Kingston again! 7/18/17

We finally pulled up anchor(s) at Endymion Island.  We had been here for a week and enjoyed most of our time here.  The swimming was great and the weather about 50/50. A few people stopped by in their dingys to say Hi and we had a neighbors for one night.  Most of the time it was loons and geese that came to visit.  We left about 8:00AM and I had to work hard to get all of the salad off of the anchors, took about 20 minutes of picking at it with the boat hook.  We went over to Gananoque to pump out and fill with water.  We were quite proud of ourselves that we were able to last a week on water and holding tank capacity.

It was a pleasant cruise up to Kingston and we ended up on the same dock as the week before, the T head on E dock.  Its pretty close by comparison to some docks to the dock head and we took Abby for a quick walk before Brenda and Russell picked us up for lunch at Chez Piggy.  I had been to Chez Piggy about 30 years ago and it was excellent again.  We spent a pleasant couple of hours with a couple of bottles of wine and caught up on the news with Russ and Brenda.  After lunch Karen (Raven) picked us up outside and we headed over to stock up at Cosco.  More goodies, in fact so many that I had to start up the freezer on the aft cockpit to store them all.  We made dinner plans for later.  We arrived back at the boat after shopping we were delighted to find a beautiful (and tasty) strawberry/rhubarb pie on the cockpit steps from Russ and Brenda.  Thanks guys it was delicious.

Bert and Karen joined us for dinner and we talked about their boat trip south and other Hudson things. Karen and I went and picked up takeout Pad Thai from the Cambodian Village restaurant on Russell's recommendation and it was excellent.  Its been great to run into so many old friends along the way.  I think Debbie is getting fed up with Hudson talk and I guess that will all come to an end when we exit Georgian Bay in September.

Beautiful and tasty Strawberry Rhubarb pie from the best bakery in Kingston

Karen came over for dinner

And Bert too.  Thanks Guys for coming

Box reads "Jim and Debs - We forgot dessert - Love Brenda and Russ"

Still at Endymion Island 7/16/17

We have spent the last couple of days relaxing at our anchorage here at Endymion Island.  Very peaceful and relaxing.  Debbie is taking good care of her wrist and hopefully it is healing well. I have done a number of chores such as cleaning out the shower sump, changing the zincs on the bow thruster props, fixing the depth sounder (maybe), reinstalling the stereo on the flybridge, Always a fun job getting my little body in under the flybridge cowling and tidying up wires and checking connections.  Anyways I made it in and more importantly back out again.  I have almost had to call paramedics to extract me before and had to calm myself so I could relax and save up the energy to crawl out again.  Its not my favorite place.
This morning I cleaned the mustache off of the boat and washed the water line of scum and stains.  Looks much better now.  The water was perfect for swimming today and I spent about an hour total in it checking and replacing zincs and checking the running gear.  We finally saw some sun this morning and even though it has clouded over this afternoon it has been a pleasant day.  Debbie was reading that its in the high 90's in Charleston and I'm sure humid too.  The weather here is so much more pleasant when the sun comes out, bright blue clear skies and no humidity.  We will stay here for another couple of days and then head to Kingston Tuesday to see Debbie's Ortho Doctor Wednesday morning at 8:00 AM.
Abby got a good brushing and is relaxed and enjoys her walks on the island.  The poop bags are piling up after 4 days though.  It will be nice to take out the trash when we get back to land.

Our Loon Friends

Abby and I sat here one morning on Camelot Island

Here is the view from those chairs

Mr Loon

Endymion Island 7/12/17

We were all settled in and enjoying our morning.  I had taken Abby for her walk on the island and was swimming when the parks Canada guys showed up.  So "do you have a mooring pass?" Yes I do.  How long is your boat?  54 feet.  Sorry you can't stay on the mooring balls if your boat is over 45 feet....  Damn!!  So we had lunch and moved over to an anchorage just on the other side of the spit of land from where we were yesterday. When we backed in I set the main anchor with the idea of securing a stern anchor to keep us in the center of a narrow channel and not into the rocky shores.  The wind is blowing out of the northeast and we are somewhat exposed but nothing too bad.  The stern anchor didn't seem to set very well and after dinner I pulled it in (not set at all) and took it back out for another try.  Debbie let out more rode on the main anchor and I was able to hook some rocks with the stern anchor and got a good bite on them.  We winched in the main anchor to tighten everything up and it all seems to be holding well.  We watched another two episodes of Homeland tonight and the pre going to bed anchor check looked good.  Nice tight stern line and therefore a tight main anchor line.  Its blowing about 10-15 knots so a little noisy but not bouncy.  We are not doing much and Debbie is trying to be good to her wrist.  Did I mention I think I'm getting dishpan hands! I really appreciate my crew more than ever now.

Nice tight stern anchor line

 As you can see from Google Maps capture we are barely in Canada and the plus is I get data and cell phone service from Verizon here so it makes it easier to get some work done

We are the red triangle.  This is where we are now and last night we were on the other side of the spit of land near the dock.

The view out the stern

Picnic Point NY to Kingston 7/10/17

We spent the night at Picnic Point in NY.  We had checked into the US at Heart Island to see Boldt Castle and now had to remain in the US until we checked back into Canada.  The anchorage was exposed to the east but since the winds were from the west and stayed that way through the night we spent a peaceful evening on the hook.  Picnic Point was first established in 1902 as a place that the fishing guides could bring their clients and fry up some of their catch for lunch.  There is a gazebo there that replaced the original one and a grill that is to this day reserved for the guides and fishermen for this purpose between 12:00 and 3:00 daily.  Nice tradition.

Mal and Penny

Debbie, Mal, Penny and of course Abby too

We cruised over to Ivy Lea Resort to pick up Penny and Mal Hutchins who would join us for the day as we cruised up the Bateau Channel to Kingston.  Penny and Mal's son Ryan drove them over from Kingston and it was a pleasure to have them aboard.  Mal's eyes lite up when he saw the engine room and the diesels.  I wondered if he wanted to do some mechanical work?  We had a quick lunch underway and Mal seemed to enjoy his time aboard. When we arrived at Confederation Basin in Kingston we were assigned a nice T-head dock close to the shore and Penny and Mal took a Taxi back to their house and dropped Debbie off at the nearby hospital to have her wrist X-rayed.  It was wrapped in an Ace bandage and although she hadn't complained much overnight or during the day we figured it was the right thing to do.  I stayed behind and registered with the marina and hooked up the water and shore power.  Debbie texted me her progress and around 5:00 she texted me that yes it was broken and could I come over NOW!  I rode my bicycle over and there she was surrounded by four ladies taking excellent care of her.  A doctor, anesthesiologist, a nurse and a student nurse all very attentive and they did an excellent job of knocking her out and resetting her wrist.  The plaster was just drying as I saw her again and shortly after she was able to walk out of the hospital to a nearby restaurant the St George for a quick supper. They told her that she should wait 24 hours before having any alcohol so she complied begrudgingly.

The patient has escaped

Welcome to Kingston

 They had given her a pain block and some painkillers so she was pretty comfortable.  We retired back to the boat and she slept through most of the night having to get up to refresh the meds a few times.  The swelling is pretty bad and we have been practicing RICE to keep it under control.

Black Jack from Ottawa.  I have seen her before at the HYC many years ago

Another tall ship cruising the 1000 Islands 

Kingston to Endymion Island 7/11/17

We enjoyed ourselves at Endymion Island so much last week and there are mooring balls here too so we decided to come and spend some more time here.  Its a Parks Canada island and has mooring balls. Since we have a season mooring pass we can stay here prepaid.  The scenery is beautiful, Abby likes her walks on the island and Debbie can behave herself and not try and do too much so the wrist heals well.
We saw Echo Beach on the AIS and called Mike on the radio.  They were trying to anchor on the other side of Endymion but had no luck so they came over and tied to a mooring ball near us.  I gave them a hand getting their line through as they were having a hard time.  These are not the easiest mooring balls to use as there is no pendant attached.

We ended up with the mooring ball closest to shore and I took the boat pole and sounded in our swing radius.  The water is so clear it looks shallow but there was nothing under 8' feet in the swing radius even right up to shore.
Mike and Roberta from Echo Beach came over for cocktails and to catch up on the news since we last saw them in Brewerton.  Good to see them both. Another episode of Homeland and off to bed. Goodnight.

Taken about 6:00 AM the moon is still out and we are very close to shore.

You can almost touch the rocks

Close enough?  Still in 8 feet of water

Endymion Island to Boldt Castle and Picnic Point Anchorage - 7/9/17

We got up early and had steak and eggs for breakfast.  The plan was to get to Boldt castle before the crowds  and make sure we got a docking spot at the castle.  We were pulling in the bowline and discovered the line was all twisted and jammed around the mooring ball.  Moral of the story is keep your line short so it can't drop under the mooring ball and get all twisted around the ball.

Debbie tried first then I tried and was not getting anywhere when one of our neighbors at the anchorage offered to launch his dingy and give us a hand.  He worked hard to get it all untangled and I thanked him profusely.  Much Appreciated. 

We went back down the Canadian Middle Channel and cruised through some of the prettiest scenery in the 1000 Islands for the second time.  We crossed over to the American side and then docked at Boldt Castle to clear customs.  That was a breeze and then we moved the boat to another part of the dock after we cleared customs and had a quick lunch.  Debbie came out and down the steps to the cockpit where she fell and landed on her wrist.  We think its only sprained so she took a couple of Naproxin and I wrapped it in an Ace bandage and we put an ice pack on it. RICE  (rest, ice, compression and elevation).  It's Sunday so finding a clinic that was open with no car in Alex Bay was not going to be easy.  We will get it Xrayed tomorrow if its still swollen. She was still up for the Castle tour so off we went.

The last time I visited Boldt Castle was at least 25 years ago and the changes and renovations completed since then are amazing.  Beautiful work that would have rivaled the original craftsmen in 1903. There was a wedding on the island so we got to see all the usual wedding pomp and ceremony.  Hope they are a happy couple. We left around 4:00 and headed up towards Clayton and then towards Ivy Lea to anchor off of Picnic Point park in New York.  We will need to check back in with Canadian Customs in the morning at Ivy Lea where we will pick up Mal and Penny for a cruise from there to Kingston.  We are looking forward to seeing them both, or should I say I am and Debbie will be meeting more new people.  So far she seems to enjoy everyone she has met.  Lucky me.

The bowline wrapped itself all around the mooring ball and luckily a boater on the next mooring ball came to our rescue.  Thank-you, I couldn't have done it with out you.

The Power House at Boldt Castle

Now that's a tiny Island

The Playhouse at Boldt Castle including a bowling alley in the basement

Fountains and gardens

Gardens and the Powerhouse

More Fountains

Debbie at the castle

Debbie being a good sport with a sprained wrist and lots of painkillers

 

Drift Away from the castle

Still smiling

Drugs are still working

Alexandria Bay from the castle

Now thats a dining room

Beautiful stained glass skylight 100 feet up

Boldt Castle coming into sight

Endymion Island Day 2 - 7/8/17

Endymion Island was so relaxing we stayed another day.  We caught up with the blog, did some chores, swam and I cleaned the boot stripe around the hull and took Abby for her walks and combined that with a cocktail cruise around the islands nearby.  Debbie did a few cleaning chores and made bread pudding for our dessert. This  is a popular anchorage and there are Parks mooring balls so you don't need to deploy your own anchor.  The anchorage filled up yesterday afternoon and then for whatever reason a few boats left after dinner.  Really is my generator that loud??  I don't think it was that as we only ran it to make dinner.  The water is a little cool for swimming as all of Lake Ontario is but its fine and you don't get cold by staying in for a long time. It is so clear that you can see the bottom, whats on it and whether its rock, sand or weeds.  The high water this year has opened up a lot of new places to explore that most years would be shallow. The Parks dock was closed and I guess they are not collecting fees.  Didn't matter to us as we had purchased a season mooring pass that includes all of these moorings and Park docks. Many other docks in the 1000 islands are also closed due to the high water, and I would guess the boat traffic is down because of it.  It rained for an hour in the afternoon and it poured overnight.  When does summer start here!!!

Endymion Island mooring field

Parks dock with concrete blocks to hold down the wood dock over a crib so it doesn't float away

Beautiful moon last night and just as clear this morning at 5:30 AM

The moon this morning

Debbie's bread pudding. Yum!