Scene of the Crime

Today was a beautiful day to leave Gananoque, ON and the Thousand Island region for Kingston. The Bateau Channel is the main throughout fare. It is about a 16-mile cruise and we did not see another cruising boat in the two hours it took. Last year was a different story. The waterways were choked with boats of every shape and description, and Kingston was a nightmare. Unbeknownst to us we arrived just as the “Quebec Navy” was making its way down from the northeast.

The Quebec Navy consisted of tradesmen from Quebec that get a two week summer holiday. The marina was packed with every make of Sea Ray type boat in existence. Our little tug stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone looked at us with wide eyes. I’m not sure they had seen the likes of us before, but of course how would we know, we do not speak French.

The Kingston Marina has the odd trait of putting boats on short docks. Why this is will probably be revealed when an enthusiastic citizen sits down to write the history of the Kingston waterfront. Carrie Rose is on dock H in slip 46 and when we arrived no one else was on dock H. A few other boats have joined us but I’d say the marina is about a quarter full. This was the same story in Gananoque. Over the years I have noticed a disturbing trend: more and bigger marinas, and less and less boats.

By now (if you are still reading) you might be wondering about the crime. The crime took place on this very dock when I foolishly let my guard down for several seconds to help our friends on Sir Tugley Blue depart. In an instant someone from the mass of boats reached out and grabbed my Nikon SLR. Marinas are generally safe places where a sort of camaraderie exists and on the day it happened there were many people about. Go figure…

But I take full responsibility. I am from Chicago after all and know better. Later in the fall, after mulling it over, we filed a long distance police report and recouped some of the money from our homeowner’s insurance. I bought the same rig and have it with me. If somebody wants it they will have to pry it from my dead cold hands.