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.