Ontario’s Limestone Ports
Published: Monday, July 12, 2021
By: Bruce Kemp
The stretch of St. Lawrence River running from Kingston to Brockville is one of the world’s great cruising grounds. It doesn’t matter if you are a power boater or yachtie, once you lay your course east of the Bay of Quinte, you’ll find a magical place combining urban sophistication and wilderness beauty.
Except when making long passages to points further east, I always stop at Kingston for a few days. This hallmark Canadian city is big enough to feel cosmopolitan and is steeped in history. It was once the capital of the country.
First impressions are that it’s carved directly out of the Canadian Shield. Like Kingston, a lot of towns in the area were built with the local limestone. Only recently did I come across the reason for this.
Early on, the city was a military stronghold with piles of ammunition and explosives lying around. In April 1840, the inevitable happened. A dock fire spread to a warehouse holding 100 kegs of gunpowder. The resulting explosion spread the blaze to frame housing all over town. To prevent a repeat, Kingstonians rebuilt their city with the safer limestone.
With three post-secondary institutions (Queens University, Royal Military College, and St. Lawrence College) Kingston has a buoyant, youthful feel. During the cruising season (roughly Memorial Day to Canadian Thanksgiving) thousands of tourists crowd the waterfront making it seem like there is a festival continually underway.
There are two big harbors here: Confederation Basin/Flora Macdonald and Portsmouth. If you’re tired of cooking on the boat, Kingston has a number of terrific restaurants within walking distance of the Flora Macdonald Confederation Basin and a good, historic pub, The Ports, at Portsmouth Harbour.
For casual upscale dining, Le Chien Bistro just off Brock Street is a ten-minute walk from Confederation Basin. Next door to the marina on Ontario Street is Wooden Head’s Gourmet Pizza. The pies are great and the fact that you can dine in, eat at an outdoor table, or just go completely takeaway makes it a must hit. It’s a lot more than a pizza joint and features a complete menu of Mediterranean-inspired items.
The downtown has at least a dozen restaurants ringing the market square. They range from good greasy spoons offering breakfast deals to Greek tavernas and sushi bars.
Don’t miss the outdoor market. It’s held Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in the Springer Public Market Square behind city hall. The food comes from the Kingston “foodshed” and much of it is organic. It’s a great place to stock up on fresh produce for the next leg of your cruise—whether going up the Rideau or into the 1000 Islands.
Getting around in Kingston is best done aboard the hop-on-hop-off trolley system. The red trolley bus makes it dead simple to get to historic sites away from the downtown core. Buses pass each stop every half hour and let you see everything in a day.
If your boat needs repair, Kingston is a good place to get it done. West of the downtown core, on Collins Bay, there are two full service facilities: George’s Marine and Collins Bay Marina. There’s no repair facility at Portsmouth Harbour. The next repair shops are near the mouth of the Great Cataraqui River. Kingston Marina, which is part of Metalcraft Marine, and Rideau Marina are just north of the La Salle Causeway.
Fuel, pump out, ice, drinking water, groceries, the LCBO store (Ontario has government liquor stores instead of privately owned shops), and pharmacies are all readily available.
History buffs should check out Fort Henry and the Martello Towers. There are four towers around Kingston. These were built as defensive fortifications to guard Kingston’s shipyard after the War of 1812.
The Murney Tower is a National Historic Site and part of the Rideau World Heritage Site. Murney Tower and Shoal Tower (overlooking Confederation Basin) are open to the public. Fort Frederick is part of the Royal Military College of Canada and is RMC’s museum.
The fourth tower, Cathcart, is located on Cedar Island opposite Fort Henry. It’s part of the 1000 Islands National Park. You can tie up on the west side of the island and it’s just a short walk to the fortification at the south end.
Boaters docking in Portsmouth Harbour for the first time are often overwhelmed by the impregnable walls of the Kingston Penitentiary. Kingston Pen, or KP as it’s affectionately known, was home to the worst of Canada’s worst criminals for 178 years. Kingston Penitentiary has been designated a national historic site.
Tours of the pen aren’t available, but you can get an idea of what KP was like by visiting Canada’s Penitentiary Museum directly across the street.
On display are a number of artifacts from penitentiaries across the country. Among them are the table that miscreants received the lash on, as well as a menacing barrel system for partially drowning offending prisoners—an antiquated version of water-boarding.
KP is located 3.2-kilometres from Kingston’s downtown core; not a bad walk to stretch your legs on a warm summer evening (or you can take the trolley). Midway between downtown and Portsmouth Harbour is the home of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister.
Cedar Island is the westernmost island in the 1000 Islands National Park—Canada’s smallest national park and the first created east of the Rockies.
This year marks the 117th anniversary of the park’s establishment (1904). There are nineteen islands and three riverside components encompassed by the Park, stretching east from Kingston to the beautiful and historic port of Brockville.
The Park is geared to boaters. You can tie up overnight on one of the island docks for a reasonable rate (.92 per foot) or use one of the permanent mooring buoys ($19.60 per night).
This section of the St. Lawrence is home to world-record muskies, small and largemouth bass, pickerel, pike, perch sturgeon, and even the occasional trout.
If fishing isn’t your gig, try motoring over to the 1000 Islands Playhouse on the mainland shore at Gananoque. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only theater in Canada that comes with docking.
Before COVID, I got tickets to the award-winning play “Tuesdays With Morrie.” For 2021 performances, go to www.1000islandsplayhouse.com/2021-season. It’s home to two stages, the Springer and the Firehall Theatres, so there is always an alternative.
The St. Lawrence is one of the busiest commercial waterways in the world. Every year millions of tons of cargo go through the Seaway. Freighters are frequently encountered in the main shipping channel. Remember they have the right of way and gross tonnage suggests, to even the dimmest light bulb, that you step aside when you encounter one of these giants.
It’s also tricky in terms of steering and navigation. Depending on the season the current flows (west to east) at nearly four knots and doesn’t always let you keep to the channel. Pay attention to your position relative to the channel marker ahead and behind you! Make sure you don’t drift out of the channel.
Keep your cool, watch your charts, and nothing bad will happen. Even if it’s only once, a cruise among Ontario’s islands and limestone ports is one of those rare experiences that will delight you for years to come.
Photos: Bruce Kemp Photography ©
About the Author:
Bruce Kemp is an award-winning writer and photojournalist who lives in Merrickville on the Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada. He is also the author of The Fugitive’s Son, Weather Bomb 1913, and the recent The Whales of Lake Erie.
A version of this article appeared in the Summer Issue (July/August) 2021 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Canada, Destination, History
