Sorting Out Logistics of Life

Days on cruise: 91

Distance traveled:  29.7 miles

Travel time:  3 hrs, 25 mins

Total Trip Odometer:  2,125 miles

 

We went out to dinner on our last night in Picton for pub food at the Acoustic Grill and discovered a new item we were encouraged to order, which was described as French, but we suspect is French Canadian instead. It’s called poutine, and is made up of chips piled high with cheese curds, then smothered with gravy. Good tasting, but it could also be described as a full four-artery blocker of a dish.

Cathryn wants anybody looking for ideas for her birthday to know that she would love one of the above! Cute, eh?

The forecasted cold front only dropped the temps into the low 80s, but the humidity abated considerably, so today was much more comfortable. We slipped our lines at 7am and traveled northwest from Picton to Belleville, a scenic trip through narrower and wider passages lined with trees and houses on very large lots. No dense development here.

We pulled into the City of Belleville Marina on the Bay of Quinte and were ably assisted by summer student employees in docking and tying up. Today’s goal: to resolve whether we will have cell phone and internet service on the Canadian system for the next two months.

We’d spent 30 minutes on the phone with a Rogers Wireless employee a week ago and, among other things, identified a store in Belleville where we could acquire the needed equipment. So at noon we headed out on foot, about 10 blocks to their store. Twenty blocks later we still hadn’t found it, so walked into a shop where a nice young woman got on her computer to find the address and informed us the store was on NORTH Front Street, not Front Street, so we had another mile to walk.  OK.

Arriving at the Rogers Express Wireless store we were greeted by an affable, resourceful young guy who quickly determined our needs could be met, but the path to get there was complicated. Because we wanted a month-to-month plan rather than a long-term contract, a credit check is required. And that requires a Canadian mailing address.  Hmmm. We have several friends in Canada, but none whose addresses we had with us. The guy called and asked the credit check office whether it was ok to use a friend’s address, then provided his home address for us to use. How generous of him! 30 minutes later the credit check info was submitted, and our helpful guy arranged to have their approval next Monday or Tuesday emailed to him (since we may not have internet that day). We bought a Wireless Air Card for $200, and assuming our credit is approved, will sign up for a plan that is somewhere between $25 and $90 per month depending on how many gigs we use.  We reviewed their service area map before signing up, and it appears there will be coverage about 75-85% of the territory we plan to travel.

While at the Rogers store, there were 3 employees and several customers, and lots of banter ensued. In the end, Shane, another customer, offered us a ride back to the marina.  Wow, how nice can you get?

Fingers crossed, we hope to find out Monday or Tuesday that the air card we purchased can be activated and we’ll have internet! If so, Skype will suffice for phone calls, and texting on our U.S. Verizon phones. Complicated, but if it works, who cares?

A co-captain’s work is never done.  Here’s Cathryn replacing the CO2 canister and bobbin on Bob’s inflatable life vest, which is six years old and overdue for re-charging. Just one more example of the ongoing maintenance required to keep the ship and her crew safe.

We had pot roast and veggies for dinner which had been simmering in the crockpot all day. We are at times eating a little too well on this journey.