Now with mast up, fully rigged and ready to go, it's seems surreal that we have come this far. The Great Lakes
Adventure started June 17th with Doug and our friends Darrell and Keith as they crossed Lake Superior unscathed except for Keith's stitched head. Then Joann and I met up with Doug in Sault Saint Marie and we ventured down a major shipping channel encountering lakers along the way, crossed over into the North Channel and were immediately impressed by the clearness of the water and how pristine the entire area was (the people here take care of their waters as there was no sign of garbage anywhere). In the North channel we discovered the highly touted Whalebacks on the north side as we navigated through islands, swing bridges and narrow channels to Baie Fine and later Tobermory, home of the MS Chi-cheemaun (big canoe). Now it was time to cross Georgian Bay, some 50 miles wide, but not before stopping off at Flower Pot Island for lunch and a quick overnight in Cabot Head with it's plethora of wildlife. Georgian Bay was so far our best sailing day, no gusts, 10-15 knots of south westerlies and a spinnaker run to start the day finished with an amazing reach where we rescued Bouy George. Now that we have crossed, we are off to the next part of the adventure, the famed Trent - Severn Waterway, 240 nautical miles filled with engineering marvels from 60' locks to train cars, hydraulic lefts and picturesque "Group of Seven" scenes.
My family is from southern Ontario and this was the perfect time for me to take a break from the boat for a couple of days and visit my Oma (who still has a wonderful sense of humour and some dirty jokes), Mom, Dad and Sister Sue, brother-in-law Paul, nephews Issac and Nolan and my Uncle Bob and Aunt Ria. Thanks again for all your hospitality:).
This nearly brings us to current time and might I say the halfway point of our trip but not before re-rigging Summer Wine II and sailing from Trenton to Kingston.
We've decided Kingston was the perfect place to recharge our batteries. Could not have been a better place - Winnipeg may have more restaurants per capita but Kingston has more pubs per capita and they were all busy even on a Thursday night, mind ya, we only made it to 5 or 6 before settling down to hear some fine local entertainment. Pub crawls aside, the days have been filled with walking, visiting historical sites including Fort Henry and Bellevue House, walking, reprovisioning and oh ya- walking!!
Thanks again for following us and happy sailing:)
A
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