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.