Kincardine to Detroit River
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
5
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Detroit,
Michigan,
United States
Saturday, July 28, 2001
When we circumnavigated Lake Huron in the late 80's, we watched a play in Kincardine, next stopped at Goderich, spent another day in Bayfield ambling through its beautiful shops, and finally spending a lazy day on the beaches of Grand Bend. Now we were just making up lost time and racing across Lake Huron while the east and south east winds continued. Westerlies are the prevailing winds and can keep a boat in harbour for a number of days, unable to venture out over the sandbars of some of Lake Huron's exposed entrances. Unwilling to chance this, we decided to make the most of each day and rest once we were off Huron.
So at 6 a.m. we quietly left Kincardine for another long day's sail. As we left the transient sailboat area not a soul stirred. As we entered the harbour entrance, we suddenly found ourselves in a parade of small fishing boats with sterns all decked with the latest down riggers and fishing gear. Six a.m. must be a popular time to go fishing!
Upon clearing the entrance breakwater, we were surprised to see a family already patiently casting out into the morning waves. For my fishing friends, this looks like a place you should definitely investigate.
After another very, very long day we arrived in Bayfield. One proceeds up a river not much wider that the Whitefish Falls river. The only difference is that there is dockage for over 250 boats in this small area. Dockage isn't really the right word for it. To enable them to pack the maximum boats in the minimum of space, they've done away with docks. Your slip assignment is two 8 inch steel pylons driven into the river bed. You tie your stern to these pylons, your boat to the corrugated steel wall of the river bank and step ashore over your bow. This gives the maximum use of space available but for a North Channel sailor used to approaching a dock it is quite different to manoeuver in with a strong cross wind blowing.
Bayfield is a beautiful town but with our late arrival and knowing we wanted to leave early we saw none of it. We did enjoy the showers and swimming pool included with our dock fees.
Sunday, July 29
Up at 5:30, under sail at 6:00 we prepared to strike across Lake Huron to Sarnia and leave this lake. The wind had died and we were under power, a check with the binoculars always showed the sea clear of boats for miles. For hour after hour we saw no one and after many hours the captain tends to pay a little more attention to the book he is reading. Suddenly I looked up and immediately went into neutral. No boats, since I had done a visual a few minutes earlier, but now we were about to be surrounded by fishing buoys extending as far as I could see on both sides of the boat. Very slowly, I proceeded picking the center between two buoys, putting the engine in neutral over what appeared to be the center of the line. We never saw a connecting line so thankfully it must loop downward quite a distance. Wonder what they were fishing out in the middle of nowhere???
Arriving in Sarnia on a Sunday is not a wise move. In a short period of time we had woven our way through more than a hundred boats engaged in sailboat races, fishing sightseeing and just sitting still watching the festivities.
Going under the Blue Water Bridge which connects Sarnia to Port Huron was quite an experience. Waves from the passing boats and a freighter rebounded from the corrugated steel walls of the channel. This was bad enough but then a large powerboat creating an equally large wake passed us. Up we went and then down, down the bow went disappearing in the dark water. For the first time that I can remember, we buried the entire bow of the boat to the forward hatch. For a few moments, there was nothing to see past the mast but water. A second later, like a submarine surfacing Mystic Loon shook off the water and returned to the surface. All I could think of what Hell's Gate will be like when we go down the Hudson River to New York City. Definitely, we will not attempt it on a weekend!
We tied up at Sarnia Bay Marina and waited for Grant and Valerie Boland from London. Grant is the person who is looking after updating this web site and it is only thanks to him that my email updates are massaged into html code. Our dear friends had volunteered to drive us across the border to help us obtain our I-68s. For our non-cruising friends, an I-68 is a permit you obtain at immigration to cruise in U.S. waters. We drove/crawled (remember this was Sunday evening traffic returning from cottage country) across the international bridge, filled out all the forms at immigration but...they only took cash and it had to be US dollars. The nearest money exchange was the Duty Free store so, off we went.
One of the most frustrating things was for Grant, Val and I to look fruitlessly at all the bargains for those who had been in the US for at least 24 hours, while Margaret stood in line to exchange some money. Finally after a hour's trip, we had the necessary funds and were relaxing in an Irish Pub back in Canada. After-dinner drinks aboard Mystic Loon and, all to soon, it was time for them to leave. They did leave us with presents to wear in the Bahamas - bright red and white Canadian maple leaf caps. Who said only Americans were patriotic?
Monday, July 30
What a difference a day makes. Virtually no traffic on the waterway. A very sane trip down the St. Clair River. We were finally in new territory and what a different country we were in. This was Sarnia's immense "Chemical Valley - the largest complex of petrochemical refineries in North America. Thousands of pipes as far as the eye could see. Dozens of stacks with a number of them shooting flames high into the air. We passed DOW chemicals, Bayer and Shell Oil to name only three of the larger complexes. The flames from the Shell complex were the most beautiful, shooting maybe 20 feet into the air and spreading out almost twice that distance as they waved in the strong morning breeze. It reminded us of a Science Fiction movie set and we almost expected Mad Max (Mel Gibson) to be standing on the shore scouting this strange new landscape.
Once past the mile or so of chemical jungle, there certainly were some beautiful homes along this stretch of waterway. We decided to stop early today and are presently we tied up at "Ecarte Chenal Marina", the last Canadian marina before entering Lake St. Clair. Tomorrow we will once again sleep in a little before heading south to Windsor.
Cruising at 5-6 miles per hour gives one a totally new picture of our Canadian geography. Forever, I have looked at the road map of Ontario. We've taken the ferry to Tobermory and driven to our friends in London, whipped over to Windsor/Detroit, etc. Lake St. Clair was just a little bit of blue on the road map. The reality is that it if a very BIG, BIG, BIG lake. I had looked forward to sailing the lake that so many US/Canadian sailing championships had been fought on. Instead, we ran into a day with absolutely no wind. Motoring - boring - hot: when will it end? It took 3 hours to cross taking the narrowest straight line path. Yes, it is a very big lake and, being shallow, Margaret was quite happy with the motoring instead of crashing through large, choppy waves such a bottom can create..
During our trip down the St. Clair River, across Lake St. Clair and down the Detroit River we were almost continuously in sight of a large Great Lakes ship or an ocean going "Salty". The Great Lakes Cruising Club notes on this area state: "This waterway is the busiest in the world in terms of tonnage. "Lakers "as long as 1,014 feet are joined by "salties" from around the world plying the confining channels that connect the two Great lakes - Erie and Huron."
To tell the truth, I would rather be passed/overtaken by the largest freighter, then a 50 foot Carver with an idiot passed close by, at full throttle throwing up a tremendous wake. One such incident almost put Hercules over board, as he flew into the air from his perch above the companionway entrance. I was glad I didn't understand cat language after that boat passed.
We motored past many beautiful homes along the Detroit River. One in particular reminded us of a villa in Florence with its red tiled roof and Mediterranean architecture. Many of these homes have large boats in front of them. All on hydraulic lifts to take them out of the wash to the passing boat traffic.
Tonight we are anchored in Crystal Bay in the Detroit River. It is our first anchorage since the North Channel and we wish that we had chosen a marina because the boat traffic here is unreal, even during a weeknight.
Sailor's Notes
Do you have wrench on board big enough to tighten your motor mounts? All of them? And when was the last time you checked them?
Of course there is a reason for these questions. As we entered Ecarte Chanel in the St. Clair River system, I slowed down to dock at the marina. There seemed to be a new vibration in the steering column. I increased speed and it went away, but of course as you are coming to a dock this isn't the best idea and slowing down brought the vibration back again. In neutral or cruising speed - no problem. As the kids say, what's wrong with this picture???
After supper, I put on my mask and dove into the murky water of the river to check the propeller. Everything looked fine, felt solid, so why the vibration. Since we were securely tied, I told Margaret to turn on the engine and put it in slow forward so that I could observe what was happening. As I started underwater, with about 3 feet visibility, it occurred to me that this was a very stupid and dangerous idea as I could see me looking for a lethal turning prop with my face. I surfaced and yelled "Margaret, let's not try that idea."
The next morning, safely inside the boat, I took the engine cover off and checked the mounting bolts. Three bolts are very visible and easy to check. Of course you know what happened next. They were perfectly tight but the fourth bolt, with about one inch of clearance to work on it, had backed off and was very loose. 15 minutes later with two skinned knuckled and an amazingly few bad words, the upper and bottom nuts were tightened.
Problem solved, lesson learned. I share this experience with you my fellow cruisers.
