42°59′43″ N 82°25′6″ W

Sept 18 – Overnight at Bridgeview Marina, Sarnia

I left the marina in Port Lambton at 7:00am Monday morning. It was a completely different day on the river – compared to Sunday.

The sky was overcast, more like what we expect to experience at this time of year. Sunrises are also getting a bit later each morning. Today the sunrise was on my starboard side whereas every day before it was on my stern.

There was no pleasure craft  traffic at all on the river. Refreshing compared to the chaos the day before!

The current in the river was pretty strong & I spent most of the day poking along at 4.5 knots “climbing the hill”. I encountered several freighters going each way. It’s surprising how quickly they catch up to me as the current doesn’t slow them down too much.

This part of the river to Sarnia is heavily developed on the US & the Canadian sides. Lots of big houses & very modest cottages too. This big place in the photo below is in Port Huron, MI. It has a crane on the dock to lift the “toys” out of the water & a waterslide off the balcony!

There were also several higher density developments on the US side of the river that appeared to be much more affordable.

I finally got to the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia at noon & began to head into Lake Huron.

The current here is incredibly strong & the boat speed slowed to less than 2 knots at several points. In addition, I had to work hard at keeping the boat on course because the current kept trying to push me to port & starboard.

I finally got out of the current & into the lake but the wind had come up & now I was constantly bashing into one meter high waves coming directly into the bow. Even with the waves I was making good progress but I still had over 50 nautical miles to get to Goderich so I decided to turn around & head back to a marina in Sarnia for the night.

The “trip” back to Sarnia was much quicker. Once I got into the river’s current my speed went up to over 12 knots!

On the way back in I also discovered that the steering on the upper helm was not very responsive so I went to the lower station to steer into the marina. Once I was tied up on the dock I took a closer look at the upper helm steering & found it to be barely working at all. Fortunately the marina had a mechanic on duty & he came over right away to check things out for me. He quickly discovered that my hydraulic steering system was low on oil & it also needed to be re-pressurized – with a bicycle pump, of all things. In less than an hour the steering system was all tuned up & it now works better than it did when I first left Jacksonville. So, having to abandon my goal of getting to Goderich that night worked out OK.

The weather forecast for Lake Huron on Tuesday is much better so hopefully I will make it there by dinner time.

Cheers!

42°38′10″ N 82°29′47″ W

Sept 17 – Port Lambert Encarte Marina

I left Colchester at 7:00am Sunday morning & arrived at Port Lambert at 5:30pm.

There was a beautiful sunrise behind me to light the way & burn off the light mist on the water.

This was an interesting & challenging segment of my trip to Goderich.

• Lake Erie to the Detroit River;
• Detroit River past Detroit & Windsor to Lake St. Clair;
• Lake St. Clair to the St. Clair River;
• St. Clair River to the south end of Lake Huron.

Colchester is very close to the western end of Lake Erie. Within an hour I was entering the Detroit River & my speed immediately dropped from 6.5 to 4.5 knots because of the current of the river flowing into Lake Erie. I also started to encounter large freighters. Thankfully most of them were headed in the other direction.

It wasn’t too long before the shoreline along the US side of the river was built up with power plants & many heavy industries.

Some of these facilities looked like something out of a Dickens novel.

By noon I was almost at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor & Detroit. It was an impressive view but unfortunately I didn’t have much time to enjoy it because of all the boat traffic on the water.

This part of the river also has a lot of current & turbulence so even though I was more or less traveling in a straight line it was not possible to use the auto-helm because it couldn’t make changes fast enough to maintain my course.

Downtown Detroit’s skyline is impressive with multiple “art deco” style hi-rise buildings. Windsor’s waterfront is modest by comparison but is beautifully developed with lots of parks, walking & bike paths. It also wasn’t hard to tell which side of the river was Canadian.

The weather was fantastic for mid-September Sunday afternoon & apparently hundreds of other boaters felt the same way because the river was jammed with all sizes of pleasure boats.

I encountered more “traffic” on this segment of my journey than I saw anywhere else on the trip from Florida – even when we went through New York City & the Hudson River!

By 2:00 I was finally past Detroit/Windsor & entering Lake St. Clair. Thankfully the pleasure craft traffic thinned out as well.

Crossing Lake St. Clair was relatively uneventful except that I met two freighters & was passed by another two freighters. The lake is relatively shallow & there is a deepened channel that crosses the lake for freighters to use. I set my course to travel parallel to the outside the channel so I didn’t have to worry about the freighter traffic.

I was quite intimated the first few times that I encountered freighters but after meeting & being passed by several of them it was much easier to be within a hundred feet of them. Plus, these big boats hardly generate any wake compared to most of the large powerboats that I was encountering.

Once I entered the St. Clair River I was back into pleasure boat chaos topped up with more freighter traffic! Thankfully I only had to endure this for a couple more hours before I arrived at my marina for the night.

It was only 5:30 in the afternoon by the time I was tied up to the dock but I was pooped from all the steering & concentration. Hopefully Monday will be an “easier” day.

Cheers!

41°58′59″ N 82°55′56″ W

Sept 16 – Colchester Marina

I arrived at the marina in Colchester at 3:30 this afternoon. It was a great day on the water – except for the flies.

After getting secured on the dock, paying my fees, etc. I felt that it was the right time for a tall G&T to unwind from my hectic day on the water. The photo below shows my view of the lake from the flybridge.

I just got nicely settled in my chair with my drink when a couple of young bucks went past me on jet skis – headed out on the lake for some fun….

Once they were through the breakwater they each went in separate directions at high speed & then looped around & started heading towards each other. I figured they were going to go zooming past each other when there was a massive BANG! as one jet ski t-boned the other one! Unbelievable! All I could see was one fellow & parts of both jets skis flying through the air.

I yelled over to the marina staff to call for help & a couple of other boaters at the fuel dock who already had their boat running headed out to rescue the two fellas.

Turns out that the guy that got hit has a broken leg & a broken arm  with multiple fractures in each. Apparently he had just bought the jet ski a few weeks ago & had not been out on it very much. The other guy (who went flying through the air) was shaken up but no cuts or broken bones. Talk about lucky… I’m amazed that neither of them were really seriously hurt (or killed).

Anyway, after all that excitement I needed another G&T. That went down well – along with the sunset.

So, once again I can confirm that poking along at 6 1/2 knots ain’t so bad after all.

Cheers & be safe!

I spent last night at Erieau Marina.

42°15′25″ N 81°54′29″ W

This is a large marina with great amenities that include a well stocked chandlery & an LCBO outlet right beside the marina office. Talk about convenience!

My first time at this marina was in 2010 when I was en route to Atlantic Canada on my Nauticat, Ananda. I spent last night tied up in the same spot where I was in 2010.

I was up at 5:30am this morning so I could get an early start to my next destination, which will be the municipal marina in Colchester. I pulled away from the dock at 7:00am, just as the sun was rising “above” the lake & the horizon.

The trip today will take me about 9 hours & on the way I will pass between Point Pelee & Pelee Island. The weather is very pleasant & so far there are not too many bugs on the water (fingers remain crossed)!

The chartplotter tells me that I am now about 9 nautical miles from Point Pelee. Visibility is great & I can just make it out on the horizon.

Cheers!

42°36′8″ N 81°17′11″ W

Sept 15 – en route to Goderich

This portion of my journey comes as a total surprise to me!

My original plan was to have the boat hauled out in Port Stanley & trucked to my friend’s shop in Ailsa Craig for a refit over the winter & then trucked back to Port Stanley in the spring for relaunch.

Unfortunately I just learned yesterday that it would cost me a small fortune for the (there & back) trucking because the flybridge on the boat is too high for unrestricted passage under power & phone lines that cross the roads everywhere.

The maximum allowable height for any road transport is just over 14 feet & this trawler will sit at over 15 feet when it’s on a trailer.

If it had to be trucked then that would mean extensive route planning, escort vehicles & hiring the power authority to raise any power lines along the route that the truck & boat could not pass under without assistance. That alone could cost even more than the trucking – to make a combined total of roughly $3,000-$4,000 each way!

As a result I abandoned my trucking plan & tried to come up with a “Plan B”.

“Plan B” was to store the boat in a yard across from the marina in Port Stanley. Unfortunately the marina there cannot handle boats unless they are on their own trailer or on a cradle. I investigated having a cradle built but that can’t be done unless the fabricator/welder has the boat on site & the cost of bringing a custom fabricator/welder to the marina is prohibitive.

So, now I have moved on to “Plan C” & am now underway to Maitland Valley Marina in Goderich on Lake Huron. They have a travelift large enough to handle our boat & can store it for the winter easily in their yard.

We kept our Nauticat “Ananda” in this marina for several years so I am very familiar with all the resources & amenities there, plus my boat-builder friend Ed is often there working on other customer’s boats – so I will be able to make the best of the situation.

The trip from Port Stanley to Goderich is roughly 200 nautical miles so it will take me about 4 days to get there. I had to leave on short notice to take advantage of the weather so I am making the trip alone as Catherine has commitments over the weekend. Not a problem. I know the boat well & the route is familiar to me.

This trip involves traveling to the western end of Lake Erie, up the Detroit River to Lake St Clair & then into Lake Huron.

The red-circled blue dot in the screen shot above shows my current position on Lake Erie & the red-circled “pin” shows my destination – Goderich.

I plan to make 3 overnight stops along the way. My first stop will be at a marina in Erieau & I should arrive there around 3:30pm today.

I will figure out the next 2 stops along the way – depending upon my rate of progress.

I am very fortunate that the weather forecast for the next week is ideal for trawler traveling. Very light winds & calm waters.

However, I have just discovered a major downside to this weather!

It’s a beautiful day on the water but I was only underway about 30 minutes when the boat was invaded by THOUSANDS of mosquitoes & flys.

I had no choice but to retreat to the inside helm station & shut all the doors & windows. Hopefully the wind will pick up just a little bit & blow these pests away.

Stay tuned!

(Note to self – pick up a case of Deep Woods Off at next port of call)