Gananoque ON July 19, 2015

It is an absolutely perfect day in Gananoque. Low 80's temperature, blue sky, 12 knot breeze blowing through the boat - just what you dream of in the winter.

The most interesting thing to talk about today is Sky, our neighbor's dog. Sky is an American Lab (I think) on the sailboat next to us. I gave Sky a Milk Bone biscuit yesterday and we became great friends. He has managed to beg a couple more from me. What's neat is that Sky is trained to do his business on the bow of the boat. This picture provides evidence of that. And, even better, Jola tells me that when he raises his leg it goes right off the boat into the sea. That is one trained dog!

I agreed to have coffee with Jim at 7:00 but overslept. First time that has happened. We did meet up a bit later. Jim stopped over to consult on my hatch leak. He does not feel it is the hatch/deck seam leaking so I applied more of Captain Tolley around the suspect parts. Marianna Orro is in the North Channel and asked about the Captain. Apparently they have some need for it too. We have talked about cruising Lake Michigan with them next year.

Kerry had her mind made up that we were cleaning the rear cockpit of our boat, and so at 9:00 we were scrubbing away. It took longer than expected, but all the bugs are gone. I applied a special wax made by Woody Wax to the non-skid on the boat. It is supposed to seal the non-skid and help keep it cleaner. We shall see. Annie is shining in the afternoon sun.

We took a nice bike ride along the Gananoque River and then shopped downtown for a while. Then it was showers and laundry. laundry is $3 for wash and $3 for dry. We thought it would be cheaper in town but it was $3.25 a load there. 

This is an interesting two weeks in the Thousand Islands. The Cruising Guide called this the Invasion of the French Navy. In Quebec, the trades all shut down these next two weeks, and everyone goes on holiday. Many other business have adopted the practice too. So, many boaters migrate to the Thousand Islands during this time. It can get really crowded. Yesterday this marina was packed, with many French speakers. In trips past they have "snooted" us pretty good, but most have been quite friendly so far.

Over cocktails on Liberty we came up with a plan for our remaining time in the TI. We will spend 3 nights anchoring, then go to Brockville for 2 nights, then two more anchor nights, Alexandria Bay, anchor, then Clayton a day earlier than planned. We hope this will insure we get a dock at Clayton as most places will not reserve a dock on the Antique Boat Show Weekend. Along the way to or from Brockville we will stop at Singer Castle.