R Island: June 10-16 Kingston NY

Up at 5:30 and after a light breakfast, away from the dock at 6:30 sharp for a wonderful run of 58 miles (7.5 hours) up the river. We went under 5 large bridges, past West Point, very tall rock cliffs, The Culinary Institute of America, a barge hauling long bridge beams, and a couple of great old lighthouses. But perhaps most interesting were 12 swimmers racing from Albany to NY City. They race 20 miles each day and each swimmer is accompanied by a kayak. There were 3 roving motorboats, a jet-ski, and a large trawler that served as the mother ship. Seems impossible, especially if the tide is against you - and there is a 4' tide all the way to Albany.

We stopped at Rondout Creek Yacht Basin. Had to wait 30 minutes for space to open up at the pump-out station as there was only space for one boat and it was occupied. Took all my patience to keep R Island in position against the current, tide and wind - success. Judie says we are getting much better at this sort of thing. The marina is older, as many are, but they are trying to keep up. Docks were a little unstable, and loaded with duck poop every morning - both of which made walking a little tenuous, Nice picnic tables and several lawn games and a pool. Had dinner with Brian and Ellen of Pearl, a Nordic Tug 39 that we had met in COH and had also made the trip today.

Paddle wheeler giving tours

The second bridge is old RR bridge converted to pedestrian bridge.

Elevator up to the pedestrian bridge

Culinary Institute

Barge carrying bridge beams that are blue and much longer then the barge

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse

Rondout Creek Lighthouse.

Day 2: Slept in till 8:00 and after a leisurely breakfast, all 4 of us loaded into the rental car to drive back to COH to get Mike and Lois's car - a silver Honda CRV by the way. The Hudson River Valley is full of CRVs and Subaru Foresters! I guess because they are small, get good gas mileage, and come in 4-wheel drive. We took the scenic way back and stopped in Poughkeepsie at 5 Guys for lunch. Boat chores in the afternoon and dinner on the boat.

Day3: A goofy day! Spent most of the day planning, measuring, and shopping for needed supplies to lower our mast and Inch-N-Along's Radar Arch in order to clear bridges on the canals. Both boats need to do this and neither of us had seen another boat like ours to see exactly what it takes. We both got what we think we need and in a week or so, when we are closer to the Erie and Champlain canals, will make the changes. Just a day when you get lot's done and nothing accomplished!

Day4: Toured Kingston and the surrounding area. It is an older city surviving on the recreational boating industry - which has not been too great lately. Lots of folks from the NYC north suburbs and the surrounding area keep boats here and it is also popular with transiting folks like us as there is good shopping close by and the marinas are right in the downtown area. Many restaurants and some small shops. Toured the local Mariner's Museum and learned about the C&D Canal that ran from Pennsylvania to Kingston to haul coal to NYC. It was 108 miles and, coincidentally, had 108 locks. It was built in the early 1800's and was abandoned in 1896 thanks to the year-round reliability of trains and tracks that ran right into the city.

Ice-boat used on the Hudson

Gerry and Mike looking inside at engine room of old tugboat. (Make up your own caption)

Downtown Kingston Marina

Day 5: Time to check out the NY wines! We drove the hilly, tree-covered, countryside and followed our little map from the local Chamber of Commerce to the local wineries. The are is in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains and covered with small towns and trees, trees and more trees (as our children used to say when we traveled on some of our vacations long ago). Some good wine and a few bottles of reds found their way back to the boat. Also stopped at High Falls NY to see remnants of the old Canal.

Car club at the winery

Hotel and offices for the old C&D canal

This lock was 14 feet wide, 12 foot deep and 60 feet long.

Day 6: Across the Hudson to Hyde Park and a tour of the rich and famous. First stop was the home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Presidential Library. The home, though large, felt like a home anyone could have lived in. It felt real and you could imagine FDR and his family/friends being there. His mother Sara "ruled the roost" and never let FDR or his wife Eleanor be involved in running the house or any part of the estate. The estate included dairy farms, grain farms, orchards, stables, and a train stop for getting back to NYC (Sara had her own personal train car). Sara's control was so overwhelming that FDR built a "small" cottage on the far side of the estate for his retreat and Eleanor built a house for herself, near his cottage, after FDR's death. The Presidential Library, the first one to be built, was actually started by FDR while in office and while Mom was traveling in Europe as she was generally opposed to the idea. It gives a great history of FDR from birth to his legacy and through the videos and exhibits gives a better understanding of the man, his family, and what was happening in the world at the time. A person could easily spend a couple long day if you read all the information at the displays. We gave it about 5 hours and agreed that we need to visit some of the other Libraries of other Presidents.

FDR and Eleanor

Their Living Room

"Sara's House"

Gravesite, FDR and Eleanor are beneath the little flower patches in front of the monument stone.

From the flower garden

FDR and Churchill in front of pieces of Berlin Wall in FDR and Eleanor outline.

The "Third Whitehouse" actually built into the Library. Site of many fireside chats.

FDR's car modified with hand controls. He put 19,000 miles on it.

Next, and just the opposite, was the house of Franklin and Louise Vanderbilt. Built for use for 4-5 months each year, half in the spring and half in the fall, the limestone building is extremely formal. Franklin, grandson of "Commodore" Vanderbilt who made most of the money, and his wife considered themselves royalty and lived life that way. Louise Vanderbilt loved France and had her bedroom copied from the Queen's, including a railing (looks like a catholic communion rail) where spectators would stand during a birth to verify the child presented as heir to the thrown was the one that was actually born that day! Spooky! It was a beautiful home, a smaller "Downton Abbey", but more museum than home: hard to imagine people living there. I guess we were born too late for "The Gilded Age".