Picton, Ontario

On Friday, July 27 we cruised through the western end of the 1000 Islands completing our sojourn through this special part of the world.  We left our dock at the 1000 Island Playhouse in Gananoque at 7 a.m. on a beautiful, partly sunny day.  There were white caps on the water but it was not a rough ride. 

After cruising past Kingston we re-entered the big waters of Lake Ontario briefly before entering the protected Bay of  Quinte.

We had a long day of cruising and though it was sunny, it was so windy that we had to alternatively put on and take off our windbreakers.  Fortunately, the water just had a slight chop because we were mainly in protected passageways.  We settled into our long day cruising routine listening to the radio with Jonny at the helm and Lynn knitting and working on her new needlepoint project. Georgio continued roaming around the boat making himself comfortable wherever he landed.

After reading some good food reviews in Picton we decided to stop there for the night. It looked like a cool town up a little branch off of the bay.  We tried to reserve a slip at one of the marinas (or at least a mooring ball) but none were available.  So we cruised a bit further out from the harbor and found a good place to anchor close enough to dinghy into town. 

We dinghied about a mile to get to town but there was no town dock to tie up to.  We had to call a couple  hotels and marinas before we found somewhere that would let us tie up!  Once we secured our dinghy, we walked up the hill to this good-sized little town.  Strolling the streets we found nice, up-to-date shops and a vibrant center.

We found the Acoustic Cafe’ which had won a number of local awards for the quality of its food and beer. Even as early as 6 p.m., it was full but we were able to score a table in the bar until 7 when it was reserved and also when the live music was to begin.  We ordered beers and sandwiches and settled in to await the live music.  Then our server informed us that the reservation for our table was cancelled so we were free to stay and enjoy the performer which we did.

By 8 p.m. we dinghied back to Zendo.  The outboard which was just overhauled was running sluggishly so we will have to have that looked at.  The next day we would leave for Trenton, Ontario, the official start of the next phase of our journey on the Trent-Severn Waterway.