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SailingNewBeginnings

@sailingnewbie.bsky.social

5 followers 17 following 39 posts

Sailing and world travel lifestyle vlog. Check us out on YouTube https://youtube.com/@SailingNewBeginnings and Patreon: https://patreon.com/SailingNewBeginnings

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SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · Jan 24

Hi. We're Sailing New Beginnings (Renee, Bob and Portia). We'll mostly be putting content updates here for people to more easily follow if this is their platform of choice.

We'd love to meet some decent humans, though.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 12h

This is where I woke up this morning: Hop-O-Nose Marina, Catskill, NY

We're a sailboat again! No more struggling to climb around the mast and cradle and straps. Cheapish, good facilities, Angel's Latin restaurant down the street. We may stay a day and do some boat work.

A photo of the Catskill Creek, with a portion of the Hop-O-Nose Marina, featuring a number of newly re-rerigged sailboats including SV New Beginnings, and a few other boats. Downstream are townhouses with their own docks. Much fall foliage is on display with a mottled cloudy sky.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 1d

FYI, we're doing an expanded version of 'Where I Woke Up' for our patrons with additional context and photos. If that's the sort of thing you'd be interested in, consider signing up for as little as $5/mo. Easy to cancel any time. A sample from Wednesday:

www.patreon.com/posts/15-oct...

15-Oct-2025: This Is Where I Woke Up Today (Patron Edition) | Sailing New Beginnings

www.patreon.com

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 1d

This where I woke up this morning: Albany Yacht Club, across the river in Rensselaer.

Coincidentally, we shared the second marina in a row with Compromise, a 41' trawler, as the only two boats. AYC is shutting down for the season, but left the power on for us one more day.

A photo of the nearly empty docks of Albany Yacht Club, with the Hudson River and the city of Albany in the background.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 2d

We're at sea level! The sun is warm....ish! I can almost taste the Kalik!

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 2d

This is where I woke up this morning: Schenectady, NY, mile 20.

There's a town of 67,000 just past those trees, but not visible from the canal. We stopped in a marina, but I failed to grab a pic [You had one job!-ed]. It was basically abandoned for the season, but power was on.

A photo of the Erie Canal near Schenectady, NY. A train crosses a bridge ahead and walls of trees line the banks.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 3d

This is where I woke up this morning: Fort Plain, NY, mile 64.

It was free. It had power. No facilities. The town was a half-mile walk and at 7pm on a Tuesday, didn't have a restaurant open that looked worth walking to. Pretty spot, though. And there was a peacock. Why not?

A photo looking westward on Lock 15 of the Erie Canal. To the right is the dam and the full lock chamber, to the left the operations buildings. In the middle are flags lying limp without a breeze and behind them you can just make out SV New Beginnings.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 4d

This is where I woke up this morning: Ilion, NY

Another paid marina stop. Our first stops in western NY set the bar too high; every town had a free dock with decent facilities. But in central NY, that's apparently not a thing.

A photo of the hills around the Erie Canal in Ilion, NY. Mist hangs on the fall foliage with an assortment of cars and boats, and the marina office in the foreground.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 5d

This is where I woke up this morning: Sylvan Beach, NY. Mile 129. Just a place to tie up. No power or facilities. But after a brutal slog across Oneida Lake straight into a bunch of wind and seas, it had to do. This lighthouse saved the day, guiding us from halfway across.

A photo of the Erie Canal entrance on the eastern edge of Oneida Lake, showing a lighthouse and several homes on the waterfront.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 6d

This is where I woke up this morning: Winter Harbor Marina, outside Brewerton, NY.

Excellent facilities, friendly and helpful staff, a solid collection of parts and supplies, and reasonably priced. Would recommend.

A photo of the northern bank of the Seneca river in Baldwinsville, NY show fall foliage in the background and a church and other buildings with some of SV New Beginnings in the foreground.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 7d

This is where I woke up this morning: Baldwinsville, NY.

What an epic disappointment. Bathrooms locked when cruising boats might need them. Kitchens all closed at 10pm. We don't mind paying for power, but the tie up situation involves us clambering up a wall on hands and knees.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 8d

This is where I woke up this morning: Palmyra, NY.

Not much of note here, but if you do happen to go to the Hog & Hen, the Hog & Hen burger (with pork belly and egg) was seriously good. Oh, and stick to the western part of the tiny entrance, we dragged the keel on the way out.

A photo of the tiny harbor in Palmyra, NY off the Erie Canal. A sign welcoming visitors to Palmyra is on the left below the rising sun shining througha a tree. On the right is SV New Beginnings tied to the posts on the dock.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 9d

This is where I woke up this morning: The Spencerport lift bridge.

The plan was to make it to Fairport. When we arrived at Spencerport, however, the bridge went up, and then it stopped part way. It ultimately transpired that we were stuck there for the night.

A photo from the stern of SV New Beginnings with her mast in a cradle above the deck, poised in front of the broken lift bridge in Spencerport, NY. The sky is blue and the sun is shining ahead causing a bit of lens flare.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 10d

This is where I woke up this morning. Still in Medina, NY: We got some chores done while waiting out a cool rainy day. Cute little town with free amenities for visiting boats and several nice restaurants. (The cocktails at The Newell were particularly epic and moderately priced)

A photo of the buildings along Main Street in Medina, NY with the tops of the buildings on the west side of the street illuminated by the rising golden hour sun.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 11d

That everything is profoundly weird seems a massive understatement.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 11d

This is where I woke up this morning. Medina, NY, mile 303 on the Erie Canal.

A photo of a cloudy sunrise over a bend in the Erie Canal in Medina, New York. SV New Beginnings is in the foreground tied up to the town wall with her mast in a temporary cradle above deck.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 12d

This is where I woke up this morning. Wardell's Boat Yard in Tonawanda, NY.

A photo showing SV New Beginnings in the foreground and Wardell's Boat Yard, a marine service facility in the background.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 13d

This is where I woke up this morning. Just outside Buffalo harbor.

A photo of the Buffalo, NY skyline from the eastern edge of Lake Erie.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 14d

This one is too long for this site, so read it over at Mastodon if you're interested: mstdn.social/@SailingNewb...

SailingNewBeginnings (@[email protected])

I've got a complicated relationship with the constellation Orion. I mean, he's pretty cool. He's a hunter. He's got that nebula. But when you see him rising at night, it means 5 months of cold and gre...

mstdn.social

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 14d

The wind picked up overnight and we made some miles. It's been slow going today, but what a glorious day for going slow. Gave the cockpit a long overdue cleaning (it's been all work all the time to get off the dock), then a brisk, but refreshing dip in the lake.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 14d

This is where I woke up this morning. (12nm NW of Erie, PA)

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 15d

And we're off! You could walk faster than we're sailing, but our house is headed for Buffalo.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 16d

We, uh, haven't left yet. www.patreon.com/posts/failur...

Failure to Launch | Sailing New Beginnings

www.patreon.com

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 22d

It's a bit of a wrench to the gut to replace the old profile banner with Desdemona, but as we turn a corner in our lives, it's time to look forward not back.

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 22d

Behold, if you choose, our final post as a refit blog: www.patreon.com/posts/calm-b...

The Calm Before the Storm | Sailing New Beginnings

www.patreon.com

SailingNewBeginnings @sailingnewbie.bsky.social · 23d

Odd curiosity: Did you ever have difficulty moving those early samples to newer equipment?

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