Bostwick Island July 15, 2015

I must be off my A game. I knew the wind was going to shift, and I knew it was going to pick up in strength. Yet I went to bed without doing anything to prepare. So, at 3:30 I was out retying dock lines and readjusting fenders. Too much time in the cushy port of Kingston must have dulled the instincts. For the 4 days we have been here we have been blown off the dock. With the wind shifting and increasing in strength we are being smashed against the dock. It is really windy, and cold, 54 degrees. BTW, Jim had just the opposite problem. He is now being blown off the dock and said he could hardly get off Liberty this morning.

How windy is it? So windy that the cockpit cushion on Liberty blew into the harbor and ended up in the dock near me. I was typing the blog and looked over and there it was! They did not know it was gone. An amazing recovery for sure.

It stayed really windy all morning but the sun was shining brightly. We decided we had to go. It would have been easy to talk ourselves into staying, but not good if we were serious about anchoring for most of 2 weeks. Before we left, we inflated the dingy. It did not have a name initially, but Kerry and Jola named it the Debbie K, after their daughter.

The dock girls helped us cast off at 12:15. Liberty followed. When you first see the charts up here they are pretty intimidating so Jim choose to follow Annie instead of zooming by later. We headed for Leek Island. Scenery along the Bateau Channel is really pretty. Here is one of the homes on the way.

In a little less than 2 hours we were near Ganonoque and the start of the Thousand Islands. On the way to Leek Island I noticed that the anchorage at Bostwick Island was empty and suggested we go there as it was protected from the North wind. Jim agreed and we proceeded slowly into the anchorage. Following is a picture of the Admiralty Islands that shows Bostwick Island and a chart picture with a red arrow showing where we are anchored. Sorry the first one is sideways. The trip from Kingston was 16 miles and we were anchored at 2:15.

Bostwick turned out to be a beautiful anchorage and it was a perfect afternoon. We were so glad it was perfect as it was Jim and Jola's initial anchoring experience in the Thousand Islands. Here are a couple of pictures of Annie happily anchored.

It was a real pleasant surprise to discover that we could pick up Verizon here from the States. Phone calls home, unlimited data - yea! Of course we tried our hand at fishing with zero results. We tried lots of different lures but found nothing they liked. We tried to buy worms in Kingston but there was no place near enough to the marina to get them. We could even see the fish swimming about 6 feet under Debbie K.

Of course Kerry and Jola cheered us on from Liberty. They made us a delicious Shepherd's Pie on Annie. After dinner, Jim rowed Jola back to Liberty. Our first day was a real success.