Once in a Blue Moon: Saturday, July 6: Big and Bigger Yachts

Date: July 6, 2013

Day on the Cruise: 82

From: Kingston City Marina, Kingston, NY

To: Kingston City Marina, Kingston, NY

Statute Miles: 0.0 SM

Time: 0.0 Hrs

Cumulative Miles: 1,874.5 SM

On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

We are having power supply problems with the new power connections we had to plug into yesterday when we turned the boat around. We plug our two shore power cords into two 30 amp outlets. The outlets are not secure in the junction boxes. I have had to tie the ends of the cords to a big cleat on the dock to take strain off them when the tide goes down. Even with this, one of breakers on the boat kicks off when the plug on the dock pulls loose. So, today I ordered two new 25' cords to connect to the existing 50' cords. This should give me some leeway at this and other marinas where the power hookups are farther away than the 50' cords might reach. I also have to take into account voltage drop that the longer cords might produce. The new cords should get here Tuesday.

The Captain of the big boy behind us told me this morning that they are all leaving the boat today and all going back to Florida. The boat will stay here. I have had to make arrangements to get this big boat moved back some so I can squeeze out of the dock space I am in when we get to leave. There is no end to it!

A rumor on the Erie Canal today is that they are dewatering behind Lock 12 this weekend to try to get access to the dam for repairs. The Canal Corporation has been very silent on what has to be done to fix the problem and what the time table is for the repair. The communication in a lot of our opinions has been less than transparent, and this is very frustrating. If the Canal Corporation would lay out the plan and what they think, it would allow the "Stuck" bunch to better plan. Besides, it is very hot and humid, and this adds to the frustrations.

Tonight we had a small group at Docktails, but the rest of the Loopers showed up towards the end. There is a 170' Feadship yacht named "Battered Bull" tied up next to where we do Docktails at the Maritime Museum. It has a crew of 13 or 14 that we witnessed doing chores aboard the boat. It is owned by the widow of one of the founders of Blockbuster Video, and has come in today from New York City with several guests. Googling the boat, it was the 55th largest mega yacht in 2007, and is for sale for only $19.9 million. No kidding, it is a beautiful yacht. It was built in Holland in 1995 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. The dock master at the Museum told us that the yacht stays in Manhattan at the Financial Center Marina in the Summer and makes several trips to Kingston each season.

"Battered Bull" is docked just dwon from us here in Kingston

"Battered Bull" at the Maritime Museum dock here in Kingston

The Looper group decided to go to dinner together to a Mexican Restaurant called Armadillio's up the hill in the historic section of town. We walked to the restaurant then split up and sat at several tables because it was so crowded. The restaurant is in a very old building with lots of atmosphere. The food was excellent! It was more authentic Mexican than I have had before. The Margarita's were also great. We had black raspberry flavored!

A great restaurant!

Coming down the hill after dinner

After dinner we all drove over to another marina close by to eat fresh apple pie that Jeff and Nicole from Alabama and "Knot So Fast" had gotten. It also was excellent! Jan from the Nordic Tug "Adagio" brought her Dulcimer and she had written two songs about Loopers being "Stuck" in Kingston. We had a big sing a long on "Knot So Fast". Jan's songs were very well done. Thank you Jan, Jeff, and Nicole for a great time!