Saturday, August 30, 2008

Last day in Kingston Town

Not sure what we'll do today. The morning fog just burned off, and the powerboat monster from Ottawa just left our side, letting in some sunshine. We leave at daybreak tomorrow, so an early night for us. I'm sure a band will start playing, or a dock party will break out before we hit the sack. Last night we ate at Chez Piggy, and had a great meal in the garden/patio. It was later than we usually go out, and the patio was lit up perfect. The setting is a courtyard patio, surrounded by stone buildings, with full grown trees, and vines around the tables. Pretty nice. We'll explore a little more today, then get her ready to cross to the USA. Supposed to be light winds tomorrow :( so we'll keep our fingers crossed for the engine to keep running smooth. Otherwise we'll be black fly bait. That would really suck.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Fay is in town

What a rollicking night! What's left of Fay came through last night, and it's still blowing here this morning. Not much rain, just wind. The Kingston Marina would have had us leaving today. No way. Glad we switched to the basin. This is the first "bad" weather we've had. What's a little wind. Took many walks yesterday to get the blood moving. It's amazing how lazy you can get on a cruise. After the morning walk, we went for an afternoon walk, which ended with my knee killing me (no ACL), and two ice cold margarita's to relieve the pain. A nap followed, of course. I took the time to polish all the stainless ports, and they look lot better. This gave me the opportunity to talk to the guy next to me, who has a Whitby 42 Ketch. A beautiful boat, which was on my short list of boats to look at. The guy is 82, and still cruising the great lakes. Good for him. He bought powered winches, furling main, powered everything, just to keep sailing. He also bought a new genny, which his wife replied "Why, you'll be dead before you use that". He said he will fly it all the way back home. No morning walk today, unless the weather breaks. I have plenty of chores to do, like finding cool stuff on the web....

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Lazy Days in the basin

It's hard to believe, but there is no wind here in Kingston. The basin is usually howlin, all the time, but for the last few days just a slight breeze. This makes for boring dock follies between 3-5pm. This is when most people arrive and have to dock in the usually high wind. Fun to watch. I still have an open slip next to me, so I might not be laughing later. There was a couple last year that pointed their boat at the dock, throttled down, then opened up a bottle of wine, and had some cheese while the dock hands tried to land the boat. Amazing. Haven't seen anything like that yet, but there must be money in Montreal, as that's where all the new boats are coming from. I hope one of them hit me. I need a new paint job. We had dinner at the Sleepless Goat. Kelly would have liked it, all organic, all vegetarian, and everyone in there looked like they graduated from ESF(hippies). Good food. I had a great lasagna, Deb had plenty of penne. We'll post more pictures later, when I get a better wifi connection. The big ass boat next to me is blocking my signal. I'm going for a morning walk around town, maybe stop at PanChancho for some pastries, and bread. The weather is turning a bit cloudy, but still warm. Rain later, but Saturday looks great.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Kingston, Ontario, Canada

We left Sackets on a cold morning, with some mist still floating around in the Bay, and what little wind we had was right on the nose. The morning sun did not warm me up, and we continued to motor on into the wind, avoiding the shoals. Even though the depth is listed as 12-15ft, I still avoid them. Probably adds another 1/2 hr to the ride, but better to be cautious. As we turned to cut through the shallows, looking for the elusive KS2 buoy, the engine RPM dropped, then slowly came back up. It did this several more times, and now I started to get nervous. The wind kicked up to about 20, and we were in a shallow area marked by wrecks, and shoals. I didn't want to another wreck to the charts. If the engine dies, we would turn around, and unfurl the headsail to go downwind. I decided to switch to the other tank, and throttle down a bit, and see if that takes care of it. It did, and we continued on. Bad fuel? Dirt? Not sure, but will have to investigate. Just to be on the safe side, I had a knife ready to cut the anchor safety line, in case we lost the engine in the small basin and had to drop some chain. My fear was we'd lose the engine while approaching the dock. Imagine bouncing off all those million dollar yachts, and having everyone yelling at me in French. Not sure how I'd react to that, but it would not be pretty. Might be a good time to review my policy. The Kingston Marina would have to kick us out on Friday, so we went to Confederation Basin instead. We will be holed in here until Sunday morning. Not a very exploratory cruise, but at least we got away from Sodus this year. Dinner at the brew pub of course, then a pint at the bar, and we were ready for bed. Not too many folks here yet, so it's nice and quiet. This will change.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Another day in Sackets

Had a good lazy day yesterday, lounging around and helping others dock, and watching others do amazing tricks with their boats. A 44 foot Hunter was about a foot off our stern, with throttle maxed. Startled, I popped out, only to hear him say, "Just getting a look at your stern. Very nice". He proceeded to back his boat into the slip across from us. If it were me, I would have bounced off every boat here, and been dropped by my insurance company. It was hard enough squeezing in this slip... Heard some interesting stories coming from the boat next to us. They traveled the coast, and the islands for over ten years, and were back to hand their boat over to their kids. A nice Endeavour 43. Wow, now that's a big first boat. Their stories got louder with every glass of wine, so off to dinner we went. Good Fellos pizza has to be the best wood fired pizza I have ever had. We get back here every three years or so, and it is still the best. We walked the rain soaked streets, with lighting still flashing overhead on our way to the restaurant. Expecting a low turnout, we were surprised to see people standing in the doorway. We were seated quickly, and were sipping our first 1812 Ale, when the sky let loose. Made it just in time. We stopped at the brew pub for a pint before heading back. The lights were flickering from the storm, as we watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. As we walked down the wet and deserted streets, and passed the old battlefield, we joked about how Kelly would freak out over ghosts from 1812. The only noise was from our footsteps, the thunder in the distance, with lightning still flashing overhead. We heard a low growling noise coming from the old battlefield. Deb just looked at me, and picked up the pace. We got through the gates of the marina, but were looking behind us until we got to the dock. So now we are freaked out by the battlefield. Finally got my motor lift installed, at the last minute of course. Drilled my first hole into the boat. It was a special moment.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Life's a reach

With Kingston Ontario full up, because of the Blues Festival, we set off for Sackets Harbor, NY. After a perfect dock exit, not sure how that happened, we set off on a reach, east. A nice southern breeze of 8-15 knots propelled us towards Sackett's. We only ran the engine to leave Sodus Bay, then to dock at Navy Point. Amazing. This rarely happens, and only two flies came aboard, which were dispatched immediately, right after they bit Deb. Don't know how I did it, but we are wedged next to a trawler, with about a foot to spare. Got in, but have no idea how to get out. Spent most of my morning helping people dock. Really tight maneuvering in here. The brew pub is still fine, and we'll explore the town today (15 minutes) and settle in for the day. Maybe a nap, then dinner. Life is good.