Kingston ON July 14, 2015

When we are anchored with Annie any waves coming at us pound against the hull with kind of a dull thud noise. It's just a characteristic of the hull design. We have gotten use to it. Well, I heard that noise at 4:30 this morning. I thought -wait- how can that be as we are in a dock in a harbor? Well, the wind had picked up to the point that there were little seas running through the harbor. Reluctantly I got up to go out and secure our table and chairs on the upper deck. Now it is raining, but the forecast is for it to pass through shortly.

Environment Canada has issued a high wind warning for today and most of tomorrow. I respect their forecasts because they have proven accurate in the past. Not what I would plan for the start of our anchoring marathon.

Putting the dingy together is on the agenda today. Jim told me over coffee that he does not have a seat for it. And since there is no motor, rowing is the propulsion. Rowing without a seat is not an ideal situation. Of course I had to rag on him for not telling me this when we planned the trip. I wonder if the dollar store would have a milk carton?

Annie docked at Confederation Basin Marina in Kingston

Poor Jimbo. His technology woes continue. He has spent a large part of the 2 days trying to get his phone to work. He has had some type of an google smtp (?) error message. He has researched it on the web, tried new passwords, etc. When I mentioned that the Liberty network was not working he wondered if that was the problem. It was. When he connected to the marina wifi his phone worked again! Now he just told me his iPad screen developed a big crack. He even has it in a case. Jim says he is going to give up all technology. Sometimes we all say that.

I have also been having a problem, that is trying to update the Navionics program on our tablet. It is the same on I have on my phone. I have tried for 3 days to get the charts to update. Finally today I was able to get the Thousand Island charts part to update by finding a lucky park bench. The tablet has a much bigger screen and will be easier to view. I was surprised to learn that the GPS (and then the chart app) on the tablet and phone work when data is shut off and there is no wifi.

Today we defrosted the refrigerator and freezer. It's a messy job, but goes quickly. I wanted to get rid of excess ice buildup as the unit runs more efficiently free of ice. Kerry wanted to inventory what we had and also clean the units. We then all walked downtown for some final shopping. We bought thermometers for our oven and refrigerator, groceries, and a new blouse for Kerry's at Gracie's, where she bought her dresses. That place has single handedly raised our trip cost per day significantly.

Jim and I spent some time identifying potential anchorages for the next two weeks. I marked them on the chart by making them waypoints with a little anchor symbol. Lots of possibilities. The problem is that they are often full of boats when you arrive. That's what happened all the time when we cruised with Lew and Gretchen Myers. Then we walked to the Maritime Museum to tour it and the Alexander Henry, an icebreaker that was decommissioned in 1985. Following that, it was time for a Guinness.

Jim wanted me to mention this. Yesterday when we were on our bikes and stopped at a little Asian lady came up and asked if we were Americans. She welcomed us to Canada after we said we were. I said to Jim I wondered how she knew we were Americans. He laughed and said I had a Nautica shirt on with a big American flag and USA on the back, so it was pretty obvious.

Tonight we are having dinner separately, then going for coffee and desert. We deferred inflating the dingy until tomorrow because big winds and rain were forecast for this afternoon and tonight. The good news is the last time it rained our hatch did not leak. Thank you Captain Tolley!

Well, so far no big winds or rain, and no dinner on the boat either. I think it was a trick. Anyway, we had a very nice  nice reasonably priced dinner at the Pilot House. Jola had desert but Kerry is holding out for chocolate cake and could not find any place serving it.

Blog updates will probably be pretty irregular for the next two weeks. I'll catch up when we are in the States.

Kingston ON July 13, 2015

Jim and resolved to have coffee together at 7:30 this morning as we missed yesterday. I showered and found him washing his boat when I returned. He stopped washing but left his soap and brush out. I had the starboard of Annie washed before he could say you are late for coffee. Kerry and I decided we would just wash whichever side of the boat was near the dock.

Believe it or not, in the last two days two people have come up and said they think Annie is the cleanest boat they have seen in some time. They asked who gets the credit and it goes straight to Kerry. She cannot stand a bug on the boat. Kip knows this. He once said it was Excalibur's secret.

Jola took off to do laundry while Jim and I were making captain talk over our coffee. At 9:00 we took off for Canadian Tire and West Marine. Kerry was up by then and I helped carry our laundry to the marina office. Two hours later we had clean everything! Magic? I think not!

Jim and I biked to Canadian Tire. They did not have the hose he wanted to replace his leaking ones in the bilge. We found the West Marine store. It was still open, but closing in September. We had heard that all Canadian West Marines were closing and it is true. No hose for Jim there either.We also bumped into a Popeye's Chicken, my favorite, but it was just too early for a chicken lunch. Tomorrow? Too bad it is so far away.

I have one daily job which is to empty my red solo cup. My drain valve on the water heater leaks into the bilge through a hose. A red solo cup is the perfect thing to use to catch the water. This keeps my bilge completely dry, as long as I remember to empty it daily. I thought about repairing it but usually when I start a simple plumbing job, it never is. And if it goes awry it will shut the water system down for some time. So, it's on the project list for when I return home.

.
We took a trolley car ride of the city which was very nice. It is one of those where you can jump on and off, for 24 hours.

We took a side tour of the penitentiary museum which was interesting. They had a water torture machine way back when. A naked prisoner would be put in the stocks and a barrel contraption closed around his head. The guard could then let the water flow in as fast as he wanted, and it drained out slowly. Oh my!

The Canadians were afraid of being attacked by the USA for about 50 years after the war of 1812.

Kingston has many towers like this that were built to defend the city and waterways.

As Kerry said, just like typical Americans we exited from the site seeing trolley in downtown Kingston so we could visit two dollar stores. We stocked up on cookies, ice tea, and other essentials for being anchored. I did get some little paint brushes and a scraper to do some touch up on Annie's exterior. Jim and I both bought the "Bars of Kingston" t-shirts. It has been an expensive stop in this city.

The princess and duchess decided we would go out for dinner, so at 7:00 we set out for the Lone Star Texas Grill. Jim had walked by it last night and loved the patio. It was a great place. Huge margaritas. I had a Rita Coronita, which was a frozen margarita with a little Corona bottle stuck upside down in it. Pretty tasty. Chips and salsa, drinks and dinner were all excellent. Service was slow however, and before we could finish we were attacked by mosquitoes. Kerry and Jola fled to the docks where the breeze saved them. Jim and I got out of dodge as quickly as we could. Note to self - go to eat earlier. We took a nice walk around the harbor before we turned in. 

Waiting for a seat at the Lone Start Texas Grill

Anne called during our walk and we got caught up on all the family news. It is really warm tonight, so I think for the first time on this trip, we are running the air conditioners. 

Tomorrow we do final provisioning for anchoring, inflate the dingy and pick out some possible anchorages. We will need to be flexible because it is likely that many of the anchorages will be full when we get to them.

Kingston ON July 12, 2015

Confederation basin is a really nice marina. However they put us in docks that are not as long as our boats. Since we normally get off and on at the stern this presents a small problem. Not so much for us as for Jim and Jola as we have a side door we can use. So, Jola started suggesting that we learn to stern in. As sailors we are most comfortable bowing in, and were shocked at her suggestion. When I looked at our dock, I saw that there are only two powerboats bow in. All the others are stern in. Hmmmm?

I think I mentioned that Capital One sends me an email everytime we charge with the amount charged. Chez Piggy put two charges through for different amounts. We stopped and spoke to the owner who states that one charge was just to reserve the money and will go away. It does not look that way to me, but she says that is how there system works and she will follow up with us by Monday to confirm this. 

I must have left my shaver in Picton. Bummer. I have had that one as long as I can remember (which is not as long as it use to be). I had to use Kerry's pink one to shave my neck yesterday. The dollar store saved me and today I used a masculine royal blue shaver.

Jim gave me a shackle to put between my anchor and swivel. I was having a problem with the swivel getting wedges in the anchor so that they were at right angles to each other. This prevented the anchor from retracting into the roller and I imagined that it could effect the holding of the anchor if it was pulling at an unnatural angle. You can see the little shackle below.

Kerry and I walked to the town square to visit an antique flea market. She found a pair of white beads for $2 that she could not resist. Unfortunately for me, she also found 2 dresses at a nearby dress shop that she could not resist. Those make a fill up of diesel fuel seem reasonable! She is quite happy that one of them is a size 6. We had lunch at the Kingston Brewing Company, a highly rated pub. I had the wings that they are noted for and they were absolutely delicious. After a visit to the grocery we went back to the boat.

I spent some time reviewing charts and guide books in preparation for our unstructured 15 days in the Thousand Islands. Most of them will be at anchor but I think we need some structure as to the general route we take and when we plan to visit cities and marinas. Jim and I will get together with the mates to do "final" plans. I reviewed the anchorages we visited when we rented our houseboat via my blog from that trip, and I think the general route we took could work for this trip.

Jim and I watched some of the Buskar performances this afternoon. Kerry and I went for a walk later and saw a performance or two. Kerry and I had cocktails on Annie's upper lounge while Jim and Jola went for a walk, and I guess, dinner. Tomorrow Jim and I plan to bike to West Marine which is 3-4 kilometers away. He is looking to get some more hose to replace leaking ones in his cockpit drain system. We also plan to take a city tour on a bus.

Jim spent a large part of the afternoon trying to figure out how to download pictures from his camera so he could send us some pictures of Annie. Finally he just brought his camera over and I uploaded them to my computer. I have now gone back and posted some pictures of Annie and Kerry and I on previous posts. Thanks Jim!

As we cruise the Thousand Islands we go back and forth between the two countries. Kerry and I are looking forward to getting back in the States in the next few days.  We have a lot of phone calls to make and having unlimited data with Verizon means I can easily do blog updates and other internet activities.

Kingston ON July 11, 2015

I have this barometer, atomic clock, temperature contraption on my dash. We knocked it over yesterday while cleaning and it punished me by an alarm going off at 6:00 AM. If that was not enough, it came back on at 6:10 because I must have hit the snooze alarm instead of the off button. So, I was up.

Kerry made us a nice breakfast of eggs and hominy. We set a goal to shove off at 8:00, and at 8:05 we were steaming out of the harbor. We had no weeds, just lots of mud on the chain. Thank goodness we have a wash down pump. Jim said he had a big ball of weeds and mud on his anchor. He got to use his machete and it did the job for him.

The trip to Kingston was pretty and uneventful except when we got rolled by the big powerboat. When it first hit I ran to the salon to save Kerry’s plant. Then all of my navigation books, binoculars, coffee cup, etc., phone hit the floor in the pilot house.

Kerry's aloe plant.

We arrived at 11:00. The trip was 21 miles at an average speed of 7.9 knots. We stopped in Portsmouth Olympic Harbor to buy fuel. It was only $1.21 per liter there while is was $1.52 in Picton. Glad we waited! I am averaging around 3 gallons per hour of usage, which includes the generator usage. On the way we passed some alternate anchorages we considered. Kerr Bay had 10 sailboats in it, Stella Bay had 6. Jim and I were the only ones in the Prinyer Cove last night.

On the trip over I was again reminded how much better the chart program on my phone is that the expensive chart program on my Garmin Chartplotter. The Garmin chart has the features but nothing is identified, whereas the $15 phone app from Navionics has more detail and everything is identified. For the record, the Navionics app is called US and Canada.

The Buskars Festival (street performers) is going on now.

We walked downtown and watched a few performances and had lunch at Chez Piggy, which was always our friend Gretchen Myers favorite place.  Look closely and you will see the first evidence of my new beard!

Jim stopped at the marine store and bought a new antenna! It is installed and he is hoping for much better performance. If you look closely you can see the old black stubby one and the new longer stainless steel whip antenna.

We will be in Kingston for 4 nights. After that there is no schedule except to spend 14 nights in the Thousand islands which will be great. Jim and I will review possible anchorages before we depart, as well as inflate his dingy.

I am having a problem with power usage on Annie. She burns up about 90 amps of battery power overnight. I can’t believe how much she sucks the batteries down. The refrigerator/freezer uses about 4 per hour. I have not determined what else is going on. I have to leave the inverter on to run Kerry’s Cpap machine so I suspect the issue is somewhere with that. Even when I shut all the switches off I was using 1.8 amps. More investigation to be done. It is a good thing I have a generator. I think it is going to be very busy over the next two weeks.

Cocktails were on Annie's upper deck. Kerry brought dipping oils and Jola brought fresh bread. Taco salads were for dinner, one of Kerry's specialties. We got invited too late to a big party on the dock. the fellow next to us was cooking chicken, lobster, potatoes and salmon on his grill which was about 4 feet from Annie's bow. Boy did it smell good. We closed our starboard to stop the smoke and smells from entering.

Jola and Kerry smiling in Kingston Harbor

After dinner we went to town to watch some of the Buskar festivities. We walked about 5 blocks to see the fire show that started at 10:00. It was so crowded and hard to see that we did  not stay too long. Jim and I stopped at a local pub to polish off a pint before we turned in. 

Prinyer Cove Ontario July 10, 2015

The first thing I did this morning was to look at the window to see if Jennie was standing by the picnic table. She was not. Relief. Jim’s power was still plugged in so I knew she had not visited in the night. Jim and I sat out and enjoyed our coffee after I finished my shower. We reviewed our cruising guide to settle on a destination harbor.

 It was a great morning. We were joined by Jola and then Kerry. Picton must be a center of gliding, because we must have seen at least 6 being towed up by a little airplane. It was amazing how the gliders could float in the air for so long.

We met a nice couple from Rochester, NY who pulled in last night. Chris and Karen cruise the Thousand Islands frequently, and gave us some ideas. He suggested we visit Watterson Island in NY, Picton Harbor in NY, and visit Singer Castle. Singer is already on our itinerary. They said 4 people could rent the entire castle overnight, and that it was a very special experience for about the price of a first class hotel room. They have a 52’ power boat and are planning on downsizing. Chris took a tour of Annie to see the space available in a 32’ boat.

We left Picton at 10:00, and were at anchor in Prinyer Cove by noon. It was really calm and beautiful, so I was able to sit outside with Annie on autopilot. It was 14.2 miles and took 2 hours at an average speed of 7.2 knots. So far we have traveled 385 miles.

We anchored near Liberty. 

Kerry made hot dogs for lunch. Dinner was warmed pizza leftovers and a nice fresh salad. We spent the afternoon reading and doing light boat maintenance. I cleaned my satellite and radar domes and our plastic round porthole windows with a fine rubbing compound which really cleared them up.

Kerry cleaned up some of the black plastic fittings on the boat. I put up an umbrella that clips to the bow pulpit to sun Kerry. The time she used it was a lot less than the time it took me to dig the parts out, put it up and tie it down. Oh well, got to keep the princess happy. Jim was busy too.

We both had our happy hours, but on our own boats, sitting outside to enjoy the sun and the view.

We have not assembled Jim’s dingy yet, but will do so when we are ready to leave Kingston. Last trip we blew it up in Picton, but it was a pain having it in Kingston Harbor, as it was always bouncing off our boat or was in the way of another docking boat.

There is no wifi here so I will have to post this update tomorrow. We updated our expenses and are now down to $108 a day. It will certainly go up once we get to Kingston and spend 4 nights there. Kingston is our destination tomorrow. It’s a bit over 20 miles from here. We’ll stop at Olympic Harbor to fuel on the way in. 

Picton ON July 9, 2015

My day started meeting Jennie. She is a homeless, mentally challenged person. I did not know that at first. She was standing outside our boat at 6:30 when I went for a shower. I said good morning to her and she told me it was illegal to fly the American flag in a Canadian harbor. Of course I disagreed. Then she went on to unplug Jim's Power because he had two plugs in and was using too much power. She told me to leave the showers open even though the sign said they were to be locked. The sign was illegal she explained. It was also illegal to leave a light on in the bathroom. She left before 8:00 when the marina staff came. Turns out she has a no trespassing order against her as the police have been called twice to evict her. Interesting morning. While this marina is very nice, it is totally open with no security at all, which is different from most marinas. The harbor is very quiet in the morning.

Patrick Menard, a very nice Picton Police Officer came aboard to discuss our incident with Jennie. He explained she is a nuisance, but harmless, and actually does have a home. He then took the time to review the local chart with us to point out some nice anchorages and marinas.

Jennie came back about 10:00, unplugged Jim's boat and threw the plugs on the ground. Jim told her the police were looking for her. She suggested to Jim that he do something unnatural to himself. A cab driver told us later that the police did haul her away. I told Jim he may have to stay and testify, so he took a moment to practice his testimony.

Jim and I did a little bike ride to the Price Edward Yacht Club while the ladies went shopping. Kerry bought an aloe plant. We always like to travel with a plant and she likes the feel of the aloe on her skin. The shop had a pet rabbit named Harry running around like a little dog would. We met up for lunch.

We spent the afternoon reading and napping. Dinner was pizza on top of Annie in the cocktail lounge. Afterwards Jola went for a bike ride while Jim and I fished and smoked a nice after dinner cigar. The sun came out at the end of the day and made the ships in the harbor into a scenic setting.

Tomorrow we are heading out for Prinyer Cove, a nice anchorage about 12 miles from here. On Saturday, we go to Kingston for a 4 night stay. Most likely tomorrow's blog will be delayed for lack of wifi.

Picton ON July 8, 2015

The big storm never came last night. We had a couple rounds of showers go by and some modest winds, but the severe thunderstorms passed us to the North. No leaks in the forward hatch although I am not sure how much rain we really had. It was not like the soaker in Port Dalhousie that caused our problems.

We played Hearts with Jim and Jola after dinner last night with tea and cookies provided by Jola. I won, and Jim lost. He professes to hate card games, while Jola loves cards. We want him to play Euchre which he says he really dislikes. We will see.

I got my fog horn working about 6:20 this morning. People in the marina must have been surprised when it went off, as I was. It sounded just like a fog horn. Jim heard it and did not know why a fog horn would be sounding in the marina. He said it sounded exactly like a fog horn. It turns out that I had to push an additional button after I set up the type of sound I wanted, like powerboat underway, powerboat stopped, etc. Works great now. I am ready for more fog!

Time for coffee with Jim. He is trying to get his wifi extender working. It has not worked since Port Credit. Success - somehow we stumbled through 5 Mile Wifi, Chinese Who Too (wireless router) instructions and Windows and got the Liberty network going again.

One nice thing about cruising is how clean the boat stays. I have not washed it yet and we have been out over two weeks. It is cleaner now than it would be at Vermilion if I had washed it yesterday. Our trees are pretty but so dirty. I wish the one by my boat would blow over - while we are gone of course.

Some good news. Jim said it rained really hard last night which means my hatch sealing might have been successful since Kerry's pillow did not get wet. Yes! Also, one of Jim's friends at work who  reads my blog, emailed him and told him to buy a new antenna. He plans to do so in Kingston! The power of social media.

We had a great trip to Picton. The weather was just perfect. Smooth seas but excellent wind for sailing, and the sailors were really strutting their stuff.

The trip was 26 miles. We left at 9:30 and arrived at 1:00, with an average speed of 7.4 knots. We just putted along and enjoyed the views and voyage. Kerry made us a nice salad on the way for lunch.

This year Jim booked us at the Picton Harbor Park Marina instead of the Tip of the Bay Marina where we have stayed in the past. It is much nicer. They only have a few slips so we are lucky to be here. He even has 50 amp power, so he is really happy. The following pictures show the marina and harbor, and Annie safely docked.

The downtown area is really alive and vibrant. Shops and museums to interest all of us. Jim and Jola like this harbor and downtown the best of any we have visited so far. Kerry and Jola did reconnoitering today and plan major shopping tomorrow. Jim and I could be left alone to find lunch at a local pub.

I dug my fishing poles out of the bilge and caught one small bass at the dock. Fish on! Dinner was hamburgers and a veggie burger cooked on Annie's grill, corn on the cob along with a Greek salad. It has cooled down a lot, with a low of 54 forecast tonight.