Thursday, June 28 - Day 55: Two boats moved into the lock for the first passage at 7am but Rickshaw wasn’t one of them. She was a bit slower, joining the second group of three that went thru about 7:30. Once out of the canal and out of the jetties we were in our first Great Lake – Lake Ontario. The weather was absolutely
beautiful! It was mid 60s when we left, the winds were light and the seas were 1 ft or less. The high in the afternoon reached in the mid 70s. We traveled 51 nautical miles today; all but 5 miles was in open water. It seemed we were the only
boat on the lake – we went hours without seeing another boat.
Once across the lake we turned east and followed the coast a short way, then turned north into Kingston Harbor. We were both very excited about finally arriving in Canada. But we had to learn patience first! Shortly after entering Kingston Harbor, we were within 200 yards of our marina but we had to wait 30 minutes for a lift bridge to open to allow us to enter the inner harbor. Then once through the bridge opening we called the marina for docking instructions. They told us they would get right back with us – 40 minutes later we were still circling the river waiting for further instructions. Finally we got docked then we called Canada Customs to check in. Before leaving the US, we had conferred with lots of other loopers who had already entered Canada and they all said it a breeze. No
questions about liquor, no questions about house plants and no boat inspections. And if they do ask about liquor, just be honest, they said, and tell them it’s for serving on board only, they really aren’t that strict. They only asked for some documentation information, made sure that you don’t have any firearms and your length of stay. So, boy were we surprised when they asked about how much liquor(40 oz per person is allowed duty free), any house plants, any fire arms, etc. We were completely honest and when we told them three boxes of wine (totaling over 300 ounces), 7 beers and misc. half empty liquor bottles and two house plants. To our amazement, they said “Well, we’ll have to send some officers over there right away – you will have to donate those plants to the Crown, i.e. throw them away and absolutely - DO NOT GET OFF YOUR BOAT”. Belinda was REALLY sweating it – one of her house plants was a get well gift to her mom when she was in the hospital in 1956! This plant has gone from Missouri to California to Tennessee to Texas back to Tennessee to Arizona to Georgia to North Carolina to Virginia and has been on Rickshaw since. Forty minutes later, here they come and they didn’t look happy. We thought they were going to get out our measuring cups and measure the ½ bottle of rum, the 2/3 bottle of vodka, etc.
Then they turned to us and asked “Where do you keep your firearm?” As if, “you’re from Tennessee, you must have guns!” Of course, we didn’t have any firearms – we know better than bring firearms or mace into Canada! They sent us outside, talked privately then came out and said they would have to tax us on the value of the wine on hand. The charge was $36. Then they said I was not to dump any of the dirt from my plants in Canada – NO PROBLEM. We were relieved to pay the $36. It was a convenience charge to be able to buy the wine we like while we had a car in the US and not trying to bike it back to Rickshaw. We are now free
to move about the country! Later we learned Kingston is the training center for all the new Customs agents - so they are ‘very conscientious’. Lucky us!
Once that business was taken care of we went out in search of internet service. Our plan was to buy a Rogers (the Canadian Verizon) wireless stick and a no contract wireless plan. We had researched them on the internet. No problem – IF you are a Canadian citizen with proof of residency. They will not sell post-paid wireless plans to non-residents and they don’t have pre-paid wireless plans. Rejected we left; resigning ourselves to finding hot spots - bummer. A few blocks later we stumbled on an electronics store (think Radio Shack) that sold cell phones. We thought we would ask them – the guy agreed with Rogers – he can’t sell post paid internet devices to us either and he also doesn’t offer pre-paid. Then his light bulb went off – he sold us a cheap prepaid smartphone that has pre-paid wireless with tethering capabilities. It ended up better than the wireless stick we expected to buy – we can make calls, use the GPS map app for getting around town, check the weather and connect up to 5 devices. What a find!
We had had a stressful afternoon so we found a nice sidewalk café just across from City Hall on the waterfront and enjoyed a nice dinner listening to the country
band playing a free concert in the waterfront park down the street.
beautiful! It was mid 60s when we left, the winds were light and the seas were 1 ft or less. The high in the afternoon reached in the mid 70s. We traveled 51 nautical miles today; all but 5 miles was in open water. It seemed we were the only
boat on the lake – we went hours without seeing another boat.
Once across the lake we turned east and followed the coast a short way, then turned north into Kingston Harbor. We were both very excited about finally arriving in Canada. But we had to learn patience first! Shortly after entering Kingston Harbor, we were within 200 yards of our marina but we had to wait 30 minutes for a lift bridge to open to allow us to enter the inner harbor. Then once through the bridge opening we called the marina for docking instructions. They told us they would get right back with us – 40 minutes later we were still circling the river waiting for further instructions. Finally we got docked then we called Canada Customs to check in. Before leaving the US, we had conferred with lots of other loopers who had already entered Canada and they all said it a breeze. No
questions about liquor, no questions about house plants and no boat inspections. And if they do ask about liquor, just be honest, they said, and tell them it’s for serving on board only, they really aren’t that strict. They only asked for some documentation information, made sure that you don’t have any firearms and your length of stay. So, boy were we surprised when they asked about how much liquor(40 oz per person is allowed duty free), any house plants, any fire arms, etc. We were completely honest and when we told them three boxes of wine (totaling over 300 ounces), 7 beers and misc. half empty liquor bottles and two house plants. To our amazement, they said “Well, we’ll have to send some officers over there right away – you will have to donate those plants to the Crown, i.e. throw them away and absolutely - DO NOT GET OFF YOUR BOAT”. Belinda was REALLY sweating it – one of her house plants was a get well gift to her mom when she was in the hospital in 1956! This plant has gone from Missouri to California to Tennessee to Texas back to Tennessee to Arizona to Georgia to North Carolina to Virginia and has been on Rickshaw since. Forty minutes later, here they come and they didn’t look happy. We thought they were going to get out our measuring cups and measure the ½ bottle of rum, the 2/3 bottle of vodka, etc.
Then they turned to us and asked “Where do you keep your firearm?” As if, “you’re from Tennessee, you must have guns!” Of course, we didn’t have any firearms – we know better than bring firearms or mace into Canada! They sent us outside, talked privately then came out and said they would have to tax us on the value of the wine on hand. The charge was $36. Then they said I was not to dump any of the dirt from my plants in Canada – NO PROBLEM. We were relieved to pay the $36. It was a convenience charge to be able to buy the wine we like while we had a car in the US and not trying to bike it back to Rickshaw. We are now free
to move about the country! Later we learned Kingston is the training center for all the new Customs agents - so they are ‘very conscientious’. Lucky us!
Once that business was taken care of we went out in search of internet service. Our plan was to buy a Rogers (the Canadian Verizon) wireless stick and a no contract wireless plan. We had researched them on the internet. No problem – IF you are a Canadian citizen with proof of residency. They will not sell post-paid wireless plans to non-residents and they don’t have pre-paid wireless plans. Rejected we left; resigning ourselves to finding hot spots - bummer. A few blocks later we stumbled on an electronics store (think Radio Shack) that sold cell phones. We thought we would ask them – the guy agreed with Rogers – he can’t sell post paid internet devices to us either and he also doesn’t offer pre-paid. Then his light bulb went off – he sold us a cheap prepaid smartphone that has pre-paid wireless with tethering capabilities. It ended up better than the wireless stick we expected to buy – we can make calls, use the GPS map app for getting around town, check the weather and connect up to 5 devices. What a find!
We had had a stressful afternoon so we found a nice sidewalk café just across from City Hall on the waterfront and enjoyed a nice dinner listening to the country
band playing a free concert in the waterfront park down the street.
Jim at the sidewalk cafe in Kingston. City Hall is in the background. And not seen but heard is a country western band under the trees behind him.
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