smoothly thanks to the expert staff at Hop-o-Nose.  They definitely made it all look easy.  They also were very sweet with our pup Ocean, who stayed on deck to supervise the mast stepping.

Our boat in the masting slip, getting readied by the expert Hop-o-Nose crew

The mast getting lifted out of her wooden supports

Our mast fully lifted and ready to be placed on deck

​Once the mast was up, the work for me and Mike started.  We had to tune the rigging (i.e. all the wires that keep the mast in place), reattach our boom and all of our halyards, get both sails hoisted and furled, reconnect our electrical wires for our instruments, and reattach our solar panels.  Whew.  And, in amongst all of this we pumped out the boat’s waste tanks, filled the boat’s water tanks, did a few loads of laundry and walked our pup Ocean.  This is the nice thing about having a pup on board.  She made us stop our work and get into the cute little town of Catskill nearby.  It is a very artsy, zen-loving, lovely town with very friendly people.  Nice!  

Victoria at the mast after just feeding the furling mainsail into its mast track.

Wild Horses is a sailboat again!

Our fabulous on-boat washing machine! Thanks for the idea Dave and Regina!

The last few days was a lot of work but we appreciate that we have now been able to reset all of our “levels”.  We feel refreshed and ready to take on the next leg of our trip.  We also love that we can, once again, sail Wild Horses.  Oh, and for the NFL fans out there, yes, we are watching Thursday Night Football tonight from the comfort of Wild Horses.  That does wonders for Mike feeling like all is right with the world 😉.
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We are off to Poughkeepsie, NY tomorrow morning.  This will be one of two stops on our way to New York City Harbour.  We have a few exciting days ahead of us.  And it is hard not to appreciate that 😊.