TomCat Tales

On the hook

2011-10-07T11:13:00.011-04:00

A cormorant gives At Last! the once-over. Click on any image for a larger view.

As much as I like leaving miles in my wake and arriving in a new destination, going nowhere in an anchorage suits me fine, too.

At Last! is anchored in 20 feet in a lagoon on the Leslie Street Spit within sight of downtown Toronto. Although the skyline is visible, all is quiet in the anchorage as the sun begins to set.

Two muskrats, looking fat and ready for winter, cruise by. A lone cormorant, from the colony that calls the place home, comes by for a look-see. Four men sweep into the lagoon for a rest before continuing on with their at-dusk workout in a coxed four. Through the trees, I can see a large ocean-going ship, all lights lit, entering Toronto Harbour from who knows where.

I sit still and watch the reds and purples in the sky turn deeper and darker. I sip a Kilikanoon Shiraz, content to wait until the scene disappears in darkness before I turn on the cabin lights and start supper.

Sausage three ways is on the menu: Mediterranean, Sweet Tuscan and English Banger.

In the morning, I’m reminded that might makes right. A rude tugboat captain forces me to raise anchor and move 50 yards so he can have easy access to another lagoon where some sort of construction is taking place.
Muskrats on a cruise.
Rowers working out at dusk.
So close yet so far.
Tug William Rest.

Golden Horseshoe 2010 by the numbers

2010-09-19T18:04:00.014-04:00

The last two days of the cruise we spend at anchor in the lagoon at Aquatic Park Sailing Club on Toronto's Leslie Street Spit, a terrific anchorage only one hour (at 18 knots) from Frenchman's Bay. Click on any image in the blog for a larger view.

Back at the Fairport Yacht Club dock in Frenchman's Bay, we sum up the cruise in numbers of note:

Length of cruise - 15 days 14 nights
Distance - 131.34 nautical miles
Shortest day - 0.3 nautical miles
Longest day - 28.6 nautical miles
Engine hours - 16 to 17 hours, including charging time
Average speed - 8.8 knots
Cruising speed - 18.0 knots

Number of ports of call - 8, as follows:
Anchorages - 1 (free)
Mooring wall - 1 (free, should have been 50 cents per foot)
Yacht clubs - 6
- Island Yacht Club: first night free, additional night at $1.50 per foot
- Harbour City Yacht Club: first night free, additional night at $1.50 per foot, ice cubes $2.50
- Queen City Yacht Club: given first night free (Fairport Yacht Club not listed with reciprocal privileges)
- Dalhousie Yacht Club: first night free, additional night at 50 cents per foot, ice cubes $2.50, pump-out $20.00
- Fifty Point Yacht Club: first night free, additional night at $1.57 per foot, ice cubes $2.80, blocks $4.00
- Port Credit Yacht Club: two free nights, ice cubes or blocks $2.00

Average daily cost - $46.70 per day including fuel (!)

Bacardi Rum Mojitos - 1 bottle
Bacardi Orange Breezers - 3 mini-bottles
Red Wine - 7 litres
Beer - 4.5 litres
V8 juice - 24 cans
Fruit punch - 12 TetraPaks
Water - 18 litres plus 20 500-ml bottles

Steaks - 4
Sausages - 10
Hamsteak - 1
Salmon cakes - 4
Salmon fillets - 4
Couscous - 2
Whole wheat linguine - 1

Eggs - 2-1/2 dozen
Bacon - 6 slices

Cheese - 5 (St. Albert, Bright, Danish Blue, Vermont Ayr & Thornloe Casey)
Pork liver pate - 1
Chorizo Iberico sausage - 1
Baba ghanouj - 1 tub
Peanut butter - just a bit of one jar
Sour cream - 1 tub
Smoked oysters - 3 cans
Potato chips - 2 bags
Multi-grain crackers - 1/2 box
Granola bars - 6
Trail mix - 1 bag

Bread - 2 loaves light rye
Butter - 1 pound
Breakfast cereals - 1 box Kashi Crunch

Memories - more than we can say.

Click here to visit the recap of a 2008 Golden Horseshoe Cruise when the ports of call were almost entirely different. See the links at the lower right of the blog under the heading Golden Horseshoe 2008.

Incidentally, the photo of At Last! that adorns our TomCat Tales banner at the top of the blog was shot by the Admiral from Carousel Cafe at Centreville Amusement Park in the Toronto Islands.

It's hard to believe that in late September, on the final morning of our cruise, we are able to enjoy French toast with a side of pork sausage sitting in the cockpit of At Last! wearing only shorts and T-shirts.

From bikini babes to great grilled cheese

2010-09-18T20:57:00.018-04:00

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit North it was not but a pleasant diversion nevertheless. Click on this or any image in the blog for a larger view.

Saturday September 18 1000 hours
Aquatic Park

We wake up to another sunny day in paradise.

It’s so quiet and peaceful here. While enjoying our leisurely breakfast of eggs with bacon, home-fried potatoes and rye toast, we decide to stay in the anchorage for our last night. The original plan was a possible return to the public mooring wall on Centre Island.

But wait! Who’s that coming into the basin? We watch a sailboat about 50 feet enter the basin and drop anchor nearby. There are several people aboard. We are thinking, there goes our peace and quiet. But, lo, out comes a slender young woman in a bikini. It’s a photo shoot! In fact, there are several young women in swimsuits aboard. The Captain rushes out to the cockpit with his binoculars and camera. Not the type of view you would normally expect in an anchorage.

A short while later, the Captain’s heart rate rises again when a highly modified Tomcat 6.2 named “Basket Case” sails out of the club moorings. The TomCat 6.2 is a sailing cat unrelated to our Tomcat.

It's a highly modified TomCat 6.2 sailing catamaran but unrelated, except by name, to our own TomCat 24.
Catamaran means At Last! has two hulls and a stable stance on the water, the result of boat design that harkens back thousands of years to Polynesians in the South Pacific.

We enjoy grilled cheese two ways: St. Albert Extra Old cheddar (above) and St. Albert Extra Old with Rosenborg Danish blue (below).

With all this action, we have a late lunch of grilled-cheese sandwiches two ways. One with St. Albert Extra Old cheddar and the second, a combination of the St. Albert and Rosenborg Danish blue cheese. The latter, the spunkier of the two, is our favourite.

Time for the Captain to nap and then kayak around the basin.

The Captain takes Finally!, the Puffin Saco 12, for a paddle around Aquatic Park.

Dinner tonight is grilled pork sausages, peaches and cream corn, garlicky sauteed mushrooms and grilled orange peppers.

As the lights of Toronto start twinkling in the distance, we savour Lindt dark chocolate with hazelnuts.

On the hook in Aquatic Park

2010-09-18T17:34:00.018-04:00

Soon after arriving in Aquatic Park, where about 100 boats are moored, the Captain enjoys an afternoon Newcastle Brown Ale while awaiting his grilled-Limburger sannich. Click on any image in the blog for a larger view.

Friday September 17 1400 hours
Aquatic Park

The skies are bright blue this morning, a welcome sight after rainy yesterday.
A clear blue sky is all we see above the impressive clubhouse at Port Credit Yacht Club.

Our plan is to head towards the Toronto Islands for the last two nights of our cruise.

Captain takes one last bike ride on the trails around PCYC, and to pick up water, fresh bread and a cappuccino mix. Meanwhile, Admiral gets the boat ready for departure.

It’s a smooth ride to the Islands. We decide to anchor out in the basin southwest of the Aquatic Park Sailing Club, which is on the north shore of the Leslie Street Spit bordering Tommy Thomson Park. Facilities are minimal and access to the essentials is difficult, but the basin is a quiet spot to spend a night.

In one direction, we have panoramic view of the Toronto skyline. In the other is the mooring field of the sailing club. Off the bow, a cove full of birds. Behind us if a fishery pond of some sort and the Leslie Street Spit, popular with birders, bikers and runners.
The Admiral has outdone herself with Limburger grilled-cheese sandwiches that we devour in quick time.

We arrive in time for lunch of a buttery grilled-cheese sandwich, made with the last of the Limburger cheese along with thinly sliced English cucumbers. If that wasn’t enough, we also have a sliver or two of garlic pork liver pate on the remaining toasts.

We enjoy the 360-degree view from our cockpit. All is quiet and still in the basin. The only noises are the sounds of the different birds in the trees. Great place for bird-watching but we forgot our bird book.

For dinner, the Admiral makes home-made wild sockeye salmon cakes with lemon and green onion faux aioli with a green salad.
The Admiral's own salmon cakes are a superb way to close a super day on At Last!

Hunkered down and loving it on a rainy day

2010-09-17T09:31:00.005-04:00

Thursday September 16 1100 hours
Port Credit Yacht Club

We wake to our first rainy day of the cruise. The skies are dark, it's pouring and we are hunkered down aboard At Last!

This type of day calls for comfort food. Brunch is hot corned beef hash and diced potatoes topped with gooey eggs and sliced tomatoes on the side.

Good day to be curled up in bed to catch up on reading and to listen to the pitter-patter of the rain on the pilothouse roof. As we’re connected to electricity at the dock, we’re able to run our small ceramic heater which keeps the humidity down and the cozy factor high.

We wait for a break in the weather to bike around the Lakefront Promenade trail. PCYC is a great stop to walk or bike the trails.

A Rabba supermarket is about a 10-minute bike ride. We pick up buttered croissants to have with our thinly sliced San Marino prosciutto.

After several hours at the MacBook Pro, we are finally current with the blog and emails to friends and family.

Dinner is a simple Saskatchewan smoked-ham steak, see-it-again couscous with diced tomatoes and green onions.

For dessert, the Captain has picked up two small Ste Julie sucre a la creme (cream fudge).

The rain has stopped, skies are clearing and tomorrow promises to be another gorgeous day in September.

Much ado about nothing at PCYC

2010-09-16T18:29:00.010-04:00

Port Credit Yacht Club is an impressive, visitor-friendly facility just west of Toronto. At Last! is docked in the center left of the photo. Always click on images in our blog for a larger view.

Wednesday September 15 1400 hours
Port Credit Yacht Club

We clear Fifty Point Harbour at 1230 to begin the return leg of the Golden Horseshoe Cruise 2010.

It’s a bumpy ride at the start and the Admiral makes an executive decision to head straight to Port Credit. The original plan was to check out Burlington Bay and the yacht clubs there.

As soon as the Admiral makes the decision and the Captain turns the boat north, the seas calm down and it’s a smooth ride all the way to Port Credit Yacht Club.

The Admiral checks in with the Dockmaster and is elated that we are given two free nights. We are staying in Slip #C5.

Mid-afternoon snack is the chorizo Iberico and smelly Limburger cheese on multi-seed crackers from Costco. We are sitting in the cockpit and enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Dinner is a whole-wheat linguine with basil pesto and buttery garlic toast.

Sounds as if we didn’t do much today. Which is exactly what we did. Not much.

The Captain does a double take upon entering Port Credit Yacht Club. There's the Latvian flag flying from Paradize, which is Paradise in Latvian, his mother tongue.

Dreaded laundry and other cruising delights

2010-09-16T18:03:00.010-04:00

Watch your back bacon, Berkshire, there's a new pig on our plate: pata negra from Spain.

Tuesday September 14 1300 hours
Fifty Point Yacht Club

Another sunny warm day with mid-day temps 24C in the shade.

Breakfast is a Bright Brand cheddar cheese omelette with green onions and light caraway rye.

When you are cruising, the laundry hamper builds up surprisingly quickly. After 10 days on the water, we finally do the dreaded laundry. Three loads in total. $2.50 for wash cycle (31 minutes) and $1.00 for dry (20 minutes). You can top-up the dry for 25 cents for each additional five minutes.

We run out of the home-made muffins that the Admiral baked for the trip, so off she goes to the Marina coffee shop for freshly baked blueberry, banana and raisin bran muffins. Cost is $5.65 for the four jumbo muffins. Ice cubes are $2.80.

Lunch is a romaine salad of cucumber/tomatoes/green peas and Fermin chorizo Iberico, a dry cured sausage produced from the famous Iberico pata negra pig. Watch your back bacon, Berkshire, there’s a new pig on the block, the black foot from Spain and he’s ready to take a rightful place at our table. Hoof, hoof!

We plan to go for a 1/2-hour hike around the fishing pond and check out the rest of the conservation area.

For the past two days, we are the only visiting boat at FPYC. You just can’t beat off-season cruising. We cannot imagine being in the marina with all 330 boats and 70 campsites in use.

Dinner today is a delicious New Zealand Spring Lamb shoulder blade chop with grilled potato and sauteed mushrooms on garlic toast.

Port Dalhousie to Fifty Point

2010-09-16T15:26:00.014-04:00

Monday September 13, 1100 hours
Fifty Point Yacht Club

The weather forecast indicates wind building in the wrong direction in the afternoon; thus, we have a quick breakfast of Kashi Crunch cereal and head across to DYC to pump out and pay for the third night. Cost of the pump-out is $20.00.

It’s another perfect day on Lake Ontario for the Admiral. It is flat and calm. It’s also a hot, sunny day with temperatures 26C in the shade.

An apple a day keeps the Captain, above, feeling hearty.

Fifty Point Yacht Club is located in the Fifty Point Conservation Area operated by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority. It is an 80-hectare conservation area with a sandy beach, playing fields, fishing pond, modern campgrounds, restaurant and marina.

Fairport Yacht Club has reciprocals with Fifty Point Yacht Club. First day is free. Additional nights are at $1.57 per foot. We are here for two nights at slip #20.

Fifty Point Marina is a delightful place to lay over for two days on the south shore of Lake Ontario.

Lunch is double-smoked bacon and eggs with toasted light caraway rye. The bacon was purchased from Scheffler’s Deli & Cheese in the St. Lawrence Market.

We get on our bikes to check out the conservation area. Admiral is a little nervous riding the trails that are close to the water’s edge but otherwise we do just fine.

BBQ’ing is not permitted on boats, but there are communal grills to share. Dinner is perfectly grilled pork chops, green peas and garlic/tomato/green onions couscous.

It’s been such a balmy night sitting outside, we don’t realize the time. We finally return to At Last! at 9:30 p.m.

Treadwell does brunch well

2010-09-14T22:12:00.018-04:00

Perfectly poached free-range eggs with Cumbrae pork belly, rosti potato and Hollandaise sauce is what Treadwell Restaurant calls eggs benny. We call it yummy. Click on any image in the blog for a larger view.

1400 Hours
Sunday September 12
Dalhousie Yacht Club

We decide to stay for a third night in Port Dalhousie. We plan to do some grocery shopping and maybe laundry, maybe not.

We brunch at the Treadwell Restaurant known for it’s farm-to-table cuisine. We are not disappointed.

For starters:

• roasted heirloom beet and cherry salad with Best Baa Dairy Feta and a dill and hazelnut vinaigrette
• tree and twig heirloom tomatoes with Monforte Dairy Toscano garlic croutons, with basil two ways, one of which was a sorbet.

The lobster club at Treadwell features lobster chunks on duck-fat fried bread with Best Baa Dairy sheep’s milk cheese, Vik’s watercress and lemon mayo.

For mains:

• lobster club on duck fat fried bread with Best Baa Dairy sheep’s milk cheese, Vik’s watercress and lemon mayo
• eggs benny: poached free range eggs with Cumbrae pork belly, rosti potato and Hollandaise sauce

A warm peach cobbler with local peaches and home-made vanilla ice cream puts a happy face on the Admiral.

Dessert is cobbler made with local peaches and home-made vanilla ice cream and a selection of artisan cheeses with home-made date bread and fruit preserves:

• Monforte creamy Little Prince
• a very nice Best Baa Ouda
• tangy 10-year-old Le Silo cheddar

It’s not a cheap brunch but if you want great food, great service and great view, Treadwell is the place.

After the big meal, the Captain takes a half-hour nap before he bikes to the local No Frills for fresh produce. Admiral is finally catching up with her newspapers from last weekend. When we’re cruising, you would think we’d have time to read. There’s always something to do or see. Books that we bring along always return home unread.

It’s such warm evening, we enjoy a light dinner of wild sockeye salmon with green salad in the cockpit.

A bluesy, beersy reunion at the Lion

2010-09-14T21:34:00.012-04:00

After more than 40 years, Ron, Joe and the Captain, are reunited at the Saturday afternoon blues jam at the Lion in Port Dalhousie. Click on any image for a larger view.

2000 Hours
Saturday September 11
Dalhousie Yacht Club

We wake and remember the ninth anniversary of September 11. It is such painful memory in history. We were all affected in some way or another. We pause for a moment of silence.

On a brighter note, it’s another hot, sunny clear day with blue skies. We are sitting in the cockpit sipping our freshly brewed coffee and just purchased butter and cheese croissants. Here it is mid-September and we are in our T-shirts and shorts. Unbelievable!

This afternoon we will meet up with the Captain’s oldest male friend, Joe the Hvil, at the Lion Tavern. Every Saturday afternoon at the Tavern is a blues jam.

Admiral is taking it easy today and the Captain is out exploring in his kayak.

Lunch is a simple carrot and coriander soup with a toasted pita bread.

The Lion Tavern is just a walk up the street from DYC. Mid-afternoon we meet up with Joe and his wife, Barbara. We listen to the Odyssey Blues Band. To the Captain’s surprise, Ron, a long-time photographer with the Niagara Falls Review, shows up at the tavern. The Captain has not seen him in more than 40 years. Ron, now a sprightly 80, is a regular at the blues jam.

The Captain, Joe and Ron all worked together at The Review in the 1970s.

After a terrific concert, we say our goodbyes. The Captain craves a burger. It must because of the extra beer he had for sister-in-law Terry, a Lion regular in her teens.

We head up the street to the Kilt and Clover Pub for an 8-oz Big Blue burger which is topped with Danish Rosenborg blue cheese, mushrooms and carmelized onions. The Admiral has the home-made shepherd’s pie with Sysco cheddar cheese.
At Last! at the Dalhousie Yacht Club docks, bedecked like the cruiser she is with bicycles and a kayak.

Lake Ontario how the Admiral likes it

2010-09-14T20:58:00.013-04:00

Daily chores include window washing. Click on any image for a larger view.

1100 Hours
Friday September 10
Port Dalhousie

It’s a hot, sunny morning with clear blue skies on our mooring wall at Centreville.

We spend the morning tidying up the boat, airing the sheets/towels and writing the much-delayed Family and Friends email. We also take a final bike ride to Hanlan’s Point. It’s the last of our bike rides. We have taken our bikes end to end from Ward’s Island to Centre Island and to Hanlan’s Point.
Before any run of more than one hour, we check the oil levels in our Yamaha outboards.

We have lunch of the leftover lemon poach salmon with pita and cucumber slices. We are looking over our shoulders: Any toll collectors?

Nope, no toll collector. So, it’s a free night for us.

This shot of the Centreville ranch is for the horse lover in our extended family, Mara of Sunshine Meadows.

Farewell to Toronto. Excuse the tilt in the horizon. The Captain's hand is less steady than the Admiral's.

It’s a perfect crossing of Lake Ontario for the Admiral as we head out for Port Dalhousie. It’s sunny, calm and smooth all the way. When we arrive, it’s 25C.

In about 80 minutes, we are at Dalhousie Yacht Club. We have several slips to choose from. We take Slip #7 across from the yacht club. It is closer to town but 100 yards from the washroom/showers. The first night is free and additional nights are at 50 cents a foot—which means, for us, all of $12. Laundry facilities are available at $2.50 per wash and dry.

Appetizers are smoked oysters on multi-grain crackers. It’s a warm day, so Bacardi Rum Orange Smoothie Breezer and Bacardi Rum Mojitos are in order.

We can’t seem to get enough beef when we cruise. For dinner, we have a juicy rib steak smothered with cremini mushrooms in a sour cream sauce with tomato slices on the side.

Skyman arrives on the ferry—finally!

2010-09-14T20:13:00.017-04:00

Skyman skips toward us after finally arriving on the ferry from the city. Dad's in the background. Click on any image for a larger view.

1100 hours
Thursday September 9
Centreville

We hope to surprise our great-grand nephew, almost-3-year-old Skyler, who attends Waterfront Montessori Children's Centre on Algonquin Island, when he arrives on the ferry from the city.

We wait as the ferry pulls in but no Skyler is to be found. There are so many children getting off, we think we just missed him. Luckily for us, At Last! is at Queen City Yacht Club, three boat slips from the ferry docks. We wait for the second ferry of the morning, but still no Skyler. He must be sick today. Maybe we will catch him the next time.

We head back to At Last! to make breakfast. With all the back and forth to the ferry, we didn’t get to eat.

Lo and behold, we get a voicemail from Kris, Skyler’s father. The boy isn’t sick today. He missed the ferry and Kris is bringing him over.

We head out to the ferry for the third time. Skyler rushes off the ferry in excitement and greets us with a big hug. We show Kris and Skyler where we were docked for the night at QCYC.

We can’t visit too long as Skyler needs to get to school. We walk him to his school and go inside for a quick look-see. Skyler is sad to see us leave but after a little snack, all is good.

We have cappuccinos, a delicious home-made banana muffin and a soft oatmeal raisin cookie with Kris at the Island Cafe before he catches the ferry back to the city. The Island Cafe is open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
We pass under the Centreville Alpine Ride as we head toward our mooring on the wall at Centre Island.

It’s not a long cruising day as we head to the Centreville Amusement Park—about 20 minutes away. We tie up by the public mooring wall across from the Carousel Cafe. There is only one other cruiser here. We are told it should be 50 cents a foot here without service, that is, no electricity or water. No toll collector is in sight yet.

The mooring wall on Centre Island is our favourite overnight spot so far.

The nearby washrooms and showers are open 24/7. Clean and free of charge, too!

Occasionally, we see traffic in our lagoon, just enough for a nice change of pace in the idyllic setting.

Dinner is salmon poached with lemon and accompanied by grilled red peppers, potatoes and the last of our spicy Macedonia leek sausages. Call it surf and barn.

After spending so many years away from the Toronto Islands, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable stay. One can explore the Islands by foot, bike, kayak, or your own boat.

From our first time at reciprocal yacht clubs to the public mooring walls, we’ve slept well every night.

An added bonus was meeting up with family: Kris and Skyler. We did take photos this time!
The salmon poached on the grill is just about perfect.

Where to eat on the Islands? There are a number of snack bars and restaurants in addition to the dining facilities at yacht clubs:

Island Cafe - Ward’s Island
Rectory Cafe - Ward’s Island
Carousel Cafe - Centreville Amusement Park
Upper Deck and Grill - Centre Island

It’s not about having to go somewhere far on your vacation, or how much you spend. It’s the experience you make for yourself that makes memories.

From HCYC to QCYC via a failed attempt to Med moor

2010-09-14T19:34:00.014-04:00

At Harbour City Yacht Club, we are tucked into the trees at the club house on Centre Island. Click on any image for a larger view.

1330 Hours
Wednesday September 8
Queen City Yacht Club

We spend the morning at Harbour City Yacht Club as Captain catches up on email. Lunch is a garden salad with artisanal ham and Breezy Ayr and Thornloe Casey Blue cheese.
Our lunch salad features Breezy Ayr from Vermont and Thornloe Casey Blue from Ontario.

Our plan is to anchor out behind Forestry Island with the two other sailboats from Whitby. Our first attempt is to drop anchor at the bow and go stern in, but it is too rocky and shallow for our twin Yamaha outboards. On our second attempt, we drop anchor by the stern and go in bow first. From one of the sailboats, the skipper, who hails from Cape Breton, takes our line and wraps it around the man-made pole on shore. An earlier cruiser has left a plank for us to use between land and boat. Wobbly, but it gets us ashore. Carrying the bikes ashore may be problematic.
Lovely anchorage, but . . .

We turn the engines off. After about 15 minutes, we notice that At Last! is drifting ashore. The anchor is not holding. There is too much weed here. Captain decides we should untie ourselves from the shore, bring in the anchor and go to Queen City Yacht Club. The winds are blowing and the water is choppy, but we make it to QCYC with our kayak Finally! still on the roof along with our two bikes tied to the rail on the foredeck.

We are told by Don Ferguson, QCYC manager, that we don’t have reciprocal privileges but are given the night free regardless. We will check with Fairport Yacht Club on our return.

With the rocking and rolling on the slip, it’s bistro dinner tonight: duck cretonnade from Quebec, and see-it-again Breezy Ayr and Thornloe Casey Blue cheese.

It’s not all fair skies and flat seas but we are happy to be here.

From our slip at Queen City Yacht Club, we have a great view of the Toronto skyline—and a strong wind out of the northwest.

At Harbour City Yacht Club, Toronto seems so far away

2010-09-09T21:23:00.014-04:00

The Toronto skyline appears in the distance as we depart Island Yacht Club for a cruise of the ponds and lagoons of the Toronto Islands.

1200 hours
Tuesday, September 7
Harbour City Yacht Club

We depart Island Yacht Club. Our plan is to check out Harbour City Yacht Club first. If there were no slips available, we will head to Queen City Yacht Club.

We need to go no farther as there is space at HCYC. We are the only guests. There are only four visitor slips.

Before we head to the HCYC, we poke our nose around the neighbouring ponds. We almost stay at an anchorage behind Forestry Island where we chat with two sailing yachts from Whitby, with one of the owners originally from Cape Breton.

At HCYC, we haven’t checked in as yet. Admiral needs her lunch of see-it-again grilled salmon with a green salad.

We register at the Toronto Island Marina office. First night is free for reciprocals. Second night $1.50 per foot. Fuel is $1.41 per litre but we filled up for $1.27 per litre--plus free pump-out of our toilet holding tank--at Bluffer’s Park Marina en route to Toronto.
We are not certain, but there seem to be almost as many swans as Canada geese in the Toronto Islands. The swans are quite territorial.

We bump into Paul Murphy of Lifestyle from whom we’ve been renting Slip #42 at Fairport Yacht Club in Frenchman’s Bay for the past two seasons. Surprise, his slip here is right next to the Upper Deck lounge.

We feel energetic and take our bikes out for a ride past Centreville. We notice a cruiser who is docked on the mooring wall by the bridge on Centre Island. We chat him up and discover that it’s 50 cents per foot, albeit without service. During July and August, this would be too busy a stop for us but now, in September, we might try it before departing the Toronto Islands for Port Dalhousie once the wind eases up out on the lake.

It is so quiet and peaceful on the Islands, as school has started and the crowds are gone.

For a guy who acquired his first BBQ only last year, the Captain sure has learned how to grill a steak to perfection.

Our dinner is a perfectly grilled rib steak smothered with mushrooms and onions, baked potatoes, peaches-and-cream corn and an Australian shiraz--with the lights of Toronto sparkling in the distance.
Not a bad place to spend an evening when the wind is howling out on Lake Ontario. We’d recommend a layover at Harbour City Yacht Club for anyone with reciprocal privileges and a relatively small boat.

Snowbirds soar to start our Golden Horseshoe cruise

2010-09-07T10:11:00.017-04:00

We're able to watch the Canadian International Air Show from the cockpit of At Last! at Island Yacht Club.

It's difficult to believe that a year has passed since we last cruised At Last! for more than an afternoon. But here we are, at Island Yacht Club in the Toronto Islands, having completed the first leg of a two-week cruise of Lake Ontario's Golden Horseshoe.

We arrived just in time to catch the final day of the Canadian International Air Show--and what a show it was, culminating with the famed Snowbirds doing their thing. Both photos above. Click on any image for larger view.
MacENC on our MacBook Pro indicates our location at Island Yacht Club on Mugg's Island. The photo below shows the scene behind At Last!

Today, we're off on the second leg, all of about 200 yards to Harbour City Yacht Club one island over. (If no guest slips are available, we'll go a bit farther, to Queen City Yacht Club on Algonquin Island.)

Cruising by the numbers

2009-09-26T19:55:00.009-04:00

The small cove on the south side of Stovin Island in the St. Lawrence River near Brockville was our favorite image of the last two weeks. As for the numbers . . .

Total distance -- 540.2 miles
Longest day -- 99.0 miles
Shortest day -- 2.0 miles

Port engine -- 45 hours
Starboard engine -- 47 hours (on account of charging batteries)

Average speed -- 12 miles per hour
Maximum speed -- 27 miles per hour

Fuel burned (gasoline) -- 1,038.6 liters/274.4 U.S. gallons
Gallons per hour -- 6.1
Miles per gallon -- 1.97
Cheapest fuel -- $1.02 per litre at Port Whitby Marina, Whitby
Dearest fuel -- $1.18 per litre at Brennan's Marine, Gananoque
Propane burned -- 4 one-pound cannisters

Eight-hour candles burned -- 2.5
Paper towels -- 2.5 rolls
Toilet paper -- less than a roll*

Drinking water -- 37 litres
Red wine -- 6.75 litres
Beer -- 2.7 litres

Steaks (beef) -- four servings
Steaks (pork) -- one chop each
Lamb -- 3 small chops each
Pork roast -- one (but what a story it was!)
Sausages -- 9
Burgers -- 4
Chicken breast -- one, cut into two servings
Salmon -- one fillet
Trout -- one fillet
Eggs -- 30
Butter -- 1.5 pounds

Number of words in the Admiral's journal -- 4,858

Dollars expended -- to be tallied
Cost -- priceless

*No, we do wipe. We used so little aboard the TomCat as we had a chance to use shoreside facilities on Parks Canada islands and in marinas.

The Who Knows Where Cruise

2009-09-26T16:59:00.014-04:00

Excerpts from the Admiral’s journal:

Sat Sept 12 - Cobourg
Depart Frenchman’s Bay at 0820 for Whitby to refuel and pump-out
The sun is shining, the winds are from the NE
Breakfast on the go - Admiral’s famous bacon/egg/mushroom western sandwich
It’s a bumpy ride - Admiral doesn’t have her sea legs and spends time on the cockpit floor snoozing and avoiding the big bumps
It’s a bit too bumpy to continue so we decide to stop at Cobourg.

Sun Sept 13 - Kingston, Confederation Marina
Calm day on the waters
For the first time, we see an unusually high number of American boaters
At the Adolphous Reach - we are radioed by a Rosborough 24 - “Pecan”
owned by Rich & Tamara Tate of Melbourne Florida, who are travelling with their son James. Rich is part of the CDory forum.

Mon Sep 14 - Wood Isle
Another sunny day. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast of eggs over-easy and see-it-again potatoes as we decide our route for the day.
We refuel at Kingston Marina. Captain discovers that the outboards have a gasoline smell. Concerned, we head to Collins Bay Marina to have it checked out. Great news! Nothing wrong, there may have been too much oil. Cost $37.00 for the appraisal and to take out a little of the oil.
We are given the go-ahead and head towards Camelot Island. Much to our surprise and disappointment the anchorage is full. We circle the Island and every anchorage and Parks Canada dock is filled. We now know, after Labour Day it is still very busy in the Thousand Islands and you have to arrive early to claim your anchorage.
We anchor at Wood Isle which is next to Camelot. We are not alone. We spot a 34 Defever, 42 Grand Banks and two sailboats.
We spot our first wildlife - two muskrats.

Tues Sept 15 - Adelaide Island
We wake up to the sound of our first loon.
Winds are out of the NE 10-15
After a quick breakfast of Kashi crunch cereal with blueberries, we head towards Adelaide Island, our first Parks Canada stop. Cost is .90 cents per foot for dockage. There is a reminder to pay immediately upon arrival.

Wed Sept 16 - Ivy Lea
Winds are out of the NE 15-17
Not sure if heading towards Brockville today.
As we poke our nose out, Captain decides to head upstream to Peck’s Marina at Ivy Lea. Cost $2.00 per foot. The most expensive dockage so far, plus $3.00 per garbage bag. But we do have wi-fi, laundry and a much needed shower.
Time to finally unpack our clothes.

Thurs Sep 17 - Stovin Island
Winds are very light
We head towards Brockville to do some provisioning:
the Farmer’s Market: local tomatoes, garlic, oriental cucumbers, yellow beans, potatoes, zucchini bread loaf, maple chipotle bbq sauce, amaretto honey and a grainy mustard. We buy out the Market as usual.
Tait’s Bakery and Deli for a multi-grain loaf and pumpkin tarts. Metro: St Albert’s cheddar cheese, salad, salmon, lamb chops (cut to order from the store butcher) and beef burgers, milk & juice
The Brockville Municipal Harbour allows free dockage for three hours. It took us that long to provision and have lunch. See-it-again pork roast sandwiches with the fresh multi-grain bread and tomatoes.

Fri Sep 18 - Crysler Park Marina, Morrisburg
We wake up to our first morning rain shower of the trip.
It is a leisurely morning as we plan our day.
Iroquois Lock our first seaway lock on the St Lawrence.
Dinner is Captain’s grilled smoked salmon on a cedar plank. Delicious. Very moist. Served with yellow beans and penne with pesto. Dessert is see-it-again pumpkin tarts.

Sun Sept 20 - Grenadier Island Centre
Winds from SW 5
Depart Crysler at 12:35pm
It’s a sunny day. We pass a very busy Brockville and Stovin Island. Cruisers, big ships, kayakers and runabouts. Very smooth ride to Grenadier Island Centre.

Mon Sep 21 - Grenadier Island
It’s a hot sunny day. No breeze at all.
We have been invited for dinner and to dock on a nearby island for the night.
Dinner of steak, potato and caesar salad. Dessert is a warm apple pie.
What a treat to stay on an island and to meet such hospitable hosts!

Tues Sep 22 - On to Gananoque
Light showers in the morning.
We check into Gan Municipal Marina. Cost is $35.28. Transient slips are quite a walk away from the facilities on the outer docks. You can recognize them by their blue cleats.
The Admiral checks in with the Marina Office and introduces herself to Katherine Kelly, daughter of the people we had dinner with last night. She is running the marina herself today.
After dinner, we do a load of laundry. $2.00 per load/wash (loonies only). 25 minutes for the wash cycle, 45 for dry.
We are bummed out that there is no internet. At check-in Katherine had mentioned that there wasn’t any internet coverage on the docks but in the laundry room. No such luck. We also discover that we left the 10 litres of water back at the Metro, ugh!

Wed Sep 23 - Kingston
Two more loads of laundry before we head out. We discover that the server for the Internet has been down. The Captain heads out to the Metro again to get our water and one more bottle of propane.
Breakfast is quick zucchini loaf and banana as we are doing the laundry.
We depart Gan after a quick lunch. We decide to overnight at Kingston as the winds are from the SW at 10-15 on the nose for the last half hour. Not fun for the Admiral. We have the dock to ourselves except for the summer liveaboards at the end of the dock.

Thurs Sep 24 - Cobourg
Quick morning shower and the Admiral heads out to the local Farmer’s Market.
Admiral buys: Whole Wheat Loaf (Red River Bran) from Wolfe Island, blueberry bran muffins, pecan tarts, zucchini squares, pumpkin marmalade and peaches and cream corn. All local.
Captain is finishing some e-mails and getting the boat ready.
It’s a calm morning and we are undecided how far to go. The weather will determine our distance. As soon as we depart the Murray Canal, we notice that the winds are changing and it is a bit choppy. The Admiral says let’s go for it. So 6 1/2 hours later, we arrive in Cobourg. This is the longest travel day aboard At Last! and for the Admiral.
Fairport Yacht Club has reciprocals with Cobourg Yacht Club but only on the wall. The water levels are too low, so we end up on a slip and a $31.50 charge.
Dinner is a grilled pork shoulder blade steak with BBQ sauce and yam and zucchini.
We have learned to use any marina microwaves (available in Kingston and Crysler Park Marina) for our potatoes and yams.

Fri Sep 25 - Frenchman’s Bay
Early departure at 0800 for Frenchman’s Bay
The winds were 15 NE -waves 3 to 5 feet - surfing conditions with At Last! running at about 20 mph, surfing up to 27 mph
1040 Arrive safely into Frenchman’s Bay
We stay aboard At Last! Don’t want to go home. Let the holiday continue, just a bit longer.

Signs in the sky

2009-09-26T12:02:00.010-04:00

When we arrive in Kingston, we spot a rainbow beyond a neighbouring boat in Confederation Basin Marina, one of our favourite places to stop for provisioning and super-fast Internet access.

The next dawn, the color of the sky foretells of a change in the weather—likely for the worse. We did have 15 knots of breeze behind us and a following sea of 3+ feet on the run home from Cobourg yesterday. Today, three days of rain starts.

Soon after tying up at our dock (and after taking a nap), the Captain takes the kayak for a spin on Frenchman's Bay. That's our condo tower in the background.

Eating our way home

2009-09-26T11:48:00.008-04:00

One night we feast on trout grilled on a cedar plank.

The next night the Captain serves up pork shoulder steaks slathered with a gourmet sauce.

We taste decadence in the pecan tarts from Wolfe Island Bakery, an excellent source of baked goods in the Kingston area.

The cannons of Fort Henry are trained on At Last! as we approach Kingston.

Here's Rosebud, a pretty tug conversion we encountered in the Bay of Quinte. She is based in Picton but her owner is a member of Frenchman's Bay Yacht Club back in Pickering.

The Brighton Road Bridge on the Murray Canal swings shut behind At Last!

Skinny-dipping in the St. Lawrence

2009-09-26T11:35:00.003-04:00

We spotted this young lady getting ready to dive into the St. Lawrence River near Rockport. Anyone know who she is and what's the story behind her being there?

Trawler crawlers bare all!

2009-09-24T09:37:00.007-04:00

Some people have shirts made up displaying the names of their boats with a graphic representing their pride and joy. Not Mike and Carolyn, owners of Navigator, a Marine Trader 44. They sport tattoos of a compass rose just like the one that adorns the transom of Navigator.

We’re delighted to have met them, and enjoyed swapping boating experiences over dinner.

Mike, when they began thinking about getting into trawlering, started lurking on the Trawlers & Trawlering List, a popular Internet forum the Captain has hosted since 1997.

In the winters, Mike and Carolyn head for the Bahamas with Navigator. In the summers, they replenish the cruising kitty by working in the 1000 Islands region where they have spent most of their lives. Carolyn manages a family health group while Mike is the dockmaster at Peck’s Marina in Ivy Lea where we overnighted one night last week.

It seems Mike, after we departed, recognized the Captain’s name from a copy of Circumnavigator magazine we gave him and emailed us an invite to dinner at the private island they look after near Rockport.

After they left for work the following morning, we stayed tied up to the dock, and later strolled around.

Talk about a great view of the 1000 Islands! With the water tower at Alexandria Bay, New York, just visible in the far distance.

Hmmm . . . what would it be like to own an island? For $600,000, the price of a new Nordhavn 43, we could own an island such as this one. Better yet would be to babysit one as Mike and Carolyn do . . .

Exploring Grenadier Island

2009-09-24T09:22:00.018-04:00

It’s only her second time on a bicycle in umpteen years but the Admiral offloads her new Port Runner folding bike, in three steps unfolds and assembles it, and off across Grenadier Island she goes, following a trail through the woods and past a beaver dam.

As the sign explains, nature is taking over the island again, more than a century after it was cleared for use as agricultural land. Click on any image for a larger view.

A bustling farming community once thrived on Grenadier Island, but today it’s mostly the summer people who remain. The bustle of activity on the island is now made by boaters, hikers and paddlers who fancy the warm sandy beaches, old fishing holes, vivid past and abundant opportunities for observing wildlife.

The Admiral finds the water too cold and too wet for swimming.

All day we watch ducks, geese and a solitary great blue heron foraging for sustenance.

And the occasional perch aiming not become sustenance for anyone.

With bedding airing in the bright sunshine, our TomCat begins to resemble a gypsy boat.

Keeping the windows clean aboard At Last! is a daily chore for the Admiral.

Keeping in shape was supposed to be a daily task for the Captain but . . .

It’s the last day of summer, a glorious day that we enjoy immensely before a 15-minute cruise to a private island nearby where we have been invited for dinner.

Crysler Park to Grenadier Island

2009-09-24T09:13:00.005-04:00

What a gorgeous day for the run back up river!

Clear skies, little wind, temps in the low 20s. But the current does sap two to three knots out of our speed. Whereas we ran down stream at 21 knots, sometimes faster, now we’re plugging along at 16 to 18 knots. (Speed in knots is measured in nautical miles per hour. One nautical mile is 6,080 feet, i.e., a tad longer than a land mile.)

Here’s Abaco, a tug we met and couldn’t resist photographing. Check out the crew taking a nap on the aft deck.

At the Iroquois Lock of the St. Lawrence Seaway, we save time and $25 by scooting through a gate on the adjacent control dam

The limiting air draft (height of the boat above water) is 2.5 meters. We’re 2.4 metres, with antenna and nav light lowered.

There’s always something to see on the St. Lawrence River.

Every now and then, we encounter commercial traffic, and lots of fishermen out in small runabouts.

At Brockville Narrows, where the ship channel runs close to the north bank of the river, there is so much traffic, we spend as much time watching for speeding boats approaching from the stern as looking ahead.

Regardless, we have a smooth ride all the way to the Parks Canada dock at Grenadier island Centre. Including some poking around and taking of pictures, we cover 66.5 nautical miles in four hours on the water.

At Grenadier, there are 16 slips available. At Last! and four other boats (one is here for a picnic only) occupy five slips. We dock apart from the rest as we prefer privacy.

Just as we settle in, an express cruiser comes in and docks right next to us. We can’t believe it! Eleven empty docks to choose from and he docks next to us. The captain of the cruiser jumps out of the boat, immediately hauls his generator to land and starts it up. Thankfully, it’s a Honda and not loud, but we can hear it. After all, we came to this park to get away from marina noises. We promptly put up our port and bow blinds facing our unwanted neighbours. We are not amused, but we elect to stay as the Admiral is busy making dinner of butternut squash soup and grilled St Albert’s cheese sandwiches.

Other than a curt “good morning” the next day, we never utter another word to the four people aboard the cruiser. They turn on lights and pretty well take over the dock with a BBQ and chairs around a fire pit--with their big dog running free.

One cruises to get away from it all but cannot escape human nature.

Weather is our everything

2009-09-24T08:39:00.005-04:00

The last 24 hours, we have been watching the weather on eastern and western Lake Ontario, starting to plan when we'll make our open water run of close to 80 nautical miles from Presqu'ile Bay near Trenton to Frenchman's Bay. We don't like pounding to weather--heading into wind and waves--so for this stage of the cruise we don't want wind out of the west or south.

Today, Thursday, looks like an excellent day to lay down miles as there is only a light breeze from the north, from land, in the forecast. Friday starts getting a bit more windy and maybe not from the right direction all day. Saturday and Sunday, with winds of 15 to 25 knots forecast from the south, ie, building waves all the way from the south shore of Lake Ontario, we do NOT want many miles to cover.

Thus, from Kingston, after a visit to the farmer's market, we plan to run as far as the Trenton area, possibly continuing on to Cobourg to make the Friday shorter.

We'll be back in Frenchman's Bay two days early but cruising without pounding requires flexibility.

Here are the WX sites we consult:

St. Lawrence River
Eastern Lake Ontario
Western Lake Ontario
Kingston
Trenton
Cobourg
Toronto Islands.

SailFlow.com is a site new to us recommended by Mike and Carolyn of the Marine Trader Navigator.

Upper Canada Village

2009-09-23T17:41:00.023-04:00

Sunrise at Crysler Park Marina near Morrisburg held promise of a gorgeous day for a visit to nearby Upper Canada Village, a recreation of an Eastern Ontario community in the 1860s.

Click on any image in the blog for a larger view.

By the by, if you want to walk from the marina to the village, don’t believe the 20-minute duration cited in literature and by marina staff. It takes a full 50 minutes to get there, albeit it is a pleasant stroll along the St. Lawrence River.

Happily, our visit coincided with the fall fair. The poster was typeset and printed in the village’s newspaper office. Altogether, the village covers 60 acres and takes at least a half-day to see. Adults $18.95. Seniors $17.95. If you have a CAA card, 10% off.

When we arrive, we have lunch at the Village Cafe: chicken caesar wrap and a ham-cheese panini with home-made potato chips on the side. These are the two largest sandwiches we have ever seen or eaten. Madeleine, our sandwich-maker, is rightly proud of her handiwork. In addition to being huge, they are delicious.

We see and learn all kinds of interesting things about life in Upper Canada at the time of Confederation, but, on occasion, we need to sidestep the horse apples on our walk around the village.

In the course of plowing one acre, a 1860s farmer would walk 10 miles. The village had 30 acres of fields. That’s 300 miles of walking behind the horse and plow.

The Admiral meets Eleanor whose task it is to pull the tow scow along the canal built in the village for demonstration purposes.

We say hello to Buck and Barney, the village oxen, but they ignore us.

One of the principal attractions of the village—at least for two cheeseniks—is the working cheese factory that makes the Upper Canada cheddar that we purchase.

Cheesemaking flourished in 1860s Canada with small operations such as the one at Upper Canada Village. The cheese was eaten locally and exported to England.

Mr. McNight, the apprentice, stirs the curd mixture over several hours. He tells us 900 pounds of milk makes 90 pounds of cheese.

Mr. Kayer, the cheesemaker, loads the curds into a press where it will remain overnight. Then the cheese is aged for months, turning black with mold on the outside. The mold is removed and we are served a very nice cheddar.

We also purchase on excellent whole wheat bread from the village bakery. It’s made with flour produced at the mill on the site. There is also a working sawmill and a small factory to spin wool gathered from the village sheep.

All the guides and interpreters are dressed in period costumes as is this school teacher.

The Admiral hopes she won’t be gored by one of the cows on display at the agricultural fair.

Four hours later, we are ready to head home to At Last! but, after being on our feet for the better part of five hours, we don’t want to walk back. Thankfully, the ticket agent offers to arrange for a ride with the security service that patrols the village.

Before long, the Admiral is husking the corn that will go with the Captain’s first attempt at grilling lamb.

Maybe a bit too long on the grill but otherwise juicy and tasty.

Locking through the Seaway

2009-09-19T09:51:00.017-04:00

Pleasure craft are not the priority in the St. Lawrence Seaway, commercial traffic is; thus, we had to wait about an hour before we could transit the Iroquois Lock between Prescott and Morrisburg.

Click on any image for a larger view.

The procedure is simple. First, you tie up at the designated pleasure-craft dock.

Detailed information is displayed above the dock.

Instructions are straightforward.

You report in to the lockmaster via the call phone and pay $25 via credit card. The fee is the same, regardless of size of yacht.

While you wait, you watch mink scamper next to the dock.

When the Tim S. Dool departs the lock, you get a call on VHF 68 from the lockmaster informing you to enter the lock as soon as you see the control light go green. Linger and you might have to wait another hour or more.

You enter the lock. The lockmaster and his assistant will drop lines fore and aft on your boat, so you need at least two crew aboard. He'll collect your payment voucher and note the vessel name.

Then you depart the dock as promptly as you entered.

The next customer is already approaching the lock.

As is another customer.

At Crysler Park Marina, six miles down river, you stop for the night and smoke salmon.

Then savour it, with fresh yellow beans from the Brockville farmer's market and penne with pesto, and a mouthful or three of an Aussie cabernet merlot.

So ends another day on the St. Lawrence River.

A new favorite in the 1000 Islands

2009-09-18T17:34:00.007-04:00

Stovin Island near Brockville is the first or last of the 1000 Islands—depending whether you're traveling from east or the west. We love the place!

We pulled up to a dock in a small cove where the island is at it's narrowest. Through the trees, we could watch out for ship traffic passing through the Brockville Narrows. On our own side of Stovin, we looked out on the broad river, steadily moving toward the sea at two to three knots.

Stovin was especially memorable as it was the first time in the history of his life that the Captain grilled burgers. And what a treat they were, topped with an aged cheddar from nearby St. Albert!

Images of the St. Lawrence River

2009-09-18T17:21:00.007-04:00

Snapshots of things that have caught the Admiral's eye: (She's the photographer aboard At Last!)

Twice we have passed Singer Castle on Jorstadt Island but still have to stop for a tour. Click on any image in the blog for a larger view.

Our favorite cottage in the 1000 Islands is this lovely one on a small island near Rockport.

Here's what the cockpit of a powercat dedicated to cruising looks like.

The Admiral looks after re-provisioning in Brockville where the thrice-weekly farmer's market offers chemical-free local produce. (Photo by the Captain)

Multihulls on the brain

2009-09-18T17:05:00.006-04:00

The sight of a racing trimaran, such as this one in Collin's Bay, always makes the Captain's heart beat faster.

This RCMP catamaran which we enountered on the North Channel to Gananoque from Kingston is a sister ship to Nadon, the RCMP cat that transited the Northwest Passage several years ago.

Speaking of multihulls in the small-world department, at Kingston, we met Rich and Tamara and son James aboard a Rosborough 246. They sailed a cruising trimaran from San Francisco to New Zealand in the 1990s. In 1989, Rich and the Captain met briefly in San Francisco when the Captain's ocean-racing trimaran was moored off Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon after a record-setting voyage around Cape Horn from San Francisco.

Pecan, as the Rosborough is called, was en route to Florida from Michigan.

Big boys of the big river

2009-09-18T16:55:00.009-04:00

The track of At Last! to the northeast, toward Montreal, follows the St. Lawrence Seaway, thus, we see four or five lakers and salties every day:

Click on any image in the blog for a larger view.

Wildlife sightings on the St. Lawrence

2009-09-18T16:43:00.008-04:00

First there was a loon, calling to us off Adelaide Island:

Then ducks begging for food at Stovin Island:

And a woodpecker in a nearby tree:

And mink skipping across granite:

We discover breasts!

2009-09-18T16:17:00.008-04:00

One large chicken breast on the barbie, that is:

In our house, we normally do not eat chicken breasts as we find them too bland and dry. We're fans of dark meat so chicken thighs are common fare.

Two months ago, we were invited to the home of friends, Kristine and Kip, for dinner. Kristine served chicken breasts—and they were the juiciest, tastiest chicken breasts we've ever eaten. Two weeks ago, when Kristine and Kip were guests aboard At Last!, they brought us a bottle of their house wine, a cabernet-merlot from McWilliam's Wines in southeastern Australia.

Thus, when were shopping at the Block & Cleaver butcher shop in Kingston for meats to grill, we were emboldened to purchase a large chicken breast already marinated by Carl, the butcher. He suggested 30 minutes on the grill at low heat.

Thanks to Kristine and Carl we had quite a feast tucked in behind Wood Isle in the Lake Fleet Islands near Gananoque: juicy chicken breasts, grilled zucchini and yams, and McWilliam's cabernet-merlot. With a spectacular sunset for dessert:

Diving for pork at Adelaide Island

2009-09-16T16:29:00.019-04:00

St. Lawrence, who overlooks the big river near Rockport, was watching out for us this day. Click on any image for a larger look.

The cry of a loon awoke us on Day 4 on the water, in a lovely anchorage right next to Wood Isle in the Lake Fleet Islands on the St. Lawrence River.

We wanted to anchor in one of our favourite anchorages of all time, at nearby Camelot Island, but the small cove was full up with sailboats and power cruisers. Fifty weeks ago it was deserted. We conclude that mid-September is still high season for cruising the 1000 Islands, late September, as we found last year, is not.

All alone on the dock at Adelaide Island.

After a quick breakfast of Kashi Crunch cereal with blueberries, we head down the St, Lawrence to Adelaide Island, our first stop at a Parks Canada island. It’s a tiny spot in the middle of the big river, with ships plying the St. Lawrence Seaway route just to the east of where we are docked in four feet of water. (In a 12-hour period, we see five ships.)

Adelaide Island is the second last of the 21 islands in the St. Lawrence Islands National Park.

Cost is 90 cents per foot for dockage per night. There is a reminder to pay immediately upon arrival screwed into the dock at each cleat. At the moment, we are alone. There are four available mooring buoys and 150 feet of dock space is empty. We decide to stay on the docks to do some exploring. Adelaide Island is known as a significant native archaeological site and waterfowl habitat.

We arrive in time for lunch: Caesar salad with smoked kippers and Oka cheese for dessert.

A state-of-the-art composting toilet.

A Parks Canada boat drops off three students to collect soil and plant samples. A houseboat and then a pontoon boat stop briefly to use the shoreside facilities, a state-of-the-art composting toilet. Then we are alone.

The captain takes the kayak “Finally” out for some exercise. It’s our first cruise with the Pakboats Puffin Saco, a 12-foot kayak that weighs only 25 pounds and folds into a small duffel bag.

Dinner is an almost-lost pork roast.

The Captain has the bright idea to set the Magma BBQ on the dock next to At Last! so he can tend to the grill standing in the cockpit. The pork takes 30 minutes on low to grill. It’s looking good and the smell is driving us crazy. We take the pork off the grill, and bring it inside the galley to slice it in half at the thickest part for a test. It still needs maybe five minutes as the centre is rosy so back out to the grill we go.

A major oops starts to develop as the Captain lifts the first piece from the platter. In mid-air, he realizes the string that binds the roast is still connected to the other half. As the second piece starts to fall from the platter, instinct takes over and the Captain reaches to save it. Unfortunately, that move drags the first piece off the grill and both halves of the roast tumble into the water, bouncing off the side of the TomCat on the way down.

The Captain immediately recovers his senses and decides to move on beyond the tragic turn of events. “Take out the sausages for grilling,” he instructs the Admiral. “The corn and yams are ready.”

The Admiral, however, drops to her knees, hangs her head and whimpers, “I’m going to cry.”

Clearly, she is upset. She get ups from her knees and peers over the side of the boat: “Omigod, there are our two pieces of pork.”

Yes, the water is so clear, and not too deep, that we can see the pork sitting on the bottom.

The Captain issues new instructions, “Push the boat away from the dock,” climbs over the side of the boat and dives into the water. First he brings up one piece, then the other, both still warm to the touch, and somehow manages to pull himself back on board, cutting his left knee open in the process.

By this point, we are crying—from too much laughter. The scene is beyond hilarious. We pause to take one quick photograph. Then, the Admiral pats the roast dry, wraps it in foil and puts it back on the grill. Ten minutes later, dinner is served: survivor pork along with sweet potato frites and peaches and cream corn, with a shiraz to wash it all down. The pork is delicious.

As we feast, we periodically start laughing so hard we shed tears.

And we offer up thanks to St. Lawrence, newly crowned patron saint of pork divers.

St. Lawrence River 2009

2009-09-14T10:26:00.004-04:00

We're in Kingston, just getting started on a cruise with no set itinerary other than to poke our way down the St. Lawrence River, perhaps as far as Upper Canada Village, perhaps not.

All we know for sure is that tonight we'll spend at one of our favourite anchorages of all time at Camelot Island.

You can follow us with SPOT. Click on the satellite or hybrid view for the best look.

Rideau still to come (3)

2009-09-14T10:25:00.003-04:00

When we have a moment . . .

Rideau still to come (2)

2009-09-14T10:25:00.002-04:00

When we have a moment . . .

Rideau still to come

2009-09-14T10:24:00.000-04:00

When we have a moment . . .

Weed eater on the River Styx

2009-06-28T10:03:00.011-04:00

Aquatic plants in the waters of the Rideau Waterway are an important part of a natural aquatic ecosystem, especially in the ecology of shoreline areas, according to Parks Canada. They provide habitat for fish to spawn, feed and hide from predators. Aquatic plants also play a key role in maintaining and improving the water quality of the Rideau.

However, excessive plant growth can interfere with boating, swimming and other recreational water activities, thus, enter the Parks Canada weed eater:

The mechanical harvester chews up the weeds—Eurasian water milfoil is the chief problem—and spits them out neatly compressed in the back of the machine:

Nevertheless, the milfoil grows like crazy, reaching up to foul the propellors of passing boats, meaning we had to stop the TomCat and clear the props more than once during our transit of the River Styx:

The River Styx is a shallow reach of the Rideau Waterway that ends at Kingston Mills, the last lockstation before Kingston and Lake Ontario. As Ken Watson reports on his excellent rideau-info.com site:

The River Styx is appropriately named. During the building of the Rideau Canal, this area consisted of small sections of rapids. The locks and dams that were constructed flooded this area, removed the rapids, and provided 5 feet of water for through navigation. There are few houses in this area. As one approaches Pete Crow Island, Joyceville Penitentiary passes on the right side.

Images of the Rideau Waterway

2009-06-13T21:42:00.022-04:00

We're behind in posting reports and photos as it hasn't been easy to access the Internet on the Rideau. WiFi hotspots are few and far between. Here are photos that didn't fit with the text we've posted so far. Don't forget, for a larger view of any photo, click on the image.

Three cats in the first of four locks at Jones Falls where we all overnighted at the end of our first day on the Rideau.

That would be the ticket to have, a cottage on the Rideau Waterway and a float plane to get you there.

We regret not stopping at the Narrows where Sheena II, a ferro-cement trawler yacht, was docked in order to chat up the owners who have been cruising and living aboard for many years.

The waterway narrows as it snakes toward Newboro.

Red right returning ends at Newboro, the highest point between Kingston and Ottawa, when you're southbound.

The ferry in the narrow channel between Indian and Clear Lake is of the push-and-pull variety.

All the essentials are available at Brown's Marina at Chaffey's Lock.

The Captain is thinking: Is there potential for a photo album devoted entirely to sinking boathouses of the Rideau?

In Chaffey's Lock, these octogenarians had us thinking: Is this us in 20 to 30 years?

Solitude at Davis Lock . . . with a chuckle

2009-06-09T15:44:00.008-04:00

8 June 2009, 1730 hours, Davis Lock

There’s not a cloud in the sky as we wake up to a bright, sunny day in Portland.

The Admiral makes a breakfast of the double-smoked bacon from Pan Chancho in Kingston and French toast made from the see-it-again Maritime Brown bread from Westport and drizzled with honey. After breakfast, a hike of 20 minutes takes us all around the village.

Portland has all the basics: a grocery store, an LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) outlet and a pizza parlor.

Then we’re off to Davis Lock, Lock 38 on the Rideau, generally considered the prettiest lock on the waterway. Which we can attest it is, tranquil, bucolic—and we have the place all to ourselves. (Ah, the beauty of shoulder-season cruising!)

Cruising doesn’t get better than this: freshly made crostini topped with garlic-parmesan butter and/or country-style pate, a wine called Frisky Zebra Seductive Shiraz, Zamfir on the iPod, finches singing in the tree-tops and a lovely view of Opinicon Lake and a small bay right beside At Last!

We are all alone. The lockmasters have all gone home and the locks have shut down. We are here for the night.

Just when we thought we had the place to ourselves, with peace and quiet prevailing, two of the lockstaff show up because the tour boat, Chuckles, photo below, was late in making it back to Chaffey’s, one lock above us. Chuckles locks through, and we have Davis Lock to ourselves at last.

The Captain promises to broil honey-garlic sausage that we purchased at the Farmer’s Market in Smiths Falls from Margo who is from nearby Elgin.

We feast, and as dusk turns to dark, and rain begins to pitter-patter on the pilothouse roof, we head for bed.

Davis Lock is deserted except for our little home afloat.

Pricey ribs and schlock wine in Portland

2009-06-09T15:42:00.008-04:00

Just outside Portland, we cruise by Tower Island where the owners have built a small house to mirror the island's name.

7 June 2009, 1000 hours, Portland

On our last night in Smiths Falls, we sleep in. The boat is so still we can hardly tell we’re afloat.

The Captain catches up on work email as he aims to do every third day.

The Admiral bumps into the office manager, Karen. She is embarrassed to admit that the credit card charge for the second night did not go through properly. That charge has been cancelled and we don’t have to pay. What a nice gesture!

By mid-day, with two express cruisers, above, we depart for Portland about three hours away. It is the first rainy day for us. But as we arrive Len’s Cove Marina in Portland, the sun appears. There is WiFi, showers and laundry facilities here, and a full-service marina with a marine store.

The Admiral is hungry so, right away, we head to the Galley Restaurant which is located next to the marina—all owned by the same Horsfall family for at least two generations.

At the Galley, we both have the honey garlic ribs with potatoes and veggies. It isn’t the fall-of-the-bones type of ribs but still good. The house red, on the other hand, is schlock. We share a pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. All the pies are baked by ladies of the village.

We’re in the country but these certainly are not country prices: Wine was $6.50 per glass, the ribs, $19, for what really was a half-rack, pie with ice cream, $6. Dockage fees are $1.45, only a nickel less than Confederation Basin in Kingston. By comparison, Westport was an even $1 per foot, but here laundry is only $1.50 per load.

Boathouses at Portland enable the Admiral to sharpen her photographic skills. The Captain, meanwhile, could have cropped the photo better.

Anecdotes from Portland

2009-06-09T15:35:00.009-04:00

Down the dock from At Last! there is a 32-foot Cruisers flying the flag of Trinidad, with its name boldly displayed across the transom:

Full of Seamen

The Admiral cannot resist taking a photo, when we notice there is a family aboard. The Mom explains the name by saying that 95 percent of the time, it is an all-boys boat. The Dad steps forward, as two boys dart off the boat and down the dock. He explains that his father back in Trinidad always refers to his grandsons as seamen, thus, the name for the boat.

The family hails from Ottawa but keep their boat in Portland because of all the great cruising on Big Rideau Lake.

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Incidentally, the Captain of At Last! is mighty proud of his Latvian heritage, especially when it’s blonde.

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Small world, indeed! At the next dock sits Janbaree II. Jan and Barrie, whom we met in Bermuda and Westport, live in Ottawa but prefer to keep their boat here, in the heart of all the great cruising the Rideau offers. (We cannot believe we did not get a photo of the boat!)

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Smiths Falls makes an excellent stopover on the Rideau

2009-06-09T15:33:00.011-04:00

Unusual ducks at Smiths Falls convince us we need to start traveling with a book on birds of North America.

6 June 2009, 0805 hours, Smiths Falls

We decide to make Smiths Falls our turnaround point and not push on to Ottawa. It is a vacation, after all, and not a race. We will leave the northern half of the Rideau Canal Waterway for another time, possibly this fall.

We discover that we were over-charged for the first night at $1.60 a foot. The dockage fee should have been $1.20 a foot. Dave, the morning manager at Victoria Park, did not want to disturb us first thing in the morning. We discover all this when we go to the office to extend our stay for another night. Now, we are only charged 60 cents a foot.

We’re enjoying our stay in Smiths Falls, the largest town on the Rideau between Ottawa and Kingston, even though a number of people recommended we pass through and stay instead at Merrickville, 25 miles up the waterway.

Margo shows off her excellent pork sausages at the Farmer's Market in Smiths Falls.

Somehow, we managed to misplace the name of the couple who make a variety of preserves, including delightful dilly carrots.

We purchased garlic parmesan butter from Aunt Owl and yummy sausage rolls from her husband, Peter.

We check out the small Farmer’s Market. The Captain buys out the market with home-made dilly carrots, local honey, honey-garlic pork sausages, Peter’s BBQ sauce, Grace’s butter tarts and Aunt Owl’s garlic parmesan butter. Aunt Owl offers free sample sausage rolls today, much to the delight of the Captain.

The butter tarts are actually made by Anne, using the recipe of her aunt Grace, thus, the name. The tarts are finished with lots of brown sugar and molasses so the taste is almost like a brulee. Delish!

We tour the interesting Rideau Canal Museum where the Captain searches for suitable headwear. The second floor is under renovations and we are given a $1.00 off each for the admission price: $3.00 for adult and $2.50 for seniors.

We were not able to pick up any fresh produce at the Farmer’s Market so we head off to the Independent Grocer which is less than a 10-minute walk. Smiths Falls is a good stop for provisioning, with a Wal-Mart and Beer Store close by.

It is a hot day, so a bistro dinner is in order. Ice-cold Bacardi mojitos, fresh baguette, country-style pate and cheese, eaten in the cockpit looking out on the canal and surrounding park.

It was a slow day through the locks. We count only eight pleasure craft and General Brock, a tour boat.

Another reason to stay in Smiths Falls and within WiFi range was to catch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. We avoid the local sports bar and catch the game live on our Mac, above, thanks to streaming video from the CBC. Much to our dismay, the Pens lose 5-0.

Yep, red sky in morning, sailors take warning. The following day was rainy.

WiFi at the dock (!) in Smiths Falls

2009-06-09T15:32:00.012-04:00

A historic lift bridge locked in the open position marks our arrival in Smiths Falls, halfway between Kingston and Ottawa on the Rideau Waterway.

5 June 2009, 1630 hours, Smiths Falls

Before we depart Westport, we pick up another French baguette at Westport Bakery, assorted Swiss-style chocolate and hazelnut cookies, plus two still very warm sausage rolls.

At Poonamalie Lock, we notice a sailboat (above), called Different, that has been converted for boating canals and inland waterways. It does not have a mast but has a long canopy over the cockpit. The owners are Mike Kingsmill, the former Commodore of Frenchman’s Bay Yacht club, and his wife, Lynne. Another small coincidence: He knows Ed Fulton, our condo neighbour, whom he affectionately calls “Fast Eddie.” When we return home, we’ll have to ask Ed what that means.

We arrive in Smiths Falls, dock at Victoria Park and cannot believe there is WiFi at the slip and hot showers. Three days straight with showers, and WiFi, unbelievable!

Lunch: fresh baguette, genoa salami, hot-house tomatoes and cucumbers.

Dinner: smoked ham steaks with stir-fry red peppers, zucchini and mushrooms, with a cabernet-merlot blend from Banrock Station.

No, the WWII trainer is not flying low over At Last! It's mounted at the Victoria Park RV Park and Marina.

The nearby Comfort Inn is the reason we have WiFi on the dock at Smiths Falls.

Wonders never end in Westport

2009-06-09T15:31:00.004-04:00

In preparation for the next day, the Admiral studies the Ports guide to the Rideau.

4 June 2009, 1030 hours, Westport

When we find there is WiFi in the laundromat, we love Westport even more. While laundry is drying, we check out Church Street Bakery which just happens to be two doors away.

Back to the boat we haul, with our laundry, a loaf of the Maritime Brown bread, home-made sausage rolls, morning glory muffins, berry mix muffins and two types of tarts: pecan and raisin butter tarts.

It’s impossible to say which of the two bakeries is our favourite. They are both excellent. Westport Bakery is more European, Church Street Bakery is more Canadian with Eastern Ontario and Quebec influences. Both are run by young couples who have decided to carve a livelihood for themselves in a quiet village that bustles with visitors during July and August.

As we head back to At Last! we notice Janbarree II, a 42-foot trawler yacht built on a lobsterboat hull, that has arrived in the harbour. Jan is wearing a Nordhavn Atlantic Rally T-shirt. (NAR was the first powerboat rally across the Atlantic. The Captain was the only journalist to crew on all three legs, while the Admiral flew out to visit him during the Bemuda stopover.)

We discover that Jan was on the Nordhavn 46 Envoy on the leg to Bermuda while her husband, Barrie, crewed all the way. The four of us were together on the same dock and same parties in Bermuda five years ago—only to meet in a village dock on the Rideau Canal Waterway. Talk about a small world, eh?

After a short hike, at Salmon House, we pick up take-out walleye fish and chips for a delightful dinner with Jan and Barrie.

Succulent smoked salmon and an outstanding French baguette make for an exceptional lunch.

We join the Westport Boosters Club

2009-06-09T15:29:00.001-04:00

3 June 2009, 1930 hours, Westport

Westport is our kind of overnight stop: A five-minute walk from the public docks we can purchase a fresh baguette and sweet raisin butter tarts from Westport Bakery, house-smoked salmon from Salmon House, and fresh produce and groceries of any kind at Kudrinko’s Country Kitchen supermarket.

Not to mention Yvon, the helpful harbourmaster, docks with power, water and a view—all for $1 per foot in dockage fees. Plus shower and laundry facilities, albeit a few minutes away. And WiFi right on the docks. Well, for us Mac users, not right on the docks; we have to walk up the Westport Visitor’s Centre where the WiFi is free and blazingly fast.

When we realize there is a second bakery in the village, as well as a store called Rosie Yumski’s Fine Foods, we decide to stay a second day.

The French baguette from Westport Bakery, quite possibly, is the best baguette we’ve ever eaten in Ontario.

Newboro for WiFi and cinnamon rolls

2009-06-08T10:30:00.005-04:00

3 June 2009

As we departed the Opinicon Resort dock, we encounter the Endeavour B and B and lock through Chaffey’s (Lock 37) with them. We both stop at Newboro (Lock 36), B and B for a fishing licence, At Last! in search of WiFi.

We find the WiFi—and decadent cinnamon rolls—at the Saint Cinnamon Bakery and Cafe in the Stagecoach Inn.

For lunch, we have an excellent club sandwich with freshly oven-roasted turkey and a serving of broiled haddock with fries and coleslaw. For dessert, we share a warm Saint Cinnamon roll served “turtle-style,” that is, topped with French vanilla ice cream, roasted pecans and drizzled with caramel and chocolate. It is so good that we take two cinnamon rolls to go (without the ice cream).

The Endeavour 36 TrawlerCat approaches Davis Lock 38 on the Rideau Waterway.

Morning on the Opinicon

2009-06-06T07:11:00.016-04:00

3 June 2009, 0830 hours, Opinicon Resort, Chaffey’s Lock 37

Opinicon Lake is like a mirror, with the rising sun reflected across still waters. As the sun warms the day, the pockets of morning mist vanish.

We hear the cry of a loon, repeated, ever so forlornly, it seems, two more times. Two huge swans drift into view. Over there, we spot an otter feeding. In the distance, an osprey dives into the lake but comes up empty.

What a beautiful way to begin the day, sipping a cappuccino and marvelling at nature’s ways.

The 700-foot-long dock at Opinicon Resort is empty save for one 24-foot powercat.

Our arrival last evening at famed Opinicon Resort, however, was a total disappointment. The only delight was the water moccasin that greeted us, and two turtles sunning on a log.

Even though the resort advertises that it’s open from May till October, on June 3 the showers are not working, the laundry facilities are not available either, and there is no hot water in the washroom. At the docks, rusty brown water flows from the tap.

During registration, we pick up a brochure. The sample menu is four years old.

But we do have power on the dock, so we pass on trying the resort dining room and enjoy pasta with pesto and a great view aboard At Last!

The only saving grace: Lance, the manager on duty when we depart, waives our dock fees.

There are so many fish in Rideau waters, we've made a note to have fishing gear aboard when we return in the fall.

We've also made a note to make sure we have a long lens for one of our two cameras as there is so much of nature to photograph.

Powercat rendezvous at Upper Brewers

2009-06-05T18:05:00.015-04:00

At Last! is dwarfed by B and B and Tumbleweed at Upper Brewers on the Rideau Waterway. Click on this and any other photo for a larger view.

2 June 2009, 0830 hours, Upper Brewers, Rideau Locks 44 and 43

This is the third season we've owned our powercat, a TomCat 24 built by C-Dory. In that time, we've never encountered another power catamaran.

All that changed last night when we arrived at Upper Brewers. There, waiting for us was Tumbleweed, a PDQ 34. A little later, B and B, an Endeavour 36 TrawlerCat arrived. That was a first for us, three powercats together.

Attitude Adjustment Hour took place aboard Tumbleweed, floating home of Roger and Erika for the last five years. Their last home on land was in Ottawa. Over the years, they've cruised the Great Loop and explored the Bahamas. These days they call the Rideau Waterway their home. The Endeavour is owned by Bill and Birute who have also cruised extensively, but they do have a real home, in Charlevoix, Michigan. Bill and Birute are cruising with friends Paul and Stacy who own a Gulfstar 44MC and hail from Athens, Georgia. Add the crew of At Last! and you have one happy hour with great apps, great conversation and great time. All of which started with the toast, "Powercats forever!"

As a light rain descended on the locks in a wooded setting, we all retired to our individual boats for dinner. Aboard At Last! the Captain prepared a house specialty: perfectly seared rib-eye steak smothered with buttery mushrooms and onions, presented with home-fried potatoes and Banrock Station 2007 Shiraz.

When provisioning for the cruise, we were delighted to find that some of our favourite wines are now in Tetra Paks and so easy to store in the port hull.

We must mention the lunch we enjoyed on our first day on the Rideau: Roasted sweet pepper and tomato soup accompanied by grilled cheese sandwiches made with Le Baluchon, a fragrant raw-milk cheese from Quebec. After that little feast, a nap was a must.

At Last! and Tumbleweed wait below Kingston Mills, the first lock when northbound on the Rideau.

The Admiral holds a line around a fixed lock cable as water is let into the lock chamber.

Bicyclists take a shortcut across the closed lock at Kingston Mills.

Access to the Internet on the Rideau is spotty; thus, the delay in our posts.

Surfing into Kingston

2009-06-01T08:14:00.005-04:00

31 May 2009, 2030 hours, Confederation Basin, Kingston

Our first two days on the water ended in boisterous conditions. On both days, we started out with a wind out of the west at 10-15 knots. Which was just fine as the wind and resulting waves were behind us, pushing At Last! along.

As the day progressed, the wind increased in strength to 20 knots, even 25. The waves that were 1 to 2 feet grew to 3 to 4 feet. As we approached Presqu’isle Bay on Saturday, we were surfing down 5 to 6-footers. On the approach to Kingston earlier today, confused 3 to 5-footers chased us in.

Nothing dangerous, but definitely not a smooth ride in a boat as small and light as ours. We were delighted to see how well the TomCat handled the conditions, and sure glad we were not pounding into such wind and waves, that is, heading to weather.

The Cetrek Pilot 730 autopilot kept the TomCat on course, and didn’t seem overwhelmed at all. The Captain did take the helm in his own hands at the end of both days, mainly because it made him feel useful, and in control.

We ran at 20 knots through most of the stuff, but when we began to take off from wave tops--and land with a crash and lots of spray--we throttled back the Yamahas to 15 knots.

Somehow, it was fitting to arrive in Kingston in a hail shower, completing our 145-mile run from Frenchman’s Bay with Mother Nature playing a fanfare.

Undaunted, we wasted no time in heading for our favorite shops, all within an easy walk of the marina:

Oldest farmer’s market in Ontario -- late in the day so we only picked up local tomatoes;

Block & Cleaver Meat Market -- a nicely marbled rib-eye steak, about 1.5 inches thick, for tomorrow night or the next day;

Pan Chancho Bakery & Cafe -- where we went over budget with purchases of an extraordinary pate maison, Baluchon raw milk cheese, smoked mackerel pate, double-smoked bacon, Red Fife organic whole wheat loaf, croissants that could use more butter, oatmeal raisin muffins, and, for dessert, creme brulee and caramel pecan tart.

What a bistro night we had aboard At Last! With an excellent Italian organic sangiovese from the wine cellar in the powercat’s port hull.

With our song playing on the iPod Nano.

You can track our progress as we start up the Rideau today and see our whereabouts with SPOT. For the best look, select "satellite" or "hybrid" view.

We're off!

2009-05-30T00:15:00.002-04:00

You can track our progress and see our whereabouts with SPOT. For the best look, select "satellite" or "hybrid" view.

Preparing for the Rideau

2009-05-19T21:13:00.006-04:00

We are starting to count down the days to our departure on May 30 for Kingston and the Rideau Canal Waterway.

Six months between cruises is a long time--but then we do have a full winter in our neck of the Great Lakes.

Map posted with the permission of Ken Watson, the creator of the best single online resource for cruising the Rideau Canal Waterway: www.rideau-info.com. We hope to meet Ken when we're at Davis Lock on our way to Ottawa.

Click on the map for a larger view.

At TrawlerCrawler.net, we have started a forum devoted to cruising the Rideau. Join us there to exchange information and experiences on the famed waterway.

1000 Islands 2008: An excellent two weeks on the water

2008-10-07T03:30:00.024-04:00

As the first days of autumn begin to colour the landscape, as illustrated with a photo from the Murray Canal . . .

. . . we speed home to Frenchman's Bay across a flat Lake Ontario, our faithful Yamaha 100 twins kicking up a perfect wake at 24 knots.

We're sorry to see an excellent two weeks on the water end. Already, we're talking about next season with At Last!

The launch and rescue of Eddie

2008-10-05T20:05:00.014-04:00

When we purchased our TomCat from Ed Devlin of Long Island, one of the many items we received with the boat was a hand-made paper mache dish in the shape of a colourful fish. Ed's wife is an artist and she fashioned the dish to hold fruit. We kept the dish and it became a catch-all, a temporary one, as we felt a smaller, more compact arrangement eventually would suit our needs. When we installed a teak rack for dishes and whatnot in the galley, there no longer was a place for the fish. Thus, the plan to launch it so it might eventually find a home among the fishes of Lake Ontario. The problem was we started calling the fish Eddie as the days of the launch approached, and there was a tinge of sadness in our hearts as we prepared to set Eddie free.

But a plan is a plan so the Captain gently lowered Eddie into the water on the last day of our 1000 Islands cruise.

As Eddie drifted away, all was silent aboard the TomCat. Finally, the Admiral choked back a tear, "This is so sad." Mumbled the Captain, "What if Eddie is our good luck charm?"

And so it came to pass that we turned the boat around and rescued Eddie. He will sail with us all our days on At Last!

Lovely sights, strange sights

2008-10-05T20:00:00.008-04:00

Remember, a click on any image in our blog will open it up for a larger view. Here's a gorgeous lighthouse home on a point in the St. Lawrence River west of Clayton, New York. It was an overcast and blustery day, thus, the wind streaks the choppy water.

OK, whatever turns your clock, skipper. This unusual sailboat we met on the approach to Trenton, Ontario. She is Melodeon out of Halifax.

Our last overnight of the cruise was at the Fraser Park Marina at the mouth of the Trent River and start of the Trent-Severn Waterway which we might explore next season.

Craig Carter, whose family has operated the municipally-owned maria for 11 years, is a friendly and helpful dockmaster. With a supermarket and liquor store within easy walking distance, it's a great place to provision if you're starting the Trent-Severn. Both diesel and gasoline are available.

The joys of off-season cruising: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 11

2008-10-05T19:57:00.019-04:00

We stopped again at Confederation Basin Marina in Kingston on our way home. It was soooooo nice to have the place entirely to ourselves.

And we had a chance to shop again at the nearby open-air market that dates back to 1801, this time scoring excellent Wilson Farms honey and a braid of Ontario hardneck garlic grown by a woman named Titia that should keep us happy until spring.

Due to windy conditions, we decide to stay an extra day in Kingston. We fear the Admiral is coming down with a cold, another good reason to take it easy.

It's decidedly cooler this week, with overnights around 5C, thus, the Captain heads out to find a second heater for the boat, an electric model for use when we're plugged into shore power.

During a happy hour, the crew dances in the warm cabin to Etta James singing At Last.

Dinner is Alexandria Bay’s Virginia ham with asparagus and potatoes. Dessert is the last piece of the triangle iced butter cream brownie from Bella’s Cafe in Clayton.

On the day before, Day 10, after 26.7 miles in two hours brought us from Clayton to Kingston, lunch was the Admiral’s version of a grilled sandwich made with Clayton cheddar cheese loaf slices, rosemary flavoured roast beef and cheddar cheese. A nap is required after such a rich lunch, but, hey, we're on vacation.

On our first night in Kingston, we ate at Ta-Ke Sushi Japanese/Korean Restaurant. We had miso soup, yakitori chicken, shrimp/veggie tempura, hamachi sushi and udon noodles with chicken. This is only the second time in 10 days that we have eaten out.

The happy crew of At Last!

2008-10-05T19:53:00.012-04:00

The Admiral complains she looks like an Eskimo in the photo, but it illustrates how well she was prepared for cooler weather and the highly unlikely eventuality of having to abandon ship.

The Captain, meanwhile, is nattily attired in a Daytona Bike Week T-shirt and a pair of Patagonia fleece pants that date back to a sail around Cape Horn in 1989.

Even admirals need a nap when cruising the smooth waters of the Bay of Quinte.

What a gift for a child!

2008-10-05T19:47:00.006-04:00

Oh, to be one or two years old again!

We spotted this lovely rocker at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. It's made by elves at Guidecraft USA.

Rainy day in Clayton: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 9

2008-10-05T19:38:00.021-04:00

What do you do when the weather socks you in for the day at Clayton, New York?

First, you dock the boat under a roof at Islander Marina and Lodge. Then, you head for the famed Antique Boat Museum across the street. It's an amazing place that easily can preoccupy you for a whole afternoon.

One of the hundreds of boats on display the museum is La Duchess, a 106-foot house boat of the Gilded Age. She was owned by George Boldt, the wealthy hotelier who conceived and financed Boldt Castle at the turn of the 20th century.

The closest we came to finding a power catamaran at the museum was this inverted-vee runabout.

We were lucky to hook up with Robert Matthews, here showing us the extensive collection of 1000 Islands postcards and souvenirs that he and his wife, Prudence, have donated to the museum.

In the Matthews collection, the Admiral checks out a stereoscope, also known as stereopticons or stereo viewers, one of America's most popular forms of entertainment in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Originally, we planned to head down river to Singer Castle on Dark Island, even though the weather forecast wasn't all that great, but when we telephoned Singer and learned they planned to close for the day due to weather conditions, it was a no-brainer to stay in Clayton. In addition to the Antique Boat Museum, Islander Marina has an excellent lounge complete with a large-screen TV where the Admiral was able to get her Food Network fix and watch the latest dance competition.

During a long walk around town, we discovered fresh produce at Big M, said to be the largest supermarket in the 1000 Islands, and at Clayton Harbour Channel Marker 225 Winery Shop, we loaded up with three bottles of Wagner wine from the Finger Lakes, a Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvingnon, and Merlot.

The hunt for famed Thousand Islands Dressing came to a successful end at the Gold Cup Farms River Rat Cheese Shop, a paradise for cheddar cheese lovers.

One great meal after another

2008-10-05T19:34:00.010-04:00

Brownie triangles with creamy icing were a treat we discovered at Bella's Bakery & Cafe in Clayton, New York. Bella's was also the provider of a tasty cheese bread we enjoyed for several days.

In Alexandria Bay, New York, we found local fish--lake perch and walleye pickerel--that made for a mouth-watering fish fry, with garlic herb home-fried potatoes and green beans.

Yes, on a two-burner Wallas kerosene stove, it is possible to pan-fry ribeye steak to perfection.

In fact, we had such success with ribeye that we enjoyed another pair of steaks a few nights later. That's more beef in less than a week than we usually have over several months. But the pan-frying and the sauteeing of onions and mushrooms in butter sure steamed up the small cabin on At Last! as you can see by the fog in the photo.

The next evening we packed on a few more ounces by feasting on Polish sausage, home-fried potatoes and fresh corn on the cob.

We're at the edge of the world!

2008-10-05T19:30:00.004-04:00

If you look closely at the Furuno chart plotter low in the photo (Click the image to enlarge it), you'll see we are approaching the end of our Canadian electronic chart and will soon be sailing into the wide blue yonder. Fortunately, we do carry old-fashioned paper charts and, on this cruise, were getting to know the capabilities of the Palm Centro smartphone visible high in the photo. The ActiveCaptain Mobile software we use does include U.S. charts, so we knew where we were at all times with GPS precision.

The instrument between the Centro and the Furuno is our Cetrek autopilot which steers the boat 80 to 90 percent of the time we're cruising.

Traffic on the St. Lawrence River: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 8

2008-10-05T19:24:00.012-04:00

Doubleclick the images to get the full effect of boating on the St. Lawrence River.

The chemical carrier looks so large and close because it is so large and close to us in the St. Lawrence River near Alexandria Bay, New York.

Note the free-fall lifeboat launch at the rear of the ship.

Small tugs and larger ones push and pull their loads on the St. Lawrence River.

Here's an ocean-going oil carrier home-ported in Quebec City.

On the short run from Alex Bay to Clayton, we gawked our way down Millionaire’s Row, a series of islands with spectacular homes.

Boldt Castle: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 7

2008-10-03T21:33:00.030-04:00

At the turn of the 20th century, George C. Boldt, millionaire proprietor of the world famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, set out to build a full size rhineland castle in Alexandria Bay on picturesque Heart Island. The grandiose structure was to be a display of his love for his wife, Louise.

Beginning in 1900, Boldt's family shared four glorious summers on the island while 300 workers including stonemasons, carpenters, and artists fashioned the six-storey, 120-room castle, complete with tunnels, a powerhouse, Italian gardens, a drawbridge, and a dove cote. Not a single detail or expense was spared.

In 1904, tragedy struck. Boldt telegraphed the island and commanded the workers to immediately "stop all construction." Louise had died suddenly. A broken-hearted Boldt could not imagine his dream castle without his beloved. Boldt never returned to the island, leaving behind the structure as a monument of his love.

For 73 years, the castle and various stone structures were left to the mercy of the wind, rain, ice, snow and vandals. When the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property in 1977, it was decided that through the use of all net revenues from the castle operation it would be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.

Since 1977, millions of dollars have been spent rehabilitating, restoring and improving the Heart Island structures. As a result, Bold Castle is a must-stop on any visit to the 1000 Islands. It's located on the the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence River opposite Alexandia Bay, New York.

The best view of amazing Boldt Castle is from the air.

No, that's not the castle, but merely the powerhouse where electricity originally was generated for the castle.

No, that's not the castle either, but the boathouse. Yes, boathouse.

A small cottage on a tiny adjacent island contrasts sharply with the grand 120-room castle on Heart Island.

The heart theme is repeated over and over again in the decor of the castle. In fact, Boldt had the island shoreline altered so the land form was heart-shaped.

To illustrate the grand scheme of the place, here's the entrance area at the foot of the staircase that ascends six floors.

And if hearts were not enough, Boldt also added harts in prominent design touches.

Even after all these years, it isn't certain whether the castle ceiling was fashioned by Tiffany's or not.

Tom and Mindy travelled from Pennsylvannia to Boldt Castle to be married--last July--but their photographer failed to show up. So they returned to the castle at the time our visit more than two months later to get their wedding photos, using another, more punctual phtographer.

We enjoyed our visit to Alex Bay but, quite honestly, cannot see any reason to recommend the place to anyone else unless they love pubs, bars and tacky souvenir shops. As Boldt Castle has a visitor dock, it is possible to visit the castle without staying in Alex Bay.

That's At Last!, the only visiting yacht at the marina operated by the Riveredge Hotel. Not the best choice for a yacht arriving from Canada, it turns out, as the videophone check-in with U.S. Immigration is a 15-minute hike across town at Lower James Dock, and not at the hotel as we had been told when we telephoned U.S border officialdom. Then, we almost miss the videophone as the sign is posted only facing the water.

But the outing does give us a chance to stroll through the small village. We pick up the local River Rat cheddar cheese, Adrirondack sausage and Croghan bologna, which we devour as appetizers. We are so full after the apps that for dinner we just have a bowl of cream of scallop soup with warm pita dipped in baba ganoush.

But it was nice to have Boldt Castle just across the river from At Last!

En route to Alex Bay, we ran under the 1000 Islands International Bridge in foggy, rainy conditions.

Paradise found at Camelot Island: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 4

2008-10-01T17:19:00.018-04:00

We can’t believe our luck! We have the sweetest anchorage anyone could want all to ourselves. It’s a quiet cove on the southeast corner of Camelot Island where we are shielded by rock and forest on three sides, with a view out to the channel and across the U.S. border to Grindstone Island and a palatial summer home. Next to us is Netley Island, a small, private island, where several cottages are nestled among the trees.

In the cove, the water is so still we won’t know we’re sleeping on a boat tonight. The water is so clear the Captain can see the anchor setting in the light sand as the Admiral backs down At Last! (Meaning she has the throttles in reverse to set the anchor.)

The Captain tests the temperature of the water announces tomorrow we might swim. Fat chance, says the Admiral.

Before long, the seductive sound of Zamfir’s pan flute fills the air.

At app time, we open a chilled bottle of Segura Viudas cava brut reserva, given to us by Marty and Annabel at the christening, and treat ourselves to smoked oysters and smoked mussels. As dusk descends, the Captain gets busy in the galley. The plan is to caramelize an onion to sweeten a pile of cremini mushrooms that have been sauteed in garlic butter, and then to smother a nicely marbled ribeye steak that we picked up at the Block & Cleaver in Kingston. Dessert will be down-home-style pecan butter tarts from Wolfe Island Bakery.

What a feast and what a location as light rain patters on the pilothouse roof!

The Admiral bangs away at the Mac to record the latest happenings aboard At Last!

Have we mentioned we are eating well?

During our lay day on the hook at Camelot Island, we spot, to our delight, the name of Attilio Labriola, husband of the Admiral’s childhood friend Ruby, in a newspaper we have with us. Attilio, an interior designer, has been recognized for his work on the Renfrew County Courthouse.

After refueling at Gan (local talk for Gananoque), we encounter a pair of tugs hauling sewage.

On our departure from Kingston, we pass the Royal Military College.

Lay day in Kingston: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 3

2008-09-30T21:56:00.009-04:00

At the open-air market in the town square, which first started in 1801, we make out like bandits: fresh raspberries, fresh strawberries, sweet peaches, golden corn-on-the cob, green beans and Ontario garlic. From the Wolfe Island Bakery, we purchase a Red River baguette, wild berry muffins, awesome brownies, pecan tarts, butter tarts, raspberry and blueberry tarts.

Facing the square is the Block & Cleaver, a small butcher shop where we purchase summer sausage, Black Forest ham, a chunk of kolbassa and ribeye steak.

What are you saying, that we cruise to eat? It does sound like it, that’s for sure.

In the evening, we take in a concert at the refurbished Grand Theatre. Renowned Cape Breton fiddler Natalie Mac Master plays like a demon and dances, too, with a five-month bulge in her belly. The audience gasps in amazement when Natalie announces that Nathaniel Smith, the long-haired virtuoso on the cello, is only 14 years old.

Brighton to Kingston: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 2

2008-09-30T21:13:00.012-04:00

Whereas Frenchman’s Bay to Brighton was almost boring, with not much to see but for the lake on the right and land on the left, the cruise through the Murray Canal, above and below, Bay of Quinte and on to Kingston had us enjoying the changing scenery under cloudless skies.

As will be true for our time in the 1000 Islands, navigation--keeping track of buoy numbers and our progress on the chart, with an eye on the depthsounder--kept us busy. At right, the Captain takes a minute to call his sister to let her know At Last! is passing by the cottage near Carrying Place that she and her husband owned many years ago.

Thus, after we pulled in Confederation Basin at Kingston, above, after 71 miles in 5 hours, we were ready to celebrate. An excellent bottle of blended red from Wayne Gretzky Estates washed down appetizers of Pringles and wasabi peas before we moved on to dinner of smoked ham steak with sweet potato and green peas. No. 99’s wine came to us from Bob and Charlene at the christening of At Last! Our neighbour, a large motor yacht called Black Sheep, left for Oswego, New York, a few hours after our arrival.

Frenchman’s Bay to Brighton: 1000 Islands Cruise Day 1

2008-09-30T20:55:00.004-04:00

As is the tradition in our family when starting any trip, we began our 1000 Islands Cruise munching on the Admiral’s unbeatable homemade western sandwiches.

On the first day, we had an uneventful, if at times bumpy, run to Brighton in Presqu’ile Bay, 76 miles in four hours. At Harbour View Marina, we took on 225 litres/59.5 U.S. gallons. Since our last fill-up, we average 5.4 gallons per hour.

At our destination, Presqu’ile Landing Marina, we enjoyed our first meal aboard, Chinese-style stir-fried veggies with fettucine noodles, before crashing early after our first day on the water (with its early start following a late night getting ready).

At Last! christened at last

2008-08-27T22:15:00.017-04:00

What a great time we had when our extended family and best friends gathered at Port Whitby Marina to christen our TomCat!

We invited godsons Kris Holdenried and Michael Powell (left and right in the photo centre) to help us formally christen At Last! Here's the prayer we used:

Captain: Almighty God, who guided Noah in the building of an Ark, and calmed the raging sea,
Kris: We call upon you to bless those who have prepared this vessel for service, and to bless all who are present for this christening
Mike: We call upon you to protect and preserve those who sail in her, and surround them with your loving care.
Admiral: I hereby christen this vessel . . . At Last!

Heck, it was just like a Formula One podium after a GP with champagne spraying everywhere! To be truthful, it was our favorite cava, and the spray was directed at the name on the hull.

After the ceremony, a traditional Baltic buffet prepared by Chef Ingo at the Latvian Centre was laid out for our 42 guests who devoured the salmon two ways, smoked white fish, sauteed sole, marinated herring, smoked turkey, pastrami, salami, marinated mushrooms, great rye bread with unsalted butter, salads this way and that way, piragi perfectly shaped and baked by dear friend Ive, and enough sweets to make your mouth water at every remembrance for weeks and months to come. Thank you, Kristine, for the extraordinary butter tarts and squares, and Marty, for the splendiferous chocolate cake.

Later, we opened At Last! for tours, and with the co-operation of Captain Mick Flynn, we were able to offer harbour cruises on Coho Connection, his vintage Chris-Craft.

A good time was had by one and all. We enjoyed putting the celebration together as much as our guests enjoyed partaking in the festivities.

Bon voyage, Spirit of Canada!

2008-08-26T22:14:00.003-04:00

The speed of our TomCat 24 paid off in spades the other day when At Last! was the only vessel from Fairport Yacht Club that was able to locate and catch up to Spirit of Canada as she reached down Lake Ontario to begin a voyage to France and the start of the Vendee Globe singlehanded nonstop round-the-world race.

Fairport Yacht Club hoped to send a flotilla to greet Derek Hatfield, Spirit of Canada's skipper, soon after he departed his home port at Port Credit Yacht Club. Close to 10 yachts left the dock but were unable to catch up with Spirit as she reached along at 10 knots. Only At Last! managed to rendezvous with the Open 60 some five miles offshore.

Skyman the sailor

2008-08-04T11:16:00.006-04:00

We had a fun day aboard At Last! when Skyler, our 9-month-old grandnephew, came boating for the first time. It's something we will want to do every year around the time of his father's birthday. The proud parents, Kris and Jooli, are shown with Skyler in the forehatch of the TomCat.

Best of Lake Ontario, Golden Horseshoe

2008-07-14T15:45:00.001-04:00

Here are our recommendations for anyone cruising or touring the Golden Horseshoe of Lake Ontario:

Best marina -- Credit Village Marina, Port Credit
Best yacht club -- Newport Yacht Club & Marina, Stoney Creek
Best fuel dock -- Beacon Harbourside Marina, Jordan Harbour
Best view -- Dalhousie Yacht Club, Port Dalhousie
Best dining experience -- 13 Mountain Street Bistro, Grimsby
Best ribs -- Mustang's Big Ol' Grill, Stoney Creek
Best bakery -- Olson's Foods + Bakery, Port Dalhousie
Best blues -- Odyssey Blues Band featuring Suzanne Hart, Lion Tavern, Port Dalhousie
Best taxi driver -- Ed, Lincoln Limo & Cab, Grimsby

Send us your recommendations via comments on the blog.

Golden Horseshoe Cruise by the numbers

2008-07-14T15:05:00.007-04:00

Length of cruise -- 10 days, 9 nights
Distance travelled -- 118 statute miles
Ports of call -- 6
Average fuel burn -- 2.488 U.S. gallons per hour
Average daily cost of cruise -- $165.82
Average daily cost without purchase of a case of wine and the four priciest restaurants -- $65.80
Lesson learned -- Don't overpack.

TomCat 24: Ideal pocket cruiser for us

2008-07-11T21:15:00.008-04:00

After 10 days aboard At Last! we are more convinced than ever that the TomCat 24 will be perfect for our boating needs and desires for the next five, perhaps even 10 years.

Four years ago, after we first spent several hours aboard the same boat we eventually bought late last year, we detailed the reasons the TomCat 24 is the ideal pocket cruiser for us at this time:

It looks good.
It's small yet spacious, and relatively inexpensive.
It's trailerable.
It won't roll, and provides a stable, smooth ride in cruising conditions.
It has a nice turn of speed.
It's unsinkable.
It has an enclosed head.
The berth lies athwartships.
It’s a multihull.
It looks good.

When we’re boating together, we enjoy inland and coastal cruising, hanging out in secluded anchorages. The Captain, when he’s on his own, gets all the offshore time he craves with his Nordhavn connections and work on Circumnavigator magazine.

Together, we have enjoyed the Channel Islands off the California coast, Inside Passage to Alaska, North Channel in the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, the warm waters of Southwest Florida and the British Virgin islands, and Canal du Midi in France.

On his own, the Captain, under sail and under power, too, has crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, has sailed around Cape Horn in record time with his trimaran Great American, and has several other ocean passages on his wish list.

Together, we’re looking forward to the Bay of Quinte and 1000 Islands later this year, the Rideau Canal and/or Trent-Severn Waterway as soon as we can swing the time, and a long list of other cruises as far east as Newfoundland, south to the Bahamas and/or the Sea of Cortez, and north to Alaska—the Lord of Heaven, Earth and Water willing.

Penultimate port of Golden Horseshoe Cruise

2008-07-06T17:15:00.009-04:00

We were so excited by the chance encounter with family on Toronto Islands that we plain forgot to take a photograph of Bill and Terry and their sons, Tyler and Jackson, who were on their way to the Centreville amusement park with friends Phil and Jen and their three daughters.

We were out on our morning walk from Toronto Island Marina where 30 years ago we went boating together for the first time. It was here that the Captain kept the Folkboat Austra, his first sailboat, bright from the water up, and Austra II, his Alberg 22 sailboat, while working on magazines in Toronto and Montreal.

We did not forget to raise the camera when we spotted Indifference, a Marine Trader 44 that crossed the Atlantic long before the first Nordhavn or very many other motorboats had made the passage to Europe. We chatted briefly with the owner, Leonard Stern, who with his wife was on a Golden Horseshoe cruise of their own. We agreed to meet in Frenchman’s Bay in late July when Indifference will be heading to eastern Lake Ontario.

We were tucked away in a corner of the marina near the spot where the Captain gave the Admiral a memorable kiss three decades earlier. A sweet way to end our cruise, before the final leg home to Frenchman’s Bay.

Lake like glass for run to Port Credit

2008-07-05T10:42:00.008-04:00

Not a ripple on the water, barely a breathe of wind, with only whisps of cloud in the blue sky. For the Admiral, it was boating in heaven.

The fierce midsummer sun saw the Captain slather on the sun block.

In the perfect conditions for powerboating, we took our time, throttled back and enjoyed the 18-mile passage from Stoney Creek to Port Credit which lies 11 miles west of Toronto.

No, it’s not a steel ship threatening to run us down . . .

. . . but the grounded freighter Ridgetown forming a breakwater at the mouth of the Credit River to protect the huge Port Credit Harbour Marina. (That's the Toronto skyline at right.) We were headed to the inner harbour and the much more cozy Credit Village Marina.

At the Snug Harbour Seafood Bar & Grill (above left) which overlooks the marina we had a surprisingly fine dinner of calamari, salmon and halibut nuggets, bouillabaisse and grillled jumbo shrimp, while seated at a table on the patio.

A bourbon chocolate pecan pie brought the meal to a close on a high note.

Best ribs ever, at Mustang’s Big Ol’ Grill

2008-07-04T10:48:00.006-04:00

Ed, the taxi driver we met in Jordan, was absolutely right.

The ribs at Mustang’s Big Ol’ Grill in Stoney Creek are indeed the fall-off-the-bone variety. More than that, when you try to pick up a rib with your fingers, the bone pulls cleanly out of the meat, just like a toothpick would, leaving a big pile of tasty pork on your plate, with abundant sauce and just enough fat to make you lick your lips and pat your belly.

Peter and Leslie Elliott run the restaurant in Stoney Creek and another similar one in Mississauga. We gave him greetings from Ed and prodded him for the secret to his fabulous ribs. He’d only say the ribs are prepared in a marinade, slow-cooked for a couple of hours, then kept in a cooler until they are grilled to order for each customer. In other words, no real clue as to why they are the best ribs we’ve ever had. Our server shown in the photo was cheerful Lisa—who has never tried the ribs at her place of employment!

As if we had room for dessert, we forged ahead and ordered the apple crisp made by Peter’s mum. It comes warm, of course, and we requested chocolate ice cream on the side. What a taste treat! Especially for the Captain who remembers how an old sailor in the now defunct Cornwallis Hotel in Halifax told him when he was only 15 that chocolate ice cream was the only a la mode suitable for apple pie or crisp.

If you’re ever near Stoney Creek, Mustang’s Big Ol’ Grill is not to be missed.

It’s a 30-minute walk from Newport Yacht Club and Marina where Jack, the manager, is friendly and helpful, and the washrooms and showers are spotless.

Right now, the entrance to the harbour, guarded by King Neptune, has silted and shallows to six feet at the narrowest point. Next week dredging starts so soon Newport will be easily accessible by any boat, sail or power.

An address to savour: 13 Mountain Street in Grimsby

2008-07-04T06:55:00.015-04:00

What a find! A 20-minute hike from Foran’s Marine in the little town of Grimsby we discovered the finest restaurant of the cruise: 13 Mountain Street Casual Elegant Bistro. It’s the former Gables Restaurant mentioned in the Ports Cruising Guide.

What a feast! For an appetizer, the Admiral had a ceviche seafood citrus salad with ruby red grapefruit and oranges and, for the main. the “rack and roll” which consisted of a roasted rack of Ontario lamb and a braised Ontario lamb shank with an Indian spiced dumpling and carmelized leeks. The Captain had the rich pheasant pistachio terrine, followed with a pan-fried Lake Erie perch, Whitemeadows maple syrup cured cabbage slaw and spiced Yukon Gold potato batons.

Our excellent server, Michael, was knowledgeable about the menu, the wines and the region. For a libation, we selected Megalomaniac Cabernet Sauvignon from John Howard Cellars.

Thing learned: Since 2005, licensed restaurants in Ontario have had the option of participating in the BYOW/THTR program (Bring Your Own Wine/Take The Rest Home). Thus, we were able to take our unfinished wine back to the boat.

Sous chef Abby Solomon, in charge of the kitchen as chef Josh Groom was away, served our dessert—vanilla creme brulee and a blood red orange meringue pie—and chatted briefly with us.

13 Mountain Street was all you want a dining-out experience to be, great food, great service, great decor. Kudos to owners Peter and Cheryl Martinello.

Across Mountain Street from the restaurant is a Food Basics where we acquired some neccessities for the balance of the cruise. On the walk back, we saw Dutch Shop for Dutch and European delicacies on Main Street near Mountain that will be worth checking out on a future visit. Upon return to the marina, we learned that Ed, the friendly taxi driver of Canada Day, had come by to see if we wanted a tour of his town.

All in all, Grimsby made for a wonderful stop in our travels where a shower just before departure cooled the morning.

Our only regret? That we were not carrying the Nikon as the presentation of food by Abby Solomon is picture perfect.

Fireworks around Lake Ontario

2008-07-03T16:33:00.008-04:00

No, it’s not an asteroid plummeting from the heavens, but our first attempt at time-lapse photography during the Canada Day fireworks display visible from Jordan Harbour.

The cool thing about fireworks this Canada Day was that we could see them near our marina, at Port Dalhousie, at Ashbridge’s Bay across Lake Ontario and over Burlington. Had we stayed up a bit longer we’re certain we would have seen the fireworks at Ontario Place, too.

We had an excellent Canada Day, with lunch at On the Twenty in Jordan and a tour at the adjacent Cave Spring Cellars, the first winery in Canada to operate a restaurant on the premises. Today, name a winery in Niagara, Prince Edward County or the Okanagan that doesn’t operate a restaurant.

Getting the five miles to Jordan and back was a challenge as hiring a taxi isn’t as easy as the cruising guides make it out to be. It takes close to a half hour to get a a taxi from St. Catharines and then they want a $20 surcharge. Fortunately, our driver was a rookie and did not know enough to charge the extra $20, so the fare, with tip, from marina to Jordan, was only $13.

For the trip back from Jordan, we tried calling a cab from Lincoln Limo & Cab in nearby Grimsby. They made us wait 45 minutes and then wanted a flat fee of $25 for the trip back. Fortunately, we are able to negotiate a $15 rate with the dispatcher which we gladly augmented with a $5 tip for Ed, our driver, who was a friendly guy with lots of recommendations for eateries at our next harbour. In fact, he’s a friend of the owner at Mustang’s Big Ol’ Grill, a roadhouse we had been thinking of trying when we're in Stoney Creek. Ed assured us that the ribs at Mustang’s were of the fall-off-the-bone variety.

A side note to foodies: The Anna Olson of Food Network fame whose baked goods we sampled in Port Dalhousie was pastry chef at On the Twenty in Jordan for seven years. It’s there she met her husband, Michael, who was the founding chef of the restaurant. Anna is originally from Georgia but grew up in Toronto. She and Michael have co-authored several cookbooks and this summer are expanding their Foods & Bakery operation to St. Davids near Niagara Falls.

In Jordan Harbour, we took on 153 litres of fuel at $1.46 for a total of $228.28. In the world of the $150 barrel of oil, powerboating isn’t cheap. For our American friends, that translates to 40.4 gallons at $5.54. That’s Harbourmaster Marsha in the photo with the Admiral.

Again we ask the question, why do cruising sailors insist on taking photograph after photograph of sunsets?

Kicking back in Jordan Harbour

2008-07-01T19:13:00.009-04:00

The dominant visual at Jordan Harbour—whether you’re approaching by water or zooming along the Queen Elizabeth Way—is the rusting hulk of a 16th century ship sailed by Jacques Cartier. It’s a replica built to serve as a restaurant that was looking for a new home when vandals set the vessel on fire.

Beacon Harbourside Marina is a lovely quiet harbour to spend two days in. It’s small—only 88 slips in all—but it has a fuel dock and all the other facilities, and a friendly harbourmaster in Marsha.

What it does not have is Harbour Estates Winery only a 15-to-20-minute walk away as stated in the popular Ports Cruising Guide for Lake Ontario and as cited on the Jordan Harbour website. In truth, it’s about 40 minutes away on foot.

Our plan is to taxi to Jordan, the village about five miles inland, where we’ll tour the highly regarded Cave Spring Cellars after lunch at the highly praised Inn on the Twenty. Then we’re picking up a famed Rueben at Zooma Zooma Cafe for eating back on board at supper before Canada Day fireworks this evening.

The marina is part of the Best Western Beacon Harbourside Inn so we have excellent WiFi here. The hotel restaurant is well known in Niagara for its $14.95 prime rib dinner. Needless to say, that was our fare last night.

After a glass or three of surprisingly excellent shiraz from the Konzelmann Estate Winery in nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake.

One sidelight: Montreal Canadiens great Yvan Cournoyer was dining two tables over. He and the three companions talked return on equity their entire meal.

Why is it that all cruising sailors seem to take sunset photos night after night?

Blues, beer and buds

2008-06-29T15:19:00.009-04:00

Maria Aurigema (right) was the guitar player and singer who was the guest artist playing with the Odyssey Blues Band at the regular Saturday afternoon jam at the Lion Tavern.

The blues and beer gave us an opportunity to meet up with old friend Joe from Niagara Falls, but, man, was it hot and humid in the 150-year-old tavern!

Besides the blues, the other compelling reason to visit Port Dalhousie is Anna Olson’s Foods & Bakery operated by the Food Network dessert queen.

At lunch, the Admiral had Anna’s All-Time Favourite Sandwich: two thick slices of whole wheat/walnut bread with roasted beef sirloin with lettuce and tomato dressed with caesar. The Captain had sweet pulled pork and red cabbage slaw on a grilled bun. There wasn’t enough pork and too much bun, but the beef sandwich was tasty. We were surprised the tomatoes tasted like winter tomatoes from Mexico, and that none of the hired help knew whether we were eating focaccia or ciabatta.

We couldn’t leave Anna’s without a sampler-to-go of her famous desserts: homemade butter tarts, triple chocolate brownie and chocolate fudge almond square.

At our slip near the breakwater, we were visited by geese, ducks, gulls and a host of other birds.

Frenchman's Bay to Port Dalhousie

2008-06-29T15:13:00.005-04:00

Perfect conditions for the two-hour run from Frenchman’s Bay to Port Dalhousie, 5 knots of breeze, not much than a ripple on the water. Smooth, safe and fast, running 22 mph at 4,200 rpm for a fuel burn of 10 gph.
Before we got under way, there was a feeling that we may have brought way too much stuff.

In our slip at Port Dalhousie Pier Marina, with the Admiral dressed up and ready to go to Jimmy Buffet Night at Dalhousie Yacht Club. At the friendly club with the great view the margaritas were weak but the cheeseburgers excellent.

The view from the pilothouse at sunset.

At Last!

2008-05-25T21:50:00.006-04:00

After close to two months of waiting for tradespeople who specialize in lettering boat names to show up, we found a good man right in our own neighbourhood. By that time, it seemed so much more appropriate to name our powercat At Last! rather than merely At Last. Here, she rests in her slip at the Fairport Yacht Club dockominium, unfortunately, with a shadow across the name. When we can, we'll replace the photo.

The Trawlers & Trawlering List burgee adorns the port side of At Last! while the Fairport YC burgee is on starboard.

Art Devilliers is the artist who helped us dress up the boat with a name, burgees, hailing port and a Canadian flag. Now, she's ready to start cruising—which we'll do right after the Captain returns from riding a Harley-Davidson from Phoenix to Anchorage for a magazine he's developing.

At Last is launched

2008-04-18T21:09:00.001-04:00

More to follow.

Farewell, Goose!

2008-04-07T09:11:00.005-04:00

Spring has finally come to Frenchman's Bay. Yesterday, as we started preparing our TomCat for launch, the last ice on the bay disappeared.

Here, the Admiral uses a hair dryer to remove the name Goose, the name Ed Devlin gave the TomCat when he bought it new in 2002. We'll be renaming it At Last.

Boat-handling in rough seas

2008-01-25T20:37:00.000-05:00

That's not a TomCat in the photo, but a Wildcat in the stormy Irish Sea. It's one of several dramatic photos posted at Power Catamaran World to illustrate an article by Larry Graff, founder of Glacier Bay Catamarans, on how to handle small powercats in heavy weather. It's worth a look.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

2007-12-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

All the best of Christmas from the crew of the TomCat At Last!

Wrapped up for winter

2007-12-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

The TomCat At Last is shrink-wrapped for winter on the hard in a boatyard not far from her owners' home. That's At Last in the center, nestled between two sailboats behind a snow bank.

TomCat 24 sea-trialed by Bob Austin

2007-11-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

Before moving to power from sail, Bob Austin, a retired physician, shown at the helm of his TomCat, left tens of thousands of ocean miles in his wake, including cruising his own boat across the Atlantic and racing to Hawaii from California several times. After owning a trawler yacht, Bob and his wife Marie decided to downsize. Here is his account of sea-trialing the TomCat 24. The report was first posted on Power Catamaran List:

We looked at several other boats in our quest for a trailerable catamaran cruiser. We would like to have a cruising range of over 300 miles, enough storage for 10 days food and gear, an easy to get in bunk, a head with shower, and speed up to 30 mph. This needs to be trailerable behind a standard tow vehicle, and without permits. We currently own a 22-foot C-Dory Cruiser which is light, but hard to get into the bunk and no head (portipotty under the bunk).

This is my impression of the TomCat 24.

General fit and finish was typical of the C-Dory line. The interior was spray gel coated, but not polished. The hull to deck joint fasteners had epoxy or some other sealant over them like the classic C-Dory.

The side decks were extremely narrow (4 inches). The hand rail on the cabin top was way inboard, so walking along the side deck was difficult--and almost impossible to undo dock lines from the side. There was just a side cleat about 1/3 aft, no foredeck or anchor cleat--no forward cleats.

The windows were very large--the middle foreward window opened to allow a breeze, aft windows opened about half way, sliding windows opened slightly over a foot. The boat was cool enough under way--but at rest, a bit hot in the enclosed pilot house when it was 90 degrees outside.

The cockpit was good size about 7 feet x6 feet and self-bailing. There is a built-in seat/ice chest/fish box aft, and a nice diving platform/swim step.

Headroom was 6 feet 4 inches, with a two-burner diesel stove and sink as in the traditional C-Dory with helm seat on the starboard side. Both dinette seats faced foreward and could seat four inside the pilot house on the port side. The bunk is athwartships, about 7 feet x 48 inches, comfortable and very easy to get in and out of. The head was under the steering console and difficult to get in and out (for a person 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds). Head room in the head was about 5 feet--cramped at the best.

Sight lines were fair foreward--but the bottom of the opening window (middle of three windows) cut off sight about 100 feet out, so for me a natural position did not give good visibility--I would adjust the seat height (not easy to do).

The hulls are definitely "planing," with a sharp entry, but becoming V almost immediately. The boat had twin 115-horsepower Yahama 4-stroke counter-rotation outboards. Maneuvering was excellent. The boat came up to speed as a planing boat would--but definitely there was a difference at 17 mph, where power could be backed off--indicating this as the best planing speed. The top speed with full fuel and four adults was 35 mph. Best cruising speed was at 4,000 RPM which gave about 24 mph and a fuel consumption giving 2.9 miles a gallon. (This is about 0.7 mile per gallon better than Glacier Bay 2690--whose best speed seemed to be around 24 mph and 2.2 miles a gallon.) The sea was very flat and we ran back across the wake (which was minimal). Even on this I felt that there was some "slap" with the TomCat and we felt that the Glacier Bay rode better; however, the motion of the TomCat was not as "quick" as the Glacier Bay.

On the Glacier Bay 2690, the head was much easier to access. The galley was smaller and dinette was smaller, with less storage in the Glacier Bay. The visibility in the Glacier Bay was better, as was the access to the foreward deck--and deck hardware. There was no opening windshield in the Glacier Bay but I feel that top opening hatches facing forward would give adequate ventilation.

The Tom Cat 24 with 116 gallons of fuel would have a range of 290 miles with 10% reserve. The Glacier Bay 2690 with 180 gallons of gas has a range of 350 miles with a 10% reserve.

Running the TomCat 24 on one engine gave a max of 10 miles per hour. Anything more and the engine was lugging as the boat had to get over a "hump" to get more speed. The Glacier Bay was able to get to over 15 mph (but has 35 more hp/engine).

We also looked at the Twin Vee 27-foot weekender: work boat construction, not well finished, no headroom in the cabin and the demo boat leaked badly! World Cat had a very nice fit and finish. The bunk in the 28 footer was too small, the head was unusable when the bunk was made up. It was much more of a fishing boat. The Sea Cat, was not quite as nice as the World Cat--and had the same short-comings--none of these boats had an adequate galley for full-time trailer-cruising.

All of these boats require at least a 3/4-ton truck preferably a one ton--since the towing weight gets close to 10,000 pounds, including trailer. My friend with the TomCat 24 felt that his 1/2 ton was struggling, even in flat Florida.

--Bob Austin

As it turned out, the new TomCat 255, which replaces the 24 in the C-Dory line, addressed some of Bob’s concerns, and he and his wife Marie purchased one which they happily cruise from their home in Pensacola, Florida. As many of their boats have been named, the TomCat is called Thataway.

The saddest day

2007-11-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

They say the two happiest days in a sailor's life are when he buys his boat and when he sells it. I can certainly say what is one of the saddest times: The day the boat is hauled out for the winter. Especially when the boating season has been as short as ours.

At Last was hauled at her home port, Frenchman's Bay Marina in Pickering, Ontario, which, happily, is only five minutes from our home overlooking the bay and Lake Ontario. Thus, we will be able to visit as often as we like over the winter months.

We were one of the last boats hauled out in mid-November. The plan is to be one of the first back in before April's end.

TomCat 24 TomCat

2007-11-06T19:20:00.000-05:00

No, this TomCat hasn’t run aground. Her owners are gathering clams by the bucket in Kachemak Bay, Southcentral Alaska, after easing unto a sandy gravel clam bed to await the ebb of the tide. In all, 190 quarts of razor clams were taken for a feast that won't be soon forgotten.

John and Shanna Stauffacher purchased the 2000 TomCat 24, powered by twin Honda BF90s, in July 2006 to use it the way Alaskans use their boats: They hunt bear and deer, they fish, they harvest clams, shrimp and crabs. And, yes, they cruise, exploring glaciers, fiords and historic sites, and there is always wildlife to sightsee.

Their homeport is Sterling, Alaska, but they regularly trailer to Homer, Seward and Whittier. John is shown below on the ferry between Ketchikan and Haines right after they first bought the boat.

Here’s how John explains why he and his wife, Shanna, shown above with the black bear, started thinking about a power cat to replace their aluminum monohull:

We were interested in a power cat for one main reason: We were tired of getting beat up in the tight chop that is common in the saltwater of Southcentral Alaska in a monohull boat. Secondary was the better fuel economy of power cats.

Why did you decide on the TomCat?

We weren't previously familiar with the TomCat until my wife saw the one we bought for sale at boattrader.com. I wasn't sure I was interested, but my wife kept pushing me to call the owner. I did some investigating online and discovered the C-Brats site where I got some basic questions answered. I also had a good conversation with the C-Dory factory which helped me arrive at a proper used value. At the time, C-Dory still had all their sales information available online for the TomCat, including magazine articles. (See link at top right.)

What are the highlight experiences with the boat?

Our highlight with this boat was an eight-day seven-night bear hunt in May, 2007. We departed the port of Whittier and never used any other port services until our return eight days later. We stayed comfortable and well fed for the entire trip.

What’s next?

We plan an 800-mile trailer ride to Haines, Alaska, to cruise the northern Inside Passage for the month of June 2008. In May 2008, we will make our annual week-long hunt for black bears in Prince William Sound.

What's your background in boating?

Our TomCat is our second boat. We still own our first boat, an 18-foot Harbercraft/Jetcraft aluminum monohull. Everything we do with our Tomcat we used to do with our first boat; we just weren't near as comfortable and we had to pick our days because of the weather.

We've really enjoyed this boat, but . . . we've had some real problems to overcome, the biggest one being trailering this boat and the damage done by the trailer to the boat. (More on that in a future post.)

John and Shanna call their TomCat 24 TomCat, at least for now:

We starting using the name TomCat as soon as we bought the boat. It was mid-July of 2006 and we were in the middle of our high use season. This was supposed to be temporary, but until we work on becoming a little more creative, it has stuck.

Click here for the Alaska Adventure Journal site maintained by John and Shanna.

Lake Ontario all to myself

2007-11-04T19:42:00.000-05:00

Ice! I slid down the icy dock to At Last, our TomCat 24, and almost lost my footing climbing aboard. The deck was covered with ice bubbles.

The heavy dew had frozen into bubbles over all horizontal surfaces. Additionally, I had to scrape the windshield before I could get under way, but soon the morning sun warmed the boat and me. Thus began my first singlehanded passage with the TomCat, a 40-nautical-mile run across Lake Ontario, from Frenchman's Bay to Port Dalhousie and back the following day.

We never expected to purchase the TomCat this summer and had made all sorts of plans, including a three-week holiday in Italy, by the time we had the chance to buy Goose from Ed Devlin on Long Island. Which is why, when most boats have already been pulled out for winter storage, we're just getting started with boating.

It was an excellent passage out and back, running at about 20 knots in seas up to 3 feet, generally on the beam. There was one ship on the horizon, headed for the Welland Canal, on Saturday, and no one out there today, except for two boats heading out of Frenchman's Bay as we came home.

The Yamaha 100s worked purrfectly and the Wallas was all you'd expect a stove/heater to be on on a day when temps hit all of 5C. Klean Heat, a synthetic kerosene, burns cleanly as advertised.

Not only did I have the lake to myself, I was the only guest at an all-but-deserted Port Dalhousie Pier Marina. Which just made the weekend that much more perfect for me. And the blues--the other reason for heading across the lake--were simply outstanding at the Lion's Tavern in Port Dalhousie. If you're ever cruising these waters, and you appreciate the blues, make a point of catching Suzanne Hyatt and the Odyssey Blues Band on Saturdays from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Under Construction

2007-10-26T16:03:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the blog I'm starting to create a place on the Web for information about the original C-Dory TomCat, the experiences of owners past and present, and my adventures with At Last, my own TomCat 24.

The foundation for the blog will be built over the winter months as time becomes available, so check back now and then.

If you're a current or former owner of a TomCat 24, please email me so I can add you to the TomCat register and post information about you and your boat.

--Georgs Kolesnikovs