Monday June 25th.

Went for a bike ride which ended with some drizzle.  We didn’t get too wet though and when we got back we had a look at our mosquito panels with their new zips.  The boat was still too wet to continue the project but the zips looked very nice - (Plug for Larry Bronson – Top of the Line Canvas, 607 849 6006).  We filled up with water, gas and propane since we were planning on being in Canada the next few days and would rather not buy gas there!  Had a pleasant sail to Ivy Lea, 44° 21.52N 76° 00.99W and managed to avoid the rain, although it was a lot cooler than it has been.  We docked at Williams Marine.  An odd harbor!  There are 3 “marinas” here.  2 of them share the same main dock, and each has finger pontoons on their respective sides.  The other “marina” has its own main dock, parallel to the 1^st.  There doesn’t seem to be enough business to support 3 operations, but I suppose it must be working.  The rain started again shortly after we docked and continues as we write this @ 9:30pm.  Went for a walk on Ivy Lea Road after eating dinner on the boat.  Saw 3 fox, floating cottages, and many lovely homes and gardens.  It’s a very pretty area.

Ship’s log: 1709.5 Today's log: 7.5nm, Season total: 74.0nm

Sunday June 24th.

We lucked out today.  A mobile workshop containing a couple doing canvas work on a nearby boat was parked right next to our boat.  We got chatting and Larry gave us a few tips on our mosquito netting project.  We really wanted zips to connect the panels but figured that this was beyond our pay grade.  So we asked Larry, and he took our panels and put zips on them.  Nice!  It started raining when he took the panels so we halted our project for the day and moved on to putting a zipper in the sail bag we made for the screecher.  Another job ticked off the list!

Ship’s log: 1702.0 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 66.5nm

Saturday June 23rd.

We all went out for breakfast in Bonnie Castle yacht basin’s newly renovated restaurant and were impressed with the views.  Bonnie Castle had apparently been run down over the past few years but has recently been bought and the new owners are spending $$$ to renovate the resort.  Looks like it might become the kind of a nice resort that the scenery warrants.  Brenda and Vin departed after breakfast and we started work on mosquito netting for our cockpit.  So far the project is going well.  Hopefully we’ll finish tomorrow…

Ship’s log: 1702.0 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 66.5nm

Friday June 22nd.

We sailed to Wellesley Island where we docked at the Wellesley Island State Park marina - 44° 19.98N 76° 01.78W.  We unloaded and unpacked 4 folding bikes and went for a tour of the island where we found some beautiful, quaint houses.  We returned to the boat and headed back to Alexandria Bay, and our screecher proved its worth once again.  On the way we noticed several huge osprey nests in all sorts of weird places.  

Ship’s log: 1702.0 Today's log: 7.5nm, Season total: 66.5nm

Thursday June 21st.

Another great screecher day. We had light winds behind us as we sailed to Alexandria Bay, 44° 20.60N 75° 54.72W, to clear US customs.  We were drifting along at about 1 knot early in the day with 1 knot of current underneath us, so we were making 2 knots over the ground.  No problem – the scenery was beautiful and we were in no hurry.  Without the screecher though, we would probably have been motoring, so we were glad to have it.  Spent the afternoon in the myriad of stores in Alex Bay. 

Ship’s log: 1694.5 Today's log: 9.6nm, Season total: 59.0nm

Wednesday June 20th.

Started the morning with a bike ride then visited a wonderful bakery where we bought some breakfast supplies and bread for this evening.  Explored Kingston a little then set off about 2pm for Gananoque 44° 19’.42N 76° 09’.88W.  We had a light wind behind us so we hoisted our new screecher, (large downwind sail), and had a very pleasant sail to Gananoque.   At about 2:30 we saw a catamaran off our port bow.  The binoculars came out and we were amazed to see that it was another Tomcat 9.7 – (as far as we know, and excluding any parallel universes, there are only 18 in existence at the moment).  They also spotted us, so we both altered course and we made acquaintance of “Tango” – Ted and Kerry - hull #1 no less!  We chatted briefly and then continued on our respective ways.  We reached Gananoque at about 6pm, tied up and explored by bike.  A very attractive little town. 

Ship’s log: 1684.9 Today's log: 14.8nm, Season total: 49.4nm

Tuesday June 19th.

So far this trip we have a tradition of going for an invigorating morning bike ride, which we continued today.  Clayton has a beautiful antique boat museum which we explored in the morning.  We could have spent the whole day there but only managed a couple of hours before setting sail for Kingston, ON, 44° 13’.70N 76° 28’.72W.  There were several steam launches in operation.  We set off with strong headwinds and a foul current, but after passing through Wolfe Cut we were able to hoist sails and had a wonderful sail to Kingston.  We cleared customs, broke out the champagne and smoked salmon.  (Well we had to drink it sometime, so entering Canada seemed as good a time as any…).  We dined at the Kingston Brewing Company and some of us partook of some truly excellent beer. 

Ship’s log: 1670.1 Today's log: 21.5nm, Season total: 34.6nm

Monday June 18th.

Our first real trip of the season.  We headed for Heart Island  44°20’.68N 75°55’.44W, which is all of ½ nm away.  Boldt Castle was built here at the turn of the last century.  Actually it was never competed because it was intended as a gift for Mrs. Boldt but she died unexpectantly before it was completed .  Mr. Boldt was so distraught, he stopped construction and allegedly never set foot on the island again.  It’s now in the process of being restored and we were able to visit floors 1 and 2 which have been restored and the other floors which haven’t yet.  An amazing place, considering it was built by a private individual at a cost of $2,500,000 in 1904!  Brenda took a brochure to influence her son to have his wedding there.   We continued on to the town of Clayton,  44° 14’.20N 76° 05’.45W, where we spent the night on the municipal dock.  Ron and Vin were instructed to finish the Margarita mix.  Hic …   

Ship’s log: 1648.6 Today's log: 13.1nm, Season total: 13.1nm

Sunday June 17th.

Spent most of the day doing last minute jobs including dressing the ship overall in anticipation of our first guests arrival.   Teresa washed the clothes and Ron washed the boat.  Brenda and Vin arrived about 5pm (after 5 different ETA’s during the day).  So we broke out the Margaritas and entered vacation mode…  (hic)… 

Ship’s Log: 1635.5nm, Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 0.0nm.

Monday June 11th – Saturday June 16th.

Returned to the boat on Monday afternoon.  The boat was on the travel- lift, ready for launch tomorrow.  We finalized the rudder repair and antifouled the hull where she had been on blocks.  Tuesday dawned with rain on the forecast, and the forecast proved accurate.  She was launched in the rain and we spent the rest of the day doing inside jobs (still plenty to do).  Wednesday through Saturday were spent doing a multitude of jobs.  This included diving for parts that went “bloop” and doing the bi-annual mast climb.  

Wednesday/Thursday May 23rd/24th 2012.

First trip to the boat this year.  She looks pretty grubby on the outside, but inside she was in great shape.  We scatter boxes of baking soda, clothes dryer sheets and bowls of vinegar around the boat during the winter and this seems to help keep the boat dry and bug free.  Arrived late on Wednesday so we just made our bed, went out for dinner and went to bed. 

We spent the next day washing, and polishing and painting antifoul and she started to look a lot better. 

On Friday Teresa organized the inside, trying to remember where everything should be stowed and Ron made a repair to one of the rudders and test started the engines.  We left late Friday, satisfied that she was ready for launch.     

Ship’s Log: 1635.5nm, Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 0.0nm.