Day 99: Kingston to Kingston, Ontario (yes, that's right..)
Day 99: Saturday, July 23rd: That's right! We left Kingston and came right back. Twice! Read on!
We got underway from the Confederation Basin Marina in downtown Kingston, headed for a nice quiet anchorage half way to Trenton where the Trent-Severn Waterway begins. This is our farewell view of downtown Kingston and the defense tower (or so we thought..):
We had to pump out our holding tank again so we stopped in at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbor Marina a mile or so up the coast and did so.
We got underway again. In about 20 minutes of cruising in beautiful weather, the high temperature alarm on the engine began to sound. This was bad news! We shut down the engine (fortunately in deep water) and no danger around. Bill checked the seawater strainer and coolant. Nothing would show its ugly head as the culprit so we got on the radio.
At first, for some reason, we couldn't raise anyone on the radio. Then, we looked up and there was a Canadian Coast Guard Lifeboat about 200 yards away, cruising by on its way to assist in a problem at sea. Ruth found a beach towel and started waving frantically. The boat saw us and came over:
This was a brand new Coast Guard boat, designed for the tough situations in the Great Lakes (yes, we are now on Lake Ontario). It can take a 360 degree roll (turn upside down) and come right side up. These fellows were a welcome sight.
They decided it would be OK to tow us back to the Portsmouth Olympic Harbor Marina, so they threw us a bridle:
We secured the bridle to Integrity:
And off they towed. Very humiliating! But these guys were the greatest. They were very professional and sensitive to our needs. They were also free of charge:
They towed us carefully to the wall in the marina where we tied off and let go the bridle.
Now a little introduction to the harbor is in order. This harbor hosted the 1976 Olympic sailing events which is why it is called Portsmouth Olympic Harbor. However, the land the Harbor is built on is public land, of course, just like the property next to it: the highest security federal penitentiary in Canada! Here is Integrity waiting for a mechanic (this is Saturday, and the best mechanic is very busy). The building in the background is the penitentiary where they send the "baddest of the bad"!
We decided to walk the short block to a neat little pub nearby for lunch. It had good food and a very friendly proprietor/bartender. No worries!
As of the close of the day, no mechanic had showed up. They also quit answering the phone. We may be stuck here for a few days but it could be worse, really.
Position tonight: N44 13.068 W076 31.057
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