We spent three nights at Confederation basin in Kingston, running around and getting various things done. My sister Ruth was kind enough to drive us around to various places to pick up orders, and provision up. We took the time to Visit with her and Kira, and also my parents, who also live in Kingston. We had pushed a bit coming down the Rideau to arrive ahead of some strong winds that were forecast to arrive. Glad we did, as the weatherman did not disappoint. Our second day in the harbour, the wind was howling from the south. We had whitecaps in the harbour!
There was no boat traffic for most of the day, but eventually a few did trickle in. I went up to the flybridge to watch the show, and was not disappointed. The first arrival was operated by a true expert on Patti Anne. He turned his Grand Banks parallel to the wind, and let the wind push him sideways down the fairway, using his main engines to move forward and backward to clear boats. What a manoeuvre! He docked it perfectly, using a very tricky method in a REALLY strong wind! Video below. I can only hope that someday I can handle a boat like that. WOW. I'm not worthy.
Of course, not everyone was a Jedi master. A few big powerboats trickled in from a lockage an hour or so later, and treated us to a show. After a couple of close calls, the dock staff put them on linear docks (usually reserved for really big boats) as the conditions were just too nasty for slip docking. One boat even got lost in the harbour, and had to execute a few hairy pivots to escape before finding the right fairway. ???? No radio for directions?
Last year we noticed that the air conditioner in the main salon was getting tired. It worked, but had trouble keeping up, and also tended to ice up after a few hours, resulting in us having to shut it down to de-ice. I enabled the de-ice function on the controller (it was not switched on), but this did not completely solve the problem. Since we will be travelling in hot climates soon, a good AC system is a must. Therefore, we decided to replace it now, while we could access parts and had a fixed shipping address.
The AC on this boat runs on 240 volts, which created a bit of a headache for us as no local places kept AC's in stock that ran on 240 volts. We did get a quote from Hurst, and were told we could have it in a couple of days, but the price was a bit high for our taste. We got a much better price from Marine Outfitters in Kingston (boat units lower). Since it would be special order, they told us delivery would be in 4 to 6 weeks. No problem, since we ordered it May 27, we hoped it would be in Kingston by the first week of July, and we should be able to pick it up.
Old and busted. The hot water tank is under the step.
When we arrived in Kingston, it was not yet at the store. OK, we'll figure it out. Next day however, Louise gets a message from them saying the AC was in. Yay! Ruth drove us down to pick it up, and we booked an extra night at the marina so I could install it the next day.
I started work at 7:00, removing the old water heater and air conditioner. Removing both took about two hours. The water heater will be a separate post, but when I took it out I found it was full of black sediment. This explains some of the issues we had with faucets not working this spring (more on this later). Anyways, by removing both I made plenty of space for me to get the new AC installed.
Do you even lift?
Half way there.
Why do all boat jobs require at least one of every tool type?
After cleaning out the space, it was time for the new hardware.
Lifted into place, and hooked it up. When I replace things on the boat, as much as possible I try to get the same part from the same manufacturer, this way everything lines up and you don't have to mess with adapting something new to a space. The new unit was from the same company as our old one, and was advertised as a "drop in" replacement. Almost. I had to extend some hoses to connect the cooling water lines, and this required splicing in some pieces of hose. Not ideal, but it works, and later I will replace the hoses with single pieces so their are no connections to leak. For now however, we will get AC. Glad we made the switch, the new unit is head-and-shoulders better than the old one. Boo-yah.
Finished the install around 12:30, not too bad. I think however, I will add a second drain to the drain pan. The pan drains towards the stern (which is what the directions say to do), however our boat has a slight port list dues to most of our storage being on the port side (It's a Mainship thing - they all seem to list to one side or the other. Therefore the water tends to pool a bit on that side of the drain pan. I will need to get some more hose, but once I do will add a second condensation drain to take care of this excess.
Our plan for the next day was initially to take a short run to Picton, stay overnight, then another short run to Trenton. Unfortunately, when we called Picton for a dock spot, they told us they had no large docks available. They could put us on a 20 foot dock if we wanted, but we were not comfortable with that. Ok, plan B we go to Trenton in one shot. This would be about an 8 hour trip, so we decided to leave early the next day.
Last night in Kingston, we had Ruth and Kira on the boat for dinner, then turned in early to get some sleep.
Next morning, up at 5:00 so we could get ready to leave by 6:00. As it turned out, we started the engine at 6:05 and we off the dock by 6:15.
The trip to Trenton was easy. Water was flat calm, and very little traffic.
Busted out the shades!
When underway, this is Eevee’s sleeping spot.
No interesting mis-adventures to pass on, except we got "buzzed" by some military transport planes on our way into Trenton. Two Hercules planes took off ahead of us and proceeded to over-fly us, making their break turn right over the boat before landing again. Freakin AWESOME. Flyby is authorized Maverick!
Got in to Trent Port by 14:00, and had a nap and did a few small chores. The harbour here was full of US looper boats, who all knew each other. Guess they have been travelling together on-and-off for a while.
Us arriving in Trenton. Photo was sent to us by Eric & Karen on Tropical Horizons II, who are harbour hosts here in Trent Port. The AGLCA maintains a network of harbour hosts. These are members who volunteer to help other loopers with local knowledge. The hosts here sent us a welcoming email as we were docking, and included some shots of iFloat. Nice to see her without fenders.
Went to Tomasso's for dinner with Duane and Melinda from Surface Interval II. They are 16 months into their loop, starting from Peoria Illinois. While we were waiting for them at the end of the dock, sitting in the marina Adirondack chairs, a Hercules over-flew us and several people jumped out of the plane! Turns out it was the Canadian Skyhawks practicing! There were several over-flights, and we got to watch them do their acrobatics! Nice.
