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.