Well I am no longer going to say when we plan on travelling because Mother Nature waits for our plans then delivers bad weather. Today, Saturday, was to be good for travelling. Winds calmer and waves less than 2 feet. We headed out of Grand Bend at 8:30 AM and the Lake was fairly calm BUT... visibility was only about 1 mile. It was cloudy and "heavy", that is, a bit soupy. We continued on our way believing in the forecast that the soup would clear and the rain would hold off until late in the afternoon. NOT! It started raining about 6 miles from the mouth of the St. Clair River. It closed in so bad that I was getting disoriented and had to rely totally on the electronics. We could still see about 50 yards ahead of us (important so we would not run into anything) but had no point of reference for direction. We had no choice but to carry on and managed to get to Port Huron going about 9 mph.
After filling up with 300 gallons of diesel we started down the St. Clair River. There was a steady rain at first but we were cruising at our normal speed of 24 mph until the rain became so heavy that we could not see again. Back to 9 mph. It was a real strain, and stressful, trying to see through the heavy rain so that we could locate marker buoys and those "stupid" fisherman who were out in force. There must have been a tournament because there were dozens of the idi....s on the water. By 1 PM we were beat so we stopped at Algonac Harbor Club. To give you an idea about how much concentration was required, Linda said, yes Linda said, forget everything and let's go get a drink. She had 3 glasses of Zinfadel before we went back to the boat to take our wet clothes off.
So much for our trials and tribulations. Grand Bend was great. We met up with Linda's cousins, Leon and Lana, and had 3 great days. We were still able to swim on the beautiful beach that is the highlight of Grand Bend. The sand is like powdered sugar, the main beach is about 30 -40 yards deep and the water has a sand bar which is good for swimming and wading. The water temp was 69 F. Most enjoyable. Found some good places to relax as well. The mussels and hot spinach / 3 cheese dip are a must try at the Growling Gator. The Schoolhouse, just east of Hwy 21, are a favourite of the locals many of whom are wealthy, filthy wealthy. Around Grand Bend there are many million dollar cottages and the Cruising Club has as many 50 foot boats as 30 footers. It was a quality restaurant with excellent food and superb service. The prices were not so bad either. Another superb spot is the Hessenland Inn but it is about 20 km north of town. German food at it's best. Linda says that the goulash soup was the best she ever had or could imagine. All of our food was excellent. This place was more pricey but worth every penny. So with the swimming, visiting and food it was a great stop.
We will probably be here for a couple of days while Ike dumps rain on the area. For those not familiar with this part of the world, Algonac is a small town on the US mainland situated on one of the tributaries of the St. Clair River as it nears the north side of Lake St. Clair. We are probably only 1.5 hours from home but under today's conditions it may have taken us 6 hours and into the really, REALLY bad weather that was forecast for Saturday night. Severe wind warning and thunderstorms. NO THANKS.
I'll let you know when we get home.
Tom & Linda
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Abandon Journey
Gidday all, we are in Port Elgin having left Tobermory this morning (Tuesday) at 10 AM. Our travelling partners, (Terry and Cec) who are headed for Ohio, were monitoring the Canadain Marine weather broadcasts and thought that it would be good to head out and go as far as Kincardine, about 80 - 90 miles. The Cdn forecast read winds at 15 knots out of the NW, waves less than 1 metre. Well I also look at NOAA, the US marine service, and they said winds out of the NW 15 knots increasing to 20 with gusts of 25 knots; waves 2-4 ft increasing by noon to 3-6 ft. Well as I said, we left at 10 AM and the waves were about 3 ft. As we progressed down the coast and further from any refuge, waves increased to 3-6 but it did seem more 5-6 than anything else. As we approached Douglas Point, it seemed to get worse and a shower was directly in front of us. We decided to slow up so that we would not run smack through the middle of that disturbance but we were bobbing like an abandoned cork. Linda and I said that we were going to head for Port Elgin and our new friends readily agreed. So here we sit. The Cdn forecast was absolutely wrong and useless. Linda's forearms and fingers are sore from hanging on so tight.
Wednesday still looks good by both forecasters, so we are going to Grand Bend to visit with our friend Bonnie and Linda's cousin Leon, who is vacationing on the beach there this week. We may have to stay a few days to do some recovering and partying.
So long for now.
Tom
Wednesday still looks good by both forecasters, so we are going to Grand Bend to visit with our friend Bonnie and Linda's cousin Leon, who is vacationing on the beach there this week. We may have to stay a few days to do some recovering and partying.
So long for now.
Tom
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Another D*!# Wind Warning
Had a great cruise from Little Current to Tobermory; I was almost tempted to carry on south after fueling up again. The fueling, however, took longer than expected as the fuel dock is being repaired and I had to be extremely careful to keep the boat off the steel I beams. The old wood was totally removed. It also took time because I added 800 litres of fuel. Well we are now at Little Tub Harbour and quite enjoying this hub of activity. Tobermory is one of the better dive spots in Ontario and the 8 or so dive boats have been making 2 trips per day. The glass bottom tour boat is still running so there are lots of people around and of course the ferry to Manitoulin Island is still running The couple from Ohio whom we met in Gore Bay arrived shortly after us and are docked right behind us. We had lunch with them at the Crowsnest and had such a good time that we got together again for drinks and then dinner at the Lighthouse. We have decided to travel together for the first and worst leg down Lake Huron. The closest port or refuge is Port Elgin about 60 miles from here. Since there is a wind warning today and Monday, we will be here until Tuesday. Hopefully, the window for Tuesday and Wednesday in the long term forecast remains as advertised so that we can get to Kincardine then on to Grand Bend the following day.
For now, we still have the pub at Big Tub Harbour to check out and Pirates Cove here in town. Then there is the Grandview Dining Lounge for a fancier dinner and the Princess Hotel for a change of pace. The cafe, a Mermaid Secret, is also in need of my attention because they have some awesome desserts, including coconut cream pie or maybe the pirate pecan cheesecake or the pecan, caramel cheesecake or the torte (which for my family, looked like Grandma Hubert's). For a change, if it does not rain with the wind, we can visit the Visitors Centre which was opened in 2006 or play a round of golf.
Oh well, we will suffer through another couple of days of delay.
Tom & Linda
For now, we still have the pub at Big Tub Harbour to check out and Pirates Cove here in town. Then there is the Grandview Dining Lounge for a fancier dinner and the Princess Hotel for a change of pace. The cafe, a Mermaid Secret, is also in need of my attention because they have some awesome desserts, including coconut cream pie or maybe the pirate pecan cheesecake or the pecan, caramel cheesecake or the torte (which for my family, looked like Grandma Hubert's). For a change, if it does not rain with the wind, we can visit the Visitors Centre which was opened in 2006 or play a round of golf.
Oh well, we will suffer through another couple of days of delay.
Tom & Linda
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Heading South
Man it is getting cold up here. We now need the duvet on our bed every night. A couple of times it has dropped to the low 40's, sorry still on degress F. The marina operators are closing things up and the seasonal boaters are already taking their boats out of the water. Some of the shops are already closed for the season. I am told that by Sept. 15, the North Channel will be dead.
I am writing this from Little Current on the north shore of Manitoulin Island. We spent a few hours touring the Benjamin Islands, really neat, but are afraid that the weather will not allows us to anchor out. We had to spend an extra day in Gore Bay because there was a wind warning up here. Man did we bounce around, even at the dock. I had to resort to gravol just so I could get the boat ready to leave on Friday morning. It was a little rough until we got behind some islands but all-in-all not bad. A couple of boaters from Ohio, who were headed in the same direction but afraid to leave, wanted updates about how bad the channel was. I was able to fill them in on the conditions by radio for almost 30 minutes. In the end, I think that they were going to leave as well.
My main concern now is the big water of Lake Huron. We do not want to take on the conditions that we encountered coming up. Unfortunately, the forecast is not favourable. We should have a window on Saturday to do the 70 miles between Little Current and Tobermory. We have decided to bypass Killarney, unfortunately. Word is that the new owner of the Sportsman Inn has spruced up the place real good. It is a favourite place but we going to run for Tobermory this morning while we can. There is a swing bridge connecting the island with the mainland and it opens for 15 minutes at the top of each hour. We are targetting the 9 AM swing.
Hopefully, there is wifi in Big Tub Harbour because it looks like we may be there until Tuesday. If not, not sure where or when the next update will come.
Just noticed 2 flocks of geese overhead; they are doing the same as us; heading south.
Bye for now.
Tom & Linda
I am writing this from Little Current on the north shore of Manitoulin Island. We spent a few hours touring the Benjamin Islands, really neat, but are afraid that the weather will not allows us to anchor out. We had to spend an extra day in Gore Bay because there was a wind warning up here. Man did we bounce around, even at the dock. I had to resort to gravol just so I could get the boat ready to leave on Friday morning. It was a little rough until we got behind some islands but all-in-all not bad. A couple of boaters from Ohio, who were headed in the same direction but afraid to leave, wanted updates about how bad the channel was. I was able to fill them in on the conditions by radio for almost 30 minutes. In the end, I think that they were going to leave as well.
My main concern now is the big water of Lake Huron. We do not want to take on the conditions that we encountered coming up. Unfortunately, the forecast is not favourable. We should have a window on Saturday to do the 70 miles between Little Current and Tobermory. We have decided to bypass Killarney, unfortunately. Word is that the new owner of the Sportsman Inn has spruced up the place real good. It is a favourite place but we going to run for Tobermory this morning while we can. There is a swing bridge connecting the island with the mainland and it opens for 15 minutes at the top of each hour. We are targetting the 9 AM swing.
Hopefully, there is wifi in Big Tub Harbour because it looks like we may be there until Tuesday. If not, not sure where or when the next update will come.
Just noticed 2 flocks of geese overhead; they are doing the same as us; heading south.
Bye for now.
Tom & Linda
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Mixed Emotions - Back in Canada
Well we have made it to Gore Bay on Labour Day, our first night back in Canada, and we are experiencing price shock. Overnight dockage has jumped from $44 USD to $60 cdn. Worst yet is food and booze. For the past month we have been pleasantly surprised every time we received the bill at a restaurant or bar now the cost has easily doubled. I have yet to convert fuel prices but I know that will not be good either. Welcome to Canada.
Now that I have vented a little, I can fill you in on 3 great days of cruising. The water has been smooth all 3 days and it is such a pleasure to boat in those conditions for a change. We departed Mackinaw City, finally, on Saturday and after filling up with fuel and emptying the nearly bursting holding tank, we looped under the Mighty Mac (the bridge) into Lake Michigan. Linda and I have now taken our boat into four of the Great Lakes. We have circum-navigated three of them, Erie, Ontario and Huron. Not bad for only having the boat 5 years.
Anyway after picking up the bragging rights, we headed to Hessel, a small village in the Les Cheneaux Islands. It was an easy trip as we just had to basically cross the Straits of Mackinaw and go east along the UP a short way. It was a nice harbor with floating docks and a very friendly harbor master named Gail. For a small place it was a going concern right through to 1 AM. There were 5 commercial buildings in town, 2 of them bars. The Islander was a sports bar, $1.50 beers and superb wings. The Hessel Bay Inn had a very popular Tiki Bar and both indoor and outdoor seating and a fairly comprehensive menu. The other places of lesser importance; marine store, ice cream shop and a junk store. Boats were coming and going from early morning until very late at night. I have never seen so many different Boston Whaler boats. The next most frequent were the old wooden crafts. So neat. They look so good and shiny and different. Many of them with just a single person. As we found out the next day there are tons of homes throughout the islands and boats are the primary method of getting around.
The Channel through the Islands is narrow but well marked. Unfortunately, the weeds were so high that the shallow depth alarm was going off constantly. In fact, I had to stop and reverse three times to free my brand new propellers. It was a little scary but as I said there was plenty of depth or so the charts indicated. It took us about 2 hours to get through the islands to the nearest passage to the South Channel on Lake Huron. We could have continued further through the islands but my nerves were shot and going 5 mph, my idle speed, was getting frustrating. Once we hit the lake it only took an hour to get to DeTour Harbor Marina. This marina is on the shipping channel between Drummond Island and the UP. It is a good spot with floating docks and the cheapest fuel since Port Huron a month earlier. By the way, diesel fuel in Hessel was $5.55 /gal. At DeTour I paid $4.66. The village is close to the marina and it has a couple of restaurants and a couple of bars and a really neat Garage Cafe. The cafe serves ice cream and all kinds of milk shakes, floats and ice coffees. It was shades of Mac City; we decided to split a Turtles Cheescake with carmel topping, as our dessert at the Mainsail for our late lunch. After walking a bit we discovered the aforementioned cafe and indulged ourselves again. What a mistake; we were stuffed for the rest of the day. I couldn't even choke down any more beer. It so happened that there was a tug boat rendezvous gathering there for Labour Day. Six tug boats, all converted for pleasure use and all of them Canadian, arrived shortly after we did. They were all very friendly and it was neat to talk with them and to see their boats.
This is for the family. One of the churches in the village chimed out every 15 minutes just like mom's clock. Go figure, we would come across this on August 31. For the rest of you Aug. 31 was my mother's birthday and she had a clock for as long as I can remember that chimed every 15 minutes then on the hour counted out the time. The church did the same.
On Labour Day we decided to go all the way to Gore Bay and give Meldrum Bay a pass. The difference was only 32 miles. The North Channel was ideal. Sunny, warm and no waves or wind. It was a truly pleasant day cruising and we easily got to Gore Bay in about 4 hours. The docks at Gore Bay are all new. It was quite a surprise because we were there in 2005 and we ended up docked at the fuel dock. Now they have about 12 60 foot docks and numerous 40's and then a ton of 30 foot docks. All new power and water; very nice. There was only one other boat on the 60 footers so we docked there with an unobstructed view across the bay to the woods on the other side. We have been sitting out both at night and in the morning (it is now Tuesday night as I write this part of the report) as it seems that we are alone here. We have been swimming right off our boat as the water is 16 feet deep and crystal clear. It is starting to get a little chilly so we do not stay in very long. We went golfing today at the Gore Bay Country Club. It is only 9 holes but immaculately groomed with fast greens and an interesting layout. We played it twice today.
While we were having our morning coffee, we assisted an older couple to dock their boat, no super yacht, near us. Doug and Phylis have a 2007, 63 foot Neptunus. Possibly the nicest boat I have ever seen. They spent the last few days anchored out at the Benjamin Islands and shared some of their favourite spots with us. We later found out that he owns Manitoulin Transportation and was awarded the Order of Canada a couple years back. They seemed so down to earth and even though they had an appointment to keep, they invited us on board and showed us all the places to go and to avoid around the islands. Very nice people.
Well you are pretty much up to date. This is now Wednesday and we will likely tour the islands on Thursday then head for Little Current before the T-storms hit this area on Friday. Of course the weather and winds may change our plans as we have decided to become fair weather boaters again. If the Benjamins are as nice as people say, we may go back and spend a few days in that area. After that, we plan on overnighting in Killarney then head to Tobermory and start working our way down the Canadian side of Lake Huron.
Tom & Linda
Now that I have vented a little, I can fill you in on 3 great days of cruising. The water has been smooth all 3 days and it is such a pleasure to boat in those conditions for a change. We departed Mackinaw City, finally, on Saturday and after filling up with fuel and emptying the nearly bursting holding tank, we looped under the Mighty Mac (the bridge) into Lake Michigan. Linda and I have now taken our boat into four of the Great Lakes. We have circum-navigated three of them, Erie, Ontario and Huron. Not bad for only having the boat 5 years.
Anyway after picking up the bragging rights, we headed to Hessel, a small village in the Les Cheneaux Islands. It was an easy trip as we just had to basically cross the Straits of Mackinaw and go east along the UP a short way. It was a nice harbor with floating docks and a very friendly harbor master named Gail. For a small place it was a going concern right through to 1 AM. There were 5 commercial buildings in town, 2 of them bars. The Islander was a sports bar, $1.50 beers and superb wings. The Hessel Bay Inn had a very popular Tiki Bar and both indoor and outdoor seating and a fairly comprehensive menu. The other places of lesser importance; marine store, ice cream shop and a junk store. Boats were coming and going from early morning until very late at night. I have never seen so many different Boston Whaler boats. The next most frequent were the old wooden crafts. So neat. They look so good and shiny and different. Many of them with just a single person. As we found out the next day there are tons of homes throughout the islands and boats are the primary method of getting around.
The Channel through the Islands is narrow but well marked. Unfortunately, the weeds were so high that the shallow depth alarm was going off constantly. In fact, I had to stop and reverse three times to free my brand new propellers. It was a little scary but as I said there was plenty of depth or so the charts indicated. It took us about 2 hours to get through the islands to the nearest passage to the South Channel on Lake Huron. We could have continued further through the islands but my nerves were shot and going 5 mph, my idle speed, was getting frustrating. Once we hit the lake it only took an hour to get to DeTour Harbor Marina. This marina is on the shipping channel between Drummond Island and the UP. It is a good spot with floating docks and the cheapest fuel since Port Huron a month earlier. By the way, diesel fuel in Hessel was $5.55 /gal. At DeTour I paid $4.66. The village is close to the marina and it has a couple of restaurants and a couple of bars and a really neat Garage Cafe. The cafe serves ice cream and all kinds of milk shakes, floats and ice coffees. It was shades of Mac City; we decided to split a Turtles Cheescake with carmel topping, as our dessert at the Mainsail for our late lunch. After walking a bit we discovered the aforementioned cafe and indulged ourselves again. What a mistake; we were stuffed for the rest of the day. I couldn't even choke down any more beer. It so happened that there was a tug boat rendezvous gathering there for Labour Day. Six tug boats, all converted for pleasure use and all of them Canadian, arrived shortly after we did. They were all very friendly and it was neat to talk with them and to see their boats.
This is for the family. One of the churches in the village chimed out every 15 minutes just like mom's clock. Go figure, we would come across this on August 31. For the rest of you Aug. 31 was my mother's birthday and she had a clock for as long as I can remember that chimed every 15 minutes then on the hour counted out the time. The church did the same.
On Labour Day we decided to go all the way to Gore Bay and give Meldrum Bay a pass. The difference was only 32 miles. The North Channel was ideal. Sunny, warm and no waves or wind. It was a truly pleasant day cruising and we easily got to Gore Bay in about 4 hours. The docks at Gore Bay are all new. It was quite a surprise because we were there in 2005 and we ended up docked at the fuel dock. Now they have about 12 60 foot docks and numerous 40's and then a ton of 30 foot docks. All new power and water; very nice. There was only one other boat on the 60 footers so we docked there with an unobstructed view across the bay to the woods on the other side. We have been sitting out both at night and in the morning (it is now Tuesday night as I write this part of the report) as it seems that we are alone here. We have been swimming right off our boat as the water is 16 feet deep and crystal clear. It is starting to get a little chilly so we do not stay in very long. We went golfing today at the Gore Bay Country Club. It is only 9 holes but immaculately groomed with fast greens and an interesting layout. We played it twice today.
While we were having our morning coffee, we assisted an older couple to dock their boat, no super yacht, near us. Doug and Phylis have a 2007, 63 foot Neptunus. Possibly the nicest boat I have ever seen. They spent the last few days anchored out at the Benjamin Islands and shared some of their favourite spots with us. We later found out that he owns Manitoulin Transportation and was awarded the Order of Canada a couple years back. They seemed so down to earth and even though they had an appointment to keep, they invited us on board and showed us all the places to go and to avoid around the islands. Very nice people.
Well you are pretty much up to date. This is now Wednesday and we will likely tour the islands on Thursday then head for Little Current before the T-storms hit this area on Friday. Of course the weather and winds may change our plans as we have decided to become fair weather boaters again. If the Benjamins are as nice as people say, we may go back and spend a few days in that area. After that, we plan on overnighting in Killarney then head to Tobermory and start working our way down the Canadian side of Lake Huron.
Tom & Linda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
