winter 17-18...

To start off a new season.... a rare photo of an unnamed ice yacht off of Poughkeepsie, just south of the Railroad Bridge (now the popular Walkway Over the Hudson). Classic gaff rigged Hudson River Ice Yacht. Circa....1910??
(from a photo in Rick Lawrence's collection) 

December in the Hudson Valley 2017....
managed to get the skates out on the 17th... ice was about 2" thick on Heron swamp. Will check Tivoli Bay the day after Xmas - a cold snap looks to be arriving then - at this point suggesting 4-5  nights of single digits. That's what we need! Get your runners sharpened!

Dec. 12. 2017 - A light covering of snow didn't hinder the skates, though slowed down the puck a bit.

Heron Swamp is a hidden little skating gem in upper Red Hook. Surrounded by hills on 3 sides, it is a pretty place to navigate the trees and bushes in the shallow swamp. 

see last photo for the nests of the namesake birds.  

 Reid Beilenberg set up the 1885 ice yacht Galatea on Warren Street in Hudson the first week of December for that city's annual Winter Walk. We talked with dozens and dozens of folks about the boat and sailing on the Hudson. 

Dock & Reid answer the common questions:  What is it? How fast does it go? You sail on the Hudson??
Galatea is from the Clarkson estate in Tivoli. Robert Livingston Clarkson was an original member of the HRIYC, joining in 1885.  He had 2 boats in 1888 - Galatea and Dashaway. Galatea is 32' in length and originally carried 410 sq ft of sail.  Dashaway was smaller - 220 sq ft; Dashaway later went to the Suckley fleet, at Wilderstein in Rhinecliff. 

Reid demonstrates the sailing position of the skipper. Galatea's cockpit is one of the larger ones, stretched out to 8 foot!
Galatea has had some exciting sailing since getting back on the ice a few years back!

waiting for the cold...
Merry Christmas!