Day 16. Tuesday, July 8

It’s about 19nm to Port Colburne so we didn’t worry about getting up early.

Weather:

Inside boat: temperature: low 72.3° high 86.4° current 72.5°

Humidity low 65%, high 89% current 82%

This morning Phil and I talked about the plan for backing up out of the slip. We also wore marriage savers which are headphones that go over the ears that you could talk into and they connect with Bluetooth if I hadn’t discussed it earlier. The engine started at 7:21 AM. We cast off at 7:30 AM. And Phil remembered that when we’re at the dock at Grand River Yacht Club, he goes straighter when he takes the boat out of reverse. We backed out of the dock without any problem and by 731, we started going forward out the marina. At 0740, we raised the main sale and the center board was already down because we forgot to bring it up. That wasn’t a problem as it was a deep slip. It I’ll have to remember for next time.

On our way out, we found some people in the rowing shells in the inner harbor and a power boat behind them with a person yelling instructions to them through a megaphone.

It’s really humid today, but what’s new? TWS 5.4 kts and that was the highest wind for the passage. TWA 180 degrees, course per compass 195 degrees. When we filled the fuel tank, it only showed 3/4ths full, but now it is reading that it’s full. We passed the last breakwall for Buffalo Harbor at 0755. There was a small fishing boat right in the center between the channel markers so we had to go around him. When we passed the last green marker we adjusted course for Pt Albino, BTW, 255°, ETA 9:38 AM, COG 252°, heading 110°, SOG 6.2 KTS, boatspeed 6.3 KTS. TWS 5.5 KTS, TWA 95°. The auto pilot stopped working and we drifted to port so Phil had to reset the breaker. This has been happening multiple times and we’re not quite sure why. If anybody has any ideas please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page. It’s not like there was a lot of pressure on the autopilot. It’s very cloudy outside with half foot waves from the north and calm waters. This passage is a motor boat ride.

We needed to calibrate the compass direction on the B&G instruments. We did this three times. We went into the B&G instrument and got into the settings and press on the calibrate button and did a 360° turn within three minutes. We repeat this process three times and it’s not perfect, but it’s better. It’s drizzling and hazy outside and most of our trip we had drizzle. The lake waters became glassy and as we rounded Pt Albino TWS 2.2 KTS, TWA 179°, TWD 143° speed six kts using the engine. We were able to see the Buffalo Canoe club, where everyone is on a morning ball, and the Buffalo yacht club summer home. Phil says they are the 2nd oldest yacht club in the United States. New York Yacht Club is the oldest. Both these summer yacht clubs are in Canada. It. Isn’t have been many decades or maybe in the 1900’s that they were able to get these prime locations.There were so many tiny little bugs everywhere on the underside of the Bimini and landing on us that I put the hatch screens in the companionway hatch to keep the bugs out of the boat. It was kind of a hassle to go when you had to go down below, but it did help to keep those little bugs out. Lucky that we didn’t have biting flies.

As we were about three nautical miles away from the Welland Canal channel marker, we saw a cargo ship coming from the south. Using AIS we saw that he slowed down to 0 kts and took that as an indication that he was letting us go in front of him, but then all of a sudden we saw that he was moving at about 5.6 kts, so we adjusted our course so that we went behind him. As we got closer to the ship, we saw it was Kaministiqua from Port Dover. I sure do miss the AIS that we had on Changes. It had an orange line coming from all the boats within a certain distance, and it was very easy to see if we were on a collision course or not. The faster the boat, the longer the line. We still need to figure more out how the Raymarine chartplotter works.

I called Sugarloaf Marina at 905–835–6644 and spoke to Sarah in the office and they do have a spot for us on the east side of the main dock so we can just glide up alongside it and have a port tie up. Well hail them on channel 68 when we get closer.

We dropped the main at 11:05 and we’re so close to the dock that I didn’t have time to remove the halyard and zip up the main sale until after we docked a few minutes later. Engine was off at 11:08 AM. Jordan and Aidan were the dock hands that helped catch the lines. We did pull the boat forward a few cleats so there is room for another boat behind us. It will be easy to leave the dock where we are. Just push out the bow and go forward making a right turn, which Katie O doesn’t have any problem doing.

I have been forgetting to do the log for each passage, so checked Log 1 and found 161.8 nm and hrs 70.32. I’m going to try to get better checking each stop.

We had ham and turkey sandwiches on the boat for lunch., We first called Canadian Customs at 1-800-226-7277 but got a special deal with Walmart. Then checked our information and saw we needed to use 1-888-CAN-PASS. They asked their usual questions and then wanted us to stay on the boat until custom agents could come out and visit us. About 40 minutes later two gentlemen and a woman from customs came. The woman did the talking and they stayed on the dock while they asked us some more questions about alcohol, if we had any pets, if we had any cannabis or other similar substances. For all our 40+ years coming over to Canada, we’ve never had customs officials come out to the boat. We suspect it has to do with our current president and how he wants to make Canada our 51st state. We can’t blame Customs for being more careful. They were nice and respectful. Everyone has been very nice over here. Heavy drizzle continued to fall and we waited until it stopped before we went up to the office to pay for two nights of docking. It was $2.47/foot Canadian, which when you put it on a credit card brings it down to less than two dollars a foot.

While we were at the office. I did a load of laundry. I was able to find 4 Lunies which is what they call their $1 coins. I had enough for the two dollars each load in the washer and dryer. While we waited, I joined Phil upstairs at the restaurant, called Whiskey and Walleye. Phil had coffee and I had Diet Coke. Their food looks good. The fountain drink had ice, and the can was warm, which is usual here. I tried to get WiFi at the dock, but wasn’t able to, so have found the best place to get it is inside the marina office/lounge.

After the laundry was dried and folded, we went back to the boat. I fixed 2 pkgs of organic boneless skinless chicken thighs with rosemary, garlic seasoning, a packet of instant mashed potatoes, which I added milk and cheddar cheese and baby carrots and cauliflower both that we’re starting to get a little old but still tasted good. We have chicken thighs left over for another day and leftovers are both the mashed potatoes and vegetables. That means that I’m going to have easy meal tomorrow.

Late in the evening, Phil and I were able to talk to Ken Blyth and Jeanne Marchand on the phone. I texted them to see if we could see them when we were down in Leamington like last year, but they are leaving Friday to go up to Georgian Bay for six weeks. They seem to be doing well, but getting older just like we all are and like us, having to adjust to our changing abilities. This was the couple that we met going down the very first time to Georgetown Bahamas in 2010. We met Ken at the end of Lake Oneida on the Erie Canal. He had Graham helping him with the passage and it wasn’t until later that we met Jeanne. We saw him many times on our trips and enjoyed many games of Canasta with them as we traveled down the ICW. I hope they have a good time and wish that we can join them, but that’s not gonna happen this year. Maybe we’ll see what next summer brings.

We plan to stay a day here and see if we can see any boats going through the locks.