On to Canada - First 2 ports: Gananoque and Kingston and reconnecting with looper friends Roylana and Yves

On Friday, July 10 we were excited to finally get to Canada! Although Gananoque was basically across the St. Lawrence River from Clayton, New York, we chose to take a longer route to stay on the main channel and see more of the Thousand Islands. We saw many of the sights we had experienced on the Clayton Boat Tour including the Boldt Castle but it was fun to be on our own boat cruising past these. We arrived in Gananoque around 1:00 and stopped at the check-in dock so we could call CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) and report our arrival into Canada. It was a quick and easy process and we provided our passport numbers and answered the basic questions. They gave us a number to post in our boat and we were good to go! Roylana and Yves (boat YKnotX) are from nearby Kingston but were at a dock on Beau Rivage Island (part of Canada Parks)  near Gananoque for the weekend!  Roylana picked us up on her dinghy and we, along with Sue and Lance on their own dinghy, got a tour of the area and then we had a great time at their dock. On the tour we saw an island for sale and we saw Half Moon Bay where there is a weekly church service.  We had appetizers and went swimming in Canada's beautiful clear water. Roylana cooked an amazing dinner for us on their boat and we had a mini-beers toast at the end of the evening with them and their friends Marie and Corey. 

On Saturday, July 11, we took a walk to see a little of the town of Gananoque. I also have photos of the marina below which was quite nice. They have an herb garden that says "please help yourself". We saw a beautiful park and heritage village and boat museum and walking path in the town. After this we were headed to Kingston!  Along the way we took a photo of Roylana and Yves's boat where we had been the day before since we could see it from our route and she sent a photo of us as we passed.   Kingston is one of the bigger cities in Canada. It was founded as French trading post and military fort. The city still has Fort Henry, a Canadian Forces Base and the Royal Military Academy. It has a vibrant downtown. We arrived at Confederation Basin in the heart of downtown about 1:00 pm. The marina sits right in front of their beautiful City Hall building and many other historic buildings. They had a farmers market there that day and also a Buskers Rendezvous (street performers) along the riverfront and downtown. We walked around the market and had appetizers at an Irish restaurant called "Tir nan Og".   We next  took a trolley tour of the city and saw Fort Henry, Queens University , the Penitentiary Museum and many other sights. Later on we had a lovely dinner at Olivea Italian Restaurant. 

On Sunday, July 12, after church we walked to Dollar Tree and a drug store for provisions. I also got some photos of the marina. Notice the Delta hotel next to our boat is shaped like a ship.  I took photos of the  street performers, the shoal tower, and St. George Cathedral. Later I shopped at Martello Alley, an alley painted by local artists with a shop selling many different artists' work. I bought a lovely print of the city hall and harbor. Roylana and Yves were back in Kingston where they live so they came by dinghy from their marina and we walked to Chez Piggy for dinner. The food was so good and the atmosphere in the courtyard (typical of the area) was very pretty. We also had to visit Mio Gelato as their gelato is made locally! Then it was time for goodbyes as we needed to move the next day to Trenton, Ontario and get ready to start the Trent-Severn Waterway system of 45 locks and 240 miles! Phew! Wish us luck and stay tuned!