For our wedding anniversary, Lori and I left the kids behind and spent a few days on the boat by ourselves. We decided to head up to Trenton for dinner and stayed at our favourite marina, the Trent Port Marina.
We were joking that Poseidon must have approved of our plans. The weather was perfect. On the way to Trenton we had the wind and waves behind us. We completed most of the trip on a broad reach with a few jibes. On the way back home wind was 60 degrees off our port bow and waves were coming from behind, gently nudging us forward with each wave.
Oh, it’s such a perfect day
Lou Reed, Perfect Day
I’m glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on
Start of the trip
We arrive in Cobourg around 10am and pack up the boat for our one night trip to Trenton. By 11am we are on the water motoring out of the harbour. A moderate light wind was coming from the west and we decided to put up the sails. We pointed a bit south of our destination to avoid the wind directly behind us and have an accidental jibe. It meant a bit more time on the water but it would be silent, wind blown time under the automated care of our autopilot. We just sailed until we reached the entrance to Presqui’le Bay, around 3:40pm.
Environment Canada shows a lower windspeed in Cobourg than what we experienced. But it was a beautiful sail with some tasty snacks.
Just over four and a half hours, Cobourg to Presqui’le Bay. Bobbing along under a broad reach sail with two jibes. It was a beautiful and relaxing sail.
Presqui’le Bay and Murray Canal
Decided to play it safe and motor through Presqui’le Bay. The entrance can be a bit narrow between the navigation buoys. With the high water levels, we see other locals completely ignoring these and taking shorter routes through the bay, but we don’t know the waters so we stick to the marked channel.
We’ve done this trip a few times now, here’s a link to one of our first trips through the Murray Canal. Feeling way more confident going through the Murray Canal now.
We arrive at the Trent Port Marina just after 6pm. Just over two hours under motor. Full trip from Cobourg to Trenton was seven hours.
With the high waters I was even more tempted to take the shortcut to Trent Port Marina, but we took the long way around. Seeing the buoys in with the sun setting just behind is a bit difficult and as you get close you are now at the river entrance so the colours flip. You now need to keep red on the right.
Our arrival at the Trent Port Marina started with us not remembering the VHF channel to call in (68) and then we had a less than stellar docking. Our stern docking line was fouled up around one of the stanchions. But we made it in with no scratches. As we finish tying up we hear another boat coming in with a bunch of yelling, ropes being thrown and a lot engine noise. I guess our docking wasn’t so bad.
Trent Port Marina
We really love the facilities at the Trent Port Marina. It’s the best we’ve seen. There are rumours that Ivy Lea has nicer facilities, but we’ve never seen them. You’ve probably already heard me grumble about the current state of the facilities at Cobourg so this made Trent Port Marina look even better. I wish we could have stayed. We are considering moving our boat permanently here but the distance to our home is holding us back.
Here’s a few things I noticed:
- power boxes are mounted on the dock, not below the water
- everyone has individual dock cleats, not shared with neighbour
- water supply built into box and has a non-leaking lever style valve
- internet connection was fantastic, immediately connected and fast speeds
- access to dock secured by magnetic card reader
- bathrooms are like what you would have in a hotel. The toilet, sink and shower all together in a private room.
- free laundry!?
Dinner and Music
It’s a nice short walk to Thai Sushi and there are a few other interesting looking restaurants in the area. During our walk, we agreed, “We are not going to over eat, we are not going to over eat”. This will just be a snack, we will then go out to listen to some music and then have a second snack at the pub afterwards.
So… we went for the all you can eat sushi option on the menu. And felt gross afterwards, the walk back to the boat helped. That night, our neighbour entertained the slip with some celtic music on a mandolin-banjo and a penny whistle. I wish I brought my mandolin!
The trip back home
It was a lazy start and we discovered the little kiosk at the back of the marina and ordered up some really good breakfast sandwiches. Afterwards, we slowly headed back through the Murray Canal.
As we left the Murray Canal we decided to raise the sails and try our luck at squeezing through the narrow path leaving Presqui’le Bay. And then we had a sailboat with only their foresail appear right behind us. Yes, it was a race. At first they were gaining on us, I was pinching to make the gap, I then let off a bit to gain some speed and we started to pull away. Unfortunately, I misjudged our side slip when trying to squeeze to the right of one of the green buoys. It harmlessly tapped our port side, but then I wasn’t expecting it to bounce back and get stuck between our dinghy and our boat. It held for a second and then scraped it’s way off. No damage, but we now have a nice bird poop smear on the front of our dinghy. The boat behind us fell off even further (probably distracted and laughing at my blunder) but obviously they knew the waters better than myself, they didn’t even bother following the channel marked by the buoys.
Once we were back out on Lake Ontario it was another beautiful day and Poseidon was nice to us once again with a beautiful South-West breeze. We sailed most of the way and the wind slowly tapered off and we motored the last hour back into Cobourg Marina.
It was only two days and one night away, but it was a perfect little get away.
Oh, it’s such a perfect day
Lou Reed, Perfect Day
I’m glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on
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