We had a nice sleep in one of 4 slips of a private Inn in Picton. The morning was very active. We had to bring down a line that was caught high in the mast. We did this by taping two boat hooks together with Gorilla Tape and stepping on the mast winches. We then folded and bagged the jib winch had received some seam damage as a consequence. More work for my new friend to be; the Sail Maker in Kingston.
We had a yummy breakfast cooked by Lori which you would swear was scrambled eggs yet in fact was tofu. After the breakfast was cleared away from the picnic table we spread out the charts of today's sail and went over some basic navigation and other details of reading a chart.
Had a nice shower and by noon we were pulling out.
We did most of it motor sailing so as to be sure to get Jason and Lori to Kingston at least by the end of the day so they could return home to pick up their kennelled dog.
The wind and course afforded us nice long tacks. It has really surprised me how much connected fresh water there is in Ontario. Nova Scotia has lots of lakes but you would not be moving a vessel like Makina between them all. Even cutting through a channeled coast there seemed to be plenty of open water.
During one such long tack the Ghostly Helmsman took his second watch while we had a lovely vegan afternoon picnic.
In the heat of the afternoon we anchored and had a wonderfully refreshing swim. Forgot to get pics. This was only a few miles away from Kingston. We called a marina that had a slip open and by paying with credit card they would save it for us even though the office staff would be gone before we arrived. And so after the swim we pushed on.
Once we were docked Lori started in on a late supper. We had just about come to the end of the meal when who should arrived but Pierre and James, a friend of his. It was a nice meet. Pierre seems like a nice guy and a competent sailor. He is planning to drop back on Monday so we can do some sailing by moving Makina to his recommended marina more in downtown Kingston and close to shopping.
They headed back to James' boat at about 22:30.
Jason went over a number questions that one might expect on the examp for Keelboat Sailing which is basically what we have been covering in his instructions. It has gone a lot further than standard as well. He sort of tailored his teachings to less about sailing techniques which are not new to me but more practical things that may be useful on the passage like repairing things, engine maintenance and such.
It will be sad to see them go tomorrow. My guess is that being a floating nomad one will be saying goodbye to many such comrades along the way; yet that could be said for most nomads it seems.
Tomorrow will remove me from the shelter of Jason as my security blanket. Hopefully the things that need attention can be dealt with in short order so as to continue. Both Pierre and myself were both somewhat surprised how great a distance the passage will be. Pierre hopes to be able to make it in 2 weeks. My criteria was that we shall stop and wait out bad weather. Otherwise with a third crew member we could do some overnight sailing as well.
Anxious to see what Kingston holds. Ready for rest as these last few days warrant a nice rest up for at least tomorrow to regroup.
May the wind be at your back!
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