Kingston to Trenton

Friday, July 27 - Monday, July 30, 2013

A pleasant surprise this morning, our Garmin chart plotter is back in use! Our SD card included only coastal Canada, not the inland canals. As we approached Lake Ontario the screen was no longer blank. Timing was important Friday morning. We hoped to catch the 8 am bridge opening at the LaSalle Causeway. It opens on the hour for only a few minutes to limit the delay to morning commuters. We needed to be there, ready and waiting. It was reported to be narrow and there may be others taking advantage of the days first opening. No issues! As a group we opted to bypass Kingston (Ontario), heading instead along Lake Ontario. We traveled south of Amherst Island then north around red marker KM2 before reaching the Witlow Point anchorage around lunchtime. Small cottages lined the shore and a couple of fisherman tried their luck from a small boat. The day clouded up and everyone spent time aboard their own boats. Mike always has boat projects and I try to keep up on the blog. (Ha!) I have reverted to using Word to make notes for the blog because it doesn't require the internet. Later we jumped into the dinghy and headed over to Rick and Margi's for boat-tails. Since Bob and Janet spent the afternoon washing and waxing Harmony they were content to stay aboard and admire their work. In other words, they were exhausted!

Journey Passes Under the LaSalle Causeway Bridge

Kingston, Ontario

Wind Power

Lake Ontario

Eight o'clock was the agreed departure time. Journey's anchor came up clean - good sign! The other 2 boats were not so lucky. We left on time after returning the morning's harvest to the fish! When we reached the Bay of Quinte we had to take special care to follow the 'Q' markers not the 'QT'. Reservations were made at Fraser Park Marina in Trenton. This a great place to re-provision. It was windy coming in but the excellent staff was there to assist. One of the dock hands looked just like Eddy off of Spiritus! Surprise!! We had not seen Linda and Eddy since leaving them Kingston (New York) as they awaited the opening of the Erie Canal. It took us twice as long to reach the same destination. Everyone agreed, when reflecting on our experiences on the Rideau route; we wouldn't change a thing! Mike helped Eddy get his Garmin chart plotter to work with the SD card for Canadian inland waterway maps. He offered us a copy but of course it is write protected. The I-Pad will continue to work as our chart plotter. It has served us well! The crew of Spiritus moved on the next day. I wonder if/when we'll see them again? 

Fraser Park Marina

Across the  Canal to Quincy West

Downtown Trenton

On Sunday Janet, Margi and I walked to the grocery store nearby. We purchased more then we wished to carry so Janet asked if it would be alright if we 'borrowed' their carts until we unloaded our purchases. A wonderful idea but one I could not have envisioned myself going along with before this adventure. Better yet, Bob offered to return all 3 carts! What a picture we must have made! Another strange adventure was our trip to the laundromat. Monday Margi and I carted (literately) our dirty clothes, soap and quarters across the the bridge and up a hill. Odd, but we had done it before. The problem was the main road connecting Trenton to the Quincy West area was under construction. We had to pull our carts 4 extra block to clear the mud and construction workers. On the plus side, there was a Tim Horton's across the street! This Canadian restaurant was new to Margi but more common in neighboring Michigan. She enjoyed her coffee and the doughnut hole of the day! We thought it best to share a cab on our return to the marina, you know, for the sake of the clean clothes. You gotta love the Looper life!  Mike, Margi, Rick and I walked around town and found a KFC Mike had been craving. Heads up....it's not the same as in the States! I don't know which 11 herbs and spices they use but the Colonel would not be happy!

It's time to rest up. Tomorrow we begin the our adventure along the Trent-Severn Waterway!