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.