Today started literally at the crack of dawn...
Today was departure from Kingston to continue the mighty passage to Halifax.
Even at this late date there was prepping to be done. There were two 20 liter diesel canisters to be filled and the two 20 liter of extra drinking water to be filled. The sails needed to be laid out to make the process easier for when Pierre arrived, which was to be about 11:00.
Things had to be stowed securely so that once heeling in a breeze things were not prone to fly.
Pierre texted that he had to wait for the propane station at Canadian Tire to open at 11:00 so expected to be running a little late. It was early afternoon when we had the sails set and nothing holding us back. Off we sprang, saying goodbye to Collin's Bay Marina. Although a lovely marina it was somewhere which life threw at me; not by choice.
A little less than an hour later we were at the Kingston Marina, where James has been staying this last while. We docked at the end of his docks and went ashore to help if we could with his final preparations.
James' friend, Dewald, was there. He seemed a nice guy. Originally a South African though it has been some time since leaving there. James had to deflate and pack his dinghy. He needed to affix the outboard engine to his boat and it just so happened that a block needed to mount an engine on the back railing was among my old parts and supplies. Had it installed and the outboard mounted in about 40 minutes as we needed to fashion a liner to fix the block firmly.
There were some other items like filling his water tank, which we were not opposed to as our water situation is a bit more on rations at the moment. New readers can find the tale of the stagnant water tank in past posting.
It was close to around 16:00 - 17:00 when we finally said goodbye to Kingston. It is a nice city all and all with its university atmosphere and friendly downtown, but it made me glad to say goodbye. The adventure continues!
In true convoy spirit we started down the St. Lawrence River through the beginnings of what is called, the Thousand Islands.
There was a nice wind of about 18km/hr at times.. It may have been a bit too much for James and Dewald. However they did push through a couple of non-controlled jibes none the worse for it. So at the end of the day they were more confident sailors now alerted to the dangers of not watching your course when running downwind.
The Admiral, my new pet name for Pierre, thought it wise to bring the convoy to anchorage before sunset. Consulting the charts there appeared to be a nice sheltered bay only a couple of clicks away. We signalled the convoy... ok we gave them a call on their cells, and headed to the anchorage as the sun sank below the horizon.
Sailing takes you to a special kind of mind space of its own. Perhaps its the motion of the water, the quiet of the wind... who knows. Perhaps some answers will present themselves in this adventure.
Glad to have you along in the virtual crew!
May the wind be at your back!
A chronological listing of my sailing posts:
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