Windsong to the Sea - Part 2 - Lake Erie

Finally, the boat was ready. I loaded my new cat, Spot, on board and spent a surprisingly cool and relaxing night at the dock at South Port. Little did Spot know that she was about to become a sea cat.

I wanted to leave bright and early but there was one last task. My tanks were at the dive shop to be inspected and he was closed yesterday. I was waiting at the door when he opened so I was able to finally untie the dock lines at 10:30 am. After leaving the channel, I had to motor around in circles for a while to swing the compass for my autopilot. (It was necessary to move it during my refit to get it farther away from my alternator and SSB.) The Junior Sailors must have thought I had lost my steering! As soon as the autopilot gave me the OK, I set a course for the Detroit River and engaged the autopilot. It worked. Then I decided to test my new connection from my autopilot to my laptop. That worked too. This was getting weird!

My sail to Pelee Island was pretty uneventful. As usual, the wind was too light and too much on the nose to sail. I put up the main, motor sailed, and watched the sights as we puttered down the river: the old Pelee Passage Light at the City Marina, the Livingston Memorial Light on Belle Isle, and the Peace Fountain. I took a few pictures going under the bridge. I saw the Boblo Light and the Detroit River Light. (I still can’t believe that a freighter crashed into it!) The traffic was light and the seas I had to pound into once I reached Lake Erie were fairly moderate. Spot spent the day in her cat carrier getting her sea legs. She drooled a bit which was a good sign. My old cat ralphed her guts out for the first two or three days of any trip. A little drool was a big improvement.

I left Scudder the next morning at 08:00 on a close reach for Erieau. A more patient man would have sailed but the fact that I had to meet my crew at the Welland Canal in three days was weighing heavily on my mind. I motor sailed again to maintain 6 knots and kept a lookout for lighthouses, starting with the Pelee Island Light and then the Pelee Passage Light. As I passed the Colchester Reef Light I made a toast to Captain Forrest. He lost his life there as the Captain of the ill fated Colchester Reef Lightship.

Upon entering Rondeau Bay I was greeted by an old student of mine who was radio tracking Long Nosed Gar. Suffice it to say, he wasn’t one of my favourite students. It was absolutely shocking to see him working at a summer job that was very similar to one I had during my University days. I guess I do have an influence after all!

I dropped the hook for the first time for this trip then took the dinghy ashore to check out the town of Erieau. I tied my dinghy up next to huge yacht from the Cayman Islands. The contrast in boats in the harbour was amusing. Across the dock from the yacht was a houseboat that looked like someone took a trailer home and bolted it onto pontoons. Funny thing was that the people in the $3000 houseboat appeared to be having a lot more fun than the people in the $3 million yacht!

From there I wandered off to find the Erieau Yacht Club where I took my Level 1 CYA Sailing Instructor Course almost 20 years ago. What a blast from the past! It is a tiny little dinghy sailing club that fronts onto Rondeau Bay. It was even tinier than I remembered it.

The next morning Murphy’s Law was in full force. I awoke to find two problems about my beautiful calm peaceful night at anchor. One was that the boat was completed coated in squishy little bugs. The other was that the anchor line was hopelessly wrapped around the keel. I tried motoring every which way in a futile attempt to free it. Finally, I ran the anchor line back to my main halyard winch and cranked. With a little crunching and groaning, and a few scrapes on the keel, it came free. I set a close reach course for Port Stanley hoisted the sails, cut the engine and set to work scrubbing and hosing away little bugs.

After a night at the Port Stanley Sailing Squadron, I caught the 07:00 bridge and set off on my longest leg for lake Erie: the rounding of Long Point. They don’t call it long for no reason! It is a 72nm run from Port Stanley around the point to Port Dover. The only shelter in between is to anchor around the inside of the point about 60nm from Port Stanley. Fortunately, the weather held. I had another perfect close reach all the way to the tip of the point where the wind died and shifted onto the nose. As I passed the Long Point Lighthouse, the most isolated Light on Lake Erie, I was far from alone. Two freighters passed me on their way upbound from the Welland Canal.

I spent the night at the Port Dover Marina then motored in a dead calm to Port Colborne. It was a short run and it was so calm that I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give the bottom a scrub. I cut the engine and let the boat drift to a stop while I suited up in my dive gear. Over the side I went, and scrubbed off three months of Pike Creek goo. Afterwards, I was able to motor 0.2 knots faster at the same RPMs!

I arrived early in Port Colborne and spent the afternoon talking to the locals at the Morlan Marina. I was told to be at the Welland Canal early because the transit can take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. Another local told me that I had quite a trip in store when I get down to the St. Lawrence Seaway. He used work on the lake boats and loved sitting on the deck watching the scenery in the Seaway. It was comparable to the Rocky Mountains.

Blue Peter was hoisted in anticipation of my crew’s arrival in the morning. A nice breeze was flowing through my new portholes and all of my new equipment was working like a charm. Spot was adjusting quickly to the live aboard life. She slept in her carrier when I was underway and cuddled with me all night. Tomorrow, Windsong will transit the Welland Canal and find herself floating in Lake Ontario, her fifth and final Great Lake!