At 7:30am we pull anchor and head north on Picton Bay headed to either Belleville, Trenton, or an anchorage if neither of those places have available slips. The wind is from the south-west today and very strong, which gives us the opportunity to deploy the headsail for a couple of hours and feel like a sailing vessel again.
The vessel route through Prince Edward County is a little strange as you need to go north about 10 miles before getting back on a south-westerly track. There are also two bridges to pass under, and no matter how ample the clearance is, it always feels as if the bridge is going to knock our mast off. But they don’t.
We stop for a swim and morning bath at a protected anchorage then continue a few more hours to the town of Belleville and carefully pull into the guest dock of the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club, made difficult by the 27 knot wind blowing broadside. Fortunately there is another transient boater on the dock and he catches our lines. Once docked, we can feel the full strength of the sun as it is a steamy 36 degrees today.
We have never been here before and find a classic Canadian yacht club – dozens of small training sailing boats on buggies, a large grassy area full of geese and squirrels, a clubhouse with a classic bar, pool table, comfy chairs, showers, washrooms, and a laundry. The docks are a little ratty and the boats are nearly all sail and quite small.
Ana finds the number for a taxi company (no Uber here) and after a lengthy wait he arrives and takes us to a commercial plaza to pick up some pharmacy stuff, as well as a couple things from Dollarama. We visited Belleville once before by boat and didn’t find much of interest, neither do we this time. It takes nearly an hour and three taxi companies to finally find a ride back to the marina (is it any wonder Uber puts all these small town taxi companies out of business when they arrive?). The marina is sweltering but fortunately we’ve had the AC running so the interior of the boat is cool. We return just as the France/Spain World Cup game is starting so we go prone for 90 minutes plus stoppage time to enjoy that spectacle.
I make myself a G&T and open the companionway doors to the cockpit. It feels and smells exactly like a sauna, but I’m not sure where that strong cedar smell is coming from. Another strange thing – my eyes have been really irritated all day, even tearing up, and I’m not sure what’s causing it.
In any case, I sit in that sauna, enjoy my drink, rub my eyes, and just look around for a while, enjoying the heat and free time therapy.
Dinner. Show. Bed.
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