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Whitehall to Essex, NY
The starts of as a rainy day with light clouds over the marina. It has rained earlier too and the boat is wet and damp. New challenges we are facing while entering the lake region and going into the Canadian waters. Our sewer system is not allowed in those waters so some adjustments need to be made to accommodate these regulations. We are also using the pump out station of the marina to prepare ourselves for the protracted period of time while navigating in those waters.
Our friend and dock master is very helpful in accommodating our needs and supplying us with some needed adapters for the new process of discharge. All is set and we are on our way through some prestine
Now we are in areas where there is no house and no boat in sight, just water, trees and mountains in the distance. The water level is so high that all the trees along the river are standing in water. With the fog lifting and the clouds subsiding the calmness of the morning presents itself in mirrors on the surface of the water around us.
We pass by Ft. Ticonderoga standing proud on top of a hill and cliff looking over the oncoming traffic from south and north. Good strategic point, I’d say!
Slowly but surely as the canal widens we are closer and closer to lake Champlain. As we approach the lake we go under the bridge connecting the two states, NY and Vermont at the Crown Point Ft where the beaut6iful statue of St. Frederick overlooks the magnificent lake Champlain.
The afternoon has become a bit choppy and windy on the lake as we push our way through towards Essex. The scenery is beautiful and the air smells so clean, not to forget the clean waters of the lake. It is so refreshing to be in such a serene setting! Just about lunch time we have reached our destination and are surprised to see what we see. Most docks of the marina are under water and the navigation to our designated dock is very tricky to say the least. It’s like threading the needle through the eye. Capt. Tom succeeds in getting us docked safely and soundly. These pictures will give you an idea of what we had to encounter in this marina.
A lovely lunch was a great reward that followed all the troubles of the day! The Essex Inn is quite a pleasant surprise in this small town of Essex.
A nice walk after lunch and after dinner as well gave us a better idea of this quaint small town and it’s inhabitants.
Statuesque trees crown every street and each property while the blooming ones fill the air with the sweet scent of their blossoms. The wind has laid down and it is a peace filled night.
May the next day arise even more magnifiscent than today!
Schuylerville to Whitehall, NY
We have by now passed through 5 locks and have 6 more locks ahead of us! It has been a long day and the nature of this environment makes it a slow and tedious ride. At the same time it is very enjoyable too for we are passing through pristine country every inch of the way.
Schuylerville is our stop for the night. It is barely a town but it has a marina with power and water. Pretty place and unique docking for the Contessa. She is seems to be communing with trees today.
Tomorrow morning as the arise and the fog lifts off of the river we gently depart from our resting point and move onward towards Whitehall, NY. There are 6 locks ahead of us and just outside the 12th lock lies Whitehall Marina. It is a transient marina welcoming all that pass through here on their way to lake Champlain or back from the lake region.
As we pass each lock there are particularities to each one of them whereby the principal is the same. Up to lock C8 we have been rising some 140 feet and once the plateau was reached we started our descent. On this section of our trip we encountered a lot of dredging work going on asking for idle speed and caution.
We passed by cornfields and cow pastures, abandoned barns of which one was slowly descending into the river, yet it had a for sale sign on it.
Just as we reached the C12 lock and emerged 16 feet lower on the other side which will lead us into Lake Champlain we were engulfed by torrential rain fall. For tonight we are staying at the Whitehall Marina where Joe had to perform some fancy maneuvering of the boat to accommodate the beautiful Bernadette that needed more power. It was scary for me to watch and partake in but thank God it all worked out fine and the boat was situated safely looking into the opposite direction from before, being north.
Whitehall as we learned was quite an important city in late 1700 and 1800. It is the birthplace of the US Navy. Benedict Arnold created his own fleet of 12 navy ships that were manufactured right here in Whitehall from local lumber by craftsmen from Rhode Island, Newport and Main. The famous Saratoga vessel is preserved in the local museum and has it’s own honorable place of rest. The magnificent mansion built way up into the Severe’s mountain was the home of a man by the same name that created the dam system and made the Hudson navigable. The transportation of goods coming from Lake Champlain and the local regions of the Hudson and Upstate NY were now transported via barges on the river in some areas pulled by mules and horses from land. Many pleasure boats and transportation for travelers was now available by boats as well. That was the time when this area’s economy was at it’s high point. The remnants of those times gone by are still present in old buildings now mostly vacant but still show their old glory. 
Kingston, Albany up to Troy, NY and beyond
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On the third day up the Hudson we are starting an early day of adventure in order to reach our destination for today, being Schuylerville, NY. It is a gray and fogy day with a slight ray of light in the distance. I seem to see such a day as magical filled with opportunities not yet visible.
Our trip takes us past some pretty country of rolling hills, quaint little towns and marinas, as well as by the powerful city of Albany, the capital of NY state. In it’s vicinity is a well known university second to MIT named Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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As we get closer and closer to lake Champlain we have to pass through a number of locks which are bringing us up to higher and higher grounds, meaning that while resting in each lock the water level rises starting with anywhere from 10-19 feet taking the Contessa up with it. What an ingenious idea this was in creation and making this waterway easily navigable. Each lock is affiliated with falls and rapids, actual spillways that would make the navigation impossible otherwise. The spillways are control methods to the level of water rising or falling at each level. Thank you to the inventor and all those that tend to the functionality of each lock!
As I understand we are to pass through 10 lock all together in order to reach our destination. Interesting, challenging, yet invigorating!
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We have gone through 4 major locks today and are on our last leg to the resting point for tonight, being Schuylerville, NY state. Each lock had it’s own characteristics and layouts making it an interesting adventure. The first challenge was with our 1st lock just north of Troy where a barge making repairs was located at the entrance to the lock making it a challenging one after all. I wonder how are the rest of them going to be?
At Lock C4 we had to wait for beautiful Bernadette to arrive and make the same crossing with us. She certainly was a beauty and worth waiting for. 
Up the Hudson to Rondout Yacht Basin, NY
Sunday morning just at sunrise the Contessa embarked on her northbound journey up the Hudson river. On board for this leg of the ride we are joined by Virginia Grace who is eagerly looking forward to refresh her childhood memories of times gone by. Her father used to take her and her siblings on this ride going up the Hudson and into the lake region a number of times. As she set up on the bow of the Contessa and simply immersed herself into the magnificent nature that the boat gently passed through, she looked like a little girl in her bliss. It was a perfectly created day for such an adventure. The skies were blue and the waters were calm displaying the urges of the hearts and souls present at that moment in time.
Just about lunch time we arrived at our marina in Kingston named Rondout. It is the best marina in town, my friend Simone said! We wondered what the others looked like? Nevertheless, it is perfectly situated in the valley between the hills, just down the river from the “High Falls” and has fuel, food and a pool. That, I understand is a luxury in this neighborhood. Kingston is surrounded by numerous small towns with their centuries old stone homes replicating the building structures and architecture of Holland and England. I can only imagine how pictures it is here in the fall when the canopies of trees turn into a palette of golden, red and yellow displays.
The next morning of our visit to Kingston my friend Simone came to get us and take us to her spa, Simhara for a day of relaxation and rejuvenation. The spa is only open Thursday through Sunday but she made sure that we would get to experience all the wonderful treatments she has to offer including her crystal bed of John of God. Simhara is an centuries old Dutch stone house situated on a large property of rolling hills, trees of majestic stature and a spring fed lake. Not to forget that there also is a vortex, a portal to a world of love and light awaiting those that are ready to embark on a journey long forgotten but available again.
Thank you Simone for a healing and rejuvenating day orchestrated by two of your fabulous therapists, Shirley and Ron.
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