Thursday, June 29, 2003 Bayfield Ontario

Our plan was to leave at 6:00. I was wide awake before 5:00, so I laid in bed for awhile and listened to NPR. I made a pot of tea for Kerry and a coffee for me when I got up. Kerry's left wrist was swollen and hurting, so she just stayed in bed while I got us ready for departure and left the dock. 

The bridge operators here are great - very courteous to boaters. We were through both bridges by 6:15. Here is a shot of Voyageur gong under the Military Street Bridge, and a picture of the Blue Water Bridge as Annie gets ready to pass under it.

There is a very strong, swirling current going under the Blue Water Bridge. Peter suggested staying in the middle of the river so that we don't get swirled into an obstruction. It made sense to me. As we motored up the river I noticed that the Chi-Cheemaun ferry was still in the Sarnia shipyard. When I go under this bridge, I always have the thought in my mind that I am towing a ribbon in my wake. When I return the ribbons cross and the circumnavigation is completed. It might have been Kip that mentioned this to me.

It proved to be a great day to travel. Light winds and seas 1' or less. Even though Kerry missed out on most of the trip, I stayed in touch with the world by texting with Mariana and Big Jim. I did not see a boat other than Voyager for 30 miles. Peter is getting more comfortable running Voyager faster, and we stayed in sight the entire voyage. Other than 2 fishing boats we saw nothing else on the water.

Kerry got up about 11:00. She seemed to have a little sparkle in her eyes, which I was glad to see. Her wrist is really bothering her though. Kerry always makes the call to Canadian customs for us. Usually she can avoid providing all the specifics of the alcohol we have on board, but we never lie to them. I did an alcohol inventory (a big job!) on the way over and also updated a little card that has all the information likely to be requested of Kerry. Kerry called Customs while we were still about 1/2 hour out, and had no problems once they were able to identify the Village of Bayfield as a legitimate port of entry. I was nervous for a moment. We were not asked about alcohol - yea!  They seemed most interested if we have cannabis aboard. 

The wind picked up about 13 miles out. The seas increased to 1-2' and it got cold. I put on jeans, closed the windows and turned on the heat. By the time we arrived it was warm and calm again. Back on went the shorts. The trip today was a pleasant 48.8 miles, and took 6 hours. We averaged 8 knots. I called ahead for our dock assignments on the VHF. The attendant gave me some incorrect information and I ended up pulling into the dock assigned to Peter, but it all worked out in the end. 

Kerry made us a nice lunch from the food left over form Senor Tequila. We walked into town at about 2:30. The Village of Bayfield has completed a major downtown renovation. There are paved streets and curbs, a nice improvement. It's really a nice little downtown area. 

We have stopped here many times over the years and really enjoy our visits. We have our favorite stores and we hit all of them on our shopping trip. It was quite successful in my mind as we did not buy anything except some smoked trout which is always delicious. We bumped into the Orros at the fish market and carried their smoked trout back to the boats while they stayed and had dinner. I must be enjoying this cruise as I lost a discussion with Peter over what day it was. For me, losing track of the day of the week is a very rare luxury. 

Our dinner was postponed until after our happy hour. We sat on the back of Annie and watched boats come and go down the river. It was most pleasant, relaxing and very pretty. The river current was flowing steadily west, then suddenly reversed and started going east for no obvious reason. Amazing to watch. 

When happy hour was over I grilled some pesto pizzas with parmesan cheese that Kerry made using Mexican tortillas. They are very tasty and get deliciously crisp on their bottoms. We did a lot of this sort of thing on our 2019 Trent Severn cruise. 

Tomorrow we are heading to Kincardine for several days. We're booked for 4 nights, but may cut that short as the winds are forecast to be favorable for a sprint to Tobermory on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I hope to be able to get a haircut. That could prove difficult as we will be there on Canada Day and Sunday.

Rain and possible thunderstorms are forecast for tonight and in the morning so we have not set a firm departure time. Marianna wants to leave relatively early so she has time to replace the flowers and vegetables that Peter would not let her take into Canada. I have battened down the hatches and am prepared to ride out a storm in my snuggly V-berth if it comes. A late night shower is on my immediate agenda.