This would be my first boat delivery - a 7 day and 600 nm trip from Port Credit on Lake Ontario to Little Current on Manitoulin Island, I had volunteered to help Jean-loup to get a 35 foot catamaran up north. Some of the trip would be through the night - I love night sailing.
Monday - Day 1 - PC Marina to Port Weller
We left around 3:00 pm for the crossing of Lake Ontario to get to the entry of the Welland Canal locks. After setting the auto helm and the course - after 5 hours it was amazing to arrive exactly on course to the canal entry. Of course there was no wind and no current so nothing less should have been expected. It was an easy motor while checking the boat out and getting to know what was where.
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| Jean-loup and Patsy Enjoying the Sling Seat |
aAfter entering the canal, we tied up to a wall for the night so that we would be ready to go through the locks first thing in the morning.
Tuesday - Day 2 - Port Weller to Mid Lake Erie
First thing was to call the canal folks and announce our presence in order to enter the lock system. There was a possibility that a waiting ship would go first and would therefore cause a delay for several hours as commercial traffic has priority and recreational traffic does not occupy the same lock when going through the system for safety reasons.
As it happened, we were given the call to go through ahead of the ship and had to spring into action quickly. This was a very welcome turn of events that meant we would get through all 8 locks before the end of the afternoon. Once in Lock 1, 2 long lines were dropped down from the top of the wall to be hauled tight bow and stern as the water level rose - to keep the boat close to the wall. This was an interesting experience to be at the bottom of a high walled concrete canyon - to have water rushing in from below and straining to keep the lines tight as we rose higher and higher.
Once the water had filled the lock, the gate opened to give us access to the upper waterway. Out we went to the next lock. It seemed to be odd that for the whole volume of water that gets processed to fill a lock - we were the only boat that got to enjoy the ride. We were the only boat traffic at the moment but there was the ship waiting to come through behind us.
There are 8 locks in the system, 3 very close together to get up the escarpment and a very low last step near Lake Erie.
Along the way a good number of lift bridges had to be raised to let us through. A couple of times we had to wait while a ship come down from the other way. At lock 7 we watched the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin barely get through - she is a very wide ship that I am sure scraped the side walls as she slowed came down and out of the lock. There is about 25 nm of waterway connecting all the locks which made for a pleasant journey under clear, blue skies.
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| Shipping Traffic in the Locks |
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| Much Bigger Than Us! |
We implemented a watch system - 2 on and 2 off for a three hour rotation. On one watch we picked up a small log that decided to embrace the prop. We also saw a flshing yellow light in the middle of the lake that was uncharted and of mild concern until it was deduced that it was a new weather buoy - similar to others that recently been encountered on Lake Ontario.
Our main navigational challenge was to ensure that we gave Long Point light a wide berth as the spit projected out into the lake a good bit.
Wednesday - Day 3 - Mid Lake Erie to Scudder, Pelee Island
There was little wind but where possible we had the main, jib and/or code zero out to assist on the motor sail. The code zero hadn't been rigged before so it was interesting to figure it out and get it up.
An uneventful day crossing a big body of water. On approach to Pt. Pelee towards the west end of the lake - we had to navigate through some shallower areas and major shipping buoys.
The early evening also brought us a brief thunderstorm that blew through quickly. We prepared by getting in our rain gear and pfd's. All of our mobile electronics were put into the microwave. The wind blew up, waves rose and it was a challenge to keep the boat pointed in the right direction.
After 30 minutes, things started to calm down and we made our way to the marina at Scudder on Pelee Island. We made dock and stay overnight here.
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| Overnight Stay at Scudder Marina on Pelee Island |
Thursday - Day 4 - Scudder, Pelee Island to Lake St. Clair
The wind was up today - about 15 knots - so we had a very nice sail to Leamington where we planned to empty the holding tanks and fuel up.
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| Enroute to Leamington |
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| Fill Up at Leamington Municipal Dock |
The goal for today was to get through the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River through the night for arrival in Sarnia in the morning.
With the help of our GPS charting program we navigated up the Detroit River on the late evening while crossing Lake St. Clair in the night. Some ship traffic come onto us quickly and surprised us a few times. We were always clear but it was disconcerting to not see them until the last moment while their lights were lost in the background lights of the city.
The river segments were quite windy and we had to carefully navigate between the buoys along the way while staying on the starboard side of the channel in order to avoid pssing ship traffic.
Friday - Day 5 - Lake St. Clair to Mid Lake Huron
Morning brought us to the St. Clair River and the approach to Sarnia. We would be docking at a local marina for fuel and a holding tank vac. Nothing much happened other than a ship turning out into the middle of the river forcing us further to the outer part of the channel.
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| More Shipping Traffic in the St. Clair River |
After departing Sarnia we had some great wind as we sailed northeast across the lake towards Tobermory - similar to what might have been expected as trade wind sailing off the port side beam. As the day progressed we started to see patches of squalls on the western horizon. After a time they got closer and then very close by - but it seemed that we were always in a spot between and therfore always avoided them directly.
The waves were a bit choppy and it was the goal to keep adjusting our course to fine tune how we crossed the waves to minimize the bumping. We had also started to motor sail mid afternoon to help with the chop.
Late evening came on and we developed a 3 person staggered watch system for the night. Wind and waves remained unchanged and it was a steady ride through the night. Saw a few boats on the water, no ships as we were far from normal shipping channels. One sailboat was on a collision course with us but was avoided as we slowed down to let them pass.
A long but satisfying passage that brought us within reach in the morning of the top of the Bruce Peninsula.
Saturday - Day 6 - Mid Lake Huron to Tobermory
As we reached the top of the Bruce Peninsula towards Cape Hurd there was a naviagtional exercise to stay within the Cape Hurd Channel which was the approach from Lake Huron in towards Tobermory. It was well marked and very visible and brought us safely in.
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| Sailing on Lake Huron |
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| A Replica Sailing Vessel in Tobermory |
It was a very busy Saturday of a long weekend in Tobermory with many people on the streets. After a shower, a nap and some walking around - plans were made to have dinner at a local restaurant on the nearby wharf.
A quiet evening with just one more day on the water to Little Current.
Sunday - Day 7 - Tobermory to Little Current
The early morning departure brought some sunshine as we left Big Tug Harbour. Flowerpot Island shone in the morning light.
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| Flowerpot Island |
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| Flowerpot and Escarpment |
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| Swing Bridge in Little Current |
On approach to Little Current, we had to wait until it was time for the swing bridge to turn allowing us passage through - a short wait and fun to watch.
Unexpectedly, we were treated to a terrific fireworks display as part of weekend festival. One of the best shows that I have ever seen.
Monday - Day 8 - Little Current to Toronto via Parry Sound
We got a drive into Sudbury, then to Parry Sound - where I caught a bus back to Toronto. Traffic was good considering it was a long weekend.
Got picked up at Yorkdale by the Family and home finally after 7 days and 600 nm away.
