Today we made the short 30 mile sail to Toronto. After yesterday’s motor blast, it was nice to sail again. We had 10 knots on the beam with 3 sails out we were cruising along a little over 5 knots.

Before we left, I checked my fuel level and was shocked at how much diesel I burned yesterday. Typically, I mostly motor sail. If the winds are light, I have the sails out and use the motor to help out. Typically, I try to go between 2,000 to 2,500 RPM.

There is no sailing in the canal and to keep the speed they wanted us to go at I was running 3,000 to 3,500 RPM. It’s nice to know she can do that, but it costs a lot of diesel.

I still think I can make it to the 1000 Island area and New York before I refuel. Diesel, like everything else in Canada, is expensive. A bottle of Barefoot wine goes for $12.

While in Toronto, I decided to stay at TIM. Toronto Island Marina. As the name implies, it’s on Toronto Island. All the action is a short ferry ride away, not on the deck of our boat.

The skyline from our slip

Toronto is by far the heaviest boat traffic I’ve ever encountered. Much worse than anything I’ve seen in Chicago. It was a mix of fishing boats, who always run parallel to the wind and sailboats who always run perpendicular to the wind.

Once in the inner harbor, there are an insane number of water taxis and ferry boats. Not sure what the rules are, but there are a lot of little pontoon boats with big motors you can call or wave down. They’re zipping back and forth to the island. Does Uber or Lyft do water yet?

Today is also when we get to part ways with the cruise ships Victory I and Victory II. Yes, there are cruise ships on the Great Lakes. We ran into the Victory ships first in Little Currents. We saw them again in Detroit, Cleveland, and the Welland. I saw them leave the final lock at 4AM. When we arrived in Toronto, we saw them again at the docks. I believe this is where they turn around and do it all over again.

Here is their web page if anyone wants to see the Great Lakes by water. https://www.victorycruiselines.com/. It’s probably a better way then what I’m doing.

Today was spent navigating the Welland Canal. Yes, I know I was calling it the Wellington Canal, I was wrong. Not sure what happened, maybe I’ve had Beef Wellington on my mind lately. But, I’m not going back and fixing it.

We spent the day navigating the 8 locks of the Welland canal. We were part of a pleasure craft flotilla, which consisted of 4 boats: 3 sail and one power.

The seaway wanted us to go through the locks 2 by 2, meaning 2 boats on the wall and 2 boats rafted up. Fortunately, we were one of the rafters, so we didn’t have to do any line handling as the boats lowered down the locks.

We also got lucky because we we were rafted up to a 60 foot race boat. The captain had been through the canal more than 30 times. He was the pack leader, handled all the radio traffic with the Seaway and lead the way.

The passage went smooth for the most part. The only issue we had was a strong crosswind had us pinned against one of the walls in the lock. Going sideways is not a sailboat specialty. After several unsuccessful and embarrassing tries, I was finally able to use prop walk and the bow thruster to get me off the wall.

We’re spending tonight on the pleasure craft wall on the Lake Ontario side. We’ll deal with the new lake tomorrow.

Thanks again to Brian on Suspect for helping us out.

And some photos:

Rafted up to Suspect in one of the locks

Tomorrow we’re heading to Toronto for a night. Sue and I both want pizza so we’re looking forward to being back in civilization.

We made it to the entrance of the Wellington Canal after doing an overnight sail from Cleveland.

We had a west wind at 25 to 30 knots. Small craft advisories were issued as well as squall advisories. Since it was going to be a down wind sail the entire way I was comfortable with the forecast.

Now, I’ve only sailed on Lake Erie once before… the day we arrived. But, given the conditions, the waves were different than what we would have on Lake Michigan. Not sure if this is because shallowness or it was a one time fluke.

There wasn’t a rhythm or pattern. The seas were very confused, making for a rough ride. For those who’ve sailed with me before it was like the “washing machine” at the entrance of Winthrop Harbor.

We ran into one other sailboat out there. He was crazier then us; he was beating into the wind. Ouch, better him then me.

Well, we made it without issue. Sue seems to be getting better with “exciting” sailing conditions. She was able to take the 10PM to 4AM watch.

Sorry, no photos from this leg. Instead I’ll share one of the better artworks I saw walking the streets of Cleveland.

If all goes well, the next update will be from Lake Ontario.

We’ve had a great stay in Cleveland the last 4 days. We were able to re-provision the boat, pick up some spare parts and change the engine oil.

We also met up with Melissa for lunch Wednesday in downtown Cleveland.

It’s always great to meet up with family and friends.

Our plan is to sail to Port Colborne, the entry into the Wellington Canal.

Niagara Falls separates Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. To get around the falls, boats go through the 8 locks in the Wellington Canal.

It’s very busy with large freighters, who take priority over pleasure craft. The seaway authority, who operate the locks, recently implemented a pleasure craft schedule. For down bound boats, which we are, it’s Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 9AM.

Our plan is to arrive at Port Colborne Friday, get a dock for the night and catch the 9AM Saturday transit. If we miss it, we have to wait for Tuesday.

Here is more information on the seaway.

Seaway Information

This is in Canada so we have to clear customs again.

We made it to Cleveland and we’re staying at the Edgewater Yacht Club.

We were planning on leaving Tuesday, There was a perfect weather window to get us to the Wellington canal starting Tuesday. But, we’ve decided to push our departure off until Thursday.

Why? There are several reasons:

The perfect blow scheduled for Tuesday changed. Now it looks like Thursday will be the big blow out of the west.

Our niece will be flying into Cleveland on Tuesday and we wanted to meet up with her and have lunch.

But the biggest reason is I’m tired. We’ve been going non-stop with the boat since the beginning of May. I need a few days to rest. This is a lot of work and I constantly feel the push to move on. This morning I started researching the Erie Canal.

The yacht club we’re staying at is great. The price is right and the facilities are top notch. Nothing is walkable but we’ve been riding our bikes everywhere. This morning we made a 6 mile trek to Whole Foods to re-provision.

This afternoon we took the dingy up the Cuyahoga River to do some site seeing. So many beautiful bridges to see. On the way back we tied up at a place called Shooters to have a well earned beer.

Here are some pictures from our dingy trip:

More to come…

We made our trek back down the Black river in Port Huron to get back into the St. Clair river. We were heading to a marina on Lake St. Clair, in the town of St Clair Shores… No more St Clair. It’s now just SC.

The marina we stayed at in SC Shores was huge. The fuel dock had a wall and 8 slips. Hoses could easily reach anywhere. A great layout that more marinas need to copy. Nothing else stood out.

We had wanted to stay in Detroit, but it’s the weekend and everything was booked. We decided to push off early and shoot for the islands in western Lake Erie. We’ll have to see Toledo and Sandusky another time.

Here are some of the pictures of Detroit.

GM building

We continued down the river sharing narrow channels with some large freighters

Once we hit Lake Erie, I waited for the waters to get deeper before I set course to the islands. But, it never did. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes. I’m used to 300 feet deep and 55 degree water. Here it’s 30 feet deep and 82 degree water.

The more I read about anchoring on the islands, the more concerned I became. Lots of hard granite not much sand, clay, or anything the anchor can bite into.

It’s Saturday night and weekend pricing were in full swing. This is a very popular area and I wasn’t going to pay $150+ for a slip. Put-In-Bay has a mooring field and a ball is only $40 a night. Done.

My friend Bob, who lived in Cleveland for many years, has told me many stories about Put-In–Bay. Bruce and Pam, who are also from Cleveland, told me I wouldn’t like PIB on a weekend. They suggested Kelly’s Island instead.

I’m glad I came and experienced it. I don’t think I’ll be back. This is the complete opposite of Little Currents. Image a college frat party with adults who want to pretend they’re 20 again. The sun hadn’t set yet and there were already people sleeping it off in the park. I’m writing this from the cockpit of my boat in the mooring field and I’m being blasted with rap music from the bars on shore. What I’d give to hear Ann and her cello again.

The pluses of PIB

Tomorrow, we’re off to Cleveland.

The anchorage at Club Island was rocky and it took us a couple of tries to get the anchor to set. As good as the Mantus anchor is, it won’t set in solid granite.

Once the anchor was set I fired up the grill and cooked up some Italian sausages. We were hungry, cold, and tired.

It was a cold night. We left the relatively warm waters of the North Channel for the chilly Georgian bay. 75 degrees vs. 55. I kept worrying the anchor or chain might get caught on a rock and I’d have to snorkel in freezing water to free it. Fortunately, everything worked out and I didn’t have to go swimming.

We decided to skip the few sights of southern Lake Huron and shoot for Port Huron in Michigan. It’s about a 160 mile sail. The winds were going to be lite, so we ended up motor-sailing. 3 knots from the sails and 3 knots from the motor.

While we were sailing and still had internet, I started looking for places to stay. We had gotten spoiled with have perfect anchorages everywhere. In the Detroit area it’s back to paying for marinas.

Using Dockwa and the Michigan reservation sight I discovered everywhere was booked up. It was a weekend. To be honest, most of the time we don’t know what day of the week it is.

I found a hidden gem up the Black river. The facilities were very nice. The only negative is you have 3 bridges and a 69 foot high power line to deal with. We’re 56 foot high plus antenna, but it’s still unnerving driving under it.

We also had to clear back into the US. Demond marine, at the mouth of the Black river is a check in office, or you can use their CBP ROAM app from the phone.

I did all my homework before we left on using the app. Uploaded scans of the needed documents, requested to become verified travelers and the rest. This would allow us to check into the US were they don’t have an office.

About a mile outside of Port Huron, I fired up the app, clicked report arrival, put in the port, selected the travelers, answered a few questions, and clicked submit. It whirled away and in less than 5 minutes it came back with denied. We were not allowed to enter the US. No reason, no further instructions, just denied, you are not allowed into the US.

I called the local office and was finally able to talk to an agent. He seemed more frustrated by my denial than I was. He asked me to resubmit my request again and he’d watch for it. Sure enough, 30 seconds later I got approved along with a US check in number.

This all happened just as we were approaching the international bridge

The water levels are very high this year, and the St. Clair river is ripping. We saw eddies and boils all throughout the river. My GPS showed us moving at 10.5 knots, but my knot meter on the boat showed me only doing 6 knots. Speed over ground vs. speed through the water. The difference is the current.

I turned to head into the Black river, the boat turned but we kept moving down the St Clair. We made it in, but it was an interesting experience. Stopped at Desmond’s and topped of our diesel tank.

Today I have us booked at a marina on lake St. Clair near the mouth of the Detroit river.

More to come.

Sorry I’m falling a bit behind. For those of you who have traveled to Northern Ontario know good internet is hard to come by.

Another luxury towns offer is a laundry mat. Sue made sure to pack plenty of laundry supplies including a good 50 pounds of quarters. Unfortunately, they’re not Canadian quarters.

While doing laundry we met Ann. She’s active in the local cruisers net and encouraged us to join them at the pot luck they were having at the pavilion near our dock. Her and her husband were going to be preforming after dinner. She plays a cello and her husband plays guitar. Yes, they travel with them on their boat along with amps and mics.

We already had dinner plans, but once we heard the music start we headed over. Sue and I were both surprised at how good they were. Ann was telling us they liked to play at anchor and at times, they’ve had a dozen or more boats rafted up to them.

We left Little Currents the next day, passing through their landmark swing bridge.

The local brewery has a swing bridge blonde

We were making our way to Club Island in Georgian Bay for the night. The winds were perfect and we hit every point of sail maneuvering around the islands.

On the way, we sailed through the middle of Killarney. It’s a small town that has a channel running through down town. And, there isn’t a bridge. One side of town has cars, roads, and garages. The other side of town has boats, trails, and boat houses.

The other unique item of Killarney is they have a boat-up liquor store.

Unfortunately, the water is high on all the Great Lakes this year and the LCBO’s dock is under water and closed.

After leaving Killarney, we had 20 knot winds on the beam. That’s Odyssey’s sweet spot. After getting the Admirals approval, I put out a reefed main and both head sails, and we flew. A nice 7.5 to 8 knots. What a way to end a perfect day!

We left the rolly anchorage and headed east, hoping to make it to the famous Benjamin Islands.

The winds were predicted to shift south in the middle of the night so we had to take a pass on many of the anchorages. The main bay on South Benjamin island was the most protected so I headed there. Unfortunately, as I was approaching, my AIS lit up. It looked like the entire North Channel moved into the bay for the night. I also heard on the radio it was tight enough that folks were using stern anchors or tying up to trees on shore.

That was a little too competitive for me. Instead, we headed to the not so famous Eagle Island. When we arrived, there was only 2 boats. By sunset there were 6.

Steven and I took the dingy to shore. We couldn’t find a beach to land on as most of the shore was too rocky. I found one area where I could land, and we did. Unfortunately, there was swamp all around and we couldn’t explore very far.

I guess the lack of beaches and walking trails is the difference between famous and empty. It was a very nice anchorage.

When I came back to the boat I decided to go for a swim. The thermometer showed a balmy 75.

We left Eagle Island the next morning and headed for Little Currents. This is the Eastern entry into the North Channel and is one of the major towns. Best of all, we decided to splurge and get a slip.

I’ve been to many marinas over the years and this was the strangest. They have over 120 transient slips plus endless wall space. There were so many boats coming and going they needed a controller to handle the traffic. When I pulled up I was number 6 in queue. It took about 45 minutes, but I eventually got in.

We’re all showered up and burning through power like drunken sailors. I promise to do a post in the future on power usage when it’s limited.

Maybe I should have titled this Hello Lake Huron. Too many Goodbyes.

Anyway, we left Beaver Island and headed to the Grey Reef Pass. Grey Reef runs across norther Lake Michigan. The pass is the safest way through. Two of the most beautiful light houses make the entrances to this pass. It’s a shame these gems are hidden in the middle of the lake. I’m not aware of any tours to visit them, maybe a business idea for later.

After Grey’s Reef, we headed to the Mackinaw straights and Lake Huron

Then we buzzed Mackinaw Island and The Grand Hotel

Afterwards we anchored in a protected bay outside of Hessel Michigan.

If you want to follow us in real time, here is the link to our satellite tracker

Follow Odyssey

Today we said goodbye to my mother, left Boyne City, and headed to St. James on Beaver Island.

It’s always tough leaving my mother because we see her so infrequently. But, we’ll be back.

Beaver Island isn’t that far, but I was planning on a late start and tearful goodbyes. It’s also a long trip through Lake Charlevoix and Round Lake. We also have to wait for the US 31 bridge to open. This time, we had to wait for the Emerald Isle ferry too.

It was a perfect sail once we left Lake Charlevoix. Broad reach with 20 knot winds had us moving right along. No thunderstorms either!

We were at anchor and had everything put away by 7PM. Steven and I had planned on having a beer at the local pub, but the chop was more than we wanted to deal with and decided not to drop the tender. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow we’re going to head out and see how far we get. I’m hoping for a nice anchorage near Hessel MI.

We made it to Boyne City today; but it wasn’t easy.

I’ve always said that sailing is very manic. You get the highest highs and the lowest lows. I guess that’s part of the appeal to me. I love the highs and to fully appreciate them, you need to earn them by trudging through the lows. And this trip had it all.

When we left Winthrop Harbor on Friday, the conditions were perfect. The sun was out, the lake was flat, we were sailing on a beam reach. It’s want I call the magic carpet ride. Smooth, strong, and intoxicating. I fired up the BBQ grill and cooked burgers for dinner. A perfect evening.

At night time I like to reduce sail, and Friday night was no different. I changed course so we were on a broad reach, almost running. I brought in the Yankee and ran a full main only. Everything was perfect. I had the first evening watch and it was uneventful. Around 1AM Sue and Steven took over. About 2AM I was awoken by being thrown out of bed. A thunderstorm hit and high winds were pushing the boat over hard.

I ran to the cock pit and was able to wrestle the boat head to wind and relieve the pressure off the sail. I also started the engine to help power through the storm. I looked at the anemometer and the winds were blowing 40 knots. Not fun. And, this wasn’t a short storm. It seemed to last forever.

Around sun up the weather calmed down enough for me to get a few hours of sleep. Then came round 2.

We were just north of Ludington. I was using the phone to look at maps on AccuWeather and saw a line of squall after squall. A line in the sand had been drawn and no one was going to cross it. I fired up my radar and found a hole to squeeze through. I’ve done it before, and if it doesn’t work out, we get a little wet. And, I wasn’t going to get caught again in a storm with my full main up. This time I put in 2 reefs on the main and brought everything else in. I was ready for battle.

Needless to say, it didn’t work out as planed. All the orange suddenly became a single orange blog. This time I was reading 55 knot of winds. The double reef? I might as well have had a spinnaker up.

Again, I headed to wind and use the motor to try and keep everything going. The waves were big and the wave lengths were small. Waves were coming over the bow running across the deck and crashing into the dodger. I was worried the dodger would get blown out before the storm was over. We survived. I checked my phone for updated images, more storms were coming. The Coast Guard was on the radio warning that all of Lake Michigan had dangerous storms rolling across it.

We decided enough was enough and ran back to Ludington. I found a nice anchorage near the Badger car ferry on the Pierre Marquette river. I slept and had a proper meal. The storms had blown past and we were off again before sunset.

How were the condition for the rest of the sail? Boring. No wind so I had to motor the rest of the way here. You decide which was the high and the low.

It was nice to make it into Boyne City. One of my favorite stops on Lake Michigan. Why? The town is great and Shelia and her team do a wonderful job taking care of us. I much prefer this to Charlesvoix, which has become Lake Michigan’s own Ego Alley.

Today’s the day. Yesterday’s shake down cruise was a success. We’re heading out today and our first stop is going to be Boyne City in Michigan. It should be a 2 day sail and the weather looks great.

For those who want to watch our progress, you can follow us using this link:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Odyssey

I’ll post updates once we get there.