Departed Port of Oswego Marina at 5:15 as the sun was rising. Beautiful sunrise that soon disappeared above heavy clouds. The wind and seas were calm.
We anticipate a 7-hour voyage across Lake Ontario to Trenton, Ontario.
6:15 a.m.: It’s looking dark to the Northwest, but the Lake is flat and we are in 700+’ of fresh water. We pasted a few fishing charter boats as we left but now it seems we are all alone. Glen laid down for a little nap while I took watch.
7:15 a.m. Seas are still flat. The cloud cover is lifting but it is still grey with threats of rain on the horizon. At 7:45 we entered Canadian waters.
8:15 a.m. The dark sky has met the water to the North, leaving the horizon seamless and visibility strangely challenging and eerie. East and west horizons are visible. At 8:30 we encountered a few rollers from a far-off freighter which woke Glen from his slumber.
9:15 a.m. Glen took the helm, and I went to work on catching up the blog.
10:15 a.m. A bit more visibility. Still grey and calm with very little activity. Land is starting to stand out. Although, I don’t think we were ever out of sight of land. The boat is loaded with small flies on the outside. How do flies find there way onto a vessel in the middle of a large body of water. It’s crazy and annoying.
Feels good to be in Presqu'ile Bay and off of Lake Ontario. Now what do we do? We are told to head to our assigned reporting dock for customs. On the bay we were experiencing shallow water alarms within the channel. It’s a beautiful bay with an abundance of swans. Our first Canadian encounter was just ahead with a swing bridge that needed to be opened. Now monitoring Canadian channel 14 and hailing the bridge attendant. We asked for an opening and he replied “you come, we go”. Meaning as we approach, he will open. We were approaching but the boat behind us was lagging and not monitoring the Canadian channel for communications. The bridge had us relay information. They were soon on board and catching up. We were told it was 5.25 to pass, Glen offered $6.00 American and he came back with “how about $4.00 American”. As we were passing the bridge the bridge attendant extended a cup on a long pole for me to drop our $4.00 into. Our first encounter was fun and friendly. The second bridge had us timed perfectly. He knew our approach speed and distance and timed his bridge opening perfectly.
Our next task was to find our reporting station. We were to direct report and pulled up to the designated location. This is where things go askew. Nobody official was here, but a nice elderly man caught our lines and was very eager to help. The boat that was behind us in the channel and going under the bridges came to this same location and I caught their lines and tied them up. This location is now a fuel dock for the marina we will be staying at. We saw no visible signage for reporting directions. The kind gentleman said “don’t worry, I know right where you need to go”. He took Glen and Kevin (from Set Free) in his car to a customs office at a local airport. Glen will have to elaborate here. While I waited at the boat Glen texted “Accused of running the boarder. Not Arrested!” What? I waited a bit longer and they were both brought back to the boats by the same gentleman. Glen promptly called the 888# to report by phone and in five minutes we were good to go and the girls were finally allowed off of the boat. Friends who are following behind and still in the states have been asking the procedures as many are confused by conflicting information, just as we were. DO NOT do direct reporting. As soon as you enter Canada call and wait to be processed by phone.
Our marina was just back around the corner, we had our slip assignment and they were ready for us with dockhand at the slip. Tied up and ready to relax after all the stress. Gord and Jen (Holy Cow) are here. We talked with them and being from Canada he was appalled at how Glen and Kevin (Set Free) were treated. Gord, his daughter, Glen and I walked into town to the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) to stock up. A storm is rolling in.
That evening we had dinner on board and waited for Mike Wells to join us. He was coming in by plane, train and automobile (cab) and arrived close to 10:00 p.m. After a tour of Saunter and getting settled in we discussed the foul weather coming in the following day. It’s not looking good at all. 100% chance of rain and 1.5” accumulation. Looks like we are staying in Trenton another day.
The following day, June 7th we checked the weather and nope, we aren’t going anywhere. This would be a good opportunity to familiarize Mike with Saunter and her many systems and do some provisioning. The rain came down and the wind blew hard most of the day. We looked for opportunities to walk across the street to the Metro (grocery store) but it just kept pouring. Late afternoon we saw an opportunity and went up to the boat house first to ask a few questions about donating the bikes we had onboard. They offered to drive us to Metro and pick us up when ready. Thank you Simon (our young driver whom is in law school). Since we didn’t need to carry food back, we stocked up pretty good.
That evening the sun came out and things were looking good for tomorrow’s travel. I was able to go out a take a few photos of the area.
