Kingston Mills Lower Locks – 44°17′26″ N 76°26′39″ W

I left Trenton at 6:00am and started working my way through the Bay of Quinte. This is a really beautiful area for cottages & boating. The bay is very sheltered by Picton Island with lots of water for sport fishing & boats. However, there are numerous areas where the water is 6 feet deep or less therefore people with deep draft sailboats have to be careful with their navigation.

Just before 8:00am I was approaching the bridge from Belleville to Picton Island. Lots of clearance on this one – no need to wait for it to raise!

About an hour after passing under this bridge I was in an area of water called “Long Reach” & encountered a couple of sailboats on a downwind run with their spinnakers deployed. It was a very pretty sight. Wish I was going the same way as they were so I could have enjoyed it longer.

Once I left the Bay of Quinte I had a short passage that was open to Lake Ontario. The wind was blowing from the south so it made a pretty rough ride for me until I got some shelter from Wolfe Island.

It wasn’t long before I started to recognize some Kingston landmarks – including the one below.

This is one of Kingston’s Federal Prisons. Viewing it from the outside is my preferred perspective. Interestingly enough, there is a public marina right beside this place. Not sure if any boats have ever been stolen from it!

At 3:30 I was approaching the downtown area of the city & I ran into a bunch of traffic that caused me to alter my course a bit.

One of the clubs in the city was running a sailing school & there must have been at least 20 boats sailing in various formations. There were also several small powerboats that appeared to be “herding” the sailing dinghies. It made me think of how ducks and geese keep an eye on their babies at this time of year.

I finally made it past the little armada and headed for the basquile bridge that is essentially the gateway to the Rideau River & Canal system.

Unfortunately, my timing was not so good. On weekdays the bridge stops opening at 3:00pm and does not operate again until 6:00pm. This is done to accommodate Kingston’s rush hour traffic. So, I had no choice except to wait until 6:00 to get past the bridge.

I turned around and went back to the City’s Confederation Marina & tied up on a courtesy dock until 5:30 & then headed back to the bridge.

By 6:05 I was past the bridge & on my way to the first set of locks at Kingston Mills, which was only about 3 nautical miles away.

I approached the lock docks shortly before 7:00pm. This was very exciting. Traveling through the Rideau & Trent-Severn systems have been on my “boating bucket list” for a long time.

The locks only operate from 9:00am to 4:00pm on weekdays so I would spend the night on this dock & then go up through the first set of locks in the morning.

Time for a big G&T as my reward for another long day on the water.

On Friday Catherine & Emily arrive to spend some time traveling up the system with me.

Cheers!