August 9, Jones Falls to Collins Bay

We left port today a little later than ususal, but were in no hurry to cover the miles we needed to arrive in Collins Bay at a decent hour. We covered 36.6 miles in 10 hours. Why so long you say? Well we did 8 locks and then got to Kingston at 3:30 and thought we were in good shape since they say the swing bridge opens every half hour. NOT TRUE!!! During the week they only open on the hour and they don't open at 4 or 5 because of heavy traffic. So there we were hanging out for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the bridge to open. We tied up to a wall that said "no docking" but the captain decided he would break a rule. When we got tied up we read the sign a little more closely and it said "no docking without permission of bridge master." After the captain found the guy (not an easy task since he was hiding in a building out of sight of all the angry boaters ) he got permission to stay on the wall. So the card playing began once again. Euchre is obviously not a good game for the boys. Steph and I won once again.
Finally got through the bridge at 6 p.m. and after another hour we arrived at Collins Bay. Yet another hurdle. The marina was closed but they had given us our slip assignment and the slip was way too short and narrow. After several phone calls we tied up to the gas dock since they were closed. That was the best move of the day because naturally they came running to tell us to get off. Now we were able to get a dock that we fit in. Not able to have AC but it was a great evening and we opened windows to get a breeze. It was a very long day.