Tobermory June 30, 2016

I heard Peter and Marianna leave at 5:30 this morning. We got up a little before 6:00 and shoved off at 6:20. The sea was calm and beautiful, just as we had hoped. Here we are leaving the channel in Kincardine, getting our first look at today's sea.

It was a great day to travel! The trip was 68.6 NM. It took us 8 hours and 10 minutes at a speed of 8.4 knots. We arrived at 2:30. The seas were following us and built a little which kept propelling us faster even though I throttled back a couple of times. It was cold in the shade, but warm in the sun. I took a wonderful shower on the back deck as we motored along. So far we have traveled 359 NM. Following was our course today.

Kerry fed us well on our journey, bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, along with Traverse City Cherry coffee, and left over Indian Chicken with rice for lunch. We caught Brillig about 38 miles into the trip. This is how our meeting on the high seas looked.

We stopped at the gas dock on the way in for diesel and a pump out. I knew this would be a painful stop. We needed 341.3 liters of diesel. Thank goodness for the 22.6% exchange rate I got, which saved me $114.  I have been using 3.3 gallons of fuel per hour, and averaging around 8.5 nautical miles per hour. Not too bad. I have been going a little faster than usual. 

 I docked in 2 places before we were happy with our location. I did a great job of backing around a little boat in a narrow channel, but lost all the points I earned when I jumped out of Annie with her still in reverse. Mercy! Fortunately I could reach in from the dock and shove her into forward - wait - that did not help! Finally I got her in neutral with no damage done. Kerry and Marianna hit the laundry once we were settled.

We are docked on a rather busy walkway. Fortunately I had Andy Lizak make a solid cover for our back door before we left. He used material that Rich Lobalzo gave us from his boat that burned at Parsons. It is exactly the same Sunbrella we have on Annie. We will need it tonight.

I spent a lot of time on the way over planning where we might go in the North Channel. I have some general plans now. Peter and I will meet soon to discuss the various options. They do not go further West than Meldrum Bay. We will be going much past there. 

Hard to believe but we did not have time for a decent cocktail hour tonight. We had dinner at a dockside Italian restaurant, Molinari's. The lasagna Peter and I ordered would have benefited from some additional sauce, but overall the dinner was OK. Marianna and Peter were somewhat disappointed with the food based upon their prior experience.

Kerry's knee has been bothering her but she keeps on going. Her eye problem is almost gone thankfully. She has had great luck with her hibiscus plant - its been beautiful. The herbs are not doing as well. We are still looking forward to our first kayak ride. 

Kincardine June 29, 2016

Peter and I agreed we would meet at 6:00 AM this morning to look at the sea and decide if we should travel early. The forecast was to be lower waves later, but we wanted to get to Kincardine early since we would only be staying one day. When I walked out Peter had already looked at the sea and decided to travel. Marianna had sent him out at 5:30 to check as she was anxious to get going.

We left at 6:10, a little after Peter. The trip initially was 31 miles due North to Point Clark, and then it was NE. Waves were 3-4 feet to start. Fortunately they were just off our nose, a point of impact that Annie handles well.  

For breakfast we had a delicious banana crisp that Marianna had surprised us with yesterday afternoon. It was still warm when she gave it to us. It was organic and had homemade granola as a topping. Delicious!

I suggested Kerry take a Dramamine and that was the last I saw of her until we arrived in Kincardine at 11:15. The trip was exactly 40.0 nautical miles, and waves were down to 2’ when we arrived. All in all it was a pleasant trip. Average speed was 7.8 knots. We carried our kayak on our top deck for its initial trip.

Once we arrived, I put another coat of varnish sealer on the step, took a shower and had a nice lunch Kerry prepared lunch from our left over fish dinner last night. This was all before Brillig arrived – I still can’t get use to being the “fast” boat.

We agreed with Peter that tomorrow is the best day to travel out of the next three. Friday looks terrible. We have 70 miles NW to go, so we want the seas as smooth as possible. So we will only be in Kincardine for one day. We are sorry to miss the Scottish  Festival which is this weekend. We will get to hear a bagpiper though, as one plays at sunset each evening on the old lighthouse, shown above.

First order of business was laundry. Kerry packed up three bags, and Marianna two. We schlocked them five blocks to the laundry only to find it closed on Wednesday. Bummer. Laundry will wait for Tobermory. We hauled it back to the boats and then we spent the afternoon shopping.

We are getting together for cocktails at 5:00, and then going to an authentic Indian restaurant for dinner. Marianna quizzed the owner/cook for some time about his ingredients and cooking style. Apparently Peter loves Indian cooking, especially Butter Chicken, so he is all excited about the venue. It turned out to be very good.

On the way home we stopped for ice cream, and could hear the sound of bagpipes drifting from the direction of the lake. We followed the sound and discovered the Kincardine Scottish Pipers practicing. We listened to several songs, then walked home along the riverfront. Peter said they had about 30 piper bands competing in the Scottish Festival last year.

I imagine we will leave early tomorrow. It’s about 9 hours for us and 11 for Brillig to Tobermory. We plan to do some trip planning on the way tomorrow. We do need to plan to head somewhere after Tobermory. Before we turn in, we will sip some Sambuca together as we listen to the piper saluting the sunset.

As it turns out, the piper did not show! I had gone over to Brillig with my binoculars and camera, looking like a real tourist, and its a no show. We guessed the piper must be piping with the group practicing. We did enjoy the Sambuca though.

Bayfield, Ontario June 28, 2016

It is not fun getting old. Silly mistakes come around pretty frequently. I knew I had made one this morning when Kerry said the boat key would no longer lock the door. We had a special restroom key in Sarnia. I put it on a float with my boat key. Our instructions were to drive slowly by the gas dock when we leave and throw the restroom key on the grass in front of the shack. So, I took the key off the chain and had Kerry toss it when we motored out. Guess which key got tossed.  Fortunately we have 2 extra Annie keys on board - good thing!

Today's weather is so different from yesterday. It is cloudy, cold, windy and misting occasionally, with a high forecast of only 63. Yesterday it was really hot with beautiful sunshine. We have postponed our first kayak ride. Instead we biked to town and shopped and walked. We saw these birds guarding a doorstep and took a picture for my neighbor, Pat.

We bought some smoked white fish, and a set of towel holders for the grand kids. The C&C 30' sailboat tried to leave the harbor today, but they were back shortly as the conditions for them were too rough to travel. I gave the captain credit for trying and credit for knowing when to bail out.

I also bought a sanding block at the hardware store. I need to refinish one of our steps. We had them all refinished before we left, but one was damaged and had many bubbles pop up and ruin the finish. I speculate that the afternoon sun hit that step while the varnish was wet causing the problem . In any case, I have spent the last 2 hours sanding and coloring the step. I will put a coat of varnish on it shortly. So far the results have exceeded my expectations.

We tried to get our reservations in Kincardine extended for Friday but were unsuccessful. This means we will have to go to Tobermory or perhaps to Port Elgin on Friday. We need good weather to make the 70 NM trip to Tobermory from Kincardine, so if the weather is not good on Friday, Port Elgin is our backup plan.

Our plans so far have been to get to Tobermory and then start our North Channel cruising. So, in Tobermory the "where the wind blows" cruising really starts. I am thinking of going into the Georgian Bay, to a couple of ports that John Robertson recommended. I am not sure Peter wants to go east from Tobermory.

Village of Bayfield Marina

We had a nice dinner at the Black Dog Inn. I ordered the fish and chips and shared it with Kerry who had a salad. We have enough left for a fish lunch underway tomorrow. Peter and Marianna are coming over for a night cap soon, then it will be bed time for this skipper. We plan to leave early tomorrow for the 40+ mile trip. The seas are starting to calm now, and hopefully will be well behaved tomorrow.

Kerry's Comments:

I need to confess about yesterday's gourmet breakfast for Don.  The loose translation is "left over chicken tenders added to scrambled eggs and served with orange slices."  It sounds so much better in French, doesn't it?

Many years ago, when Don and I were first married, our Volkswagen slowly rolled out into the street and created an accident the next morning.  It was my car and Don went on the offense and said I did not put the emergency brake on properly, yada yada.  So he said I had to talk to the police officer since it was my fault.  Midway through the police interrogation, I suddenly  remembered  that Don was the last one to drive my car when he picked up a pizza the night before.  Suddenly the dynamics of the situation changed considerably, of course to my advantage.  Well today, something similar happened with the key incident.  Thank goodness Don gave me the wrong key and due to my good training over the years, he came forward immediately and owned the mistake.  

Bayfield, Ontario June 27, 2016

Today was the best day of traveling yet. We had warm, sunny weather, a mild breeze and following seas for the trip to Bayfield. We left at 7:10 and arrived 6 hours later at 1:10. We covered the 48.3 NM at an average speed of 7.9 knots. I finally got to sit outside as we motored along, with smooth seas, warm temperatures and a straight course that Annie could steer herself.

Brillig pulling out of Bridgeview Marina

We were near the Blue Water Bridge about 10 minutes after leaving the marina. Once we got into the main current our speed dropped from 8.5 to 3.8. All the water coming into the lower Great Lakes flows through that narrow opening and the current is really robust. 

Annie approaching the Blue Water Bridge

Peter finally got to raise a sail today, the first time on the trip since he left Leamington. I thought I better get a picture of it. Good thing I did so quickly because the light wind kept dropping and soon the sail was gone. 

I received a return call from Fred, the Bayfield Marina manager. He needed to know if we were staying one or two nights because his reservations were filling up. We said two. Then we decided we better be proactive and plan out the rest of the week. This weekend has both Canada Day and the 4th of July in it, a rare occurrence. So, Monday and Tuesday we are in Bayfield, Wednesday and Thursday we are in Kincardine. We had hoped to stay there Friday too for Canada Day, but there is no room unless someone cancels. Peter and Marianna are friends with the manager so our fingers are crossed. Our back up plan is to go on to Tobermory. That is a huge travel leg though, and we hope to be celebrating rather than motoring. We are staying at location "C", below.

Kerry and Marianna biked to the market, while I put our new inflatable kayak together. It started in two little bags, and ended up as you see. I tried it alone and it seemed to work great. I tied it to the dock at end of a long line to be sure I would not be blown down the river, and I was not, the definition of success I guess. 

We decided to have dinner on Annie tonight. Peter and Marianna have not decided what they were doing. Tomorrow is scheduled to be a fun day, bike and kayak riding, and shopping.

Kerry's Comments:

Today I decided to spend some quality time preparing Don a gourmet  breakfast on the way to Bayfield. Cooking under way is something I do not normally do, but today was the day. So I went to my pantry, studied the contents, looked in the refrigerator and voila the inspiration came to me. For all you doubting Thomases, I actually prepared and  served my captain "poulet et des oeufs" served with "tranches d'orange".  

Sarnia Bridgeview Marina June 26, 2016

One fun thing about traveling is meeting fellow cruisers. I met a nice couple in their late 70's who had just bought a big Cape Dory sailboat. They came from Rhode Island and had planned to sail their boat through the North Channel, but a death in their family changed their plans. So today they were leaving to go home, via the Welland Canal. Smartly, they hired a captain for at least part of the trip.I was able to give them some tips which they appreciated. I met them when the lady commented on how much she liked Nordic Tugs.

We have seen a beautiful C+C sailboat for 2 days, as they are also traveling North. I have not meet the couples yet, but they are docked next to me now.

They too are in their 70's and I hear they plan to circumnavigate Lake Superior. I must say, this does not appear to be a good Lake Superior boat - deep draft (7'), little canvas, no dingy, etc. They must be very adventurous or very foolish.  I wish them well. Perhaps I will meet them today and know their skill level better.

Blog readers from last year will remember Annie's water heater pressure relief valve releasing water into my bilge and my daily routine of emptying it. Well, it's back this year too, even with a new water heater. I think it happens when I run the engine, which heats the water to a really high temperature. In port, there is hardly any water in it. When we motor, my cup can "runneth" over.

I did meet neighbor, Bill, on the 38' C+C. He is from Toronto and has owned the boat for 7 years, He did the Welland to get here, and has visited VYC and PIB in the past. He has never been to Superior, but has cruised Huron and other venues. He is a nice fellow and I think he is adventurous, not foolish. They plan to sail from here non-stop to De Tour Village, MI, over 200 miles he says. I would not want do that.

He does have a problem with his anchor setup though. He had to have it added since this is a racing boat and does not come with one. The installers put on a roller that is too short, and the anchor flukes overlap the stem of the hull. And, the anchor shaft is only a inch from the roller furler. He expects to have problems with it.

We biked to the Sarnia Yacht Club to have breakfast at their Galley. We had tried the Casino but could not get a seat on their really nice patio. We had a nice breakfast and met Peter's friends Terry and Sue, who are coming to Brillig this evening for cocktails with us. They have a Grand Banks 36' trawler. We passed the Blue Water Bridge on our trip to the SYC.

We also rode to downtown Point Edward and downtown Sarnia, and came back by the waterfront, stopping by the Sarnia Bay Marina. It would be a nice place to stay. It has a pool, restaurant and laundry. In one window we saw our reflection which was kind of neat.

I got the best picture of the day when Peter was treating me to a dingy ride in the marina. These boat guests in the picture below do not have on shoes, complying with the sign on the back of the boat to "Please Remove Shoes." Most considerate of them.

We plan to go to Bayfield tomorrow. I tried to make a reservation at the Village Marina but they were closed. Hope to hear from them in the morning. It is 46 NM away, across Southern Lake Huron.

Kerry's Comments:

I am the sort of person that if anything is going to happen, it happens to me.  For example 500 people can be at the Annapolis boat show and the only bee there stings me.  When insects bite me, it isn't just an annoyance, I usually get a huge welt accompanied by a red, unsightly patch which lasts several days and requires a faithful regiment of Benadryl.  So, this itsy, bitsy spider bites me on my right, upper eyelid.  You guessed it.....I have a welt on my eyelid that extends up to the brow line and a huge red patch of totally irritated skin.  One Benadryl down the hatch so far, will keep you posted.

Sarnia, Bridgeview Marina June 25, 2016

Our beautiful weather continues. We had a very nice trip from Windsor to Sarnia. It was long - 7 hours. We left at 6:30 and arrived at 1:30. We covered 49.1 NM at an average speed of 6.9 knots. We should have been making 8.5-9 knots at the engine speed we had, but paddling against the current really slowed progress. Going back will be just the opposite of course. On the way up I took down my Canadian Courtesy Flag and flew the colors of the Ohio State Buckeyes - just to annoy any Michigan fans we might pass.

We had trouble getting Fox News to come in on our XM radio again. I fiddled with the thing for quite awhile before the Princess was happy. Annie does have a built in Sirius radio with a proper antenna. I never wanted to use it because I would need to purchase another subscription. But, I called them anyway once we arrived today, and found out that I could activate it with no fee and for only $9.99 a month, and I could quit at any time. So I did decide to activate Annie's Sirius radio.  Now there should be no more comments in the blog about an unhappy Princess with no Fox News.

If you have ever called XM radio you know you can never get anything done without talking to 3 people/departments. It happened again today. I spoke with two internationals, named Walter and Amanda, who I could barely understand, and finally an American with no name.

We arrived two hours before Peter, who left a half hour after us. On the way I did a DSC position report to see where he was. Annie's position is shown by the little boat, and Brillig's is shown by the blue flag. When we exchange positions I take a picture of my screen and text it to Marianna so they also can see the relative boat positions.

We were passed by a beautiful cruise ship today, the Pearl Mist. It is one that regularly cruises the Great Lakes, all but Superior. It did not seem like it had many passengers on board.

Annie saw a really buff tug boat today. I could feel her little engine sputter a little as we passed by. The little tug was soon forgotten though as Annie moved on.

Bridgeview Marina gets it name from its location, as it is located almost at the base of the Blue Water Bridge. It is quite large. They have good wifi and really good rates, only $1.50 per foot. With the exchange rate it is quite a bargain. We have been OK'd to stay another day so we will get the bikes out and go exploring. They only let us in here because we were traveling with a sailboat. Normally they send all transient power boaters to Sarnia Bay Marina for some reason. We did take a peek at that marina while on our bike trip, and it is quite nice, with a pool and restaurant. We may decide to stay there if we visit Sarnia again.

Kerry rinsed the bugs off the boat while Peter took me to get ice in his new dingy. The walk to the office must be at least 1/2 hour. The ride across the channel is very short. We are going to sit in a marina gazebo tonight for a drinks and a dinner of finger foods and snacks. I imagine we will turn in early - again.

Windsor, Ontario 6/24/2016

After my shower this morning I hopped on the internet to try and determine how much the tax on excess alcohol coming into Canada would be. It seems almost impossible to know. The rate varies by province, by type of alcohol and by the alcoholic content. So much for that.

I did come up with plan B, however. We decided not to go back into the States. I had planned to stop at St. Claire MI, then go on to Sarnia. So, by skipping the US port, I don't need to call into Canada Customs again. Kerry just called them and said we would be staying 30 days instead of three. Now our job is to drink up the excess wine before we need to call Customs again. I think we are up to it.

We walked to town this morning. Kerry got $20 worth of treasures at the dollar store. On the way to town we passed this monument, dedicated to Canadian American Friendship in 1898.



After lunch we shoved off for Windsor about 1:30. The trip to Lakeview Marina was 20.8 NM, and took 3 1/2 hours at 6.0 knots. We took the scenic little channel up the Detroit River, shown on the right in the chart below, while Brillig traveled in the main channel.

Usually we get to see some interesting bird wildlife, and today was no exception. There are lots of little marinas along the way in the side channel that we like to check out also.

The trip was pretty uneventful. The weather has been beautiful, and we had minimum bugs - for a change. Going by Detroit is always a rocky trip, especially in front of the GM building. The sides of the river are steel bulkheads, and the waves slam against them and bounce back and forth, back and forth. Nasty. Fighting the current was a challenge all the way today. It is strong and definitely slows the trip.We arrived at Lakeview Marina shortly before 5:00 PM. Brillig arrived about 45 minutes later.

Following are some random pictures from the trip up the river:

We did not like the docks they had assigned to us. They were right in front of the marina restaurant, which would have meant gawkers, food smells, music into the wee hours, etc. It literally took us 15 minutes to negotiate better docks, but we were successful in the end. We purchased diesel while we were checking in at the gas dock - 40 gallons for the trip from Vermilion to Windsor, which is about 3.8 gallons per hour.

Dinner tonight was on Annie, and it was delicious. Kerry made a mixed green salad with all the goodies, and shrimp pesto linguine. It was so good. We dined on the top of Annie. It was cool and breezy, and the view was beautiful. It was the first time Peter and Marianna had been on our upper level, and they enjoyed it as much as we did.

It is a long trip to Sarnia tomorrow. Peter said it took them 9 hours last year, so an early departure is in order. I hope we can stay there 2 nights. We have been traveling every day for a while, and have had no time to chill. Chilling is overdue!

Boblo Island June 23, 2016

We left Vermilion at 8:30 bound for Boblo Island, about 55 NM away. The weather was cloudy, but winds clam and seas flat. Both are predicted to build as NE winds will get stronger today. Peter confirmed that they are going to Boblo also. Jim and Jola are heading to PIB and will leave us at this time. We finished up the bag of little white powered donuts that Rosemary gave us before we left – it’s our favorite traveling breakfast! We always travel with a plant, and this year's hibiscus was showing off this morning;

Jim and Peter got buried with May flies in Leamington last night. Here is a picture from Jim. It took over an hour to clean off their boats.

The following pictures show our route to Boblo, from start to finish and through the Lake Erie Islands. Of course we will have to jog left at the Detroit River to avoid going aground. I have never sailed from VYC to Boblo before, so it is a new route through the islands for me.

Annie is so comfortable to travel on. It is drizzling now, and little bugs are everywhere outside. Inside, we are sitting in our pilot house chairs drinking coffee and tea, all warm and cozy. Love this boat!

I am writing this as we motor along, and would you believe we just crossed wakes with Jim and Jola on Liberty. They are looking good! So is Annie.

My radio is working great. I talked with Brillig when we were 20 miles apart. I sent Peter a DSC position request and his position popped up on my chart plotter so I knew his exact position. What a nice feature. I have to thank Brian Logan in the ASPS for teaching me about that feature. Now Brillig is 19.3 miles away at a heading of 343 degrees.

The wind started to pick up about 6 miles from the Detroit River. I had not noticed it until Annie started to rock a bit from the waves. It was no big deal though. The River was 52 NM from VYC and we made it at 2:30. We were in the marina at 3:00 with a total mileage on 56.0. Our average speed was 8.3 knots. We were doing better but were slowed by a 3 mile river current. It did not take Kerry long after we left to get into her full cruising position.

They are improving the marina at Boblo. New docks are being built and patios with grills and tables added to the long walkway. It will be very nice. Unfortunately they ran out of dock cleats, and when Peter docked, with no marina help available, he had some difficulty. He helped us dock so we had an easier time. I keep a portable cleat with me and that helped me secure the boat. BTW, the wifi works great here. I am on the furthest dock and have wonderful internet - sure wish VYC could work as well!

Our next stop will be Windsor, tomorrow or the next day. We will go to St Claire, MI after that and Brillig will go on to Sarnia. We may join them there or meet up with them in Bayfield.

I called into Customs, which I hate doing. Normally that is Kerry’s job, but she was washing bugs off Annie and did not want to stop. I told the agent all the usual stuff about alcohol, Ship’s Stores, nothing coming off the boat, etc., but he really grilled me about the amount of wine we had. It is over the permitted amount, but he did not tax us this time, because“ I assume you did not know that.” I questioned him on the amount of the tax and whether it was cheaper to pay the tax than buy alcohol in Canada. He didn’t want to get into it. I will give Kerry her job back after this.

Mariana and Peter came over for cocktails at 5:30 and we went to dinner in Amherstburg at Ricardo's Italian Restaurant.  We really like this restaurant, but tonight did not seem to measure up to our past experiences. Nonetheless, we all had a pleasant evening, ending with a walk through their beautiful hosta garden.

Vermilion, OH 6/22/2016

We are back in Vermilion, waiting for Mark from Parker Marine to arrive and save the day. The trip back from Leamington was uneventful, except for some pretty good rolling at the start. Kerry took her last Dramamine and slept most of the way. This trip took 4 1/2 hours at an average speed of 9.8 knots and covered the same 44.1 nautical miles. At one time Annie hit 17.3 knots, wide open and doing a little surfing on the waves. Imagine my thoughts when we arrived and saw May flies everywhere. They arrived just last night. Double Yuck!

I was able to communicate with Peter on Brillig when I was 15 miles from Leamington. This  seems to prove that the radio and antenna are both not the problem.

Mark from Parker Marine arrived shortly after we docked. He had a new oil pressure gauge that had been overnighted to him. He installed the gauge, checked a few other things and presto, we had charging. On hindsight, I don't think the charging system has worked all year. Annie has only been on one short trip and I just did not notice that it was not charging. One thing I did notice is that when I ran both thrusters at the same time, a  low voltage alarm came on this year. This did not happen last year, and it did not happen today when I had the starting and house batteries linked together,

Getting the AIS and radio to work together proved to be more troublesome, as I feared it might be. It took awhile to convince Mark that the radio worked significantly better when it was not hooked to the AIS. Some calls to the bridge tender in Lorain convinced him I was correct.

The problem is that I can either have AIS working and poor radio performance, or good radio performance and no AIS. After trying another antenna and after two calls with Garmin, Garmin offered to send me another AIS unit. They said the problem had to be the antenna or the AIS port for the antenna. The problem of a bad port was not common, they said, but has happened. So, Mark took the AIS unit to exchange with Garmin. When they get the new one, they will send it to some port I will be visiting for me to pick up. So, we are set to travel tomorrow with a working radio.

We took Mark to lunch at Rudy's after the work was done. We have fun with him. He is a really good electronics technician and we really don't like anyone else working on Annie. Mark took us to Rite Aid where Kerry stocked up on Dramamine. As always, Mark went away with a pile of bones for Huxley, Dick Parker's dog.

Peter and I will talk in the morning and decide where we will travel to. Boblo Island is the most likely port.

Leamington, Ontario June 21, 2016

There was a big storm last night. We almost missed it. One reason is that we had the air conditioner on. A second reason we almost missed it is that no water dripped on Kerry's pillow! Is the leak finally stopped? I sure hope so! We took electrical tape and taped the hatch seams where the plastic lens meets the frame. It is almost invisible and it has passed its first test. Keep your fingers crossed.

Ryan from Southwest Diesel was here right on time. He checked the alternator and pronounced it dead. It turned out though that the bracket they had on their substitute alternator was different than mine. He took the alternator away to find a suitable bracket.

BTW, many Nordic Tug owners responded to my inquiry and all were positive with regard to buying an alternator other than Cummins. I also called Tom at T-Diesel in Sandusky who does most of the work on my engine. He said all Cummins does is buy the alternator from Delco and slap their label on it.

After Ryan left we did a bike ride downtown and did our shopping. We visited 2 dollar stores, Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire. Kerry got a silver plastic ladle for Stefanie's shower and was elated about that.

One funny thing happens when we charge. I get an email from Capital One telling me the exchange rate price I was actually charged in American money before we even leave the register. The clerk is literally handing me our bag and my phone "bings" to indicate the email has arrived. Same thing happened at dinner tonight. Our $24 dinner was only $18.

I got a call from SW Diesel mid-afternoon. It turns out that the alternator was good after all. Ryan had errored earlier. Back on went the alternator. For the next 2 hours we tried to figure out what was wrong. The engine battery is being charged, but not the house batteries. I had Mark on the phone for about 1 1/2 hours of that time helping us trouble shoot.  It is complicated, but the oil pressure gauge sends a signal to the charging relay saying the engine is running and that it should charge the batteries, first the starting battery and then the house batteries when the starter battery is charged. Something is not working and we could not figure it out.

So, Annie is going back to Vermilion tomorrow. Mark installed all the charging systems and also the radio and AIS. He agreed to meet us when we arrive and will fix both problems. Once repaired, we will join Brillig somewhere. It is working out well that this is a where the wind blows cruise, because any schedule I had made would be off already. I disconnected the AIS and plugged the antenna directly into the radio. I will call Jim and Peter from various distances tomorrow to see if the radio range improves when the signal is not going through the AIS.

We all biked to Freddy's for a perch dinner. It was a good dinner, but it did not beat the perch at Kip's favorite place, the Erie beach Hotel in Port Dover.

We will depart for Vermilion tomorrow when we wake up, which will probably be between 5 and 6:00 AM.