Stokes Bay, Lyal Island

We broke our journey here, a fairly easy 50 miles north of Kincardine, rather than use all available daylight to push through to Kincardine. It tools us about 9 hours gybing dead downwind, with some motor assist to get us here by dinner time.

The Ports guide discourages stopping on this stretch of the coast, but the sailing directions provide clear instructions. We could have followed the channel markers even without GPS and never saw less than 22 feet on the way in.

I now know the exact sounds made by a 5/16 my lock nut as it falls from the hot hinge of a round Magnum BBQ, bounces off the transom and plops into 20 feet of water. Fortunately I also knew exactly where to find the replacement shown here 😎

Another sailboat joined us about 19:30, and there have been a couple of power boats in the bay, but otherwise we haven’t seen anyone all day.

Kincardine, the other KYC

There was a little breeze today, reliably on the nose and making the shallow end of the lake quite lumpy, so we had a motor assisted beat from Bayfield to Kincardine, where we are happily landed on the end of dock C. Like Bayfield, $2.50 a foot, but with way better showers.

The beach is just on the other side of the berm, so we walked up and down and watched a lovely sunset.

A piper materialized on the top of the lighthouse for a sunset serenade.

It’s becoming clear that the Orca charts are not tenable up here, as illustrated by shots from the past two nights.

The lack of detail is bad, but the misalignment could put you on the beach in a fog…

Bayfield for Canada Day

We sailed for a little while this morning, but wind under 5 knots it was definitely a motor day. Slip 12 in the municipal marina on the south side of the inlet. No depth issues and the gas dock is easy.

With a little luck this fueling will cover us for a while.

Sarnia Yacht Club

SYC has 8/10 showers, which is high on our list. Roomy, tiled, bench and lots of hooks, good pressure. All for only $1.25/ft!

On the downside, we found the bottom twice in the entrance. They have not completed this year’s dredging, but the Commodore tells me it will be done by mid July. Lots of very friendly people!

We met Phil on the dock, who generously drove to the bank and back, way across town— thanks Phil! More interesting, he bought the Beneteau Heat Wave from Jerry Springer many years ago. Apparently it was in Toronto when last heard from.

SYC has a clear policy on life jackets for kids and a positive loaner program to help it work. Good for them!

The current in the river is strong all the way, averaging 2-2.5 knots but was over 4 just under the bridge. Allow plenty of time when upbound.

Sarnia, Stag Island

Stag Island is south of the city, but with chemical alley well in sight. Even in behind the island the current is strong, but we still had to put the wheel over hard for enough drag to hang down current when the south wind was still up this afternoon. We are right alongside the waterski slalom run, with the hook in about 20 feet of water.

It was a long slog between 2+ knots of current and some major powerboat wake. The chop reflects back off the sheet pile and makes it pretty messy. Still, nice and peaceful at the end of the day.

We were passed by many ships today. Sometimes two at once

Windsor, Peche Island

We couldn’t get as close to Grosse Pointe YC as last time, since we are staying out of US waters, but we did the best we could. Peche Island is right out front of the Windsor YC at the entrance to Lake St. Clair. The current is still almost 2 knots, currently against the wind, making anchoring a little complicated. We tried a couple of times further west before moving to our current spot. The eddie behind the point foiled us. Despite the official charts, we are now in about 12 feet of water.

Luxury in Leamington

We had never been in before, and thought it was a shallow powerboat Marina. While full of powerboats, it has 10 feet of water all the way into the gas dock, right in front of the fully equipped office and shower space. Three people met us at the gas dock, and the two young ones followed us out to the slip to make sure we got tied up. Power and water at each of the 40 foot slips. A powerboat level of luxury.

Of course it’s the most expensive so far ($2.35/ft DYC was cheapest at $1.50/ft for the second night) The live band just fired up on the patio, doing a passable “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”

The walk to Food Basics was 20 minutes because I took it slow in the heat. The storm smacked Toledo, but didn’t reach this far north. Overall it’s a great stop at an easy day from Erieau and from Windsor.