We had rain on Monday so it was easy to sit in the marina and not go anywhere. The forecast for today is 60% probability of rain with a potential for thunderstorms in the afternoon. Actually that is the forecast for the rest of the week. The weather radar looked clear in the morning so we left Kingston for Albany.
It turned out to be sunny with some clouds, high temps and humidity. There was not much wind but the trip was good and we avoided any rain.
Not much traffic on the river in either direction. We did pass a couple of sailboats and they were headed north. There were very few fishermen out so it was really quite on the water. We passed more tows than we did pleasure boats.
One real neat lighthouse we passed was the Athens-Hudson Lighthouse. It is not in use anymore but they must offer some tours because there was a pontoon boat parked next to it and a few people up in the top of the lighthouse.
We had been to Albany last year and I did an oil change on Champ III there so I wanted to do it again this year. I called the Albany Yacht Club to make a 3 day reservation. They would be able to accommodate us for 2 days only, so we said OK.
I called the Albany NAPA once we arrived and they had the oil and filters I needed so we were all set. They delivered everything in the late afternoon so I could do the oil change on Wednesday.
I also spent some time looking at the route up the Hudson River into Lake Champlain and on to the St Lawrence Seaway. Last year we went into the Erie Canal and it was not a real good experience because Mother Nature dumped a lot of rain on the mountains and the Mohawk River Basin. This year we decided to go up thru Lake Champlain to the St Lawrence and down thru the 1000 Island area.
The Harbormaster was really great at the Albany Yacht Club. He had maps of the Champlain Canal that give the distance and approximate time between the locks. We have about 8 miles and we go thru our 1st lock and we will be in fresh water again. He also gave us menus for several restaurants, made some recommendations and also invited us to a Club Happy Hour on Wednesday night.
Wednesday was a busy day with the oil change and preparing for a new area to visit on the trip. I also had to bring out the large round fender balls because we will be in quite a few locks before we get to the St Lawrence and then some on the St Lawrence. At least we remembered to do all the preparations.
Hope the rain hold off tomorrow.