Sarnia to Bayfield

May 29th - Got up around 7am this morning, but were moving a little slow. Finally left the dock around 9:20am. Got out onto Lake Huron through the tricky harbor entrance without mishaps (no old guys this time). Our course to Bayfield was 50°(Northeast), but the wind was North Northeast and below 10knts when we started. We tried to sail for the first hour, but were below 1knt of boat speed, so we started to motor. We motored for about an hour, but then the wind went more to the North and picked up. We were able to have a great sail for the next 6 1/2 hours as the wind built from 12knts to 22knts plus. Arrived between 5:30pm and 6pm at Bayfield. Of course the marina office closes at 4:30pm, so no one was around to get any bathroom codes and to let us know how to get WiFi access. At least there were a few other boaters who give is the bathroom access codes and told us about the "boil the water" warning - a little too late for us. We had hooked up to the dock water and a little was moved into our system! Not taking any chances, we changed back to tank water and injected some chlorine into our water system. Letting the water system stand for a few hours, we may have to waste a bit of tank water to flush the chlorine through, but that is better than getting some bacterial dysentery! Will probably stay here a couple days so we can check-out the town attractions.  Next we will head for Kincardine. Turned out the water has a "boil" warning as there is currently some bacteria in the public water at the docks. Of course we did not see the notice until after hooking up and running some water into our system... quick Clorox shock treatment via the strainer that comes from the water tanks to the on board pressure pump. Cooked poached salmon for dinner with fresh green beans. Nice end to a long day.

May 30th - Got up this morning around 8:30am and made eggs, bacon, and grits for breakfast. The showered and Fixed the reefing lines so they run correctly (had them in the "super reef" positions - duh!), also added some plastic tubing around the StackPack's Jack Lines to reduce chafing - the rigging tape just was not handling. Then rearranged where we had canned goods into other storage compartments - I was worried about the steel cans affecting the electronic compass as the auto-pilot seems to be off from the GPS headings... may have to adjust the deviation setting. Currently sitting in town at the Albion Hotel (established 1856) having a draft beer and some soup.  Will try to update again, but free WiFi access is limited - otherwise you have to pay $20 for two days, and there are no other options! Kincardine has free WiFi, so will update from there tomorrow.

Lake Huron Yachts Ltd Docks

View from the LHY Ltd Docks to the harbor entrance and Lake Huron beyond.

Bluewater Bridge over the St Clair River viewed from a couple miles out on Lake Huron.

In 20+ knots of wind and heeled over pretty good, 

but sailing at ~33° on the wind and moving at about 6 to 6.5 knots.

At least we only had to motor out of Sarnia for about an hour.

Great sailing conditions.

Saturday evening at the Bayfield docks.

 Welcome sign just above our dock.

Took a walk into town and had a late lunch and a beer at the Albion Hotel (est. 1856), and got free WiFi access. My beer (an Upper Canadian Dark) came with a really nice souvenir glass. Kathi took here Steam Whistle beer glass (waitress said it was OK).

Next door was the Black Dog Village Pub and Pantry. Note the flags - Ireland, Canada, Scotland.

The Black Dog Pantry had live Celtic Music.

Clan Gregor Square is the center of town.

Went out in the dingy to check-out the wreck 300 yards south of the river entrance.