Picton to Trenton, ON. Start of the Trent-Severn Waterway

It was a chilly 53F when we awoke at sunrise, and we put on an extra layer for the 20-yard walk to the Lighthouse Restaurant at the Picton Harbour Inn when they opened at 7:00 AM. Map Link: Picton, ON.  Above our table was this inspirational thought: 

We left Picton at 8:15 AM and traveled through the Z-shaped Bay of Quinte for 40 miles to Trent Port Marina in Trenton, ON, at the eastern end of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Map Link: Trenton, ON. The sky was clear and the wind was 10 mph from the northeast, giving us a light headwind and chop for the first part of the day, then gentle following seas for the remainder. 

The 240-mile Trent-Severn Waterway contains 45 locks and connects Lake Ontario and Huron. Unlike the other Canadian and American canals we’ve transited, the Trent-Severn was not built quickly. The first lock was completed in 1833, but the route wasn’t completed until 1920, 87 years later.

After tying up at 3:00 PM, we spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and relaxing. We ate leftovers onboard, played cribbage, enjoyed the marina grounds, boaters lounge and good WiFi, and went for a walk along the waterfront. 

Bonus Question: In ice hockey, what is a Gordie Howe Hat Trick? (Answer at end of post).

Photo Journal:

Picton Bay cement factory

Another new chip flavor. I do not recommend.

The squirrels in Ontario are black

Dragon boat practice off our stern

Bonus Question Answer: A Gordie Howe Hat Trick is a goal, an assist and a fight in a single game. Although named for him, Howe only accomplished this feat twice during his lengthy career. A Double Gordie—when two players record goals and assists and fight each other—has occurred four times.

Swimming with the Mermaids

Greetings! it's KG again making a rare guest appearance while Tony has a much needed night off.

Yes, that's right, I swam with mermaids this morning.  

Here are some pictures of this intrepid group of swimmers. 

This is a group of mostly women - both older and younger than me, and they were all cheerful and ready to go despite the fact that last night our weather took a turn and the winds picked up and the temperature dropped (thankfully) so it was only 15.5 degrees C (that's 60 degrees F for you American readers) and a bit choppy in the water.  

The group is actually officially known as The Mermaids of Kingston, an open water swimming group that meets every morning weather permitting at 7AM to swim along the shore of Lake Ontario, just outside of the Marina we were staying in.  [Apparently there are at least three other open water swimming groups in Kingston, ON - there is another group that call themselves the Krazy KOWS (Kingston Open Water Swimmers).]  Yesterday while I was on my morning run along the Lake Ontario running path I saw some of the mermaids heading to the water and so asked if I could join them today and they were super welcoming.  It was wonderful to swim in the clear cool water - we only swam 1 km but that was enough for a first time out. I have really missed my regular open water swimming in the various lakes around the Twin Cities this year.  And it set me up to have a great day on the water in the boat.

After my swim Tony and I had to run a few last minute errands because we didn't realize when we pulled in that yesterday (Monday) was a holiday in Canada - called Civic Holiday.  This is celebrated on the first Monday of August every year to give Canadians a 3 day weekend to start the month. (How nice!!) 

Once those errands were done, we got underway and headed West across Adolphus Reach in the northern part of Lake Ontario and traveled about 35 miles to Picton Bay and will be staying in Picton, ON overnight (named for Lt General Sir Thomas Picton who served in the British Army in Europe and was killed in action at the Battle of Waterloo).  This underway was the first time in a long time that we weren't surrounded by land and enjoyed looking out on the vast Lake Ontario.

Once we tied up in Picton we got off the boat to re-provision since our food was running low, and then spent some time sight seeing.  We were pleased to see that the town was quite full of tourists enjoying all Picton had to offer.  Since this is located very near Toronto and Kingston it is a popular vacation spot with lots of beautiful hiking on sand dunes and packed with breweries, gourmet restaurants and plenty of places to separate shoppers from their hard earned money.  

Our favorite place we stopped into was the Rosehaven Yarn Shop. I was excited to see they had a yarn store within walking distance since I'm looking for yarn for the next crochet project I'm planning and it is so much better to handle yarn you're buying to know you're getting what you want. We knew we had reached the place when we spotted the lamppost and bicycle covered in yarn.  

I left Tony outside people-watching while I went into the store and he understood completely this poor man's predicament!  

(In case you can't read his sign, it says: My sweetie told me to wait here while they went into the yarn shop). Alas, the store didn't carry bamboo yarn so my quest continues.

We had an outstanding dinner at one of the local breweries and then headed back to the harbor for the sunset.  We have one more travel day on Lake Ontario before we enter another canal/waterway run by the outstanding Parks Canada. 

Back to Kingston, ON

We enjoyed our three nights in the Thousand Islands—the natural beauty and outstanding Parks Canada facilities made it a side trip to remember. Yesterday we headed west again, into a building headwind and moderate chop at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence and on Lake Ontario. After 19 miles, we approached our destination of Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, and were met by dozens of small sailboats outside of the harbour entrance and a steady stream sailing out of the narrow entrance. The marina was built for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, remains a major Canadian sailing center and we had unknowingly booked our stay here during a large, multi-day youth sailing regatta. I overheard some seasonal slip holders grumbling about the commotion and inconvenience of hundreds of extra people at the marina, but we enjoyed the activity and energy of the kids and their families. In the slip adjacent to us is another MacGregor 26X with a family from Quebec aboard—their two teens are competing in the regatta and the family is staying on the boat. Map Link: Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston, ON

About 2:00 PM, a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere and the races were quickly postponed, with boats scurrying for the safety of the harbor before the skies opened up. After the rain, we hit a couple of the tourist sites on the west side of Kingston that we missed last week. Next to the marina is the enormous Kingston Penitentiary, a former maximum-security prison, and our first stop was Canada’s Penitentiary Museum, located across the street in the former warden’s residence. Opened in 1835, the prison was one of the oldest in continuous use when it closed in 2013, and is now open to the public and a popular tourist attraction.

Water torture device from Kingston Penitentiary

Our next stop was Bellevue House National Historic Site, the former home of Sir John Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister. The house is a beautiful Italianate villa, where Macdonald lived with his family when he was a successful attorney and budding politician. They moved out shortly after their only child died unexpectedly. We really like the way many of Canada’s museums tell the stories of more than just European settlers. While Macdonald’s achievements are significant to Canadian history and helped make it the country it is today, he has come under increasing scrutiny for his treatment of Chinese immigrants and indigenous people. Thousands of Chinese came to Canada in the 19th century to work on the railroads, and hundreds perished on the job. When the work was completed, Macdonald signed the Chinese Immigration Act, which imposed a head tax to discourage more poor Chinese from entering the country. He also initiated the Canadian Indian residential school system, where native children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools to assimilate them into white, Christian, Canadian culture. For more than a hundred years, indigenous children were isolated from their families, forbidden to speak their native languages or practice ancestral customs, and were subjected to malnutrition, physical and sexual abuse by the government and religious authorities who ran the schools. Only in recent years has the magnitude of the horrors these children endured and the lasting trauma inflicted by this system come to light. Both the Canadian Government and the Catholic Church have made public apologies for their roles in this awful chapter of North American colonial history. Not-so-fun fact: Residential schools in the United States were just as bad and existed from the mid-17th until the early 20th century. 

19th century beard trimmer

The weather was warm, with temperatures in the mid-80s and a gusty southwest wind, and we walked the two miles into Kingston’s city center, passing through the campus of Queen’s University on the way. We had dinner at Guac Mexi Grill, a Chipotle clone, then walked back to the marina. After three days staying on islands, it felt great to give our legs a good workout again. As soon as it was dark outside, we were sleepy and turned in. 

Photo Journal:

Cormorant feathers are not water repellent, which

makes diving easier, but they need to dry their wings

before flying.

First time ever eating this flavor

The raven on the peak caught my eye

 

Thousand Islands: Grenadier Island to Mermaid Island

Kathleen and I were both up early today, and left Grenadier Island before most of our Canadian dock mates were awake. The weather continues to be stable, with light to moderate southwest winds and high humidity. We traveled 19 miles to Mermaid Island, and are tied up at another Parks Canada dock with five other boats. We’re squeezed in pretty tight between a cabin cruiser and a houseboat—a little closer than we’d prefer—but it’s Saturday and everyone wants to enjoy the national park. We are guests in another country, so we go with the flow, and this is our last night in the Thousand Islands. Map link: Mermaid Island, ON 

After lunch, we hiked the quarter-mile trail around the entire island, swam off the boat and took our inflatable kayak out for a spin in the choppy waters. Tour boats are everywhere—we take pictures of them and vice versa. We ate dinner onboard, then enjoyed docktails late into the evening on the roof of the houseboat with its Ontario owners and a couple from Sorel, QC. Tomorrow we head back to Kingston and start our journey on Lake Ontario towards our next Canadian canal.

Cormorant City

Thousand Islands: Beaurivage Island to Grenadier Island, ON

We left our private dock on Beaurivage Island just after 8:00 AM, threaded our way south through the islands, and crossed the border to the American side of the Saint Lawrence (see chartlet below). It’s perfectly legal to sail in either country’s waters, as long as you don’t tie up, anchor, or run aground—then you need to clear in to Customs/Immigration. We did a drive-by of Clayton and Alexandria Bay, NY, then took a look at Boldt Castle. Map Link: Boldt Castle, NY. 

Construction of Boldt Castle began on Heart Island in 1900 by George Boldt, owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, as a gift for his wife, Louise. Hundreds of workers toiled to build the six-story mansion, but work ceased abruptly when Louise died unexpectedly in 1904. George would never return to Heart Island and the structure was left unfinished for 73 years. In 1977, it was purchased for $1 by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority and is now a popular tourist attraction.

We traveled 26 miles in four hours, enjoying a 1-2 mph boost from the Saint Lawrence River. After crossing the border again, we docked at Grenadier Island at another Parks Canada dock in Thousand Islands National Park. We’re actually in a small marina, with finger piers, slips and room for about 20 boats. There are air-conditioned bathrooms ashore and a nice beach about 100 yards away. The weather is still lovely, although it’s a little humid again, and the beach, bay and docks are busy and noisy. It’s the final weekend of Quebec’s Construction Holiday, and folks are making the most of their vacations, with loud music being a major nuisance. While we’ve encountered mostly pleasant and friendly Quebecois here, we will not miss the Quebec Navy. Map Link: Grenadier Island, ON

Kingston, ON to the Thousand Islands

We left Kingston at 9:00 AM, entered Lake Ontario, then turned east down the start of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The first 50 miles of the Saint Lawrence is known as the “Thousand Islands,” an area of renowned natural beauty straddling the U.S.-Canada border. There are actually more than 1,800 islands in the region, but who’s counting? And yes, Thousand Island salad dressing started here, although multiple origin stories about who was the first to mix mayonnaise and ketchup together are debated by locals and food scholars.

We went 18 miles in three hours, stopping for gas on the way, where we saw our Montreal friends from All In, and this family of swans. Bonus Question: What is a young swan called? (Answer at end of post).

We’re docked for the night at Beaurivage Island (“beautiful shore” in French), in Canada’s Thousand Islands National Park. We have a private dock with a picnic table, connected by trails to the rest of the island, which has several more docks and tent camping sites. In case you’re curious, the red Adirondack chairs are a signature furnishing of Parks Canada, and we can’t resist sitting in them. Map Link: Beaurivage Island, ON

We hiked the island, soaked up the sun and warm summer weather, swam in the clear, cool water and watched the osprey, herring gulls and neighboring boaters from our idyllic spot. 

Bonus Question Answer: A cygnet. Fun fact: Swans are the world’s largest waterfowl.

Kingston, ON

We spent yesterday in Kingston, doing some exploring, provisioning, connecting with family  and waiting out a little rain. Our only sightseeing stop of the day was the Great Lakes Museum, located at the site of an old dry-dock and featuring the SS Keewatin and the intact pump room machinery for draining the dry-dock. Today’s Bonus Question is a word search from the museum (no answer below—you figure it out). We had lunch and a spirited game of Snakes & Ladders at a nearby cafe and happened upon Grecos, an amazing Greek restaurant for dinner, where we had one of our best meals on the Loop.

Photo Journal: