Today was a long day, but a good day. We shared the first locking down with another Mainship, a Pilot 34 named MiAmi, out of Manotick. We cleared the La Salle Causeway Bascule Lift Bridge at the 1300 opening, and headed west across the Kingston waterfront.
Our locking companions headed into the Confederation Basin marina, but we continued on west, with our destination being the Marine Outfitters dock. We had called them on the phone just after clearing Kingston Mills lock to confirm their dock was big enough for us, and they assured us it was.
The gap in Kingston was a little rough, with strong westerly winds and waves of roughly 2ish feet, but it was probably a lot worse yesterday. Once we cleared the gap and made the turn into Collins Bay the wind and the waves eased up.
After a bit of searching we managed to find the Marine Outfitters dock, and got tied up. They were right, it was big enough for our boat, but just barely. We headed up and picked up some parts and supplies I needed, and then took a walk down Bath Road to the No Frills to pick up a few groceries.
What a great idea for a marine supplies store to have a dock like that. This will make it so much easier for whatever parts and supplies I need. Of course, the downside is that it will make it so much easier to spend money on whatever parts and supplies I need. :-)
After leaving the Marine Outfitters dock we headed over to the Collins Bay Marina fuel dock to fill up our water tank and say hi to a couple of the staff that were there two years ago when we had the boat there. We confirmed that they had diesel fuel, and also discussed day dock usage if we were in the area and needed to do some shopping. This will probably be where we leave the boat when we head back for our daughter's wedding in October.
It was getting on in the day by the time we left Collins Bay Marina, so it was time to start thinking about where we were going to anchor for the night. I had wanted to go to Kerr Bay on Amherst Island, but unfortunately the marine forecast called for the winds to shift to the northeast overnight, and that anchorage is not suitable for northeast winds. We decided to check out an anchorage in Parrot's Bay. It hadn't received glowing reviews in Active Captain, but it was nearby and we had already had a fairly long day.
When we got into the bay we found a large ketch had already anchored about halfway in, so we proceeded past them and went further in to get into a little shallower water. We finally selected a spot that was about 20 feet deep, and dropped the hook. After making sure the anchor was set we tidied up the boat, had supper and then cooled off with a nice refreshing swim.
Here's a series of panoramic photos, showing the anchorage. Two other sailboats showed up after us, rafted up and anchored near the ketch.
I tried a couple experimental photos after dark and they turned out nice. This new camera does quite well with low light photos for a point and shoot.
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| The land neighbors |
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| The water neighbors |
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