Traveling up the east coast of Lake Huron from Sarnia to Grand Bend, on our way to Tobermory and the Georgian Bay.
From where I left off we had no issues checking into Canada. I guess being prepared for the worse is a good way to insure that the process would go quickly and hassle free. It did feel like a bit of a let down though. So much prep and research to be told, OK , just write this number down and you are good to go, Good-Bye! Now what we asked ourselves? Having been prepared to spend a couple of hours waiting on custom agents to come to boat and go through all our stuff, we now had a lot of time on our hands. How to spend the time now? Well, we had eaten all of our fresh produce. Let’s see if we can find some bananas and maybe some other fresh foods. There was no grocery store within an easy walk..Hmmm…but, there was a 7-Eleven that according to google would take us less than 15 minutes to get there by foot. OK. We need some exercise let’s go! We exit the marina and proceed in the direction of the 7-Eleven. As we walk around the bay we are greeted with a park that has meandering pathways through the trees and dotted here and there by planters full of beautiful colorful flowers. This made the walk even more pleasant.
We locate the 7-Eleven and find some bananas and a few things to keep us going for a couple of days. Michael spies a freezer that has assorted ice cream treats individually package. Yep. A treat for the return trip is purchased and off we go. We are blessed with a beautiful day to walk around the bay and enjoy the park and the surrounding scenery. When we get back at the boat Michael proceeds to fill the water tank …hmmm…the hose isn’t quite long enough to put the hose into the filler tube. So…. he improvises by doing his best fireman imitation. Next time we will connect two hoses together and make the job a bit easier! For a late lunch/early supper, we decide to go the restaurant attached to the marina, called Dockside. The meal was tasty and filling. Then back to the boat for checking out our route to the next stop, Grand Bend, Ontario.
Thursday, July 14th, is a lovely day to make our trek under the Blue Water Bridge that connects Port Huron, USA to Sarnia, Canada. We are so excited because now we are really going to make tracks on our own into Lake Huron and beyond. After watching the ship cam that looks out over the St. Clair river (from the US side of the river) and checking out the boats traveling on this waterway it was now our turn to make our passage under the bridge and out onto Lake Huron. Now I forgot to say, that when we left Port Huron we passed under the Blue Water Bridge (as we were eating our last bit of prohibited food trying to buy time before we made our customs declaration). Michael and I marked the time that we came out onto the St. Clair river and when we should be in view of the camera at the bridge. We were hoping with some work and luck maybe we could download a copy of the footage of us passing under the bridge, which we did successfully while we were at the marina in Sarnia. There would not be the same window of opportunity today as the next marina did not have wifi and no way for us to access the web cam footage. So we were happy to have a copy of the video of our boat on the river. I know. Nerds are us. In that vein, we were giddy with excitement that we were actually going to travel on Lake Huron, on our own boat, on a body of water we have never been on before. We were making our way up the eastern shore to a town called Grand Bend. Checking our charts for landmarks and any buoy markers, we progressed steadily up the lake to our destination. With Michael at the helm I check the waters ahead on a regular basis with binoculars for any traffic, buoys, markers or obstructions. Making sure our path is clear and that we are indeed on course. As we approached the entrance to Grand Bend I was confused because a red object that I saw from a distance suddenly disappeared. I checked the charts, no buoy was to be here only the marker for the entrance to the breakwater. I look again. Wait a minute. there is a different color object. Then I realize that I am looking at a parachute from a parasailor. Ah, mystery solved.
I started to relax. But then I spied a boat partially blocking the channel into the marina. Michael was hailing the marina staff on the vhf radio and they said that the boat was working on the beacon at the head of the breakwater and that he would move out of the way to let us pass. We had to circle a bit as the marina contacted the boat to alert the crew that we were entering and would need some room to maneuver past them. Luckily the parasailors were out of the way and we were able to make our way down the channel and to the fuel dock for our slip assignment without any more surprises.
Michael did a fine job bringing the boat into the channel and up to the fuel dock. We had to wait awhile to get our slip assignment and while we waited I struck up a conversation with two charming ladies sitting on a bench watching the boats coming and going out of the channel. They told me that they were the unofficial welcoming committee and said, Welcome To Canada and the lovely town of Grand Bend. These two ladies are the latest lovely people we encountered on our journey. Michael got the slip assignment which was not far from the fuel dock, so I said goodbye to the ladies and they said that they would come and help with docking if needed. As we docked the boat the ladies complimented Michael on his excellent maneuvering of the boat and that we didn’t need their help. Good job Michael! The ladies said their goodbyes and we settled into securing the boat in the slip before we would go ashore and check out the town.
As it turned out, Grand Bend is quite the tourist town. Who knew? The parade of boats coming and going along the river was entertaining for sure. The town gets it’s name from the horseshoe bend that the Ausable River takes as it makes it’s way to Lake Huron. Michael and I walked up one side and then back on the other side of the main street that started, or ended, at the beach depending where you started. I felt like I was in tourist central. There were all kinds of people checking out the shops and restaurants that lined the main thoroughfare. After checking everything out on the main street we had a delightful meal at a restaurant (Tipsy Parrot) that was close to the beach end of the main drag. After lunch we walked down to check out the beach. I was impressed with the length of the beach and the amount of people enjoying their time in the sand. There was four life guard stations manned with two lifeguards each evenly spaced along the beach to keep a watchful eye on the shore front. I can see why this is such a tourist attraction in this area of Ontario. As we slowly made our way back to our boat we admired the artwork along the pathway that paralleled the beach. There even was a stage for music venues on the beach! Yep. I could see that this could be one good time on the shores of Lake Huron.
We made it back to the boat and settled in to do research for our next port of call…Kincardine. But, that will have to wait till I can write again. Cheers from Canada!