42°1′35″ N 82°35′48″ W

(Depart – Leamington Marina)

42°17′11″ N 81°53′47″ W

(Destination – Erieau Marina)

The weather forecast looked promising so we prepared to cast off for Erieau.

Our first stop was going to be at Leamington‘s pump out station ‘cause they give you a free pump out if you stay two nights in a row. Who could pass up on a deal like that!

Unfortunately my happiness for such a great deal was short lived because the cap on our holding tank was stuck shut & I broke the handle while trying to force it open. We sprayed WD-40 on it to try to get it to loosen up but no success. Oh well, enough time spent on that little problem – Erieau awaits!

There were scattered clouds in the sky but the weather looked like it would hold for us.

We had a pretty smooth ride out to the end of Point Pelee but the waves were not in our favour when we made the turn for Erieau.

Shortly after we made the turn the waves started coming on the starboard side of the bow & generated an uncomfortable corkscrewing motion. The motion was not strong enough to be cause for concern but we had to be very careful moving around. Then, add insult to injury, it started to rain! We retreated to the main cabin & settled in for a few hours of rock ‘n roll.

Fortunately the rain did not amount to much at all and only lasted about 45 minutes. Once the sun came out again we headed back to the flybridge only to be greeted by hundreds of black flies!

We formed a swat team and the battle was on.

By the time we were approaching Erieau the carnage on deck was pretty gruesome! Hopefully that will be the last we see of flys on the flybridge:)

We arrived in Erieau around 3:00pm and were given a comfortable spot on the marina’s main wall for the night. There were lots of Purple Martins in the marina near our berth & they were feasting on the insects around the boats.

I wonder if they would come along with us if we set up a nice house for them on the flybridge?

We decided to have supper ashore & walked to a nearby brew pub that overlooks Rondeau Bay. Great tasting beer & food too!

The weather forecast for Sunday is not encouraging so we will re-evaluate our options in the morning & decide whether we stay put in Erieau for another day or we make a run for Port Stanley.

Cheers!

42°1′35″ N 82°35′48″ W

The wind forecast on Lake Erie for Friday was not at all encouraging so we decided to stay an extra day in Leamington.

The silver lining for us was that we got a chance to sleep in a bit and the marina had a very comfortable boater’s lounge with a large flat screen TV. So, we got to watch a couple of World Cup Soccer Matches.

The soccer took up most of the morning & the first half of the afternoon plus a few beers, a couple of bags of chips and a few handfuls of pepperetts. By the time the second game was over all of us were ready for a nap!

Following an afternoon siesta Pennie whipped up a great pasta dish for supper.

The crew made short work of that delight

& before we knew it, it was time for bed!

Saturday we set out for the marina in Erieau. It’s about 7 1/2 hours travel time. The wind & wave forecast looks promising so we’ll make a run for it.

Cheers everyone!

42°13′13″ N 83°6′17″ W

We made an early start on Thursday morning. The weather forecast for Lake Erie on Friday & Saturday was not at all encouraging so we wanted to get a little further along the way and stop in a marina that offered some nice amenities in case we had to stay put somewhere for 2-3 days. The marina in Leamington looked promising so we cast off at 6:45am & headed towards Lake Erie.

The weather was considerably nicer than the previous 2 days so we were able to shed our fleeces – at least for a little while & enjoy the sun.

We were still in the Detroit River so there was more freighter traffic coming our way. Pennie took the photo below of a sailboat that was approaching a freighter on a tack. From our viewing perspective it looked like the outcome was not going to be good for the sailboat. What was the sailor thinking!

It turned out that the sailboat tacked behind the freighter – but we had a few anxious moments until we saw the final part of the his manoeuvre.

We were now approaching the mouth of the Detroit River. The photo below shows a freighter headed upstream in one channel while we were going downstream in the neighbouring channel.

Shortly afterwards we finally exited the Detroit River into Lake Erie. The wind was blowing steadily but it had not stirred up any significant waves so we continued to maintain a good speed towards Leamington.

We arrived in Leamington at 12:30 – well ahead of the strong winds that were forecast for later in the day. Our first stop was at the marina fuel dock to top up our diesel tanks & secure a slip for the next couple of days.

The staff at the Leamington Marina were very efficient & welcoming. In no time flat we were all fuelled up & tied up at our slip. After celebrating our safe arrival with a few cold refreshments we went out for a great dinner at a nearby pub.

Even though the weather was deteriorating we still had an amazing sunset & arrived back at the boat just st in time for Pennie to take the photo below at the perfect moment.

We will stay in Leamington for at least another day while the winds blow themselves out.

Cheers!

42°59′43″ N 82°25′6″ W

Tuesday was a long day on the water – 9 hours – so we decided to have a slow start from the marina in Sarnia.

Pennie whipped up some awesome omelettes for the crew so we would start out with a full tank for the next leg of our journey.

By the time we polished off the breakfast it was 10:00am so we were keen to get underway.

As soon as we entered the St. Clair River we got a very nice speed boost from the current and were moving along at 8-9 knots. That’s a considerable improvement over Santosha’s “normal” cruising speed of 6.5 – 6.8 knots. Last fall when I was taking the boat to Goderich my average speed on this part of the river (going against the current) was about 3.5 knots!

Once we entered Lake St. Clair our speed dropped a bit but we were still making very good time. We encountered the first freighter right at the junction of the river & the lake.

It also wasn’t long after that when a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter took a close fly past us.

I guess they figured we were ok ’cause they didn’t stop or circle & kept right on going by.

It took us about 2 hours to traverse Lake St. Clair & enter the Detroit River. Through the day we took took turns at the helm. Pennie was in charge as we passed by Windsor & Detroit. The Windsor Casino seemed to have a magnetic draw on the boat as we passed by but we managed to escape it.

Traffic on the Ambassador Bridge was very backed up but we pretty much had the river to ourselves.

Our original goal was to make it to the Colchester Marina on Lake Erie but it was becoming obvious that we would have to keep going until 7 or 8 pm so we decided to find another marina on the Canadian side of the Detroit River just south of Windsor at LaSalle.

This was our last night before we would enter Lake Erie. Our passage from Sarnia was a great day’s journey. Time for some R & R.

Cheers!

43°44′53″ N 81°43′5″ W

After many weeks of preparations we finally cast off from Goderich.

Mike & Pennie Meadows are traveling with me from Goderich to Port Stanley.

Mike & Pennie are members of Goderich Yacht Club & we have known each other for many years. However, this is the first time we have travelled any distance together on the same vessel. Should be a great adventure!

We left Goderich at 8:00am on Tuesday morning & as soon as we were out of the marina we noticed that there was a fog bank moving down the lake towards us from the north. It caught up to us after we had been underway for about an hour but it was not too heavy as we could still see at least 1 kilometer all around us.

This was a pretty easy course to navigate. Once we were out of Goderich Harbour it was a straight line for about 60 nautical miles to the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia. We encountered a couple of freighters at anchor while approaching the bridge.

We arrived at the Bridgeview Marina around 5:00pm, arranged for a slip and then settled in for the night.

This was a great start to our journey.

Tomorrow we head for Windsor.

Cheers!