Stats for Sunday, July 22

Origin:  Sarnia, Ontario

Destination:  Grand Bend, Ontario

Statute Miles:  44

Average Speed:  10.1 mph

Time on the Move:  4 hours

 

We decided to leave Sarnia and head for Goderich, Ontario.  The weather looked rainy, slightly windy, and slightly wavy for this journey, but nothing we couldn’t handle.  We knew we needed to fill up on diesel first so we did that right when the fuel dock opened and then headed under the Blue Water Bridge.  It was pretty cool passing under the bridge, but we had to fight quite a current to get out of the river.  I called the kids up onto the flybridge to watch us pass under the bridge and they came upstairs saying “WOW!  Look at that freighter right behind us!”  They were just as interested in the freighter as they were in us passing under the bridge.

 

The day started with some swells and some rain, but it wasn’t a deal breaker right away.

 

Sometime about 2 hours in we decided we would stop at Grand Bend because it was 20 miles closer and the waves were building.  In the end it turned out to be quite a bumpy ride and one I hope we don’t repeat again for quite some time.  Hayley didn’t feel great for about the last hour and you can see that Toby didn’t either because he just wanted to sit close to mama.  Colin read and played games on his Kindle in the salon until we were coming into the channel when he started to feel yucky.  Luckily no one got sick, but I think it’s pretty amazing we didn’t.

 

Our boat has a bell on it and we’ve read that really bad seas were once referred to as a “bell-ringer” because the boat would heel (lean) so much that the bell would ring.  Well we heard the bell a few times yesterday which let us know that the waves were in fact pretty rough.  At least we thought it was the bell until Mike realized the mini-fridge on the sundeck had actually swung open and cans were rolling about everywhere.  Now we think the “bells” we heard might have actually been the fridge door banging open.  Who knows?  Either way, it was rough.

 

When we switched plans to head to Grand Bend we were thrilled that our friends the Wilsons were still there.  It was nice to know we were heading for familiar faces.

 

After we got tied up in the wind and rain (no easy task for the captain, first mate, or the dock hands at the marina!!) we played a little with our friends and had lunch.  We also waited out a rainstorm watching a movie down below.

 

 

 

Later in the day the rain cleared and we rode scooters to Main Street and explored the beach, playground, and shops (Poor Mike lost his FAVORITE sunglasses in our windy stormy docking process).

 

Can you believe they have an axe throwing place here?  Is that a thing elsewhere?!  It was like ladderball or bean bags, but with axes?!  Yikes!

 

Our friends assure us tomorrow will be flat seas, so we’re moving on to Kindcardine, Ontario.  It feels comforting being with a buddy boat, especially because the kids love playing with their kids!  Benefits to buddy boating all around!!  Thanks for following our adventures!!