Stuck in Kingston

It has been an eventful couple of days here in Kingston, Ny. When we arrived on Thursday (6/30/16) we were so happy to be here and to be tied up and settled. That feeling quickly subsided when we realized that we needed to get a mechanic here to look at our leaking exhaust pipe. Since Captain Bill took the boat from Texas to Florida in March he mentioned that the boat had a leak and it needed to be looked at. In Virginia the mechanic said it wasn't a problem and the discoloring was from something else. Again when Captain Bill drove the boat from Virginia to New York he mentioned that the exhaust has been leaking. In Great Kills we had it looked at by another mechanic who put some clamps around the outside and said it would be fine. On our journey from Croton-on-Hudson to Kingston the exhaust continued to leak. When we arrived Jeff quickly got on the horn and called around. It was very difficult finding a local person who works on diesel motors. Finally Friday afternoon (7/1/16) Jeff was told someone could come over and take a look. After pulling the clamps and insulation off he saw that the exhaust pipe had completely rotted through and would need to be replaced. When he took the pipe off it snapped in two. We are very luck that we made it here to Kingston with no issues. Had the pipe snapped while we were underway it could have been disasterous. But, since it's a holiday weekend the fabricators are off until Tuesday at which time they will make us a new exhaust pipe and we will be on our merry way (fingers crossed).

Despite our engine room being a mess and being stuck here until the 5th we have been having a good time nevertheless. What the hell do we care it's not like we have an agenda or anywhere to be.  We are staying at the city dock right downtown. I keep telling Jeff it feels like we are in a fishbowl because people walk by on the sidewalk less then 5ft from the boat and they all want to talk to us. Jeff is better at this then I am. I just try and hide till they are gone. Jeff entertains them and discusses the boat and our plan. We actually met another couple from San Diego (Point Loma area) last night. So that was kinda fun. Our first night here we took a nice stroll around downtown Kingston. We stopped into a restaurant called Mainer's Harbor right by the boat for a beer an appetizer but once Jeff saw it was lobster night that quickly changed his mind and he wanted dinner. It was a nice way to spend the first night. 

Yesterday (7/1/16) was pretty uneventful. Jeff watched the mechanic take apart the exhaust and we learned that we would be here until the 5th. We did take another nice walk to midtown Kingston. Apparently Kingston consists of Downtown (where the boat is), Midtown and Uptown. Midtown was unimpressive and had a lot of run down and closed business. It was a little blah and not much to see. The walk was nice though. After we returned to the boat we had a nice thunderstorm and watched from the back of the boat. We both miss seeing rain and it was a nice treat for us. I'm sure there is much more to come. 

Today (Saturday 7/2/16) was chore day. Well sorta. Jeff took all the isinglass down from up top. In a couple of days we have to lower our arch in order to make the clearance for all the bridges on the eerie canal. He also cleaned out the engine room. I pushed the swiffer around a bit. Not sure if it did much but that was my cleaning contribution for the day. I"m sure I'll have to do much more as time goes on. Yuck! After chores and breakfast and lunch we decided to go for a bike ride on our new bikes. Together we lifted them down from the top of the boat and headed up hill. It was pretty steep and we had to walk them for portions of the ride. We went all the way to uptown which turned out to be much more flavorful then midtown. Flavorful not in an eclectic, bohemian, artsy kinda way but flavorful in an everyone is staring at us funny, we have brand new bikes maybe we should leave now kinda way. Basically downtown Kingston is the only charming part of the city. As we continued our ride down hill back to downtown we veered off and rode along the water to this outta town area that didn't have many cars or people just a lot of old buildings and a few mom and pop shops. One of the shops my grandpa Dick would have loved it was a merchant/hardware/used goods/everything kinda store. It had everything from screws to old DVDs (which I bought a few to watch on the boat) to old computers. It was  a fun store. We rode a bit more and noticed there was a local pizza shop. Originally we were just going in for some water but since it was 3o'clock and the pizza looked and smelled so good we decide to split a slice which after one turned into two. Yum! Nothing like good old NY pie. After our pizza and water stop we headed back to the boat to chill and regroup. Next we will launch the dingy and cruise around Rondout Creek. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly. Next stop New Baltimore and Shady Creek Marina on Tuesday 7/5/16.