Canada to Key West Paddle – Day 16

July 17^th 2016
Catskill, NY

What a party it was last night! When the band quit playing I headed to Sal’s boat to turn in, but no one was around so I threw my gear aboard and went to walk around a bit. I ran into the guy who had told me earlier to tend to my kayak that was hanging off the wall I tied her to due to Low Tide. He invited me to his friends boat to hang out so I followed. There I met four guys who’ve been friends since College and before. There were two attorneys, a Professor and a Marketing guy. They were all turning 50 this year and were surprised I was 51, I told them that I hope 50 for them was as awesome as it was for me. Aside from losing Lexie, it was a pretty good year. We called it a night around 1am.

I awoke at 6am to see how high High Tide was here. The docks, once 6 feet below the lawn was now even with them. I’m glad I moved my kayak to the floating dock and it reminded me that I must be very wary of where I camp here on out. I set up shop (the computer) in the Barn where the dancing took place the night before and waited for Breakfast. One of the club members treated me to coffee.

After breakfast, I packed up and got ready to hit the water. The tide was Low and dropping a bit more meaning I’d be running into High Tide while on the water, but there is nothing I can do about it so off I went hoping for the best.

Life on the water is hot. Hot. HOT. Did I mention it’s been HOT? I am very concerned about Sun Stroke. There is no relief from the sun these past few days and there is little breeze so the air gets stagnant and hard to breath. Every time I tried to convince myself to jump in the water, I’d pass another dead fish. Catfish I think. Seriously, I stopped counting around 60 today and I’m just one little boat in a large river. That is way too many dead fish. Not sure if it’s the heat killing them or something worse, but I can’t bring myself to jump in there like I did in Lake Champlain. Sadly, that is how this will be until I hit the Keys.

On a happy note, I saw my first sailboat with the mast up and sailing today since I left Lake Champlain. I do love sailboats, but it makes me sad to see them with the mast stepped. From here on out, I should be seeing sailboats more often, but until I hit the Chesapeake, it won’t be like the Northern part of Lake Champlain.

Around 2pm, I was fighting High Tide and the Heat. It was really exhausting fighting the heat. High Tide turned out to be manageable, but I couldn’t rest a second or I’d lose too much ground. I was relieved when Slack Tide arrived so I could at least stop and rest for a minute here and there. By the time I got to Athens, NY I was running with Low Tide and the Rip Van Winkle Bridge was in sight. I now had a decision to make. Push on to Saugerties or camp on the island under the bridge. The island didn’t look too welcoming so I started to push for Saugerties when a big barge came into sight so I hung back waiting for it before crossing it’s path. That is when I noticed a few boats running up behind some land. A quick check on my map showed a creek there so I decided to go check it out. Rounding the point I found a nice little creek with a Marina up ahead.

I tied off at the end of the Fuel Dock at Riverside Marine Services and approached the owner. A friendly man named Mike introduced himself to me. I told him my story and he offered me a place to camp and shower without hesitation. He gave me a tour of the grounds and I was relieved to be off the water for the night. The grounds, shower and bathroom were clean and it looked like he had a well-stocked Marine Parts store here too. This sure beats the island I was headed to.

Before I went to set up camp, I had to go talk to the owners of a double masted schooner here in dock. There I met another Mike, his wife Sue and Mike’s brother Todd. They bought the Schooner down in Florida and are bringing it back up to Irondequoit, NY, which just so happens to be where my kayak was purchased and why I wanted to paddle the Erie Canal someday. Tomorrow they will be un-stepping the masts so I might have to stick around a bit to watch that in action.

Having to had dealt with the heat today, I was not feeling so great upon arrival and decided I needed something sweet to drink. Mike, the owner, told me there was a concession stand across the way in the Riverfront Park so I headed over to get something. I purchased two sweet teas and when I went to sit down, I spotted this little pup. As soon as I looked at her, her tail started to wag so I went over. As I approached, I said to the woman; I don’t even need to ask if she is friendly, her tail is wagging and she can’t wait to greet me. That is when I met Jingle and her Mom and Dad, Bill and Marilyn. They were down from the Saratoga area scouting out the park to bring the Seniors to. It is a nice riverfront park overlooking the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. We sat and chatted for a bit while Jingle showered me with affection. She was really cute and reminded me a lot of Lexie. I am glad I got to meet and hold her.

Day 16 Done
Enjoy the pictures

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us