O Canada!

On Thursday, July 9th, we left Port Huron after getting a pump out and fueling up. This is a picture of the Blue Water Bridge, just before you enter Lake Huron.

We saw a 4.2 knot current under the bridge. The 6-ft. drop in elevation from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair causes the rapid current.

The Lake was flat calm so we motored but it was a good chance for Paul to check out a rattle in the engine. To access the engine (50-hp Perkins diesel), we have to remove the 4-step ladder into the cabin. So this is looking straight down from the cockpit.

We traveled about 7 miles off the shore which was to our southeast. Lake Huron is deeper than Erie, our depth sounder often showed over 100 feet. The wind picked up and we able to motor-sail. We arrived at Harbor Lights Marine in Bayfield late afternoon and are now in Ontario, Canada! Paul called the toll-free phone number to check in with Canadian Customs. He had quite a conversation with the officer who mainly wanted to know our reason for being in the country. Some of the questions asked were: what do we have on board re cash, food and liquor, info on any pets, Paul’s date and place of birth and if we are both US citizens and Paul’s middle name (not mine?). They already had the info on our vessel through cooperation with US Customs. Now that we were “legal”, we raised our Canadian courtesy flag. It goes above the Power Squadron ensign and the AGLCA ensign (that’s the Looper association).

We got a take-out from “The Docks” right at the marina but didn’t see any of Bayfield; it’s about a mile from the marina. There’s a lot of construction still going on to repair the damage a major ice jam did to the docks last winter. Harbor Lights has a 1953 fire engine they use as a shuttle to take boaters to town – that might have been fun!

Friday was very still and very buggy out on the Lake. Since we were just motoring, Paul was able to give the boat a bath on the way and get rid of a few thousand of the gnat-like critters. I couldn’t stand the bugs so Ginger and I spent most of the day down below. Paul’s using the wash-down pump and hose he installed in the anchor locker and it works great with all this fresh water. We’re not missing the salt water we lived on last year!

The wind picked up finally, the bugs left and we were able to sail part of the way to the Kincardine Marina. The town of 12,500 is very proud of their Scottish and Irish heritage. I doubt you can see it on this picture, but there’s a “phantom piper” at the top of the Kincardine Lighthouse piping down the sun. (more construction; they’re putting in a new bridge)

The story goes that in October of 1856, a vessel heading to Kincardine was in trouble in stormy weather. A townsman, Donald Sinclair, feared they wouldn’t find the harbor. He fetched his bagpipes and played them into the harbor. He continued to play the pipes at dusk and the tradition continues to this day.

We spent two nights here. There’s a popular beach, Station Beach, right next to the marina with a gardened boardwalk. Each section has a plaque with the name of who designed and tends it. The water is pretty chilly, we just got our feet wet. This view is to the south.

We were glad we were here on a Saturday as we got to experience the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band parading down Queen Street. The band has been together since 1908 and the Saturday night parades in summer have gone on since 1948. It was a great experiencel but once again, we were glad Ginger doesn't hear very well!

After the band passes by, anyone who cares to joins in and follows them back to Victoria Park where they form a circle and perform a concert. The town is very proud of them and rightfully so!

Here’s some of our Canadian currency. The paper money is really colorful and I got a kick out of the $1 coins being called “Loonies” as there’s a loon on the opposite side of the Queen; the $2 coin at the bottom is called a “Twonie”. So when Paul went into the bank, they gave him loonies and twonies as he needed change for the laundromat – too funny!

The present exchange rate is 13.95%, meaning for $100 in US dollars, you’d get $113.95 in Canadian money. When you use a credit card from the US, your account is automatically charged the exchange rate. We definitely noticed higher prices in the grocery store and at the laundromat, for a quarter you got a whole FIVE minutes of dryer time! I took most of the clothes back to the boat damp and hung them out on the boom and life lines!

Also we’ll need to adjust to metric measurements and Celsius for temperatures. Today someone told me it’s been a really cool summer, that it should be about 30 by now (which to me means 86 degrees). They use the word "hydro" for electric at the marinas and they say “holiday” instead of vacation which I think it kind of cute. Most signs and labels are in English and French.

Leaving Kincardine, we saw many wind generators along the Lake and passed by the Bruce Nuclear Power Development at Douglas Point, one of the world's largest nuclear plants. We arrived at Port Elgin (that's with a hard G) Sunday afternoon. We're tied up to a wall right in front of a little restaurant that's adjacent to a park and beach. We feel a little like goldfish in a bowl as there were lots of people around Sunday night for a concert in the park. Eating ice cream and checking out the transient boats seemed to be the evening's activity. Here's a view looking forward.


Monday 7/14: We had planned to stay just one night but are still here. It was really blowing early this morning when we would have left and we just weren't up for a "lumpy" ride for such a long distance - all the way to Tobermory. We had breakfast at the little restaurant here and took our bikes into town. Paul went into a LCBO which is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for a box of wine. No beer or liquor is sold in any convenience or grocery stores (now we know we're not in Wisconsin anymore!) Also any alcohol is heavily taxed so the price was about 1/3 more - great.