Apr 302003
 

July-August 2003 … 4 lakes, 2 rivers, 2 bays, 1 canal.

Three weeks from Etobicoke Yacht Club up the lakes to Georgian Bay, about 800 nautical miles of sailing.

101-LeavingEYC

For the up bound transit of the Welland Canal we took an extra crew, EYC member Rolf Weiler. We arrived at the Lake Ontario end at approximately 4pm, July 23, contacted the canal captain and had only to wait for one freighter to exit before entering the canal.

canalarrive

We made the transit solo and virtually uninterrupted. We had 8 fenders deployed and they took a fair abuse, at times squashed to only a couple of inches thick. The pressure of the water filling the locks forces the boat against the wall and some observance is required to keep the boat parallel so one end or the other doesn’t swing into the wall. You have to work quickly to grab and deploy the monkeys fist of line dropped down by the lock tenders.

The workers were helpful and friendly and the charge is $20 per lock, a bargain considering the work involved. All pleasure boats are given a pamphlet outlining procedures, listing tie ups (whether port or starboard) at the first lock. We encountered no problems in the more difficult up bound passage although we’ve been warned against going through if there is wind because of the possibility of having your spreaders blown onto the wall. We arrived at Port Colbourne around midnight and tied up at the municipal dock. The town itself has real charm.

July 24 we left Port Colbourne in weather that deteriorated to thunderstorms and had to make an unplanned-for stop in Dunkirk NY…enough said.

Lake Erie presented us with typical westerlies and chop to beat into. It took 36 hours to go from Dunkirk to Rhondo Park anchorage. The bay is large and quite shallow and weedy and we dragged a bit getting anchored and sucked up a mass of weed into the intake hose.

104-LakeErie

105-LakeErie

First freighter close-up enroute to Pelee Island. July 29 rested up at Scudder Bay, the most southern point of the country, where fees began to reflect the US$. At the dock a boat that had encountered a 47kn squall the day before with one crew injured and a Sandusky NY boat that had had a lightning strike (all electronics gone).

108-PeleeChannel

July 30 – Detroit River to Windsor. July 31 to Sarnia Yacht club. The passage up Lake Huron included a squal with winds blasting out of a roll cloud and severe lightning, dead calm and then fog. Made stops in beautiful Bayfield and Port Elgin.

112-DetroitStClair

August 4 arrived at busy Little Tub Harbour, Tobermory with Cheechemaun ferry.

Tobermory

 

Two days at Wingfield Basin, a popular stopover for boats going up or down the Bruce Peninsula or into Georgian Bay. The wreck of the steam tug Gargantua is prominent and the restored lighthouse worth a visit.

Wingfield

gargantuajpg

 

Entering the home stretch of our trip as we head down the east side of the peninsula. Exercised the radar in fog and the engine in calm but threatening weather. Lion’s Head enjoys a spectacular location and is a great place to get off the boat for a bit and get some exercise with a hike. Lots of salmon fishing going on here.

LHstreet

August 9 on to Cape Crocker where we went into Macgregor Harbour a tiny native, fishing community. The bay has excellent protection from all directions, sand bottom and we were the only pleasure boat anchored near a fish tug and wreck. We were awoken that night by the splashing of fish around the hull.

macgregor

August 10 across Nottawasaga Bay to Hope Island for our last night before heading to Penetanguishene. The anchorage is popular and has good holding and protection from west and north. The Beausoliel Natives will collect a small fee if you want to go ashore (and they happen to be there).

approachingpenetang

August 11 we arrived at Beacon Bay Marina in rain (below). We enjoyed a 50′ slip there on “millionaires row”, our dock for the remainder of the season.

arrive

 

Everyone said that you can’t sail in Georgian Bay without finding the bottom. We hit a submerged rock at about 2+ knots coming into the Bone Is. anchorage, enough to bring out the nearby cottager but only superficial damage to the Niagara35 lead keel.

153GeorgianBay-BoneIsland

Fall sailing in Georgian Bay is fantastic. The number of boats in anchorages drops, air is fresh and clean, colours vivid, winds solid and after years in Lake Ontario there are lots of new places to explore. Phantasia was one of the last boats hauled out Beacon Bay Marina. We have logged approximately 1000nm since leaving Toronto in late July til haul out in late October.

fall

fallsailing2

 Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)