We crossed Lake Ontario in reasonably calm conditions for the first 2 hours and then at 11am. when the locals said that it usually flattens right out, we got a blustery westerly on the beam for the last hour or so & things that have always sat still before went flying as we rolled up & down in the swells. It finally abated as we arrived in Picton harbour where we were told initially that we could tie up on a slip & Ted & Sue (our new boat buddies) could take a mooring - but no we were too big we could take a mooring as well. That's OK - done that before. However the first one I couldn't lift because the warp was all wrapped around the mooring chain, the second one was so short I struggled to get it on board but finally did after fearing I would go over with the boat hook. (I was lying flat on the deck to hold on). Colin had a look at the bit of rope/string and decided it wouldn't hold us. Meanwhile Ted & Sue had hooked up & suggested we raft next to them but as we started to do so we had a call from the docks to say no the mooring wouldn't hold us both. A club member came out to help us tie up with our own rope to the large eye in the mooring ball as the next best solution but we had another call to say no the mooring ring wouldn't hold us. So we gave up & decided to anchor. Ted & Sue had also been told that the owner didn't want them on the mooring either so they joined us in a lovely quiet anchorage away from the town which we never got to visit. As we headed away we received a call on the VHF that they had found some other free moorings that we could use - but Ted told them no (not in quite those words). Also the club member who had tried to help us motored out in his dinghy to apologise for the debacle & to check if we were OK - he said he would have a few words to the Yacht clubs management about the moorings.
We both made the necessary calls via phone from the boat over docktails and cleared Canadian customs.
We had a drenching storm hit us about midday the next day as we travelled to Trenton. We anchored in a calm bay and waited until we could see, the rain lifted & we headed for Trenton. There was a speed boat racing event (around the bays type affair) so they were either roaring towards us or up behind us & as we turned left into the marina some even raced across in front of us.
The Port Trent Marina is an amalgamation of 3 old marinas & is now run by the municipal body. The up grade is very up market & all the young summer holiday students are running it efficiently - clean & sparkly. There are new docks, 10 ensuite bathrooms, free laundry, TV room & a large room for meetings,
We biked to a car show at the local community park & saw classics & rods. We also tried to get another hot spot device to give us more convenient use of the internet while in Canada but we need a 2 year plan or an iPhone. So we will just use the free wifi as we find it. So we may be out of touch for a few days but will keep the blog up to date.
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