Long Point Bay Where the sky meets the sea

Wheatley to Port Stanley The waves that kept us, as well as Wheatley's fishing fleet, tied at dock finally set us free on Sunday, September 3, 2006. Today we had our best sail so far. The winds were 10-15 knots out of the NW with waves less than 1 metre. We sailed for 12 hours, averaging 6.5-7 knots under main and genoa, covering a distance of 70 nautical miles. We arrived in Port Stanley just past sunset and were immediately invited to join the "end of the season" campfire party that was in full swing. We enjoyed the opportunity to converse with some of the local sailors, as well as some members of our London power squadron chapter. The next day (Labour Day) was a very busy day in Port Stanley. Our dock gave us an excellent vantage point for the excitement of the bridge raising to allow boat traffic through, as well as the Port Stanley Terminal Railway trains coming and going. There were lots of lights flashing, whistles blowing and bells clanging. Very busy and very exciting. The afternoon found us heading on our way amidst calls of best wishes from our new friends on shore, and in other boats that we passed in the harbour. The best surprise upon leaving was to find Harold Schwim, a fellow CPS student, heading out for a sail. Right out of the blue - there he was and with him came all the wonderful memories of the fun times we'd shared in class. It was amazing to see him.

CPS lesson in wave generation While sitting in Wheatley watching the 3 metre surf roll in, we've had an excellent opportunity to study, first hand, the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron lesson we had on wave generation. The height of waves depends on three factors: wind velocity, fetch (the distance the wind blows across open water), and duration (the length of time for which the wind blows out of the same direction). In our particular case we have the remnants of a hurricane force disturbance drifting up from Florida (Ernesto). The wind has been blowing in an easternly direction since we arrived 8 days ago. Since we are in the North-western corner of Lake Erie, the fetch has been across the whole lake (LONG). The velocity has been anywhere from 15 to 35 knots (STRONG). So, we have a strong wind velocity, a very large fetch, and a very long duration - BINGO - 3 metre waves.

Thanks to Diane & Bob 8 days in Wheatley We send our thanks to Donna's sister Diane and her husband Bob for opening their home to us while we were in London. We also are indebted to them for transporting us back to our boat in Wheatley. We really appreciated their kindness and we were glad of the opportunity to spend some time with them. Little did we know when we decided to stop beating our way to Rondeau Bay that we would end up spending 8 days in Wheatley (not recommended). We came in because the wind and waves were too strong, assuming things would calm down soon, but we would find out that sometimes waiting ou the weather window takes longer than you think.

Greyhound bus home Robin and Matt fly off to England Plan "A" was to get ourselves to Port Stanley in order that we could be picked up by our daughter Robin and her husband Matt on their way to the Toronto airport. This way we could see them off on their flight to England and return our car to our driveway. Then we would get a ride back to our boat in Port Stanley. Well, the weather didn't allow us to make Port Stanley, Robin and Matt didn't have the opportunity to pick us up and the car broke down. Plan "B" - We decided to leave the boat in Wheatley and catch the Greyhound bus home. On Sunday, August 27th we headed off on foot in the warm rain, made the 3 mile trek into (downtown) Wheatley and caught the Greyhound bus that passed their twice-weekly. We arrived home in time to attend a farewell barbecue that Uncle Wes and Aunt Val were hosting for Robin and Matt. We send our love and thanks to Wes and Val for being so kind. After the barbecue and before the flight was a very stressful time for everyone. Robin and Matt found moving, packing and leaving all at the same time a bit difficult to pull off. However, the "Lone Star" fahitias were consumed and Robin and Matt did make their flight with time to spare. We wish them well as they explore Copenhagen, England and Europe.

Wildfowl in Amherstberg Wheatley We were amazed to sight many varieties of large birds in the Amherstberg area. We viewed a flock of 100 plus mute swans, which we understand were migrating through. We also spotted egrets (also migrating) and many Great Blue herons, ducks, Baltimore orioles, red-winged black birds, sand pipers, gulls and king fishers. It was surprising and sad to see so many beautiful birds so close to the pollution we had just witnessed along the Detroit river. We passed Littles Point and Grecian Reef at 0950 hours on route to Rondeau Bay. Even though the wind is just 10-15 knots out of the east, the fetch was causing the waves to increase and we found it difficult to beat into them. We decided at 1630 hours to give up on our slow progress and take refuge in Wheatley. Wheatley is home to the largest fishing fleet in the Great Lakes. The harbour is surrounded by the Omstead fish processing plant. It is also home to the Hike Metal fabricating plant. Floating alongside their doors is a 22 million dollar yacht (Copacetic) that has been commissioned for the Cayman Islands. They also have made a car ferry which is bound for Toronto.

Detroit River to Boblo Thursday, August 24, 2006 found us motoring down the Detroit river to Bois Blanc Island (Boblo). The current today was 2 knots. Transversing downtown Detroit by water was a pleasant and interesting experience. We could see and hear a carillon on Belle Isle, and enjoyed the smell of bread baking from a large commercial bakery on Windsor's shore. Passing by Detroit's spectacular downtown Renaissance Centre brought back fond memories of how in past years we had seen the Freedom festival fireworks reflected in it. The motor industry is very well represented by the buildings along the river. Once south of the Ambassador bridge area, the view along the shore became horrid, as we passed steel foundries,(River Rouge), chemical plants and other industries. The source of the high pollution in our environment, is unquestionable in this area. We anchored for the night between the Amherstberg freighter channel and the Livingston freighter channel with a view of the Ferme Nuclear Plant. (so much for beauty) Even though freighter traffic is heavily passing by us on both sides we can sleep without worry of them getting too close, as we're out of their dredged channels. They'd be "stuck in the mud" long before they reached us.

Windsor - Peche (Fisheries) Island Wednesday Night Races We anchored last evening in behind Peche Island (just off Windsor"s waterfront). On our approach from Lake St. Clair, we could see that the Wednesday night sailboat races were in full swing in the Windsor area. We noted at least 5 different clubs that had races underway. In the light air, the boat's multi-coloured spinnakers made for a very pretty sight. Just as the sun was setting we turned into the channel between Peche Island and Windsor's waterfront. What a surprise it was to find that the Windsor Yacht Club was located there. In the narrow channel there were at least 40 of the racing boats attempting to cross the WYC finish line. As well there was a dinner cruise ship and the Detroit Princess Casino cruise ship. Amazingly we motored on against the crowd as they were sailing through and managed to put our anchor out behind Peche Island for a quiet night.

Sarnia and The St. Clair River Stuck in the mud We spent a quiet day anchored out in the Sarnia Yacht Club basin. Barry did an oil change on our diesel. He also walked over to Bridgeview Marina to order seals for our ailing water-pump. They are to be shipped to our London address and hopefully we can get them as we pass down Lake Erie. The next morning we found ourselves in a precarious situation while motoring down the St. Clair River. Our engine began over-heating so we turned it off and hoped that the current would carry us to a sheet-piling wall along the side where we could tie up and repair the problem. But, regretfully, we ended up going aground instead. So there we sat, stuck in the mud, with an over-heated engine, in air that reeked (chemical valley). Once the engine problem was repaired (how do people get around who don't have a mechanic on board?), we were fortunate to receive the assistance of a sailboat and a power-boat (with a 150 horse power motor) to set us free of the St. Clair river mud. We passed our first freighter - the Algorail out of Sault Ste. Marie just as we entered Lake St. Clair at 1700 hours. The current in the river was l.5 knots with us. We were motoring at 5.5 knots yet the GPS read that we were making 7 knots headway.

Love and Best Wishes We were extremely touched that over 90 family and friends could join us for our farewell beach party. Our children made us very proud by orchestrating such a wonderful get-together. We are truly grateful to them for all their hard work and also to those who came to wish us well. We were overwhelmed that so many came such great distances to share the day with us. Thank you to everyone for making it a day we will long remember and for sharing your love and best wishes.

Goderich to Grand Bend 0745 hours - under over-cast skies and in light winds on Friday, August 18, 2006, we powered out of Goderich's harbour (past the freighter beside us at the grain elevators, that we obviously didn't hear arrive). Our destination today is Grand Bend and we are anxious to naviage the piers there under calm conditions. We are familiar with how the waves can roll in to Grand Bend's shallow, narrow entrance way and have heard horror stories of boats touching bottom there in wave troughs. We arrived at 1130 hours, in calm water, and the harbour master put us on the north wall, almost all the way down to the bridge at Hwy. 21. Our depth sounder is reading 3'6" (rather swampy). Considering it is located 2' below our water-line and we draw 4'10", we're not floating by much. Our narrow, shallow, crowded, noisy anchorage is quite a change from the North Channel seclusion we left behind. We arrived in Grand Bend on our 45th day out and paid to dock for the first time. While in Grand Bend we met Keith Ruebsam, a fellow boater. While chatting, we discovered that Barry and Keith had grown up just 3 houses from each other on Westmount Crescent in London. Barry's mom, Alberta, can recall driving Keith to school with her son Terry. It truly is a small world. Keith and his wife boat out of Sarnia though their home is in Colorado. Now that's a commute. It helps that they're semi-retired.

Chantry Island to Goderich Windfarms Today we stopped washing our dishes in lake water. Even with our system of bio-degradable Dawn dish detergent and bleach, the smell of fertilizer on the lake has compelled us to rethink our use of fresh water. Just north of the Bruce Nuclear Plant we sighted the first of what would be very many windmills on shore (wind farms). When we came upon the first few I was surprised they were not noted on the charts as an aid to navigation, but as the true number of them became known I could see why not. In the dark they flashed red and gave the look of an unending string of Christmas lights to the shore-line. It was 2230 hours when we reached Goderich harbour. Even though we were very familiar with the harbour, we had a difficult time finding the lights marking the breakwalls amidst all the ones on shore. Once through the breakwalls we encountered a freighter on the wall in the harbour channel (at the salt mine). It had it's loading conveyor off to the side of the boat, which almost entirely blocked the harbour entrance. We skimmed along the far pier and our mast just fit through beside the conveyor. After a long day on the water, we closed our hatches and put our wood door in to block the noise of the mine's elevator, and called it a night. Note to self - future plotting - it's a whole lot easier to see where you're going in the day light.

Tobermory to Chantry Island (Southampton) Before moving on we spent a day waiting out the weather window in Tobermory. The wind was blowing 25 - 30 knots from the NW producing 2 metre waves. For the first time ever, we saw breaking waves running into Little Tub harbour. Wednesday August 16th saw us motoring through Cape Hurd channel on a course of 234 degrees true. The waves on the Lake Huron side of the channel were large and rolly after yesterday's wind. A lesson learned - we had difficulty navigating using the old charts that we had on board as they had not been updated and the numbers on the buoys did not match the numbers on the chart. However, 1030 hours found us due east of the Cape Hurd light where we set a course of 165 degrees true for Port Elgin. We anchored in the lee of Chantry Island (off the coast of Southampton), as the forecast was for 10 knot winds from the South, just in time to catch a sunset of National Georgraphic fame. Chantry Island is a bird sanctuary. We had no doubt of that as the noise of the birds from our location was incredible at sunset.

Randy and Brenda on board Fathom Five National Marine Park tour Cove Island - Wingfield Basin - Big Tub Harbour We were thrilled that Barry's brother Randy and his wife Brenda could join us in Tobermory for an extended week-end tour of the Fathom Five National Marine Park. After consulting with Park personnel regarding water depth at Cove Island, we headed into a very calm secluded anchorage (not unlike the hockey stick in Bone Island or the pool), except for lots of big "up close and personald rocks ". Unmarked rocks and shoals everywhere. In the morning we explored ruins on the island. Just as we were leaving our secluded anchorage The Great Blue Heron tour boat, out of Tobermory, suprised us by coming in to have a look. So much for privacy. After another fortunately unadventful passage back over the shoals of our Cove Island anchorage, we motored and sailed our way to Flower Pot Island and Bear's Rump Island. From there we carried on to Wingfield Basin at Cabot Head, where we spent the night calmly anchored with 15 others. In the morning we took the dingy over to explore the wreck of the Gargantua. We also explored the Cabot Head light station and museum. We were the last to leave just after noon into a 16 knot NW wind with 1 metre waves. We sailed tacking for 7 hours before we decided to go under power (just north of Flower Pot Island) into Big Tub Harbour. Here we enjoyed a quiet anchorage however The Great Blue Heron tour boat once again did drop by to see us. Big Tub Harbour is a tranquil 40 foot deep anchorage but since there are wrecks at the end of it, you can expect tour boat traffic to pass you while anchored there and they did. After hot showers and a good lunch in Tobermory we said our good-byes to Randy and Brenda, having had lots of laughs and fun as well as a good tour of the Fathom Five National Marine Park.

Fathom Five National Marine Park The Bruce Trail We toured the 7 million dollar new Fathom Five National Marine Park visitor centre and observation tower which was in the process of having it's grand opening in Tobermory. It was very impressive with displays on shipwrecks, caves, historical data, lighthouses, flora, fauna, animals, fish, glaciers, rocks, orchids, native people, trees, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, black bears, flower pots and so on. The new observation tower is 65 feet high and you can see all the islands that encompass Fathom Five (Cove, Flower Pot, Bear's Rump) and down to Cabot Head headland at the corner of Georgian Bay. Fathom Five National Marine Park is home to 26 know ship-wrecks preserved in the cold clear water, 3 lighthouses, caves, flowerpots (limestone formations) and some of the purest water in the Great Lakes. The 800 km. Bruce Trail is a hiking trail that follows the Niagara Escarpment from Queenston Heights to Tobermory.

Thomas Bay to Tobermory Monarch Butterflies We made our way using a reduced genoa sail as we travelled in a brisk wind that averaged 15 to 24 knots and waves that rose from 1 to 2 metres throughout the day. We arrived in Club Island after a "bit of a bruiser" 27 mile journey. We made sure to keep ourselves tethered to the boat by our life-jacket harnesses in the bouncy sailing conditions. We awoke to calm conditions and motored onward to Tobermory. Between Club Island and Bear's Rump Island we were witness to a Monarch butterfly migration as at least 30 passed over us. We would see one every few minutes all going east to west but travelling separately.

Good-bye to the North Channel Monday August 7th, 2006 found us leaving the North Channel and all it's beauty behind us. We have very fond remembrances of: the tranquil private anchorages we enjoyed, the windswept breathtakingly beautiful pink granite of the Benjamin Islands, the magnificient white granite La Cloche mountains, the emerald green (gold edged) waters of Baie Fine, the red rocks of Thomas Bay, Roy and the Cruisers Net out of Little Current, special time spent together with Robin & Matt and Les & Winn, splake fish and chips in Killarney, the blueberries - everywhere, the blueberries, and the trillions of rock faces with absolutely no graffiti on them - how beautiful.

Thomas Bay The Big Bang We sailed in light 7 knot winds the whole distance from Baie Fine to Thomas Bay. We averaged 5 knots on our journey which took 7 and a half hours. (26 miles straight line distance). Nobody said it was a fast way to travel, but it sure is pleasant. Thomas Bay is one of the anchorages, albeit very beautiful, that is hard to access because of rocks and shoals across its entranceway. Having gotten into Fox Harbour, an equally difficult anchorage, we felt like "experts" and must surely be able to access Thomas Bay. We got in all right. Getting out was quite another matter. We're told that posting a bow watch is how it's done. We soon found out that the light conditions must be right in order for that bow watch to see the rocks. We also found out that our good old boat did stay afloat after riding over (or should we say "on") one of the beautiful red granite rocks of Thomas Bay.

La Cloche Mountains Portage Route We anchored overnight (tied to shore) tucked in to a very small private cove in the white quartz La Cloche Mountains on Baie Fine. Much to our surprise as we enjoyed our morning coffee two canoes happened by. It would appear that our cove was on a portage route. The canoes had already put 6 miles behind them by time they got to us. Wonder if they ever thought of using a sail? The canoes were part of the extensive water sports rental equipment that we saw coming out of Killarney. It appears to be the headquarters for all manner of outdoor activities.

Baie Fine - The Pool Rock Garden Extrodinaire On route to Baie Fine we had a pleasant anchorage overnight in Beaver Bay (in the lee of Strawberry Island). The next day we motored through Baie Fine which is a 9 mile long fiord of emerald green water through the gorgeous white quartz La Cloche mountains. Breath-takingly beautiful. At the end of Baie Fine is "the pool" - truly a tranquil anchorage destination. The Evenrude (of outboard motor fame) family cottage is located there and is still enjoyed by their family.

Engine Problems Good to have a mechanic on board The front seal of the water pump on our Yanmar diesel is seeping engine coolant. We're having to top up the coolant once or twice a day. Since there are no places to buy marine parts Barry plans to convert the cooling system to lake water until we can repair the pump. It's not really a big problem but it does present it's self always at the most inopportune times.

Hotham Island - North Channel August 1/2, 2006 Man is it hot!! (36 degrees) There seems to be a constant small craft thunderstorm warning being issued. We found the swimming to be cool and private and have spent 2 nights hidden away behind Hotham Island. We put the hammock up on deck in a very secluded and beautiful cove that we're sharing with a belted Kingfisher bird. He's quite good company however their was a rather noisy visitor on shore through the night. We didn't get a look at him but another boater reported sighting a mink and there have been reports of bears and fox. Very funny story on the Cruiser's net this morning regarding a bear, a boat and a fisherman. It went something like this: the fisherman was out in his boat trowling along when a bear swam up to his boat and proceeded to board it, the fisherman therefore chose to get out, swam to shore and since the trowling motor was carrying on, on it's own, the bear could be seen fishing from the boat by the fisherman on shore. This is a true story.

Fox Harbour - Fox Island "The Benjamins" Monday, July 3l, 2006 After extensive research we found ourselves ready (?),well at least wanting to attempt the entrance way to Fox Harbour. We were very proud of our success (or good luck), at finding our way in to this most beautiful anchorage. We enjoyed a peaceful night there, tied to shore. We headed off in the morning to a more secluded anchorage - north of Hotham Island, as we had shared Fox Harbour with 8 other boats last night. Barry is still adding the "comic relief" to our journey. Good thing as our starter on the diesel engine broke and he had to repair it while we were underway. Luckily we were in fair weather and an open channel. Good to have a mechanic on board, especially one with a good sense of humour.

Back to the Benjamins Saturday July 29, 2006 Sadly as we head back to the beautiful Benjamin islands we must say our good-byes to Les & Winn Files. They will themselves be leaving Little Current after many years of gunk-holing in the North Channel. By the first of August they will be heading through the 30,000 islands to Penetanguishene. They plan to visit their son in Parry Sound on route. As Roy of the Cruiser's Net would say,"we wish them fair winds and safe harbours". We will be forever grateful to them for sharing their extensive expertise with us on the North Channel.

Sad Good-byes Little Current Saturday July 29, 2006 Sadly it was time to return Robin & Matt to Little Current to head home for Becky Holloway's birthday celebration. It was wonderful to share discovering the Benjamin's with them, as well as our special time together. We enjoyed time together hiking, picking blueberries, swinging in the hammock, exploring, swimming, baking cookies, taking pictures, sailing, playing rummio and scrabble, fishing (Matt) and eating, of course, lots of eating. During our time with Robin & Matt we anchored at Louisa Island, Gibson Cove-Fox Island, South Benjamin Island and Mink Island. Alas, we said our good-byes until we meet again in Grand Bend in August.

Robin & Matt on board The Benjamins Tues. July 25, 2006 We are delighted to have our daughter Robin and son-in-law Matt on board for 5 days. We took Les Files' expert advice and set off to discover the North Channel Benjamin Islands. We have to agree with Les when he refers to them as the "jewel in the crown" of the North Channel. Their windswept pink granite rock makes them seem almost surreal. How wonderful that Robin & Matt could share the joy of discovering such beauty "right on our own doorstep" before they head off on their own adventure to England on August 28th.

Little Current, North Channel The Cruiser's Net Les and Winn Files introduced us to a wonderfully useful tool operated by the Little Current Yacht Club, "The Cruiser's Net". Every morning at 0900 "Roy" comes on VHF Channel 71 to update cruisers on news, weather and sports. He takes any emergency broadcasts that may need to be transmitted. A boat check-in service is offered to anyone wishing to have their location recorded, and a relay message service is also offered. One morning when a thunderstorm was predicted to be coming in from the west, a well-equipped boat at that end of the channel passed along very useful information he was receiving on his radar, as well as wind and wave information. The Cruiser's Net also passes along local entertainment information. We very much enjoyed and looked forward to hearing daily updates from "Roy" and also following the progress of the boats that called in. The Little Current Yacht Club also offers a lecture series and we were lucky enough to catch one. We heard John Smulders, who is the owner of Discovery Yacht charters out of Little Current, speak on his favourite 10 anchorages in the North Channel.

Killarney to Little Current Friday, July 2l, 2006 After a delicious dinner of famous "splake" fish and chips in Killarney we spent our first night anchored in the North Channel in Powderhouse Bay at Badgeley Point. L45 58.5, L81 35.3 In Killarney we met an interesting couple, Heather and Murray Rand from St. Thomas. They passed on their web-site address to us: www.windswept-lv.ca They both are working at the Killarney Mountain Lodge this summer and spend their winters aboard their 40' C & C sailboat which is presently in the Exumas. The quartz La Cloche mountains and monarch butterflies saw us on our way to Little Current, where we were given a very warm welcome by Les & Winn Files on board Winscoop. Their extreme kindness and generosity saw us provisioned and ready to set sail when our daughter Robin and son-in-law Matt arrived.

The Bustard Islands Byng Inlet to Killarney Tuesday July 18, 2006 We left our safe anchorage in Byng Inlet and headed out into a very wavy Georgian Bay for the Bustards. The winds were 15-20 knots on our departure. With our main and genoa sails both up we averaged a 6.5-7 knot sail. Once in the Bustards we enjoyed 2 tranquil and peaceful nights. The Bustards will always be close to our hearts, not just because of their incredible beauty but as the place where we hung out the hammock. Thanks to the inverter we even enjoyed a movie on our laptop. (Capt. Ron, of course)

Wednesday August 2, 2006 Little Current The Storm July 17, 2006 saw us safe at anchor in Byng Inlet with Force 9 winds across our deck. After the storm extensive damage was reported all across the North Channel and Georgian Bay. In Killarney docks were torn out with boats attached. The Killarney Mountain Lodge sustained extensive damage and lost 25 trees off their grounds. We have seen a huge number of trees toppled throughout the North Channel which is not that surprising as they are mostly rooted in moss on top of the rocks. In Little Current boats on land on cradles were toppled. We heard that above Force 12 winds were registered near Clapperton Island (south of the Benjamins). In this location one poor fellow managed to put his "chartered" 39' trawler on the bottom. Apparently he attempted to reset his anchor while the storm was going on, left the hatch open, and broached. Sounds like he lost his deductible deposit.