Motor Vessel Tarwathie

Athens, NY
40 36.58 N 074 02.96 W

It's always a bitter-sweet moment when we take the mast down in preparation for transiting a canal.   On one hand, it is a milestone en route to where we're going.  On the other hand, it demotes Tarwathie from a sailing vessel to a motor vessel. :-(

We did the deed yesterday in the usual way.  We stopped at Riverside Marine Services in Catskill, NY.   We like that place, and the proprietor Mike and John who knows how to handle masts.  They do a good job, and a safe job at a reasonable price.  We could save money using a do it yourself crane at the Castleton Yacht Club, but we could not do it anywhere close to as safely.

By the way, by my calculations, this is the 24th time we have stopped to have the mast lowered/raised.  Wow!  No wonder we're blase about it, and very experienced.  One of the helpers at Riverside yesterday remarked, "Wow! I've never seen a skipper better prepared before."  There's a reason for that.

After de-masting, we moved up to our favorite Hudson anchorage at Middle Ground between Athens and Hudson, NY.   When we stopped to anchor, I saw that I forgot how very difficult it is to anchor with the mast down.   The wooden A-frame we use to support the mast on the fore deck blocks access to the windlass and bowsprit.   We changed our minds about anchoring, and instead tied up to the nearby brand new municipal dock at Athens.

This very nice picture shows Motor Vessel Tarwathie this morning, shortly after dawn, at the Athens Dock.  Look carefully and you'll see one of the four famous mid-river Hudson River Lighthouses.  This one is the Hudson-Athens lighthouse.