Waterford marks the end of the canal system. The town has put in new docks and a welcome center with showers!! After the hot, humid, hazy days we had been experiencing, showers with endless water where high (literally) on the priority list. Most of the places we had overnighted at had no facilities at all. Waterford was also a lovely stopover, providing a book exchange, internet access and helpful directions from the volunteers on where to find things for the every present need of provisioning. There were actually shopping carts from the local Price Choppers to use to collect the heavier items. Normally we use our backpacks (Karen packs and distributes the loads in the backpacks - one of those divisions of labour that has somehow naturally evolved) (guess why?) so this was a treat. We are doing a lot of walking which is good.

From Waterford, we motored down the Hudson River to Hop-O-Nose marina on Catskill Creek to get our mast stepped. The trip down the Hudson was rough from powerboat wakes and we did have the end of the mast bouncing from a couple of boats - an experience that I do not want to repeat. We did learn what works on holding a mast in place and, if you have a keel stepped mast, I strongly recommend using a 4x4 post to the mast step (and properly wedged in place) to support most of the mast weight. Also keep the mast low.

As we went by Castleton - the club where you can step your mast yourself, a large powerboat roared through without slowing down. The boat threw a wake that damaged the docks and would have caused any stepping their mast grief. Hop-O-Nose is well up Catskill Creek so does not have a wake problem but was considerably more expensive. It also has a great pool and restaurant which were much used and appreciated as the days were in the 90's. Friends had their mast stepped at Riverview Marina, close to Hop-O-Nose, and were very happy with the service here as well. It was cheaper than Hop-O-Nose, so is another alternative for those coming after us. After converting the boat from a power boat back to a sail boat and a good cleaning, another swim, we were ready to carry on regardless. So off down the Hudson, we proceeded.

Our first stop, which happened to be Saturday night and our son Jeff's birthday, was Poughkeepsie Yacht club. This is a friendly club on the side of the Hudson where we got a mooring for the night. It was a great spot but was exposed to wakes so we had a bit of rock around the clock. We did have a close encounter of the scrapping kind when another moored boat decided to cuddle Vagus just as we were going to sleep. A combination of current, wakes, wind and keel types resulted in our bows kissing. This resulted in our keeping an anchor watch until the tide changes and we settled into a predictable motion. You do have to watch the spacing of the moorings as the clubs want to maximize the number in a given area - something I would not be happy with if I was a club member. The moorings at LaSalle are far apart by the standards here.