June 29, 2011 Oakville Yacht Squadron

We left Bronte at 11:30 for the 3 mile trip to Oakville. Our friend from Florida, Gerry Maguire lives in Oakville and arranged for us to visit. There is limited transient dockage here and very difficult to get in to visit. I sailed with just a reefed jib in about 20 knots of wind. It just took about 1/2 hour for the trip. Fortunately Gerry Maguire's friend Art was waiting for us at the visitor's dock. Otherwise I would not have thought it possible for both Excalibur and Windchaser to wedge in. Art is a member at OYS and races a Shark. He knows the sailors at the Dunville Yacht Club who also have a big Shark Fleet.

After enjoying a welcoming beer and some conversation we decided to walk to town and then to Gerry's for cocktails and dinner. Lew and I went to register when I heard Kerry shouting my name. Gretchen and the ladder we used to board had somehow gone into the water between Excalibur and the dock! Before I could get there Kerry had rounded up two big guys who pulled Gretchen quickly out. Apparently it was a slow decent into the water. She was holding some part of the boat and was able to give her camera, phone, etc.,to Kerry before completing her plunge. Pretty scary stuff, but she is a trooper and was OK it appeared.

Shortly though bruises and a swollen foot appeared. Gretchen decided to stay on Windchaser and ice her bumps and bruises. Kerry and I walked to town and Gerry's. Gerry picked up Lew at the OYS. Oakville is a beautiful town, as was Bronte. Lots of shops, friendly people and beautiful, expensive real estate. The condo at the top of the hill has units starting at 1.8 million. The units at the one being built start at 3.8 million. The well maintained, stylish homes near (not on)the water are in the $2-3M range.

Gerry has a lovely home and prepared for us probably the best dinner we will have on the trip. It was so delicious. His grilled portobello mushrooms with goat cheese and pesto which were amazing. Big Guy Jim Schulz insisted that Gerry serve us top shelf booze ("not the cheap stuff that he leaves in Jim's freezer in Florida") and Gerry came through, so Kerry and I had Tanqueray while Lew drank Beefeater. We missed Gretchen for dinner but Lew took home a to go plate that she thoroughly enjoyed.

Tomorrow we sail to Port Credit about 8 miles away. Winds are forecast to be a lot lighter. We invited Gerry to sail with us. My nephew, Michael Gray, and his family are meeting us there for an overnight stay. I'll ask Michael to drive Gerry home if he does decide to sail with us. Port Credit is the location of the biggest marine store on Lake Ontario. I already have my list. From Port Credit we will go to Hanlans Point. This is a change from our original schedule of going to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on Friday and then Hanlans Point on Saturday. We thought we might have trouble getting a tie up on Saturday at Hanlans since this is the big Canada Day weekend. We will go to the RCYC on Sunday instead.

June 28, 2011 Bronte, Outer Harbor Marina

Port Dalhousie is a great place to visit. The town is fun, lots of bars, shops, etc. Unfortunately we did not get to go to town as we decided at our skipper's meeting to leave as early as possible because of the 30 kilometer high wind warning forecast for mid-afternoon. We left at 10:15.

Before leaving we had coffee, bagels, toast, etc at the marina who offer them free every morning. The marina manager said the best thing that happened to him this year was that a pair of swans moved in and became parents. The swans chased all the Canadian geese right out of the harbor. He said that if a goose came in the male swan would kill it. The geese are real pests so it is good riddance when they are gone.

We started out with reefed mains and jibs. The wind quickly built from 10 to 15 knots. We sailed on a beam reach for an hour or two until it dropped to the point that we had to motor sail. Then we were mostly motoring. I did some boat maintenance while we motored and sailed slow - painting scratches on the mast, re-taping the mast seal at the deck, cleaning lifelines, etc.

So, I have to go and say to myself, "High wind warning my ass." Shouldn't have done that. After a half hour of glorious sailing at 7+ knots the wind really piped up. Down came the jib, and soon after the main. It was blowing 27 knots as we entered the marina. We had to stop at the gas dock to register. I was first in and took the windward side so we would be blown upon it as we docked. Lew was being blown off the dock as he landed, but Kerry and I and two dock hands managed to land him. I came really close to being pulled into the drink. Later we got to our actual dock assignments safely. The voyage today covered 24.4 miles and took a little less than 4 hours. It is still really blowing at 9:30 PM.

We had dinner at the Compass restaurant on the waterfront. It has a great reputation, but was a disappointment to us. While the food was very good, the service was exceptionally slow and our waitress had an attitude. Lew was telling the hostess they had two minutes to get our food to us or we were walking out, when it finally came. I left the waitress a $1 tip, which was what her service was worth.

Tomorrow we go 3 miles to Oakville to see our friend from Florida, Gerry Maguire. Oakville has no transit dockage but Gerry made special arrangements for us. The guide book says it is one of the prettiest harbors on the lake.

June 27, 2011 Port Dalhousie

We are safely through the Welland and in Port Dalhousie. We got to the canal waiting area at 7:30, and were told they would lock us through at 10:00. At 10:00 they said we were waiting on a motor boat for another half hour. We finally left the dock and started our trip at about noon. We thought we would be docking in the dark for sure. Turns out they waited for that motorboat because the guy on it was a Welland employee. We were wondering why . . .

Much to our surprise, there was no traffic on the canal and every lock and bridge gave us a green light to enter without slowing down. We cleared the last lock at 6:30 and Kerry made us a small martini to sip as we motored the 3 miles to Dalhousie. The entire trip from Sugarloaf to Dalhousie was 24.5 miles. It was rather uneventful, but very tiring.

Our 6 1/2 hour Welland transit time was our fastest by far. It would have been even faster but one of the sailboats, Trollop motored only about 5.5 knots, and all the boats need to stay together. Then after the 5th lock his engine quit and he had to be towed by another sailboat - even slower. Not that I could complain because Windchaser had to tow me through the entire canal our last trip when we wrapped a dock line around our propeller. I included a picture of Trollop and Odyssey out of control in the Welland. They should have been against the wall, but were still learning how to handle the lines in this lock.

We had martinis, wine, chicken wings and coffee on Windchaser before crashing for the night. I rewarded the two people who helped us dock with the Rosemary's cookie of their choice. They choose the raisin oatmeal and loved it. No grouching Rosemary - they saw me walking down the dock with a big plate of cookies. What could I do?

The picture at the top of the blog is one of Jim Karpinski's Welland canal fenders. I am carrying it in honor of Jim since he could not be here, and promised to get lots of scratches and canal slime on it for him. Other pictures show the waiting fleet, powerboat missing, and Kerry working the bow line in a lock.

We hope to go to Bronte on Tuesday. There is a high wind warning in effect so I would like to leave early. We have a skipper's meeting at 9:00 to decide.

June 26, 2011 Port Colborne Canada, Sugarloaf Marina

We made a pleasant trip to Port Colborne today. We left at 10:00 in a light rain. When we arrived at 1:30 it was sunny - finally! The trip covered 24 miles. We motor sailed the entire way. Too much wind yesterday, too little today.

Kerry repaired my Canadian courtesy flag on the ride over. She called Customs to report our arrival, alcohol and cigars. We cleared entry with no issue.

We bought our first Canadian diesel, 37.5 litres. I had a wrong conversion from litres to gallons and thought I had used 20 gallons in 10 hours of motoring, when I should have used only 10. Stress again. Once I got the conversion correct I had used 9.91 gallons stress gone.

Kevin and Jennifer had been kind enough to give us a bottle of Myers Dark Rum to share with the Myers. So after we were docked we took some lime juice, tonic water and ice over to Windchaser and enjoyed delicious dark rum and tonics, and toasted the Schiefersteins.

We spent an hour or so watching the results of a big walleye tournament, then went to dinner. They were having a Sunday special of $.35 wings. We did not have them for dinner, but bought some to take with us for lunch tomorrow while we do the Welland.

At Sugarloaf Marina they always put us as far away as possible from the Marina Office. If you enlarge the little marina picture, you will see two tall masts in the furthest corner away - thats us! Tomorrow the Welland! We shove off at 7:00 AM.

June 25, 2011 Dunkirk Yacht Club

We had hoped to sail to Port Colborne today but the wind and seas would not lay down. As one DYC member said, he saw elephants on the horizon, meaning big rough waves. The small craft advisory was supposed to expire at 4:00 and we planned to scoot across the Lake, but the winds just kept blowing. We thought about getting up at 4:30 on Sunday and trying to cross the Lake and the Welland in one day, but decided it would be too much for us senior sailors . . . 20 years ago, perhaps.

So, it turned into a day of cooking and eating. We made omelets in Kerry's new omelet pans. Just cook on one side for 3 minutes, turn the pan over and do it again. Easy to do, and delicious results. Cocktails and dinner were on Excalibur. Kerry made a very tasty spicy portabello mushroom soup and Gretchen made two great salads, a chopped lettuce one and a fruit salad.

During the day we walked the town, read, relaxed and fished a bit. Turns out people come from all over the States to fish here. A power plant in the harbor keeps the water warm and the bass love it. We saw some big ones being pulled out. In the summer the water gets to 85 in the harbor.

It is Sunday morning as I write this. We are now 1 day behind schedule, so we will have to cut a day off Port Dalhousie, because for this part of the trip we have reservations and people to meet.  I regret losing a day in Dalhousie as it is a great port,

June 24, 2011 Dunkirk Yacht Club, Dunkirk NY

Last year when we visited the DYC they encouraged us to come back on a Friday to join their every Friday evening party. This year we did that. For $5 per person and a dish to share you can have all the food and drink you need, or in some cases, more than you need! They had a complete bar available and a keg with very cold draft beer - yum! There are several sailors in this club who have sailed to the Bahamas, Black Sea, etc., and it was very interesting speaking to them. After the party we had coffee and Rosemary's cookies on Windchaser. We finished the evening with a round of Left, Right and Center (a dice game). Kerry won $4 of quarters. Quarters are like gold to cruisers because they mean clean laundry!

The DYC is built on stilts over the water. Flooring is like a deck with gaps between boards. When you look down, as in the picture of my feet in the shower, you see the green sea. It is rather neat. Plus, the first nights docking is free.

We left Erie at 8:45 and arrived here at 2:30, so it took us a little less than 6 hours to cover the 41.6 miles. Having a following sea of 3 to 5' waves and winds around 17 knots with higher gusts sure moves on along. We had rain for about 2 hours of the voyage. Since the rain and wind were behind us I had all my foul weather gear on, as Excalibur is open to the weather in the rear and it was rather wet for awhile. No big storms though. Other than a lot of side to side rolling, the trip was uneventful except when the jib sheet wrapped around the spinnaker poll. I yelled down to Kerry that I was going up forward to unwrap it (I always tell her when I leave the cockpit in rough weather). Her advise to the captain was that if I kept the slack out of the jib sheet it would not wrap! :-)

Speed was not an issue as we were usually in the mid to high 7 knots and occasionally in the 8's. We used motors and had a little of the jib open for power and stability. Only ran the engine at 2800 rpm's.

It has rained so much that I have had trouble with the canvas getting saturated with water and dripping through in spots, especially where it drips off the solar panels. I have some water proofing spray that really works. It needs to be applied on a sunny warm day though, which seems to be a problem.

We were sorry to leave Finnbar and Brillig at Erie yesterday. It's always a little sad when your fellow cruisers leave. Each person adds so much to the trip and experience. They stayed in Erie rather than try to go against the wind and seas back to Ashtabula. They made a good decision.

We hope to get to Port Colborne today. There is a small craft advisory in effect with the same winds and seas as yesterday if we cross now. It would be a rough trip with wind and seas on the beam rather than following. It's only 24 miles so we hope we can wait until afternoon and have a calmer voyage. I made a pot of Traverse City Cherry coffee, our favorite, and am now waiting for Lew and Gretchen to pop out and share it with me.

Once we enter Canada the blog posts will become irregular as we will have to rely on WiFi. Verizon only has a Canada data plan that allows 200 mb of data, which is very little for a month.

June 23, 2011 Wolverine Park, Erie Pa.

After a very pleasant evening on the hook with just a minor storm we pulled up anchor for the 2 mile motor to Wolverine Park in downtown Erie. The whole gang was waiting for us when we arrived about 9:30.

Kerry decided to do laundry upon arrival, so I paced and fretted until that was done and we could go exploring. Lew and Philip decided to go get their empty propane tanks filled. Ask them why the spent $42 in cab fares to get a $9 propane refill! :-)

Kerry and I walked downtown and found a fresh fruit and vegetable stand, and some other little stores. We had planned to lunch at a pub with "All Day $3 Guinness" but decided to join Lew and Gretch at Smuggler's Cove instead. We sat outside in the rain for a while but fortunately decided to go inside before it really started to pour.

After lunch we were fortunate to find a marina boat store to shop in while we waiting for the rain to stop. Then we went to the maritime museum to tour it and the Niagara which was in port. Very interesting. I know now I would much rather sail on Excalibur than the Niagara!

Cocktails were on Finnbar tonight. All the first mates did heavy appetizers while I contributed 3 pitchers of margaritas. I shared my not to secret margarita recipe with Kevin, and he is now authorized to go forward and nourish needy sailors in any port.

The weather forecast has been terrible all day, especially for the two yachts planning to go West. High WSW winds and seas are forecast. We even wondered if we would be able to go East. Tonight the forecast has been moderated to SW winds around 15 knots, but with rain of course, after storms tonight. We should be able to travel tomorrow. We only can have one weather day before we get to Toronto because of scheduling around the big Canada Day holiday.

June 22, 2011 Presque Isle

It's a beautiful night. The anchorage is mostly empty. Lew, Kevin and Peter have departed and are now tied up at Wolverine Park in Erie. Kerry and I are left alone to enjoy the breeze and solitude of the anchorage.

We had our martinis at 4:00, of course, then grilled hamburgs, and showered after dinner. Our OSU flag waved defiantly to all the Penn State fans who might be in the area.

I guess we missed a major storm last night. Oh, it hit here, but Kerry and I just slept through it. Kevin's instruments were knocked out because of a big lightening burst. Lew had water coming in his companion way, and motored into the wind during the storm to keep the anchor from dragging. Marianna and Peter stayed awake watching all that was happening. We got up, looked around, decided all was well and went back to bed. No one could believe we did that. Because Kevin's navigation instruments were damaged, he is going to return to VYC with Peter instead of going to Port Colborne and beyond with us. We are sorry that this happened to them. They really did want to do a Lake Erie circumnavigation.

Kerry and I did a sea trial with our motor this morning, and had Jim Zima with us on the phone. We could get 3750 rpm's, not the 3800 where Jim said we should change the prop pitch. When we motored At 3200 rpm's we could do 7.1 knots. Jim advised that we should not change the pitch, but motor at the higher rpm's during our voyage, and deal with the prop when we return. So, that's what we plan to do. The pictures today show why Windchaser felt the seas were BIG, and the fleet leaving the anchorage to take a dock in Erie.

June 21, 2011 Presque Isle

It's now the 22rd and I am sitting out with a cup of freshly brewed hazelnut coffee looking at Windchaser, Brillig and Finnbar peacefully bobbing at anchor. It's beautiful! Rosemary's chocolate chip breakfast bars add to the enjoyment.

We had some good storms last night. I popped up once to check the anchor which was holding fine, and the rest of the fleet was where they should be. Back to sleep.

The trip over was pleasant. We started out sailing in 9 knots of SE wind which was quite pleasant. Of course there is always a reason not to sail. This time it turned out to be that major thunderstorms had developed on the West end of the lake and were moving fast towards us. After a brief discussion we all decided to hoof it and turned on the motors along with the sails. Eventually the wind moved forward and the sails were furled and we just motored. The storms never did hit is. They petered out at Ashtabula, and what was left went South.

It was 44.5 miles to the anchorage. We made the 7:30 bridge and arrived here at 2:30. I bought $110 of $4 diesel and some ice. We used about 6.8 engine hours.

One problem was that we could not keep up with the fleet. Normally we motor slow, but this was really slow - embarrassingly slow. Lew was here at least an hour before we were. Ken Anderson confirmed he set the prop at the same 18 pitch as last year. We were able to run the motor well over 3500 rpm yesterday which is too high. This could mean we need more pitch on the prop. It was rebuilt over the winter. Something seems different. Jim Zima of Great Lakes Diesel confirms that my diesel is rated to run continuously at 3400 rpm. I ran at 2900 yesterday, which is my normal. He says if it will go to 3800 then I need to set the pitch up a click, to 20. The boat needs to be pulled to do that. Of course, one option would be to just run the engine faster. Kerry and I are going to pull anchor and go for a test motor today to decide what to do. There is a place here that could pull Excalibur for the pitch change.

We all had drinks and taco salads on Windchaser. It was BYOB and all the first mates pitched in to make delicious salads. Lew's oldest daughter Cheryl is with them now. We plan to stay at the anchorage again tonight and move to a downtown dock tomorrow if available. Lots of rain in the forecast, through Friday. I am getting myself psyched for the Welland transit on Sunday. I am already having a hard time remembering what day it is, which means we are already in full relaxed cruising mode!

June 20th, 2011 Ashtabula Yacht Club

We left at 7:00 AM this morning for the 56.7 nautical mile trip to Ashtabula. Our plan was to stop at Geneva if the seas were bad, which is a 9 mile shorter trip. The seas were good so we made it to Ashtabula. We made the 3:00 bridge by just a couple of minutes. It only opens on the hour and half hour. We put 8 and 1/2 hours on the engine. We had the mainsail up all day and the jib up for about 1/2 hour, relying on the iron "sail" for most of our power.

Lots of biting flys and other bugs today. Kerry stayed inside the entire voyage. Fog developed as we neared Geneva State Park and Lew and I used our radar to watch for other boats - no problems. After showers and cocktails on Excalibur we went to Briquette's BBQ for dinner - which was quite good, and inexpensive. I had chili, corn bread and beer, while Kerry had macaroni and cheese, all for $12. Dockage is free the first night at the Ashtabula Yacht Club.

The rain stayed away until now. Lots of rain in the forecast. We plan to anchor at Presque Isle for the next two nights, and then stay in downtown Erie on Thursday. Tomorrow we plan to make the 7:30 bridge to start our voyage to Presque Isle. East winds are forecast (shoot!) so another long motor into waves appears to be on our schedule again. Are we lucky or what?

June 19, 2011 Cleveland Yacht Club, Rocky River, Ohio

Lew, Kevin and I had a Skipper's meeting at 6:30 to decide whether to leave this morning or wait until tomorrow. Strong afternoon headwinds were forecast, which would mean 5 foot seas, even though it was pretty benign at the moment. Motoring into them is not fun. We decided to go and stop at the Cleveland Yacht Club if the winds and seas built. Well, that's what happened, so we pulled into the CYC at about 11:30. We left Vermilion at 7:20. For the record, the starting mileage on our speedo is 9315 and the starting hours on the engine are 370. Today's trip from Vermilion to CYC was 28 miles. We put 4 hours on the engine hour meter.

We had a pleasant afternoon at CYC. We ended up in three different docks for various reasons, but were safely tied up when thunderstorms arrived. At 4:30 we did cocktails and grilled steaks in the picnic area. The boys stood in the rain and held their umbrellas over the charcoal fire to keep the rain from dousing the fire. Dinner was delicious. Lew made decaf coffee for us and we enjoyed Rosemary's cookies for desert. They were quite the hit - good job, Grouch!

Tomorrow we leave at 7:00 AM for Geneva or Ashtabula, which is 9 miles further than Geneva. Winds are forecast to be light SE turning to East. SE is good. East is not.

All is Ready

We are now set to sail from Vermilion to return to Lake Ontario. This trip has been 2 years in the making. We had hoped to go last year but we decided Excalibur would not be happy in Ontario with the low water levels that year.

But higher water levels this year enabled up to go. We planned to go with Jim and Jola Karpinski but Jim's bum knee prevents him from going. Lew and Gretchen Myers had planned to sell Windchaser, but since they are still the proud owners we are sailing with them to Ontario. We did this trip with them in 2009.

Yesterday the forecast was for strong NE and E winds which would likely keep us in port on our planned departure day. Today the winds in the forecast have dropped to acceptable levels but will still be headwinds. This should at least allow us to motor to Mentor Harbor, our first planned stop. Kevin and Jennifer Scheiferstein on Finnbar will sail with us to Port Colborne, then continue around Lake Erie. Peter and Marianna Orro on Brillig will sail with us to Presque Isle, then return to Vermilion.

Kym and Bryce hosted a Fish Festival Party at VYC Saturday night. It was great fun. Lots of food and friends, with Rosemary and the Big Boy joining us for the evening.