We got up early and headed for Kingston. There was still no wind so we motored the entire way. Poor Steve, he came all the way from BC to go sailing with me and we had not seen enough wind to blow out a candle. Oh well, given the choice between sunny, hot days with no wind or windy, rainy days; we’ll take the sunny days every time. Prior to starting out that morning I switched from our starboard fuel tank to the port side. We had been motoring for about 2-3 hours when the engine quit. Fortunately we were in a large body of water (instead of a narrow channel) and were in no danger of running aground. We popped the engine cover open and Steve took a look around to try to figure out what was going on. We couldn’t see anything obvious so Steve bled the air out of the fuel lines and we started the engine again. It only ran for a minute and then quit again. Clearly there is something wrong with the fuel feed from the port-side tank. The tank is full of fuel so it has to be a blocked line or a loose fitting that is letting air in to the line—diesels do not like air in the fuel until it reaches the combustion chamber. We switched the fuel feed back over to the starboard-side tank and the engine started up right away and continued without any problems all the way to our destination in Kingston.

My friend Chris Cavanaugh emailed me as we were approaching Kingston. He asked if I would be able to stop by the Federal Penal Institution in Collins Bay (just beside a marina) and take a few of his “pen-pals” out for dinner. I politely declined, concerned that once they were out from behind bars they might decide to become pirates and toss Steve & I overboard. This is all a joke of course, Chris does not know anyone from the penitentiary (at least he’s not admitting anything) but we had a bit of email fun as we passed by a lakeside “hotel” that no-one wants to stay in.

Once we arrived in Kingston Steve and I were pretty tired so we decided to stay in the City’s downtown marina and enjoy a hot shower, laundry facilities and water and electricity. To our surprise, we were staying at the marina that was hosting a Nonsuch Rendevous. For non-sailors, a Nonsuch is a unique sailboat that has only 1 large sail, its mast is situated at the front of the boat, it has a wishbone instead of a boom and it does not have any standing rigging—the mast is supported upright only by where it passes through the deck of the boat. These boats were designed and built in Ontario and have a solid reputation as a very sea-kindly boat with lots of interior room.

All tolled, there were 37 Nonsuch sailboats in the marina. My (Nonsuch) dock neighbor on one side was from Toronto and the neighbor on the other side was from Rhode Island. The next morning I met an 83 year old  gentleman from Toronto who owned Nonsuch hull #4 and this boat did not even have a wishbone—it’s mast rotated and when not sailing the sail was furled around the mast. I hope I can still be sailing when I’m 83!