Tuesday 23^rd July 2019

We came very close the  CHI CHEEMAUN

We upped anchor from the little basin in Club Island it was about 6.30am,  just as the sun was rising, I spotted about 20 Canadian ducks close by.  

There was no wind, so we motored for a while, we tried the spinnaker but there really was no wind so down it came and  on went the engine again.  We turned a corner out of the shelter of an island and yay we were sailing we crossed the top of the peninsula in no time.  We were cruising along a about 5 knots just sailing along minding our own business when we spotted the chi Cheemaun Ferry on its way back to Tobermorry.  We were going to cross paths literally pass really close.  We watched it get closer then the Captain of the chi Cheauman called us on the radio, both vessels are on AIS so he knew our name 

“SV Adriana I have you passing on my stern” he said, 

we confirmed this, as we got a bit closer the wind picked up and we started to go faster !! 

we needed to slow down so we could pass behind the chi Cheemaun, so we furled up the head sail and slowed almost to a stop as she sailed past.  I think they had to divert their course slightly.

Lake Huron

The wind was behind us and we kept sailing all day and into the night, during the day the temperature dropped and we were back to wearing track pants, fleecy jumpers and our ugg boots.

Not Happy- back into ugg boots

Passing the time

 Just before sunset we donned our wet weather gear, not because there was any rain forecast but because the pants have a high bib almost to your underarms and this makes them really warm as your back is totally covered and the jacket is snug around the collar, its also made for sailing so sort of snug and contained no gaps for chills to get in or flaps to get caught on things.  There was a beautiful sunset, the ONLY other vessel we saw after the Chi Cheemaun was this strange sailing ship that passed us at sunset.

Taken through the binoculars

We sailed all through the night it was amazing the wind was behind us (North Westerly) pushing us along our average speed was about 6 knots it did not waver and we sailed from one end of the Bruce peninsulas to the other.  

All rugged up and strapped in for the night sail 

At the end of the lake we could see the Blue Water Bridge and our destination, a small yacht club that we had found out about while we were in Wingfield Basin.  The couple we had chatted to when we saw the bear had stopped as they were sailing out and we had a quick chat, we noticed the port of origin on the yacht was Sarnia and asked if there was anywhere there to anchor,  Michael gave us his boat card and yes we could anchor at the yacht club. 

The entrance to Sarnia YC

As were approaching Sarnia we messaged him and found out there is a small area outside the entrance to the yacht club where public are allowed to anchor.  He also let us know about the tricky current getting in to the yacht club, Craig says it was a bit like getting into Newhaven YC as the entrance has a strong current that flows fast right out the front.  Craig manoeuvred us in without any problems.  We had been up since 6am and dropped the anchor about 2pm the next day, that’s 32 hours with only a few hours’ sleep, Craig and I had taken turns of doing 2 hour watches but I think Craig got more sleep than me, every time I woke up he was asleep !!

Sarnia Yacht Club is the prettiest YC I have ever seen, it was immaculate, the colour of the water probably added to its charm, the cute ducks swimming around and the sailing school with about 50 kids buzzing around in little sailing dingys all made it look so pretty. We had a well-deserved G&T, an early dinner of chicken and veg stir fry and collapsed into bed before 8pm. 

St Clair River/ Lake St Clair

We found the YC Wi-Fi in the morning which delayed our start slightly, then we were off, our first point of interest was passing under the blue water bridge, its 177ft high so there was no chance of us hitting it but it’s still deceptive when you go under, it looks so close.

  

The bridge links Canada to the US, Ontario to Michigan, there was a constant stream of trucks banked up due to it being a border crossing. 

As we head down the canals and lakes we will have Canada on our left and USA on our right, we are going to stick to the Canada side because if we anchor or go ashore on the other side, we have to check in to USA and out of Canada it is just going to be easier to stay in Canada until we leave Canada for the last time.  

The next point of interest was passing the huge freighters the first one was scary but we didn’t have to get too close, Michael who told us about the Sarnia yacht club messaged Craig to say hello he was working on a tug boat pushing one the freighters, he had waved and we waved back, without knowing it was him, I said “tell him we are Australian we wave to everybody”.  

The Canadian side started off very industrial and the US side was all pretty waterfront houses, then the Canadian side turned rural and the US was built up almost all the way down the St Clair River.

We made excellent time doing 8 ½ - 9 knots with the current contributing around 2 ½ knots.  There were NO WAKE signs all along the US side, there has been flooding due to the water sitting between 1- 1.5mt higher than average. Most of the houses are built right on the waters edge really close to the waterline.  All the houses have pull out facilities for their motorboats as the lake freezes over in Winter.  The passage down St Clair River took less time than anticipated we left Sarnia around 8am and entered Lake St Clair around midday we had motored all the way.  Lake St Clair was so aqua blue and calm we had to follow the channel markers - as either side gets really shallow (only 2-3mt deep).  The channel markers wind across the lake showing the way for the big transport ships that constantly move up and down through the lake system. It was a huge expanse of aqua blue as far as the eye could see in every direction. The huge freighters traverse up and down the channels all day taking grains, iron ore, different types of rocks and minerals from the mineral rich north to the rest of the world.

Its hard to show the size of these things 

Detroit River

We then passed into the Detroit River, probably not high on anyone’s must visit holiday destination list but very interesting none the less. As we motored along, the river narrowed enough that we could see both sides but we moved along closer to the USA side passing Detroit City.  

Detroit City GMH 

GMH was  the dominant building we had sighted from miles away it is very impressive and  bit further down the river on the Canadian side we passed the Chrysler building, then Canadian Club brewery.  
The landscape became very industrial as we headed down the river out of the city. 

It certainaly got very industrial

Around 4pm we were getting tired there were no designated anchorage areas but we had been told its ok to anchor along the banks of the river so on the Canadian side of the river we found a spot where there was an island buffer between us and the shipping channel.  There was a strong current, but the anchor dug in and we were set for the night.  I took advantage of the warm 24.5c river water and did some washing, that made us look like gypsies camped by the side of the river.  We had travelled 8am to 4pm down the St Clair River, across Lake St Clair and most of the way down the Detroit River.