Confederation Basin, Kingston, ON

Saturday July 27
34 13.667 N
76 28.867 W

Somewhat complicated day but with a great conclusion.

Our run from Bath to Kingston was only about a dozen miles so we enjoyed a relaxing morning and headed out at about 10 AM with "sunny skies and fair winds" but not such a good forecast. All went well till the Port engine overheated.

Bad impellor

I shut it down and Deidre piloted on one engine (Tide Hiker runs at about 5.5 knots and is OK to steer on one engine) I visited the ER and checked the strainers. All was well there so the next alternative was to open the raw water pump and check the impeller. Sure enough one of the fins on the impeller had disappeared, and the impeller needed to be replaced. This was my first time (I had watched it done before) so I was a bit nervous (plus it was hot and a bit dark in the ER as one of the lights is out). The replacement went OK except that the old impeller was very reluctant to come out. The "broken bits" were nowhere to be found so I put it back together knowing that the missing pieces may interfere with the cooling. But the engine started OK and the temp held.

Docking arrangements in Kingston were a bit of a mystery. So far our impression is that the Canadians are not very "customer service oriented", and so we were relying on bits and pieces of information from friends and incomplete boating guides. There was a free bulkhead wall somewhere, and that was our target. But we needed back-up alternatives and had a couple of potential anchorages in mind. The complication was that there was weather arriving late Saturday and we needed to be organized. After a couple of misfires we found the wall and we are settled in. It's right in the center of the city and well protected, although it is hard for Deidre to get on and off the boat. Seaplanes landed in the harbor and shared slips with pleasure boats!

We headed into town for the afternoon. Kingston is really a delightful place, (on a sunny and warm afternoon.).We wandered around town for a few hours, and visited a boating store for charts and guides and three phone stores without success. I really cannot believe the answers I am getting at the phone stores so I will continue the search Sunday. (Sunday they were closed! Welcome to Canada.)

At the tourist office Deidre discovered that the annual military tattoo was to be held at the old fort (Fort Henry) that night. This is on her "bucket list" so we bought tickets and caught a cab and we were an hour early. The cool front arrived as we waited, and the rain started. Five minutes before show time it stopped. and the performance was just fantastic. I have lots of video and photos and when I get some decent access I will load them. It started to rain again on the way home and did not stop all night.

It just amazes me how emotionally connected to the old country these Canadians seem to be. There are Union Jacks flying all over town. (They also seen to believe they won the war of 1812!)

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Rained all night. We both slept well with a blanket. Lazy morning, a neighbor popped in for a chat (She is headed to Adelaide for a conference.) The rain came and went. We headed into town to the phone store (closed) and the marine store, where I bought charts that were just as expensive today as they were yesterday, when I refused to spend the money!

Here is one video (unfortunately the videos do not show up on iPads, I do not know why:

Monday July 28, 2013

Our last day here.

I now only had one spare impeller and felt the need for more. The only local place that had one (“Just one?) in stock was West Marine, a good 5 mile round trip. So I set off on one of the bikes and made it to and from in an hour or so. I picked up a couple of other items, including the 6 sausage rolls we had ordered on Saturday! Lunch!

We walked over to a local supermarket and restocked the larder a little. Deidre was not impressed with the selection. There was a liquor store right next door so I bought a couple bottled of wine and a bottle of tequila. Expensive, plus 13% sales tax!

Great spot - 4 days, no charge