Entry 52: Apologies in advance for the long spans of time between updates. When anchored, I have no access to the internet. And when I am docked, marina internets seem to be an afterthought and efforts to connect have been futile with few exceptions. I arrived in Erie, Pennsylvania last night (June 10th) and with the winds not favorable today, I walked two miles to a Starbucks. With coffee and a breakfast roll, here’s my long overdue updates (based on my logbook, diary notes and memory _
Monday, June 3rd: Left Cobourg (finally) for Oshawa in light NW winds. It thunder stormed throughout the night but the morning skies were clear and the air crisp. More storms from the west were being forecast for 3 pm and my projected arrival to Oshawa was 5:30! So I set course and headed west under both sail and power.
Why: So why am I attempting to circumnavigate the Great Lakes? In response to this question from a number of people it is really very simple. First, let me expand on the question as it pertains to this particular quest _
- Why place myself at the mercy of the sea?
- Why spend time away from my loved ones?
- Why face the physical and mental challenges including aching muscles, cold, flies, mosquitos, running aground, hitting a rock, a pier or another boat?
- Why spend possibly four months constrained living on a twenty foot sailboat?
- Why this endeavor?
- I could go on and on….
It would be both easy and meaningless to say “For the challenge of it!” But truly that is not it at all. Why would I challenge myself to do something I thought I couldn’t do?
The simple answer as to ‘why’, I am doing it for the experience. I love life and isn’t the quality of one’s life all about one’s experiences, the knowledge gained and shared? And, why this endeavor? For my love of the sail and water. And, its on my bucket list. Its that simple.
At 11 am, the winds were still light coming from the SSE. The air temperature was a chilly 52 degrees but I appreciated the warm sun when he peeked through the increasingly overcast skies. I was still 24 miles east of Oshawa and now see storm clouds coming from the northwest. At 2 pm and a little over 10 miles from Oshawa, the Coast Guard announced a weather alert. I had been making good time and had moved up my arrival time to 4 pm. At 2 pm I hailed (VHF 68) the Oshawa Marina to let them know of my arrival. (Many marinas close at 4 pm so I wanted to make sure I had a slip reserved. Unfortunately, I got no response.
At 2:30 pm with dark ominous clouds closing in, the Coast Guard announced over VHF Channel 16 “Small Craft to Take Cover”!
I looked up their telephone number and called it. The Oshawa Harbor Master responded saying that the marina had been closed for over 10 years and the closest marina was Port Whitby – 5 miles WEST of Oshawa – another 1 hr for NTL!
My throttle was at full speed. I looked around to make sure I had everything secured. I called into Port Whitby Marina advised them of the situation and that my arrival would be around 5 pm. They assigned me a slip (Pier B, Slip 52) and said they would have a key under the mat then wished me “Good Luck!” Boy this is getting old.
I arrived at 5:10 pm. On the way, I caught the southern tip of the storm as it passed by to the north of me. Except for some rain and 5 foot swells, it was good. I couldn’t find my slip and eventually found out I was at the wrong marina. I eventually found my slip, docked and took a deep breath of relief.
Tuesday, June 4th (Day 26) – Set off early from Whitby.
Never Too Late For 