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.