09-07 Kingston Yacht Club Slip 87

 After a breezy day down the Bay of Quinte, we are back in our usual slip at Kingston Yacht Club, 2511 miles and 84 days after we departed. Thanks to everybody who was there to meet us! Sorry we weren't more eloquent, but we are exhausted!

The numbers, near as we can figure them:

84 days, 2511 miles through the water, over 50 distinct overnight locations

$400 canal fees for the Welland, $11 for the Murray

$1000 for 592 litres of diesel 

$1400 eating out, $2150 groceries (on top of what we started with)

$2500 in marina overnight fees, typically just under $100 / night

$650 regatta fees

One disconcerting touch on rock in Bad River, many gentle touches on sand, mud, weeds and a deadhead while exploring — never stuck!

09-06 Northport Bay, Bay of Quinte

After a couple of days weathered in, we had great ride down leftover waves in 15 to 20 knots from West. Through the Murray and we still had wind, but flat water down past Belleville and across Big Bay to Northport where we dropped anchor in about 10 feet of water.

09-03 Cobourg

There was a weather window to cover some ground, so we motored all day to do the 67 miles to Cobourg and a night on the wall. Next morning was miserable, but the office was open to assign us a more comfortable slip, 206, opposite the fuel dock. We will stay at least one more night before heading for the Murray, which closes at 3:30 weekdays after Labour Day.

The line is almost past now (1300) but there’s pretty strong stuff in tomorrow’s forecast.

09-02 Port Dalhousie

We had a fast and fairly uneventful transit, rafting to a brand new Sabre 43 with a Dynamic Positioning System. DPS controls the bow and stern thrusters and the main drives so you can park with a joystick. If you take your hand off the joystick it just hovers in position. Park near the lock wall and the lines and boat hooks are just a formality until you get too far down in the trench and lose the GPS signal. The other side is that the thrusters may switch on and off unpredictably, creating surface currents to challenge a sailboat coming in to raft. The enormous grey power boat basically just hovered in the middle of the lock with lines slack .

We made it in 7 hours, which may be our fastest ever. Then over to DYC for a free night adjacent to their gas dock. They had by far the highest diesel price we have hit this summer at $2.21 a litre (contrast $1.64 same day at Cobourg Marina where we also get one night free).

08-30 Port Colborne

We stayed 3 nights in Pt Stanley to get the best weather for this longest passage of the trip. 97 miles through the water between 5AM and 19:45, for an average of 6.6 knots. It was very dark when we left, but there were hints of dawn by 6 and the sun actually broke the horizon at 6:48. We’re back on the same piers at the top of lock 8 to wait for our transit, scheduled for Tuesday.

It was 6C when we left in the morning and despite the lovely sunshine we didn’t peel off layers until late afternoon. The lake temperatures that had been so warm varied from 19 to 21 over the course of the day.

08-27 Port Stanley

We arrived in daylight this time and tied up on the wall closer to town. There’s a new restaurant complex on the pier since we helped Peaty deliver Clipper.

08-26 Erieau Marina

It was a little nerve wracking getting all the way down to the end when the depth showed only 3 or 4 due to weed, but there was 15 feet on the wall at the old railway dock.

it might look like you can run straight out into the lake, but check the chart! Much nicer than it looks from the entrance. There’s a well equipped marine store and the chance to buy frozen local perch.

08-24 Leamington

Another stop in Leamington to fill the fuel and water, empty the head, and swap out the propane tanks. And also enjoy the sunset. Great sailing with 15 on the quarter.

08-23 Windsor Yacht Club

We made a stop at Stag Island last night and thought we might anchor at Peche Island tonight, but the wind was wrong. We wound up in slip E17, after trying for W7. As you might expect from the plot, it was too shallow, but I was able to reverse back out. They only take transients from other yacht clubs, but it was still about $100 for the night.

WYC is definitely an urban destination and that weird sound is cars passing by 😉.

08-21 Bayfield

Today the wind was lighter and right behind us, so there was a lot of diesel involved in getting us here in time for groceries and dinner at the Black Dog.

the cold water had us driving in mist until about noon, starting at about 500 ft visibility but improving rapidly. Flat water and mist on the webs