Author Archives: Wally

Thursday, July 8

We left the marina in Scarborough early in the morning and motored east to Coburg. Unfortunately there was not enough wind to sail. The lake was like a mill pond and the heat was so intense that the lake was covered with heat haze. We could only see a couple of hundred yards forward but if you looked straight up the sky was clear and blue. We arrived in Coburg in the late afternoon, went for dinner at local restaurant and then stopped by local pub to listen to a great blues band. Tomorrow we tackle the installation of the new heads.

Wednesday, July 7

Bo and I took Emily to catch the noon train back to London then headed back to the boat. It was unbelievably hot! I cannot remember having such a long stretch of hot weather. The anchorage we were in had no wind at all so we weighed anchor and headed east to Scarborough. I contacted Mike Macdonald from The Rigging Shoppe (in Scarborough) and he offered to deliver two new heads (toilets) to Cathedral Bluffs Marina which was just a couple of kilometers away from their store. I have decided to install new heads because the current ones are the original installation from when the boat was first built. They worked OK but were complicated to flush, allowed smells to come back from the holding tanks and they used a lot of water compared to the newer models.

While we were en route to the marina the cold water feed hose blew off the hot water tank and the entire water supply drained in to the bilge. The hot water tank is inside a bench locker in the galley and with all the engine noise we did not notice the problem until Bo went to get some water and nothing came out of the tap! Fortunately there was no damage and we were able to make repairs at our destination. We arrived at the Marina just as Spain won the Fifa World Cup against Germany.

Tuesday, July 6

We left Port Credit around noon and sailed back to Toronto. We had light winds but they were headed in the “right” direction. It was a beautiful day and we were in no hurry.

Bo and I lounged on the deck while Emily stayed below in the galley reading and munching on chips and salsa. It must have been a good book because every once in a while we would hear giggles and hoots coming out of the galley hatch. Bo & I listened to the Fifa World Cup soccer game.

When we got back to Toronto we anchored again in Lighthouse Bay in Toronto Islands. Hanlan’s Wall was now mostly empty but we chose to anchor because we can do that for free.
The little bay we were in is adjacent to the City’s water treatment plant for the islands.

Monday, July 5

Bo arrived from Chicago. He took the airporter bus to downtown and then caught the City ferry over to Hanlan’s Point. It was still very hot so we left Toronto Islands and headed to the marina in Port Credit, about 90 minute’s sail/travel west of Toronto. There was a bit of wind but it was not headed the same way we were, so after about an hour of searching for the wind we dropped the sails and motored the rest of the way. As soon as we reached the marina we headed straight for an air-conditioned restaurant and some ice-cold drinks! This particular marina is a pretty good bargain for dockage rates, right downtown in the community so there are lots of interesting shops nearby and there is also a boating supply store for me to pick up some more odds and ends. Being tied up on a dock also gives us 110v electricity so we can have electric fans in our sleeping areas—a “luxury” we can’t have when the boat is anchored because I don’t have an extension cord over 50’ long J and only 1 – 12v electric fan on board.

Sunday, July 4

American Independence Day! All the best to my dear friends in the USA! Our two nations are blessed to share so much together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Cavanaugh’s sister Betty-Lou and her daughter Laura joined Emily and I for a sail. The wind was great and we had a lot of fun together. While we were sailing off shore the tall ships were staging a mock sea battle. The sounds of the cannons firing were way louder than the fireworks a few days ago in front of Ontario Place.