Day 66: Rochester to Port Dalhousie, ON

[Forthwith the 'missing' episodes. I'll endeavour to incrementally populate with images. Be sure to have a second and third look at these footprints. Getting there slowly]

We’re off the dock just after 0700 on a clear, sunny, and calm morning, and there are a few fishers and dog-walkers out to see us slip out of the harbour and turn left again to track along Lake Ontario’s southern shoreline, about 3-5 miles off. The lake is a millpond and remains that way for the entire voyage.

The breeze changes minimally over the next nine hours and with no tide or current, the average 10 mph we see on the screens is close to our actual Speed Over the Ground, with about 300 ft of water under the keel. As we pass offshore the mouth of the Niagara River, we and experience some effect from the outflow current as we pass into Canada, and we encounter some surface fog and heavy rain. 45 minutes later, this weather clears just in time for us to visually acquire the Dalhousie [say D’lucy] Harbour range front light on the east-side breakwater, and we’re home and hosed. A few hundred yards into the harbour, and we’re against the east wall outside the Dalhousie Yacht Club, with two forward spring lines set on account of the current coming down 12-Mile Creek into the harbour. This waterway is the northern end of one of the original iterations of the Welland Canal.

It's been a sweet cruise; the only excitement has been seeing several ‘salties’ outbound from the Welland, probably, for the Atlantic Ocean, hidden away in the mist and seen only as AIS icons on the screen. Tying up is all we’re allowed to do with our feet on Canadian soil until Preston has taken our passports and gone to the marina office to have a phone chat with Canadian Customs. They might have boarded and inspected us, but on this occasion decide to clear us over the phone.

Certain persons have placed a roast in the convection oven, so we’ll be dining onboard tonight. Tomorrow is a lay-day.Read more