The Bay of Quintie

 On Monday August 5th we headed out of Clayton and back into the Islands. We spent two days anchored at Mulcaster Island one of the park islands. Our next stop was Kingston. We stayed at The Kingston Marina which is just past the lift bridge on the causeway.

We got to the bridge a little early since it does not open at 12:00 noon, took much car traffic. It was very windy and rough waiting in the bay for it to open but both Irish Mist and Pipe Dream survived.
Once in we got to take a look at their fire boats. Kingston Marina happens to make the best fire boats in the world. They had one55 footer finished and on its way to Alexandria Virginia and a 70 footer almost finished on its way to Huston Texas. In one of the building was another 70 footer for Huston which they hoped to launch before the ice comes.

Amherst Island Ferry

In the morning we left for Stella Bay an anchorage which Trish and I had not been to. It turns out there is a public dock which allows dog walking. Once ashore we found a street with lights and a small museum pictured below.

Stella Bay Church

Irish Mist sitting in Stella Bay

While in Stella early Thursday morning Kelly started to have seizures, as she does about every three years. Trish felt that if we got to a dock on the mainland we may not be able to get her off the boat. So we called the Coast Guard who arrived in a large inflatable. We were a little concerned and distracted, so it was not until they were gone that I got a picture.

The Bay of Quintie takes you about half the way from Toronto to the Islands inland. The North shore is   the mainland while the South shore is Prince Edward County. At the West end is the Murray Canal which has two swing bridges which you pay $5.00 to pass. The canal is part of The Trent System which takes boats without masts to Georgian Bay. The East end is serviced by the Ferry to Amherst Island and The Glenora Ferry. Both these ferry's are considered part of the highway system and thus free.

In the middle of the bay are two bridges. The first at the East end is at The Narrows and about 90 feet high. The other is at Belleville and either 70 or 75 feet high. My new mast is 64.5 feet plus our radio antenna. I was sure I would get through the East bridge and almost sure I would get through the West one. We got through both, but the second was close. Shown below is the Narrows Bridge.

While at Sandy Cove we saw a passenger ship go by.