Day 306: Sunday, July 7, 2013

Port to Port: Kingston, NY

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0       Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: The exodus has begun. We said goodbye to Spiritus today. We have had an amazing three weeks exploring Kingston together. We have created a lifetime of new memories. We already miss them. Tomorrow, several other Loopers will be leaving including us. The Erie Canal is not open yet so we are planning to go straight north into Canada and just bang out the miles to get to the Trent Severn. Hopefully we cross paths with our friends again soon.

After watching Spiritus motor off towards the Hudson (after almost four weeks stuck in Kingston), it was time for boat projects. With sweat pouring off of our faces, we cleaned up the boat, added an extension cable to rewire and reposition the VHF antenna (the mast is now sitting in a cradle) and get everything ready for travel again. We made another shopping run to get a few things we forgot yesterday, organized the cabin and got ready for our first day of cruising in over three weeks.

Our slightly smaller Looper posse met for one last group dinner in Kingston – at the Armadillo again. Our gathering this time was a little subdued without Eddy and Linda and with the realization that we will all be saying goodbye over the next few days.

Ron and Jan gave us a tour of their boat Adagio – a 34’ Nordic Tug. They are perfect boats for traveling the Loop. There is even room on top for two kayaks and two bicycles. They are leaving tomorrow too and plan to go the same route we are planning so we hopefully will meet again over the next couple of weeks.

We are not looking forward to leaving – we have really enjoyed our stay in Kingston – but it is time to go and see what other amazing adventures we will find up ahead. We will just have to take it one day at a time.