Chapter 61: Kingston to Troy

Log 61
Kingston NY to Troy NY

4:00 PM (cocktail hour)
Monday, July 03, 2000
Troy Town Dock Marina
Troy NY.

I thought I’d try something different. With Steve Larry aboard he gets up so early that I don’t have time to write a morning log sometimes, so I thought I’d get a jump on today’s entry.
Today we went from Kingston to Troy NY. About 60 miles on the Hudson River. It was an easy trip, and we made it to our dock about 2 PM.
The morning started out with a bright sun, and very little wind. Kingston looked quite a bit different than it did last night, with all of the festivities going on. Most of those happy boaters last night, were still sleeping this morning as we passed them on the creek that led us back to Hideaway Marina. Steve was up early, and cleaning the boat like we were going to sell it, or something. I tried to get off a log, and ended up doing so, but it was tough to concentrate with him scurrying around everywhere. We needed fuel, so we left our slip at about 7:30, in order to go out in the channel, and around the bend to another marina that opened at 8 AM. They had fuel, but the cost was $1.89 a gallon. Yikes, we have finally hit that high priced fuel that we heard about. I decided not to fill up, and hope the price would get cheaper somewhere else.
The trip north was about the same as yesterday. The Hudson continues to impress us. High banks, beautiful scenery and easy to navigate. The only thing to worry about is all of the debris that is floating. To most boaters it would be a big deal, but if you have boated on all the rivers we have, you are somewhat used to it. Anyway, if you keep a sharp eye out you have no problem.
We got here a little earlier than normal because I went fast a good part of the way, and that allowed us time to get to the grocery store, and also the hardware store. For a while now we have had a problem with the faucet in the galley. It has one of those sprayers on it, and all of a sudden it quit coming out of the faucet, and will only come out of the sprayer. At first it seemed like a big hassle, but we have learned to live with it. When Steve got aboard he thought he knew how to fix it, so when we got here today he took it apart. The good news is, it was exactly as he had said, and we took off about 8 blocks to the hardware store. The bad news is they didn’t have the thing we needed, so we wasted a trip. (Well not totally, because we stopped at the liquor store on the way back and got a few things. Which reminds me it’s almost time for a gin and tonic)

4:30 AM
Tuesday, July 04, 2000

I ended the log at exactly the point above, and got a gin and tonic, and never made it back to it, so I’ll finish it now.
As the time shows, it’s very early here. I woke up at about 4, and thought about the day, and all we had to do, so I just got up. The coffee is brewing, the weather channel is on, and I’m on a boat, so I’m getting a great start to this Forth of July.. Although it’s dark outside, it looks like it will be a nice day here.

Meanwhile….back to yesterday.
On our way back from the hardware store, it started to rain, and continued for the next couple of hours. Steve and Claudia decided to hitch a ride to the local grocery store, and Deb and I stayed on the boat. I needed to have some time to review the cruising guide and get an understanding of the Eire Canal. (Which is why I ended the log so abruptly above) Once back from the store we all cleaned up, and made it up to the local Brewery for some dinner, and got to bed early, so we could be ready for an early morning.

Side note: I forgot to tell you a great story that happened while we were in Kingston. The marina we stayed in (Hideaway Marina) was located all the way back on a small creek. It was very narrow, and normally only smaller boats were back there, but the owner said he had room, so we ended up tying up to a dock next to the boat ramp. (Actually it was the one you use to tie to when you drop off your boat) The dock was about 40 or 45 feet long, and our boat is 50 feet. Anyway, it was tight getting around us in the channel. As we were sitting on the boat waiting for the fireworks, a sailboat, with the wife driving, were going past us when she ran aground. (It was low tide, and she only had about 3 to 4 feet of water) You could tell the husband was upset, and he was explaining to his spouse the rules of the road, and what she had done wrong. After a fair amount of animation (with a lot of people sitting on their boats watching all of this) he took over and tried, in vain, to use the engine to get off the mud. About this time the owner of the marina (a big guy that looks like an older Grizzly Adams with a pony tail) came over in his boat to help him by pulling him backwards off the shoal. It was obvious to everyone watching that the husband was making a big deal about this, and was directing everything. Well Grizzly (actually his name was John) did just what he should and pulled the sailboat backwards, and she (the boat, not the wife) was floating again. The husband, now completely in charge, was going to show his wife the way this should be done. He reached down to fire up the outboard engine that powered their boat, and really gave it the gas. The boat took off, and he drove it exactly where his wife had gone, only this time much faster, and in front of the entire world he ran aground, much harder, because of his speed. It was great. Everyone cheered, and clapped, and he went below, telling everyone that he was done, and his wife was in charge. Which, from my point of view, was a smart decision, because when John pulled her off the shoal, she calmly drove off without a problem.

Back to today…..
It’s starting to get light out now (5:10). The weather channel shows it will be mostly sunny, and somewhere in the 80’s. I’m not sure how far we will get today on the Canal. I’ve done some reading about the trip ahead, but I need to do more, just as soon as I finish this. (Then I’ll use my cell phone to send it off) I do know that we have about 28 locks to go through before we get to Oswego NY, where we will leave the boat for a couple of weeks while I go back to work. I also know that the accommodations along the way will be somewhat less that we have come accustomed to. Rather than normal marinas, we will be tied along walls of towns, or lock walls. As I look at the guides it talks about electricity availability (or lack there of). There is a good chance we will be running the generator some nights. Oh well it’ll be an adventure.
So I guess I should get going. Steve will be up soon, and we need to be ready to leave about 6:45, because the locks open at 7 AM.

I’ll keep you posted….

BK.