RSS

Tag Archives: Lake Ontario

July 28 – Picton

We had another uneventful passage from Deseronto to Picton. The most exciting thing was that when Dennis pulled up the anchor, it was full of weeds! He had a heck of a time pulling them off with the boat hook! It kept him occupied for a good twenty minutes. I was instructed to keep my eye on the engine temperature in case some weeds got caught and we overheated.

20120728-191243.jpg
When we arrived in Picton, we filled up with fuel and with water, then went over to an empty dock. It was pretty ramshackle and as Dennis lined up with it, I had to jump down quite a ways and lost the bow line (for the third time this week!). He leapt off too and saved the day by grabbing hold of the midship line and getting the boat under control. When we were all finished, a man came down and suggested that we move the boat to a better location as the dock we were on had been condemned. So, with his help, we moved over to the wall and are happily tied up here.
Picton is a great town for getting supplies – three grocery stores – all good and full of fresh produce. There are also many shops in the downtown (no big box stores so they have been able to keep the old town intact) so we went shopping for a few hours. Didn’t buy much but enjoyed looking around.
Tonight, we are going to the theatre to see a Johnny Cash show – some sort of impersonator – but it sounds like a lot of fun.
Tomorrow, we are going to anchor out somewhere. We have been assured that the water is good and that lots of people swim in this area. The weather is supposed to hold, so it will be nice to get a good swim in. Other than that, nothing else is new! Here are a couple of pictures from the wall.

20120728-191945.jpg

20120728-192025.jpg

 
1 Comment

Posted by on July 28, 2012 in Sailing in Lake Ontario

 

Tags: , ,

July 27 – Deseronto

So, we left this morning just before 8:00 because another sailboat was heading down the Murray Canal towards the bridge and the sign says that you should travel in groups. You also have to have your $4.95 ready to give to the bridge attendant. We wondered if we would have to tie up and go into the office, but no, the man stands on the bank with a long pole and a brass cup attached. You just pass him the money. We gave him a five cent tip. If you look carefully in the picture below, you should be able to see how it is done.

20120727-181100.jpg
We motored down the Murray Canal and into the Bay Quinte near Canadian Forces Base Trenton. I managed to get a shot of the Hercules aircraft.

20120727-181427.jpg
We actually motored down the canal with another boat that had a tiny dog and once we got out into the open water, the dog ran to the bow and barked continuously at the waves. Hmm… I am not sure how long that would last on our boat.

20120727-181822.jpg
We also saw a family of swans right in the middle of the channel and I got a good shot of them because they were so close!

20120727-181512.jpg
Along the way to Deseronto, we saw a beautiful island. Dennis said that we should go exploring it. Yikes!

20120727-181605.jpg
Deseronto is a very small town and has a grocery store (of sorts), pharmacy and a couple of variety stores. We tried to get some fresh produce but it wasn’t overly fresh so we will go into Picton tomorrow where there is a Sobeys. Here are a couple of shots around the town.

20120727-182032.jpg

20120727-182046.jpg
Dennis tried his hand at fishing and managed to get our salad!

20120727-182147.jpg
We have enjoyed the whole trip so far but have to say that we sure miss the clean water of Georgian Bay. Everywhere else we’ve been, the water has been ok but certainly not clear or even cold. Some places have been better than others but I think that our good swimming days are over except for maybe around Kingston. We’ll see!

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 27, 2012 in Sailing in Lake Ontario

 

Tags: , ,

July 26 – Murray Canal

Poor Dennis didn’t get much sleep last night. He stayed up because of the storm. We were anchored in Colbourg but he was worried about the squalls going through. We did have another boater who kept resetting his anchor and then finally gave up and went to the dock. That was good because at one point, he was right on top of our anchor. Hmm…
It actually rained most of the day, which was fine – we certainly need the rain. We motored to Murray Canal and are now tied up here. Uneventful trip except for the swells. There was no wind at all this morning but the swells from last night’s storm were somewhat unpleasant. However, we weren’t out in the open for too long, and as soon as we got in a more protected area, the swells stopped.
We decided to stop at the beginning of the Murray Canal basically because we noticed another boat – just like ours. It turns out that it is a Hunter 420 Passage but two years newer (2003). The man helped us tie up and as soon as he opened his mouth, we knew that he was from Newfoundland. We had to compare boats of course, and they are almost identical. Too funny!
Anyway, he and his wife live near St. John’s and keep their boat at Iroquois. They are sailing around for most of the summer and have sailed extensively in Georgian Bay but also around the island of Newfoundland. Dennis’s ears really perked up when he heard this!
We had a good visit. Both of them are very nice, knowledgeable and very helpful.
Here are a few pictures of the canal, their Hunter 420 and of Lou – as you can see, we had a few good laughs!

20120726-190805.jpg

20120726-190824.jpg

20120726-190845.jpg

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 26, 2012 in Sailing in Lake Ontario

 

Tags: ,

July 24 – Whitby

Well, another safe passage – this time from Toronto to Whitby. As usual, the Toronto harbour was totally busy – the business people were flying in at a great rate on Porter Airways. Here is a shot of a plane coming in right overhead of us.

20120724-152353.jpg

We sailed the whole way and it was quite nice. A good steady wind down the coast of Lake Ontario so now can officially say that we have sailed in all the great lakes.

20120724-152535.jpg

I have nothing to report except that we had a few hundred (maybe I’m exaggerating) unwanted passengers onboard to Whitby. Houseflies that were very smart. Usually I just vacuum them up but these creatures were too fast, so we had to get rid of them the hard way and it was not too much fun. I think that insects will take over the world because there certainly are a lot of them – much more than necessary, in my opinion. They are all gone now though, so my breakdown has been averted (I hate bugs!).

Phil and Susie and coming for a visit tonight and then tomorrow, we are going to Cobourg.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 24, 2012 in Sailing in Lake Ontario

 

Tags: ,