Saturday June 11: Trenton, Ontario!!

We left Pirate's Cove yesterday (doesn't seem possible even as I type this!) at 8 am thinking that our destination was 30 miles including 7 locks.

Then on Saturday, cross the 48 miles across Lake Ontario to an anchorage.

Plan B: weather was changing and our window of weather on Saturday was disappearing - chance of thundershowers, winds from the south with waves building to over 3 feet.

So we traveled the 30 miles to Oswego - arriving at 2 pm. Okay - should we just keep on going? Some quick calculations said, "Go".

By 9 pm we were across and nicely anchored in a cove inside the protected area of Prince Edward Island. And still a bit of sunshine!!

I wouldn't describe it as fun - west winds producing waves that hit us almost broadside - not quite broadside, just uncomfortable but certainly doable. Most waves less than 2 feet and the occasional rogue!

But back to Pirate's Cove. We stayed there 4 nights as there were projects that we'd been wanting to get done and we really like the people that run this marina. A great place to relax for a few days! We rented a car to make things easier as well.

Primary project? Install an RV air conditioner in the main cabin. Steve found the Attwood 13,500 btu would run off of our little 2000 kw Honda generator. Since we had removed the giant 7.5 kw Onan generator from the engine area we were able to run the larger air conditioner on the boat only if we had shore power. Which is rare up here on the Trent (we like tying to the lock walls as opposed to going to marinas).

Step 1: mark and cut a hole in the ceiling. We once again were mentally taking advice from Safety Matt: measure twice, cut once :-)  Good thing too since we goofed on the first take! Good thing we have paint to cover the oops purple lines ...

Hole in the lower ceiling cut. Now to the roof.

Two layers: fiberglassed 1/4 inch plywood and the original cored deck of balsa wood.

We were quite pleased with the condition of the core in the flybridge as we redid this 10 years ago when we first bought the boat. It's nice to see a repair really hold up the way it should!!

And we have a place for the air conditioner!!

Meanwhile I was working on painting the wallpaper to help inhibit the growth of mildew when we leave the boat.

It's weird. The mildew will grow on the wallpaper but not if it's painted! Let's hear it for the color matching at Home Depot :-)

Somehow it always takes longer than it should to install something. The second attempt added about an hour to the project! Finally though it was in and works perfectly on the Honda.

So much quieter than the built in air conditioners ...

We waved so long to Jim and Linda on Thursday early afternoon.

They were headed for Oswego to spend the night and then cross Lake Ontario when the weather was good. We were still thinking Saturday.

But then the weather said otherwise. So Steve turned the car in Friday morning and we were off shortly after 8:30.  We came to another turn you definitely do not want to miss!

Looking out of the opening of the cove where we anchored last night.

And so we crossed the lake, woke to rain this morning but no wind.

What a peaceful night after a long 78 mile day.

So glad to be across as now we are again in really small lake and canal areas.

Not nearly as concerned about the weather - except it could be a tad warmer. Getting tired of jeans, fleece and jacket!




Travel to Trenton (50 miles) was so calm it was crazy. What a contrast to yesterday!


And by the time we arrived at the Trenton Marina, the sun and blue skies greeted us!

Turned out to be a really nice day. Lake Ontario was maybe nice enough to cross today - who knows? But with thundershowers predicted - no thanks.

One last tidbit from Steve: if you have a flashlight that requires size D batteries but you don't have any?

No problem! Just use those size C batteries and add a stack of quarters to make up the size difference and viola! Light works :-)

Sometimes he's just too smart ......