Daily Archives: July 23, 2010

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.

Saturday, July 3

Today is departure day for Catherine & Mary & Alice. Catherine has to get back to London to teach Yoga classes and Alice has to get ready to head off to summer camp the next day. Emily will stay with me for a few days longer and then take the train home. We haven’t had much time together so I am really looking forward to having Emily’s company for a little while on this adventure. Emily and Alice are just like sisters so I know that she will be missing Alice right away—but I’ll do my best to keep her entertained!

Friday, July 2

Hanlan’s Wall is still packed but we decide that it is time to go exploring. Mary has friends from China staying in Toronto so they came to join us for a sail. Mary’s friend Arthur has just graduated from the University of Western Ontario Law School and his mother came over from China for the graduation and to see some of Canada. The wind is up, the sun is shining and its time to take Ananda out for a run. We know that we will lose our mooring space on Hanlan’s Wall as soon as we pull away but we decide to take a chance and if we cannot find an open space when we come back we will anchor in the harbor or somewhere in the islands.
We had an awesome sail—I could not believe how many boats were out—all types and sizes—it was like traffic on the freeway until we got out of the harbor and out on the main waters of Lake Ontario. There were several tall ships in Toronto for Canada Day. We motored past a few of them in the harbor—magnificent vessels. It’s hard to imagine what life must have been like on those ships back in the day. I would love to get a chance to sail on one for a few days.

 

 

 

 

Arthur’s Mom did not speak much English but Mary and Alice helped keep her company. They spent a bit of the time in the pilothouse having snacks and “gamming” in Mandarin. A “gam” is when two or more sailors get together and tell stories to each other. Not sure what you call it in Mandarin. When we were finished sailing we dropped Arthur and his mother off on the mainland and headed for Toronto Islands and Hanlan’s Wall.

As we expected, all of the spaces were gone so we needed to head for the designated anchorage area in the harbor. We tried to anchor there but the wind was pretty strong and it was adjacent to a busy (boating) traffic area. I was concerned that we might drag our anchor and/or get hit by an inattentive boater passing by, so we decided to move on. We headed back in to Toronto Islands and found an anchorage area in Lighthouse Cove, just beyond Hanlan’s wall and outside of the traffic zone. Now it was time for Ananda to settle down to her first night at anchor on this journey and we had found the perfect spot to do this.