Month: August 2016

A couple of weeks earlier we got news that our good friends and sailing/boat project mentors, Paul & Julie, wanted to come sailing with us in the Thousand Islands. We sorted out the details and arranged to meet them in Gananoque. We arrived in the area a few days ahead of time, read some books, and became a bit of a tourist attraction for the local sightseeing boats. We arranged for a slip at the municipal marina and pulled in the night before.

After connecting we went out for dinner in the big town, did a resupply and were off the following day. Our first night was spent at the same nearby anchorage we’d already been at. Then we headed downstream to explore more of the islands.

Luckily for our northern friends the weather had cooled off considerably from the brutal heat and humidity we’d been getting most of the summer. Despite assurance that it was now chilly, much time was spent swimming and staying in the shade.

 

We sailed, drifted and motored our way down the river, visiting the Admiralty Islands, the Fleet Islands, the Navy Islands and the Raft Narrows Islands. We anchored or moored out for five nights, and enjoyed good company and great food. P & J, being the adventurous ones, were often off exploring the area via dingy.

Of course Paul being Paul, we got the spinnaker up as soon as we could. AND we had to undertake at least one boat project. Thanks to him we now have a functioning new Garmin chartplotter . And if I’d let him, we’d also have our radar running. Paul also spent time trying (perhaps fruitlessly) to explain electrical theory to us.

     

We drank a little too much, and ate way better than our norm. But sadly the week went by all too quickly. Soon we were back at Gananoque for one final night on the boat. We were treated to a yummy dinner at the Socialist Pig, did another small restock, then said our goodbyes.

 

Thanks Julie & Paul. It was so great to see you both.

Our hull was beginning to grow weeds in Picton so we thought it was time to leave. Besides, we had heard from our good friends Paul & Julie that they wanted to come and join us for a week of sailing the Thousand Islands, so we decided to haul up mooring lines and start moving on.

We motored our way out of Picton Harbour, and into the Adolphus Reach heading eastish past the Glenora ferry and Mom & Kathy’s cabin that they’ve rented many times.

     

Wind was at our head down the reach, so we were tacking our way all along. It was fun, but after 14 tacks with our big yankee sail that refused to slide through the slot so someone (ME!) had to run up to the foredeck each time and haul it through, then run back to the cockpit to manage all the other sheets as well as the flopping jib … lets just say it was exhausting. Especially since ONE person on this crew CLAIMS to have broken a rib, so she CAN’T do deck duty. Not naming names, but the lallygagger’s name starts with “A” and ends with nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 🙂 . Lots of fun

We sailed into Prinyer Cove as the sun was starting to wane and tied up to a mooring ball owned by our Stillwater friends, Chris and Deb. The cove is a real hurricane hole, with good protection all around and a small little marina deep in the bay. It’s also full of private mooring balls, such that anchoring is difficult. Luckily Chris had given us permission to use their ball, which made it very relaxing … which is what we do best. The next couple of days were spent swimming, reading, watching turtles and baking bread.

   

From Prinyer we headed out into Lake Ontario proper. It was great to finally be out in the open water again. Our plans were to sail to Main Duck Island, which is a bit offshore, but winds and seas were on our nose. So as usual, we went where the wind was blowing us, and headed over to Waupoos area instead. We found a nice anchorage west of the island and dropped the hook for a few days of swimming, reading, and pestering my Annnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeee:

  

Pulling out of Waupoos I hauled up the biggest clump of weeds I’ve ever seen. The entire 70 feet of chain was wrapped in the stalky, sticky growth. And once I got to the end the weed ball was so thick I couldn’t even see the anchor! I was fighting and cursing to clear all this junk when I looked up and see our neighbour waving something. He finally calls over: “This is what you need around here!”  Turns out he’s lashed a garden claw to his boat hook. I pick one up later, and he was so right!

We depart Waupoos once more heading for Main Duck, but this time the wind is nonexistent to light. We struggle to get enough speed to even keep steerage. I was just about to get our light airs gennaker when a light puff of wind fills our sails. OK … we wait. Within a few minutes we had 20 knots of wind blowin’ from exactly where we wanted to go, so we listen to Neptune and headed off towards a different anchorage instead. Remember, we always go where the wind blows us 😉

The sail turned into a rollicking rollercoaster ride. We blew past our first possible anchorages, and headed towards Kingston. We were planning to get there in a few days, but with winds reaching 28 knots and boat speeds at 7+ knots for over three hours, we just kept cruising all the way to the limestone city. We dropped anchor at a popular spot near Wolfe Island, and settled in for a couple days of rolly, but relaxing living.

 

After two days of watching the power boats build ever-larger rafts (one was nine boats long! … what is it about power boats and rafting anyway???) we upped-anchor and officially entered the Thousand Islands. Winds were favourable, so we sailed down the rather narrow, and very busy, Bateau Channel. Ann added a few more grey hairs as she helmed and navigated our way past narrow, shallow waters, large fast moving tour ships, and tons of zippy boats everywhere!

  

 

We arrived at our anchorage a short 1.5 nm away from Gananoque and spent the next few days getting the boat ready for our visitors, and generally relaxing.

Oh, and Ann did some boat yoga just for fun. I think this is called Laughing Quacka Redhead … 😉

We pick up Julie and Paul on the weekend. Then it’s off to explore the Islands with people who actually know how to sail. Yikes!

After over two weeks we’ve managed to travel a total distance of about 30 nautical miles. Yes, we’re living up to our unofficial slogan: “Why go fast, when you can go slow.”

After leaving Stillwater we spent many days just lazing around at a nearby anchorage called Sandy Cove. We had a few Stillwater friends drop in on us over those few days … I think they just wanted to see if we were still there.

 

    

While at Sandy Cove we watched the local Search and Rescue team practice their helicopter water recovery. Either that or they were trying to get rid of a body. If was fun to just laze around and do some reading and swimming. But by the fifth or sixth day we decide it was time to move on, so up came the anchor and off we went. But hauling up the anchor proved to be a bit of a challenge!

From Sandy Cove we sailed a whopping 10 nm to our next anchorage of Forester Island. This took us through some pretty narrow stretches where we had to share the channel with lots of motory boats, including a tourist vessel.

                   

We dropped the hook behind Forester Island and stayed for another near-week just relaxing, reading, swimming and doing odd jobs.

 

BTW, our boat is home, not just to us, but to many other critters of the buggy sort. For a few days we seemed to be mayfly porn central, with lots of these dragonfly-like bugs just “doin’ it” all over Pachina Mia. But mostly there’s the spiders … lots and lots of spiders.

 

 

From Forester’s we mostly motored down towards Picton. We anchored just north of Picton Harbour for two nights, and were going to spend more nights on the hook but we got news of two families in the area that we could connect with. The first was Dylan, Phil’s son. And the other was a friend of mine from a waaaay back: Dave Rogers and his family from Whitehorse. It was great to connect with Dylan, whom I don’t think I’ve seen since he was a tiny lad. It was great to meet his family. And it was amazing to reconnect with Dave and his wife Carole and sons Henri-Georges and Charlot.

    

Dylan and family

 

 

 

The Roger’s Clan*

* Pictures by Dave & Carole

We had planned to stay only a few days in Picton, but on the fourth night the yacht club manager mentioned that they had a week rate for the mooring balls. For the price of less that five nights we could stay the whole seven… so we did!

 

Life is easy here in Picton. We spend most of the daytime hanging out in the lovely PEYC club house/bar. They have decent wifi, which has allowed us to make some good headway on our Waterway Guide work (we are Cruising Editors for the Waterway Guide). By 4 pm we’re sipping a beer, and having a shower. By six we’re back to our floating home on the mooring, fixing dinner and sipping more beer/wine.

Yup, life is tough…