Happy Canada Day’s Eve to all! (Is that a thing?)

We are at the Maitland Valley Marina in Goderich and just returned from a walk up the bluff to explore the town, buy a few groceries, and treat ourselves to dinner at a bistro on the town square. The town square is not actually a square, it’s an octagon with 8 streets radiating out from it and is surrounded by handsome 19th century commercial buildings. This is now the third town we’ve visited on Lake Huron and each has its own character - but civic pride, gardens in full bloom, and lovely old homes on quiet tree-lined streets are a common theme.

However - to properly catch you up, I have to go back a few days. Pause - your correspondent takes a deep breath - because I don’t really want to relive this but here we go.

We left Tobermory mid-day, in the fog, all set for our overnight sail. We were timing it to arrive in Kincardine (hah!) in daylight rather than the middle of the night. The winds were light to start but forecast to pick up around midnight. We reefed the sails around 9pm and practiced using our new life jackets that have an attachment for a safety tether. The tether is a stretchy piece of webbing around 5 feet long with clips on either end. You clip one end of the tether to your jacket, and the other end to something sturdy on the boat - a cleat or maybe the toe rail on the boat’s gunwale. The rule is to always clipped be in if you are outside the cabin either in the cockpit or on the deck. This of course is to prevent you being washed overboard. Did I really sign up for this?

The winds did pick up, to 22-24 knots steady throughout the night starting around 10 pm. It was raining, the waves were like walls, and the winds were against us so we were tacking and beating into the wind, constantly slamming up and down on the waves. Unfortunately I got seasick and was incapacitated the whole night. Andy did everything himself while I lay moaning in misery in the quarter berth just below the cockpit. It was a true nightmare and the worst scenarios were running through my head as I dozed fitfully between stomach evacuations. I was glad to hear the clipping and un-clipping of the harness as Andy moved about adjusting sails but I still held my breath every time I heard him engage the auto-pilot then go up on the deck, until he was safely back in the cockpit. I kept thinking ‘I need to go help’, but I felt absolutely miserable.

Eventually morning dawned and I dragged myself out of the cabin. I’m sure it was beautiful, dark blue waves with brilliant white caps in the sunshine (it had finally stopped raining) but I was in survival mode, one minute at a time. The waves were huge and the boat still slamming up and down. Andy rightly said here, you take the helm, which made me focus and I am proud that I was able to do it. I somehow thought since it was light we’d be arriving soon, but Andy said ‘just two more hours’ (it turned out to be 4) and my heart sank. But, all things come to an end and we arrived, zombies both of us, to Port Elgin around 9:30 am. There was NO WAY we were going to make it to Kincardine. I have never been happier to arrive in port.

After docking we descended into the cabin to take stock. It was a disaster area, stuff strewn all over the floor. The tomato in our fruit hammock had swung into a light fixture and bits of mashed tomato covered the settee. We both just wanted to sleep, and did. This experience is not unlike taking a red-eye flight, in that you think it’s a good idea at the time… But we did learn a lesson and have been taking much shorter hops since then!

Port Elgin highlights: Beach, waterfront trail, sand dunes and sunset. We had a sweet full night’s sleep and went for a run the next morning and enjoyed the marina shower.

We left Port Elgin intending to get to Kincardine that day. Foiled again! The winds were lighter, thankfully, but still against us making for a lot of tacking. Then they died completely and became glassy calm as we rounded the impressive Bruce Power nuclear facility. So we chose a new destination and anchored in Inverhuron Provincial Park. We had a late dinner then rowed to shore for a walk and enjoyed the sunset.

“What color are your lifejackets?” Part of the entertainment while sailing is listening to the VHF radio. We heard a mayday exchange between a vessel in distress and the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has a powerful radio and the incident was happening in Nottawasaga Bay in Georgian Bay, very far from where we were, so we only heard the Coast Guard half of the conversation. It has a happy ending but was not good at the beginning. A boat had hit a rock and was taking on water rapidly, with two people on board. The phrase that has stuck most in my mind was the Coast Guard asking the other end “What color are your life jackets?”. It took around an hour but eventually they were rescued.

After Inverhuron, we did finally got to Kincardine, hurray. It was warm and sunny. The dock was a kind we’ve never used before, a fixed (not floating) dock on pillars like what I imagine Venice to have, and very thin so you do not want to take a wrong step. Kincardine is probably my favorite so far of the 3 Lake Huron towns we’ve been in. There is a picturesque lighthouse right in town along the river, a rocky beach on one side and a sand beach on the other, lovely boardwalks and gardens and gazebos. We ate ice cream in a shady park and D walked a labyrinth garden. We went for a refreshing swim off the sand beach and ran back to the boat in a sudden rainstorm (that we could see coming from miles away). We borrowed the marina bicycles for an after-dinner ride along the shore and admired the lake and sky. The only disappointment in Kincardine was that the bagpiper who plays at sunset every summer night did not play. But this was June 29 and perhaps summer starts in July. We’ll have to come back? That’s the thing though, we will definitely not be back in the boat, as this is a one-way trip.

Kincardine to Goderich started out as a nice sail and the wind was in the right direction for a straight tack, but unfortunately the wind died mid-day so we had to motor the rest of the way. That brings us to Goderich in our snug berth at the bottom of the bluffs, with greenery on one side and a giant concrete salt mine on the other. Night is falling and we have an early start tomorrow. We’re planning to get to Grand Bend tomorrow. But I’ve learned not to get too attached to an intended destination, as our speed is at the mercy of the winds.

Photo album: Port Elgin, Inverhuron, Kincardin, Goderich