Boo Hoo Hoo, We are Home

(Thursday Sept 1 - Dist: 45.6 mi; Avg Speed: 13.9 mph; TTT: 3:10 hrs)

Hallelujah!  Linda and I have completed America's Great Loop.  As you can see, it is with mixed feelings.  I asked Linda for the title of this last entry.  We are clearly sorry to have the journey end.  On the other hand the achievement of travelling 6,700 miles on our boat is something that we can be proud of.  The adventure, the people, the sights, the experiences, and especially the new found friends will be cherished for the rest of our lives.  It has been a remarkable year.


For those who are interested in stats here are bunch of them for you:

Total Distance Travelled:  6,746 miles;

Fuel:  Total - 5,638.5 US Gals;  Avg Cost per gal - $3.70 USD;  Total Cost - $20,938.50;

Mileage:  MPG - 1.31;   GPH - 10.63;

Dockage:  Marinas - 107 (Cost - $19,691);  At Anchor - 14;  Free Wall - 8;

Pump Outs:  Total - 30;  Cost: $147.50;  Macerator Over Board - 5;

Maintenance (includes Dinghy repairs and stolen bike):  $9,283.83;

Engine Hours:  Total - 678.8 hrs;

I am finally at a loss for words or my life is no longer exciting.  Many Loopers say that they are depressed and are on a general downer after completing the Loop.  It must be PLD.... Post Looper Depression.  Linda and I have it so we are already talking about what next.  We will go down to Florida by car this winter and pick up a couple of the places that we by passed while Looping.  Savannah and St Pete's are the first that come to mind and then of course we will meet up with a bunch of friends in Marathon.  There is even talk of an "A" Team (the Abaco Bahamas Team) reunion.  Next summer we will definitely be cruising somewhere and we are both open to take the boat south again next year.  Time will tell.

For those of you who stuck with it and followed the blog, I hope that in some small way I have left you a sense of how wonderful the trip actually is.  There are so many neat places, great restaurants, fun bars and above all great, really great people that you meet and get to know.  Some that we have met will be friends for life. 

Linda and I wish to thank all the Loopers and boaters who have made this such an excellent adventure.

Leamington Municipal Marina, Leamington ON

(Monday Aug 29 - Dist: 59.1 mi; Avg Speed: 19.6 mph; TTT: 3:20 hrs)

Lake Erie was good to us again as we had a beautiful trip from Erieau to Leamington.  We passed lots of fishing boats both commercial and charter which made the trip more interesting.  As we neared Point Pelee, the most southerly point in Canada, we encountered a couple of lake freighters that were going through the Pelee Passage.  It is starting to feel like home.  That feeling became stronger as we approached Leamington Marina.  Everything was familiar as we had stayed at this marina for a couple of months when we moved from Ottawa to Windsor.  By the way, Leamington is my birthplace and the tomato capital of the world.

As you can see Leamington Marina is a beautiful marina although quite empty right now.  Before I could even get the lines secured we had an invite to a BBQ.  It was great to see some old friends again.  Hopefully there will be a lot of that this weekend.

We will be reaching our home marina around noon or 1 PM on Thursday and thus completing America's Great Loop.  We are saddened that this will all soon be coming to an end.   In the mean time here are a few photos from the marina.

Jiimaan, Ferry to Pelee Island

Many a ship went done in the area.

Erieau Marina, Erieau ON

(Friday Aug 26 - Dist: 48.3 mi; Avg Speed - 17.3 mph; TTT: 2:40 hrs)

Everything was dead calm in Port Stanley when we left and that translated into a beautiful sunny ride on Lake Erie.  I wish that the Great Lakes were that nice more often.  Since there was a front coming over the weekend (not Irene thankfully), we decided to spend the weekend in Erieau.  Erieau Marina is quite nice with a salt water pool, nice slips, BBQ's, etc.

We did enjoy a very relaxing weekend in this well protected harbour.  The evenings were absolutely perfect, so much so that we indulged a little too much sitting on the back of the boat watching people fish nearby.  That put a bit of a damper into the next day but all in all very enjoyable. 

There is a beach at Erieau but as you can see the sand is not near as nice as the beaches in Ports Dover and Stanley.  We of course visited Molly's and OJ's for food and drink and generally spent the rest of our time strolling around the area, sitting by the pool or sitting on our aft deck.  Next stop, Leamington.

Which Marina? - Port Stanley, ON

(Tuesday Aug 23 – Dist: 85.4 mi; Avg Speed: 18.3 mph; TTT: 4:45 hrs)

Kettle Creek Marina, Port Stanley ON

Wow. All of the info that I could get regarding the wind and waves on Lake Erie, led me astray. The actual readings for both Ports Dover and Stanley were calm winds. The forecast called for 6 mph from the west increasing to 12 mph from the SW later in the day. Now tell me how that translates into 1-2 foot waves in Long Point Bay and 2-3 with the odd 5 on the Lake. It was most uncomfortable. Linda tried to get me to turn around after almost 2 hours from Port Dover. It would have taken almost as long to go back as it did to get to our destination. Thankfully, it did smooth out a bit so that there were no more 4 and 5 footers and more importantly no more slamming. There were three times were the splash came full force on the deck and against the canvas. Oh well, we arrived safely and have had our lunch and drinks. We also decide to get more culture so we bought tickets for the play, “Bedtime Stories”. I think that we have a few of our own already.

…. The next day … Talk about bedtime stories, this is now the morning after and we spent a hellish night on the boat. Just before 3 AM the wind picked up substantially and the surge from the Lake was funneling right up the creek, all the way to us. “Q” was bouncing around so much that the rub rail was going higher than the pilings and of course the fenders were being knocked off the posts. Linda and I were out on the dock trying with all our might to protect the boat. When we finally got it controlled so that it would not bounce higher than the posts it started swaying back and forth moving the pilings that we were tied to. The dock was then squeaking so loudly that the owners of the marina were awakened and came down to help. We quickly determined that the dock would not survive and “Q” would not fare much better so they helped us to go to another marina further up the creek. They thankfully helped us get off the dock safely and then they walked about a block to Stan’s Marina to catch our lines. We were told to tight up to the fuel dock but there was already another boat there so we waited in the wind until John found us a vacant slip that we could fit into. Again thankfully we got tied up safely with John and Fiona’s assistance. At 4:30 AM we went back to bed. We must have been exhausted because we slept until 8:30, most unusual for us. We cannot thank John and Fiona from Kettle Creek Marina enough. Without their assistance I am not sure how we would have gotten through the night without damaging the boat and their dock.

Oh by the way, the play “Bedtime Stories” was very funny, we enjoyed it immensely.


Stan’s Marina, Port Stanley ON

The owner of Stan’s Marina was surprised to see us but was most helpful and accommodating. Since the wind was supposed to continue and more storms were coming, we paid our dockage fee for a couple more nights and headed for the beach.

Port Stanley has a wonderful beach even better than Port Dover. The weather was not as nice so the scenery was not as plentiful but the beach was most impressive.

We managed to find a bar (go figure) right along the beach which has a great patio and caters to beach volley ball. Great fun.  We met and even shared our table with a couple of sailors from Ohio. It was their first time to Port Stanley as well and before we knew it suppertime was approaching. We stopped at the LCBO to re-stock (Oh so expensive, I had almost forgotten) and then returned to the boat. After a quick bite, we went to the nearby grocery store and then settled in for the evening.

My-oh-my this had the potential to be another memorable evening. We heard that there was a tornado and severe thunderstorm warning for the area. Sure enough about 9 PM the lightening started, the thunder came and the skies opened. We were tied securely so we were watching TV until the lights went out. Oh well, we were still tired from the previous night from hell, so we went to bed early and aside from a few extremely loud cracks of thunder overhead, we slept good.

This is a neat town as good as or better than Port Dover; lots of options for food and drink, a nearby grocery store and two beaches. Many of buildings have murals which just add to the charm.

Since I cannot find any WiFi access, I am at the Public Library. Our plans are to enjoy another day here in Port Stanley. We still need to check out “Mickey’s Pub” and the “Killer Desserts” place. If the Lake looks good in the morning, we will go to Erieau for a night or possibly two and then over to Leamington for a few days. So now you are current again.

Some of the views:

I finally found a way to keep Linda out of the shops.

The Hilton, for real.

The Harbour Entrance

Vacationing in Port Dover

Have I mentioned earlier that we like the beach here... or at least like watching the beach here?  It reminds me of my childhood when the family used to go frequently to Seacliffe Beach in Leamington. 

Port Dover though has Callahan's Beach House which I appreciate much more at this stage in my life.  We have used the dinghy to both go to the beach and to explore up the Lynn River and Black Creek.

The first  thing one notices when through the break wall is a commercial fishing harbour and processing plant.  The size nears those of Wheatley and Kingsville.  That explains why the fish is so good at these places.  At our second visit to the Erie Beach Hotel I tried a combo platter of pickerel and perch.  Stick with the perch it is so very good, better than everything else although the pickerel was pretty darn good in its own right.

Port Dover is a busy boating area as well as tourist town.  Above is the Port Dover Yacht Club which we had considered but was booked;... all three of their transient spots.  There was also a serious bone yard further up the river.  Ron if you get bored around the marina I found another fixer upper for you.  This one is already equipped with satellite.  If that is not enough the one behind should surely keep you busy, probably for the rest of your shortened life (thanks to M.).  Just kidding.

On the weekend here, Port Dover had their summer festival, Art in the Park.  Not much different from others but nicely done.  We hiked to the Farmers' Market and then back to the art park.  Linda, of course, managed to find a couple of interesting things (she always does).   We also got tickets to the play "Dating By the Book".  It was hilarious and produced almost continuous laughs and chuckles.  The theatre itself is very impressive.  It has been fixed up and decorated very nicely.

So that is what has been keeping us busy.  It was raining earlier today, so Linda has been doing laundry and I am now caught up again on the blog.  The clouds are slowly moving out so we will be wandering back into town shortly.  Have a great day.



This Sailboat found some rocks out there.

Port Dover

(Tues Aug 16 - Dist: 52.7 mi; Avg Speed: 18.9 mph; TTT: 2:50 mph)

Port Dover Harbour Marina

The morning looked decent at Port Colborne but the Weather Network readings for Port Dover had the winds at 31 km/hr.  It did not make sense so we called the marina and sure enough there was no wind, the flags were limp.  We had a bit of a late start but up on plane the trip was quick and smooth. 

We signed up for 3 nights and then stopped by Giles Marine to speak to the diesel mechanic there.  We have a fuel leak on the starboard engine that has been with us for a couple of months now.  The mechanic in Baltimore thought that it was the fuel filter because it had a bit of a kink on the lip of the filter.  As it turned out that was not the problem.  It was not much of a leak so I thought that I would wait and have Cummins in Detroit look at the problem after our return.  Unfortunately, after the run on Lake Ontario and the excessive idling for 9 hours through the Canal, the leak was now worse.  Ray Giles immediately came over to the boat and spent about 45 minutes trying to locate the source of the problem.  He was not having any luck but when I started the engine he discovered that injector #4 was leaking,  It was in a very hard to get place so he said he would be back the next day with a bunch of tools because the only way to get at the injector was to remove some other components.  Well he and his assistant came back the next day and fixed the problem.  The injector and the return fuel line were loose.  It took them a little less than an hour.   When I went to pay the bill, I could not believe what he charged ....  $80.  Go figure, the best mechanic charges the least. 

After the mechanic located the leak on that first day, actually the first 90 minutes of our arrival, we headed up the hill and across the Lynn River to town.  It was a neat town with lots of shops and bars / restaurants and it was busy.  There were lots of people everywhere.  We had our lunch at the Erie Beach Hotel on Dino's recommendation and had the fried perch.  OMG another best that I have ever had.  Sorry, my Windsor friends, Duffy's does not hold a candle to the perch and fries at the Erie Hotel.  We are going to go again.

After lunch we wandered around town for a bit and then headed for the beach.  Excellent!  The beach was packed with bikinis, at least that is what I noticed.  Linda said the she could hardly see any sand, it was that crowded.  The photo above is actually taken after 5 PM on our second visit to our now favourite spot at Callahan's Beach House.  

Mnay people have already left for the day.  We were not dressed in our beach attire so we found a primo seat on the balcony of a bar overlooking the beach.  The drafts and scenery were good.  Come supper time we ordered some dessert, mocha cheesecake, to take back and climbed back over the hill to the marina.  On the way by the office Linda signed us up for a week.  There is a summer festival this weekend which she would like to partake in.  I guess we are now on vacation.  It was a good day and promises to provide many more.  We will be here until at least next Tuesday morning, who knows maybe even longer.  Why there are even palm trees here in Ontario.

Strong Wind Warning

(Monday Aug 15 - Dist: 1.7 mi; TTT: 0:30 hrs)

Sugarloaf Marina

Port Colborne, ON

Linda and I were a bit concerned with the wind on the Lake and the fact that the marine forecast predicted 2-4 waves, so we decided to basically go around the corner (this grain elevator at the head of the Canal) to Sugarloaf Marina.  It is a huge marina but with few slips for larger boats.  I really do not like it here because it is a fair distance to town; a town with not much action I might add.  We did have power, water and WiFi which we did not have at the other place.

This time things were better, the neighbours were super friendly and the restaurant on site was re-opened.... well 7 days a week except when I am there.  We went for dinner and found a sign saying that they are closed on this day for staff appreciation day????  What about me??  We did manage to find a good restaurants after our walk into town, so all was not wasted.

On a sad note, I needed fuel after the run on Lake Ontario and had to fuel up in Canada.  Canada is officially the most expensive place for fuel.  I paid less in the Bahamas and in New York City and much less every where else.

 

The Climb Over Niagara Falls

(Sunday Aug 14 - Dist: 27.6 mi; Locks: 8; TTT: 9:50 hrs)

We got up early, 5:30 AM (no vacation today), in order to meet Dino at 7 AM at the pleasure craft dock below Lock 1.  Our hired gun was sitting on the dock wall, hair down to his shoulders, a scrawny hippie.  After my initial impression he went into action and was a god send.  It turned out to be a stress free event.   He was interesting, well travelled, very knowledgeable and above all very helpful.  Right from the get go he got our $200 pass from the machine and called Seaway Welland with all of our information.   He adjusted all of the fenders and tied them to the bases of the stanchions so that there would be no damage to the rail. 

Some facts before I tell you how our day went.  We did not get any photos at the low end of the lock because it was too busy and things moved quickly once we entered the actual lock.  It is unfortunate too, because it is an eiry feeling to be entering a concrete chamber with walls 42 feet high.  The Welland Canal system actually took us from Lake Ontario up 99.5 metres (326.5 feet for my American friends) to Lake Erie.  Basically it allows us to get around Niagara Falls.  There are 8 locks with the last being a short leveling lock to maintain the level with Lake Erie.  Each lock is 24.4m (80') wide and 233.5m (766') long.  The maximum ship length is 740 feet.  Ships are scheduled so people do come out to the observation decks to watch us??, the bigger ships.  We passed 6 ships on our journey.

Before we could push off a sail boat arrived which also wanted to transit the canal.  They had little information but Dino stepped right up and handled their check in as well.  Dino was disappointed because the sail boat would slow us up; at least an hour from his experience.  Since he has 27 years of experience with Seaway Welland, now working at Lock 6, he knew that the two boats would have to travel together and he even insisted that they go in the locks first and take the preferred locations.  His reasoning was that we had much more manoeuvrability then they did.... and he was correct. 

The turbulence is strong and unpredictable especially in the first 25 feet of filling.  Think about it.... 21 million gallons of water rushes into the lock to fill it in about 14 minutes.  Our boat, no so insignificant, was tossed about like a cork.  I was actually at the helm driving the boat in an effort to keep it parallel to the lock wall and to prevent it from rushing forward or backward.  The two line handlers, Linda on the front and Dino on the stern, each had a line looped around a cleat so that they could provide the necessary tension to keep the boat near the lock wall so that the fenders could do their work   We fared quite good especially compared to the 36 foot sail boat. 

The sail boat had 4 persons on board and were struggling hard to prevent damage to their boat.  They had fenders and a fender board but it was dragging so hard against the wall that they needed two people to constantly push against the wall so that the fenders could slide up.  They were very tired by the end.  We know because we both stopped at the free Harbourview Dock which is used to begin the down bound journey and we shared a few beers.

If you think our journey is impressive, their journey is 10x so.  They started 8 days before Linda and I ... from the Netherlands.  They travelled around the coast of Portugal to the Azores and then over to the Caribbean, up the US coast to the Hudson and Erie Canals and through the Welland like us.  They are headed for the far end of Lake Superior where they will have the boat shipped to Washington State.  Next summer they will travel to Alaska, then back down the Pacific coast and through the Panama Canal so that they can head back home.  Can you imagine??  We had a great evening together telling stories and comparing notes.

One does get close and personal to the passing ships.  With Dino on board he knew many of the crew on the ships and of course every person at every lock.  We were quite popular.

Sadly all that is left for us is Lake Erie.