We leave Navy Bay near Kingston and head to Picton to meet up with some friends for a tour of some of the local breweries. I was surprised at the number and quality of breweries in the area!
We leave Navy Bay and enjoy the popular sailing area. So many boats to photograph… and of course, I photographed a lot of them.
We saw this ship go by while we were anchored, it was now heading back to Kingston.
There’s always tons of lasers and other boats in the area. All with coach boats hovering around providing advice. Many of these boats were way faster than us. We tried to be as predictable as we could and went in a straight line as they quickly weaved around us.
These two boats looked like fun, and were fast!
Arrival in Picton Harbour
After an almost uneventful trip (see my notes at end) we arrived in Picton. The last part of the trip was all under motor, there was absolutely no wind. The last part is a little tricky, especially at night. The entrance gets fairly narrow but is well marked.
We headed towards the Prince Edward Yacht Club (PEYC) and tied up to an available mooring ball. The hours for contacting the PEYC are limited so we had to wait until the next morning to contact them.
The next morning, we jump into the dingy and go to the office just as they first opened. We found otu that some of these mooring balls, including this #12 we tied up to, are owned by members are are not for transients. Fortunately, they didn’t need this one at the moment but we quickly moved the boat and then hopped back into the dingy to go meet some friends in town.
We tied up our dingy in an out of the way spot on the dock by the Picton Harbour Inn. I found a spot in 3″ of water that I didn’t think anyone would ever want to bring a boat.
Lori is honest to a fault and likes to always do things properly. So, despite my complaints, we went inside to ask if there was a cost for us to leave our dingy there. Surprise, yes there was. We were charged $10.50 for the day. I’m guessing we are one of the few that paid that day. Or more likely, Lori saved us from a fine.
The Breweries
That afternoon our friends arrived with a vehicle and we explored the breweries in the area.
Prince Eddy’s Brewing Company
Our first stop was for beer and lunch.
This is probably the most well known brewing company in the area. I’m not sure what happened to all my pictures from this day, maybe I made a slight mistake with all the beer “tasting”. I had to steal a few photos from Google Maps, credited the poster and linked to the original.
They have a great patio for the summer with a beach volleyball net and a little restaurant kiosk that served amazing Caribbean food. The Owner definitely takes pride in their food! Beer selection is good with a good number of taps and fridge full of cans for off sales.
I just ordered the Almost an Island – New Zealand Pale. I liked it so much, I purchased six more (to go). Kept thinking the label was wrinkled, and this was after just one beer!
Strange Brew Beer Studio
Our second stop was a bit of a drive. We heard good things about it, and was not dissapointed!
This place was interesting, it didn’t look like much from the outside but they created the most unique and tasty combination of flavours in their beers. I would call these beers a sipping style, not something I would want to drink a lot of. But they were extremely good. I had the Black Liquorice IPA.
And I didn’t lose these pictures!
This stop was a hit for us, and our friends!
Garage Time Brewing Company
Our third stop was an interesting place. You could easily drive by this place thinking it’s just someone who setup a few chairs in front of their garage on their home. If you did drive by, you missed a treat! They have some great beer.
I don’t have any pictures of this place, but I think this google street maps photo gives the best idea of what this place looks like. Yes, that’s the garage. And yes, that’s a guy riding a lawn mower on the road next door. This picture was taken before the brewery was setup, it doesn’t look that different today.
I’m poking a bit of fun at this place for it’s subtle grass roots atmosphere. But I do think you should check them out. For me, the charm and attraction of this place is the idea of starting a brewery in my own car garage. Come on admit it, that is a dream I believe many of us hold. I think we should all support it!
555 Brewin Company
We headed back to downtown Picton and checked out 555 Brewin Company for some more beer and some dinner.
This place is a popular spot with a line up. And as the picture below shows, it’s known for Beer & Pizza.
For some reason I misplaced my photos again. Above is just copied from google maps with link to post.
Conclusion
If you get a chance, definitely check out the breweries in Picton. There’s even more than what I’ve listed above and also a large number of wineries in the area as well. Find a friend or two with a vehicle. Or bring your own bikes or electric scooters or if you are crazy, a Sherman electric unicycle, yes I’m talking about Cruising Off Duty who also sail in the area.
Sailing Statistics
Navy Bay to Picton Weather: slightly cloudy and then clear, varying winds throughout day Distance: 33.1 nautical miles Total time: 7 hours 10 minutes Average speed: 4.6 knots Max speed: 6.7 knots Time sailing: 4 hours 15 minutes Time motoring 2 hours 55 minutes
We hoisted the sails right away outside Kingston and it was moderate winds.
- As we were picking up speed with our sails just hoisted we see two motorboats cross right pass our bow, enough distance that it wasn’t too close but we did get some wake to cross. It was the third boat in the pack that was following the first two. Exact same course, heading straight at us. We look and can’t see anyone on watch. We nervously wait another minute and then decide to alter course 150 degrees. The motorboat goes by, the skipper sitting on the sky deck with their legs up looking at their phone. hmmpff. Can’t let this wreck my boating mojo, we shook it off and enjoyed the rest of the trip. OK, most of the trip. We had one more incident.
- The wind picked up after Amherst Island and was coming right at us. So we decided to furl the Genny. We attempted. It wouldn’t budge, at one point we were pointing directly to wind and the Genny was flapping back and forth across the deck. It ripped the Baby Stay off the deck (it broke the shackle). In the heat of the moment, Lori and I argued for a while about how to furl the Genny without this happening. A few swear words were thrown around. We eventually settled down and were civil again. Later that night we found that the furler was missing a bolt holding the foil up. It was possibly causing the furler to bind under pressure. Fortunately we had the spare parts box with us and were able to quickly fix it.
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