DAY 7 - PORT HURON

July 19, 2016 - We left Detroit at 9:30 for a beautiful run across Lake St. Clair to the St. Clair River.  The river on the U..S.A. side is lined with beautiful homes mile after mile.

We docked at the Riverside Marina at 1:30 and had lunch on board and and then walked into town which was just up the street. We explored the hardware store, the convenience store and an amazing antique store.  We came back to the boat and had an amazing steak dinner on the dock.  

DAY 6 - DETROIT

We left Put-in-Bay for Detroit.  It was a choppy crossing until we hit the Detroit River.  There is an unbound and a down bound channel.  Reservations were made at Gregory’s Boat Marina.  We have been having trouble with our inverter and the batteries needed to be replaced.  Brian had all ready found them.  All we had to do was make the arrangements for the install.  We contacted the dealer and Jeff came out with the new ones at 3:00.  They are 130 pounds each.  It was quite the ordeal to remove and replace the old ones.  Once it was done we decided to walk into town.  As we approached the gate we realized we did not have a pass to get out or in.  A vehicle was leaving so I spoke to him.  It was Reverend Smyth.  He was very nice and drove us to Sinbad’s Restaurant for supper and offered to pick us up.  We walked home and were lucky enough that another marina member opened the gate for us.  Frans took apple pie home!

DAY 5 - PUT-IN-BAY

It is Sunday, July 17, 2016 and we had a lovely bacon and egg breakfast on board.  It was time to do some laundry.  We left the dock at 11:00 for a nice run to Put-in-Bay.  We docked at The Crew’s Nest, Dock B.  Never seen so many boats in one place.  It was awesome.  We rented a golf cart, one of thousands used on the island, and had a wonderful tour, stopping at the Perry Monument, the water front, an ice-cream parlour and the beer store.  Supper was at one of the Boardwalk Restaurants.

DAY 4 - CLEVELAND

July 16, 2016.  We left Port Colbourne at 9:00 am for a great 6 hour run to Cleveland.  The day was perfect for this long run and Lake Erie was pretty flat.  We had to stop at East 55th Marine to check into U.S. customs.  We also had to refuel.  Our destination marina 

Edgewater Yacht Club was at the other end of the Cleveland break wall.  It was a pretty sight to view the city from the water.   We were very lucky to get a slip because the RNC was going to start on Monday!  The entire city was under very high security.  Once we docked we had hydro issues and had to be relocated.  After this long day the yacht club restaurant was the perfect place for supper.

DAY 3 - PORT DALHOUSIE PIER MARINA AND THE WELLAND CANAL TO PORT COLBOURNE

Friday, July 15, 2016

We woke up to great weather and left the marina at 5:30 am for the Welland Canal.

After we tied up at the Pleasure Craft Doc, Frans called the Lock Master for further instructions.

It was bad news.  Our wait was 12 hours, which would make it 6:00 pm to start through the locks.  The lock master took Frans' cell phone number in case there were any changes.  We were all very disappointed and headed back to the marina.  We are thinking of we will call them later to-day and hopefully we can proceed through the locks tonight.  The average time takes 7 to 14 hours.

At 1:15 we received a call from the Welland Canal that if we could be there in an hour and fifteen minutes we could lock through.  We arrived at the pleasure dock for the second time to-day. There were three sail boats already waiting. The lock through time had changed. Maybe by 4:00.  At 3:30 we received the green light.  It took the four boats 10 hours to lock through.  We were out at 1:30 am.  We had to proceeded to Port Colbourne Marina in the night in the dark.

DAY 2 - PORT DALHOUSIE PER MARINA

It is Thursday, July 14, 2016 and we have been watching the radar all afternoon yesterday on The Weather Network and NOAA  applications.  There are numerous thunder storm fronts coming through our area.  Frans and I woke up at 5:00 am too double check if we would be leaving this morning for the Welland Canal.  We made an executive decision and decided to stay.  It was cloudy most of the day and the winds were 30 mph gusting to 60 mph.  We felt that we had made a wise decision.  That left us time to walk into the town and enjoy a five cent merry-go-round ride.

DAY 1 - PORT DALHOUSIE PIER MARINA

Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Day 1 - Left Port Credit for Port Dalhousie.
Weather on GPS was not working.
Brian had to meet us at the marina and change a connection.
Watching the radar carefully. Lots of thunderstorm warnings.
Possibly not leaving Thursday morning for the Welland Canal.