Heading to Catskill for the mast stepping!

Tuesday, August 25

This morning, while Jonathan is working, I take the opportunity to do some shopping. We always like to bring back local coffee and beers, so I stop by the general store.

We leave Coxsackie in the early afternoon and head for Catskill, where Éolo is finally supposed to get her mast back.

We arrive around 4 p.m., but it’s too late to proceed with the mast re-stepping. So we anchor on the other side of the Hudson, opposite the park where we can leave our dinghy.

Right by the park there’s a huge restaurant with a nice view of the Hudson, but dogs aren’t allowed. So we go for a walk in town, where we discover several cat sculptures.

We also find a lovely craft brewery, Return Brewing Outpost, where Miela is even allowed inside. A great find!

We eventually go back to have dinner aboard Éolo.

Since we still don’t have our mast, we need to install a temporary anchor light. It’s our first night at anchor since the dismasting. We brought the light from our other boat, our Tanzer 26. It’s not the ideal solution, but it will do perfectly for the night. Lucky we had it!

Wednesday, August 26

We start the day by quickly prepping Éolo for the mast re-stepping, before our workday and a virtual meeting on board.

We keep scrubbing and preparing the boat, then head off for the remast. The wait is long, but the job is finally well done.

Since it’s our first mast re-stepping on Éolo, we point out a few things that seem odd to us. The workers, with their somewhat questionable sense of humor, start laughing at us by exaggerating the situation. Let’s say they’re probably used to seeing overly attentive owners!

Since the day is already well advanced, we decide to spend the night at the marina.

We change slips and new Quebecois neighbors arrive with a big motorboat, a Beneteau Swift Trawler 44 named Gentoo. They do the run between Montreal and New York and, let’s say, they move a lot faster than we do!

For dinner we go to Left Bank Cider. We have a good New York Chardonnay and two appetizers that are rather disappointing. We finally decide to return to Éolo to cook ourselves a nice steak.

And our neighbor on the motorboat has water constantly running! We hear it all the time. They have air conditioning!

Thursday, August 27

We spend the day on Éolo until 4 p.m., and take the opportunity to work. It’s windy and we can’t really set sail. On top of that, rain is forecast.

We still go out for a walk and try an Italian restaurant. The place is showing its age and could use a bit of renovation. The terrace is rather mismatched, but the food is excellent and the service very attentive.

We then return to Éolo to spend the night.

Friday, August 28

We finally set sail! We set the genoa like pros!

For the mainsail, however, we have to go at it twice. The furler halyard wasn’t wound in enough, so the sail wouldn’t furl completely.

One more little adjustment to make now that Éolo has her mast back!

We’re ready to go!