Overnight at Jones Falls
44°32′49″ N 76°14′20″ W
I was up at 5:30am this morning & made a hearty breakfast of bacon & eggs. Santosha was tied up close to shore on a long finger dock so all of the other boaters on the dock had to walk past my galley window on their way to the washrooms. As a result I was greeted with lots of smiles & friendly comments.
Jones Falls was almost 28 kilometers away so I wanted to get an early start. I pulled away from the dock shortly after 7:00 & was treated to a cool morning with no rain in the forecast. It was really refreshing after all the past heat & humidity. There were lots of fishermen out along the way trying their luck.
I was making good progress until I got to Brass Point shortly after 8:00. There were already a few boats hanging around the swing bridge across the channel & it took me a few minutes to realize that we were all way too early because the bridge didn’t start opening for boating traffic until 9:00 – in about 45 minutes. Oh well, that’s more time for another cup of coffee & a snack!
Just before boaters arrive at Jones Falls they are treated to a bit of a “folly”. An enterprising cottager went to a great deal of effort to position a small sailboat on the edge of a small cliff & then he put the sails up! It’s quite a sight. I will try to get a better picture the next time I go past.
I arrived at the lower lock at Jones Falls around 11:00. There were already about 10 boats in the queue to go up & there are 4 consecutive locks here so I was probably going to have to wait almost 2 hours for my turn. Oh well, time for more coffee & lunch!
Finally, around 1:30 it was my turn to go up the locks.
At last I reached the top lock & managed to tie up for the night at my favorite spot. Time to celebrate with a tall Margarita! Here’s the recipe:
Be careful – you will often find that one of these quickly leads to another! And be sure you use Sanpellegrino Grapefruit drink. It makes all the difference! Many thanks to Brent & Rachel Temmer for sharing this treat with me.
Cheers!