Entry #105: N43.34.126, W81.42.340
Saturday, August 17th (Day 103) – The satellite weather forecast rain with possible thunderstorms in the morning, clearing in the afternoon. A series of more severe thunderstorms were projected to arrive around 10 pm in the Port Huron area. Throughout my journey, storms have been arriving ahead of forecasted times. With the exception of Grand Bend (only 22 nautical miles from my current position), my charts indicated no other potential safe harbours between Bayfield, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. The urgency to reach the Blue Water Bridge and complete my circumnavigation of Lake Huron overrode any consideration to remain in port for another day. I decided that I should at least make Grand Bend if the morning thunderstorms necessitated safe harbouring. Or if conditions warranted, I planned to head out into the lake, batten down and ride it out. In either case, I would be making progress.
I left my slip under overcast skies at 7 am and headed for St. Clair Municipal Marina some 65 miles away (as the crow flies). Never Too Late would need to muster its’ designed hull speed the entire way (5.6 mph) in order to arrive before the weather was forecast to arrive!
I found the winds coming offshore from the southeast at approximately 5 knots. However, seas were coming from the southwest at moderate at 2′ to 3′. By mid-morning the first storm hit with winds in my face at 10 knots. Seas had now built to 4-8′. Never Too Late was moving well below hull speed and sailing conditions required my attention.
By noon both the storms and periods of rain had given way to blue skies. The winds had been clocking around and were now coming from the same direction as the seas. After five hours, Never Too Late had made only 15 miles and my GPS was projecting a post midnight arrival time into St. Clair harbour. Additionally, the latest satellite showed the line of thunderstorms were now projected to arrive around 8 pm! Disappointed, I changed my course and called in to reserve a slip in Grand Bend, Ontario.
I arrived at Grand Bends’ municipal marina fuel dock shortly after 2 pm. Grand Bend is often referred to as Canada’s Fort Lauderdal and was packed with tourists, activity and noise. The scene reminded me of a beach scene in the movie ‘Jaws’ and could best be described as chaotic with people and power boats of all sizes coming and going in multiple directions. The ‘no wake’ waters were dangerously choppy and Skidoos seemed to be flying from every direction in the small river entrance. There was no harbour and very little manuevering room. I slowly made progress to the fuel dock and somehow managed to secure the bow of NTL to a corner of the pier without assistance. I was keeping my stern from hitting a steel beam when finally someone came running apologetically to help me secure the stern. It was crazy but I was relieved my boat was undamaged.
I went into the office registered and was hurriedly given a copy with my slip assignment next to a Carver Cruiser?! OK, but before I could get directions, the dock assistant ran out to assist another incoming boat. I quickly followed him out asking were the bathrooms, showers and laundry room were located. He pointed to the back of the building and focused on assisting the other docking boat. It was hot, everything looked hazy and I felt abandoned. I decided to hit the head (bathroom that is!) and investigate the showers and laundry.
Without a harbour, Grand Bends’ municipal marina slips followed both sides of the river bank. The winding river was not very wide. With no room for piers, boats were tied up along both sides of the river like cars parked on a street. The width of the river left barely room for two boats to pass each other let alone turn around! NTLs’ slip reservation was apparently located up the river “a ways” on the other side of the marina’s facilities! With no way to cross over, I sought permission to leave NTL tied at the fuel dock while I washed clothing and showered. I requested change from the office (again given no currency exchange) and gathered my dirty clothes, items to shower and a set of clean clothes. When I got to the laundry room and threw my dirty clothes into the wash I realized I had run out of laundry detergent! I washed my clothes without laundry detergent – yes a guy thing – before leaving to take a needed shower. I found the shower calming and refreshing. I returned to NTL, picked up a book and went to the laundry room to read while awaiting for the wash.
After 30 minutes or so, I thought ‘boy the wash was taking a long time’? I went to check on it when I realized that I had accidentally put my clothing in the dryer instead of the wash! Dam. My warm clothing smelled clean so I decided they had been dry cleaned. Besides I was tired, hungry and I still needed to parallel park NTL.
I found another boat in what I thought was my assigned slip. This was now ridiculous and I had no intention of going back to the mayhem and so I snugged NTL between a couple boats further down and went below to get ready for a meal. While considering what to eat, I couldn’t remember having paid for my slip! Hmm.
A few minutes later the same dock assistant was hailing me from a little dingy saying that I was in the wrong slip and needed to move. However, he confirmed that my assigned slip was being used by an unauthorized boat. He then offered to move boats to make room in my assigned slip. (I chucked to myself as I thought about how one goes about parking a vehicle in Mexico.) I wanted to see this as I extracted NTL from her slip and into the middle of the river. The dock assistant called in and apparently was directed not to move any of the boats. While still on the phone he asked me when I planned to leave in the morning. I responded saying that I had 40 miles to Port Huron and planned on leaving early. I ended up in a slip between two Hattaras behemoths.
I thanked him for his assistance and before leaving he asked me ‘if I had paid for my slip’.? We both laughed as I realized that indeed I hadn’t paid. He requested I pay him the $40 (Can) directly. Not only was that a bit steep, I only had a US $50 bill and was not about to give that amount w/o a favourable exchange. I got on his dingy back to the office and used my charge card.
It was sunny and hot. The storm and rain forecasted for the evening never came. It was a long day and I was tired, hot and annoyed. I decided to walk into town and enjoy a good meal with air conditioning . After dinner I originally planned to see the beach but instead gingerly walked back feeling as though I had more than one Stella beer. I got back to NTL before 8 pm and immediately crashed. I will not be returning to this marina.
Point of clarification: You may have noted my use of different terms when referencing distances. With ‘as the crow flies’, I am referring to a straight line or rhumline distance between points A and B; and, with ‘nautical miles’ I am referring to actual distances travelled. As an example, the ‘as the crow flies’ (or rhumline) distance from Bayfield to Grand Bend is 18 miles. But 22 nautical miles was required to reach my destination. The rhumline did not contemplate additional distances required when following a channel or avoiding shoals or islands or peninsulas, let alone additional distances due to tacking.
Never Too Late For 