42°39′57″ N 81°12′49″ W

Start: Port Stanley

42°46′58″ N 80°11′37″ W

Destination: Port Dover

I left Port Stanley at 6:30am on Thursday & headed towards Port Dover. It’s a 16 hour passage from Port Stanley to Port Colborne, at the Lake Erie entrance to the Welland Canal, so I decided to break the trip up into two segments.

It makes the total distance travelled a bit longer but is easier to do when single-handing. Plus, the weather forecast for the next few days looked good from sunrise to 5 or 6 pm but not so good in the evenings or overnight.

If I was on a sailboat I would be very happy to take advantage of the favorable winds that come later in the day but they may not be so kind to a slow moving trawler.

The segment from Port Stanley to Long Point was very comfortable. The wind & waves were on my stern, making for a smooth ride. There were several commercial & sports fishing boats on the water to keep me company.

The commercial boat in the photo above was headed towards Port Stanley & was all decked out for Canada Day 🇨🇦

All good things must come to an end and so it was for my nice ride. As soon as I “turned the corner” at Long Point to head towards Port Dover, the wind and waves were now coming at me on my port side & the ride instantly changed to major rock ‘n roll. On top of that, the wind was now growing stronger!

As a result I spent the next 3 hours wedged in my seat up on the flybridge while the cupboards in the galley below proceeded to try & empty themselves. Fortunately, my advance “security” preparations held together & the only door that managed to open itself was the spice & coffee cupboard.

After 11 hours on the water I certainly was glad to get into the marina & tied up on the dock. First order of business after that was a tall G&T!

Tomorrow I head to Port Colborne. Only 6 hours away – a piece of cake, compared to today (fingers crossed)

Cheers!

42°39′57″ N 81°12′49″ W

We had a restful evening & comfortable night at the marina. It was good to be able to move around the boat without having to hang on.

Mike & Pennie needed to get home on June 26 so Catherine came from London to pick us up & then I drove them home to Goderich.

We had great fun on our trip & I was very sad to see them leave.

I pointed out to Mike & Pennie that we were tied up beside the dock that I was at with the Nauticat in 2010 with Peter Hammond & Mike Norton. Fortunately, our passage this year from Erieau to Port Stanley was much better than the trip in 2010!

I was back in London by supper time & it was good to spend an evening with Catherine & Emily & to sleep in a bed that was not bumping up against the side of a dock.

I spent June 27 tending to odds & ends in London & organizing items for the next segment of my journey.

Catherine drove me back to Port Stanley late in the afternoon. Emily & Catherine’s mom, Jeanne came with us & we had dinner at a restaurant close to the marina.

Bonus! – Jeanne made a whole batch of my favorite peanut butter cookies for me to take on the journey. I must confess that I have already dipped into the tin several times. I’d better slow down or there won’t be any left by the time I get to Port Colborne!

Thanks Jeanne – the cookies are awesome!👏

Catherine & Emily are going to drive to meet me at Port Colborne on Friday & we will go through the Welland Canal on Saturday. They will leave the car at the marina in Port Colborne & then take a cab back from the marina in Port Dalhousie (on Lake Ontario).

Cheers!

42°39′57″ N 81°12′49″ W

We departed from Erieau at 8:00am and headed for Port Stanley.

The temperature was still cool but the winds were light & blowing in a favourable direction.

Once we were underway we were basically headed straight into the wind & small waves which creates a bit of a hobby-horse effect ride for the boat. It was just strong enough that we had to hang on tightly when moving around the boat & it also took a bit of effort to stay seated. Mike suggested that even staying seated was a good “core” workout.

Mike & Pennie & I took turns watching the helm so we could each have some time to read or have a nap.

Even though the ride was a bit rough it was pretty comfortable laying on our bunks & I managed to snooze for about an hour.

About halfway to Port Stanley the wind died down & much to our pleasure the waves dissipated with the wind & the last few hours of our journey were a lot smoother.

Port Stanley became visible on the horizon about 90 minutes prior to our arrival. When you are traveling on a slow moving boat once you are able to see your destination you think the journey is nearly at an end but when you are traveling at only 6-7 knots it seems to take forever to travel those last few miles.

We entered the harbour shortly before 3:00pm.

Port Stanley has a drawbridge just in front the marinas. It opens every 30 minutes so our timing was good.

We were booked to stay at the Kettle Creek Marina & our slip was the very first one past the bridge.

Mike & Pennie has the fenders & lines all set up so we were tied up on our dock in no time at all. As you can see from the photo below, our dock overlooked a 3-hole championship golf course!

We were all too tired to play golf but we did take some nice seats in the sun & had a cool drink to celebrate our safe arrival.

Sadly, this day was the last part of the journey with Mike & Pennie. They were scheduled to be home the next day so rather than cooking on board we went out on the town for dinner.

Cheers!