Lyn's Log, 10th August 2007
Western Lake Ontario

Leaving Kingston on 17th July, we headed westwards. For the first 80 miles, instead of going back into Lake Ontario we took a sheltered route inland through the Bay of Quinte and the Murray Canal. It was very pastoral. The canal was the nearest thing to those we have traveled in Holland, being narrow and with two swing bridges opening on demand. A five-dollar fee was collected in a bag on a stick as we went through the second bridge. We encountered very weedy water with only a few inches below our keel as we left the canal, where it entered a shallow bay on the edge of Lake Ontario. But it was well buoyed and we moored at Brighton, a mile from the canal. There were many white swans around.

After some torrential rain, we went back out into Lake Ontario from Brighton, rounding a headland covered with round shaped trees, like a collection of different shades of green, woolly pom-poms, squashed together and touching the edge of the water. We sailed in light winds and then motored to our next stop, Port Coburg.

Port Coburg marina had no vacant slips for a yacht our size but it was possible to anchor in the outer harbour. As we went out to dinner, the local dragon boats were practicing the racing skills using Sentinel as a turning mark. The last of the thunderstorms had gone through and the next day promised to be fine but breezy. The bonus was that the wind was out of the north and gave us a wonderful fast sail almost to Toronto. We spent the night as guests at the Bluff Park Yacht Club just eight miles from Toronto harbour. We had a pleasant time talking with the members there.

So Saturday 21st July we drifted into Toronto harbour, exploring around it before mooring in the Alexandra Yacht Club. John and Linda McFetrick had recommended their club to us, when we met them in Kingston and later in the Thousand Islands. This lovely couple kept in touch and gave us a great evening at their house when they returned to home. Ingrid met us as we arrived at the club, allocated us a space and encouraged us to cook on their bar-b-que. This was a great idea as we then met several of the members. The club is a reasonably small, self-help club with everything they need to cook and socialize both indoors and outside, and everyone helps when it is haul-out or re-launching time. We were made very welcome and met some nice people. After two days free of charge we were required to leave but, as suggested by Ingrid, we arranged a stay of 12 days just next door in the National Yacht Club. From here, the waterfront attractions, the CN Tower (the world's tallest building) and car rental were all within walking distance, but there was also a handy tram that linked with the subway.

Whilst in Toronto we managed to get our new laptop repaired under warranty, the anchor and chain re-galvanized, our propane bottles refilled, and received a 110volt immersion heater we ordered from England. But the three local jobs were not completed without a lot of pushing and arguing. We found that only one bank would allow us to get cash on our visa card. We could not use our credit card to add credit to our cell phone and in some shops we could only use the credit card if we had ID, in other words, our passports, with us. Driving around Toronto was a bit of a nightmare with unusual rules of the road such as not being able to turn at certain junctions at certain times of the day, and trams to avoid. I was loudly hooted at once and cautioned by the police once, but otherwise we survived with Andrew navigating and me driving.

Of the attractions in Toronto, we visited the recently re-opened Royal Ontario Museum. The facade of the new building is faceted like a crystal, and the building inside has odd angles everywhere, which will call for inspired planning when they rearrange the museum's treasures. Because it was so new, only half the museum was available to view, and apart from the pretty paperweights we found it rather disappointing. We also had an evening at the ‘Medieval Tymes’ castle. This was one of those events where the audience dined around a large arena and watched well schooled horses performing, a falcon flying, jousting and hand to hand combat, with a loose storyline involving knightly valour, treachery, and the princess's hand in marriage. Corny perhaps, but well done and we did enjoy it.

We spent the weekend with Andrew’s step-son Ben, his wife Caroline and Chloe, their four week old daughter (pic above). A heat wave began when we reached Toronto and the weekend temperatures were in the thirties. It was good to be able to cool off in their pool. We had a lovely time in and around their old farmhouse situated by a wooded valley half way between Toronto and Georgian Bay. We also visited the Greek Town area of Toronto with them for an evening meal, and had an interesting afternoon tour round the astrophysics department in York University where Ben works.

The beginning of August was a holiday weekend and we sailed to Hamilton at the Western extremity of Lake Ontario. Here we spent a few days at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, where we met Marilyn and Darvin who we had first met in North Carolina. Darvin had agreed to help us through the Welland Canal. We had a wonderful day with them at Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Right up close under the falls on The Maid of The Mist was an awesome experience. A thick green line could be seen at the top where the water fell over the edge, and then it frothed and sprayed and thundered on the rocks below. There was so much energy that the spray went up into the sky twice the height of the falls. On the boat there would be the occasional blast of cold wind and spray. Everyone wore their free blue plastic hooded capes but my sandals got sodden. This must be the best way to fully appreciate the magnificence of the falls.

Marsha Cutting came to visit us. We had met her when she visited England in 2001 wanting to gain some sea sailing experience, and we had taken her from Dover to Calais and Gravelines. She subsequently bought a 26 foot yacht in Boston, Massachusetts. But she has now moved to near Hamilton, so during her summer holidays she has been sailing the yacht in stages single handed around to Lake Ontario, via Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec where it had been recently laid up. She said she would also like to help us through the Welland Canal, to gain experience of what the locks in the St Lawrence Seaway would be like.

Early on Wed 8th August we sailed into the entrance to the Welland Canal with Darvin and Marsha, and so left Lake Ontario. The story of our passage through this, one of the largest ship canals in the world, is told elsewhere. We arrived at Sugarloaf Marina in Lake Erie at the end of the canal about seven in the evening. It had been an exhausting day but a great experience. At nine, Marilyn arrived to take Darvin and Marsha away after hugs and taking of photos and we were on our own again.