After a quiet night at the marina we entered the Welland Canal at 10:30am. The canal entrance was only a few hundred yards from the marina we stayed in the night before.
The entire canal trip took about 6 hours non stop. Going through the canal we went through 8 locks and under several drawbridges. Each lock dropped us about 50 feet. Each locking process was very gentle, no movement of the boat. Lock staff tossed us long bow and stern lines. We “payed” them out as the water drained out of the lock.
We did not encounter any boats in the canal and saw only one freighter in one of the last twin locks—it was headed upstream at the same time we were headed downstream. When we finally exited the canal to Lake Ontario, the lake was covered in heat haze. Visibility reduced to about 1-2 km. Tiki Navigation made getting to Port Credit very simple. We reduced the chart size so we could see the entire width of the lake on the screen, noted our position and then set the set course for Port Credit on the autopilot. We took turns watching ahead for any oncoming traffic.
Saw one freighter and a couple of power boats—that was all. We were stopped by Peel Regional Police Marine Unit as we were approaching Port Credit. Bad news for me L. All of the safety flares on the boat were out of date = ticket for $240. Flares have a shelf life of 4 years from the date of manufacture. That ticket was a bitter lesson, but it could have been worse. Because of her size (36’) Ananda requires a minimum of 12 safety flares. The Police have authority to fine $120 the boat owner $120 for every flare that is not available (12 x $120 = OUCH!). So, while I am not happy that I got the ticket, I can be grateful that the officers took some pity on me. After we tied up at the dock Dan jumped ship on us. He lived nearby and was anxious to grab a long cool shower and sleep in a real bed. Perhaps his interest in heading home also had something to do with how we all smelled after two days “at sea” ….. hmmmm, perhaps I need a shower too!
