We left this morning with calm waters on the Hudson River. The riverbanks were lush with green trees with beautiful large homes intermingled with some not so beautiful, not so large homes. Evidence of Hurricane Irene (no, not Sandy) was evident in some areas along the bank. We slowly passed West Point Military Academy a few feet from their dock debating whether to tie up and take a tour of the grounds. A civilian tall ship had just departed and we could easily have fit in. Alas, we decided to press to Kingston. We had serious whirlpools that were fun to look at but less fun to power through. In route, we passed Bannerman Castle on an island in the Hudson, Hyde Park (home of Franklin D. Roosevelt) and Vanderbilt Mansion.
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Lighthouse at the entrance to
Rondout Creek |
We reached Rondout Creek Channel and headed straight for Rondout Marina for a pump-out and some fuel. The fuel dock was in a tight space. Never-the-less, Brian wanted our port side to the dock to make it easier for accessing the port-side pump out access and fueling.
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| Historic Kingston |
He did a beautiful 180° rotation as the boat moved backwards to a perfectly soft broadside docking. After doing our business there we headed for the Kingston City Marina for our night stay. The dock master said he had plenty of room for us when we called ahead. When we approached the dock, the dock space was about 55 feet between two boats on a “parallel” dock reserved for us. Brian did a similar maneuver that he did earlier and again we had a perfect docking. Our slip was at the very end of historic Kingston’s main street — Broadway St. The most ideal spot with a wonderful view of the old town. Plus, we were surrounded by 30 or so mallard ducks; young and old.
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| Ducks greeting Splash Down |
When we checked in at the marina office we learned that historic Kingston was having their Friday night “Open Market” on Broadway St. where stores and street vendors were open until 9:00pm. We had dinner on-board before we toured the “market.” Linda purchased gluten free zucchini bread from one of the street vendors—Meredith breads. Afterwards, we went back the boat, had some wine, and listened to the band.
