This morning we were not in a huge rush. However, we probably should have been a little more aggressive with our departure time. We had to gas up this morning for a long run. Confederation Basin does not carry gas so we decided to fill up at the next marina west, Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. This marina was built as a sailing base for one of the summer olympics in the 70s. It usually carries gas and diesel but not today. We had called by telephone the previous day. Not getting an answer, I had left a message for them to call me back but of course they didn’t. Then this morning as we approached the Harbour entrance, there were a 1000 small sailboats exiting the Harbour. This forced us to wait out front. Captain Dave took the opportunity to call them on the VHF radio but again, no answer. Then as we finally got an opportunity to enter the Harbour and approach the gas docks, the marina hands radioed us only to say that they were out of gas.
So, we carried on to Collins Bay Marina which did have gas. However, there was a boat at the dock when we arrived, parked right in the middle of the gas dock. So again, we had to float and wait. Finally, he realized he could move his boat back providing room for the Soggy Dollar to dock. Ramble On continued to float in the Harbour. Unfortunately, this old boat that was gassing up was unable to start afterwards and continued to occupy the dock. Ramble On got in only after Soggy Dollar left. This gave us a little time to go for another swim while we waited for our traveling partners.
Initially we had talked about heading back to Trenton for the night. But after checking the weather and weighing our options we decided to head on to Cobourg for the night. And the most efficient way there was via the open water of Lake Ontario. We headed around the Eastern end of Amherst Island and South West to the False Ducks, around Scotch Bonnet Shoal and West to Cobourg. The skies were blue and the seas were calm. A little over 4 hours and we arrived at our destination. Of course, this meant no stop for lunch. But when you have a crew member who is a whiz in the galley you never go hungry. Scott whipped up the most delicious sandwiches for a lunch on the run.
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