Lake Ontario – or, Canada finally let us in!

We had a nice sail straight across Lake Erie to Port Colborne, Ontario. In order to enter Canada, we had to complete an ArriveCan form online, with photos of our passports and vaccination cards, and phone in upon arrival. In addition, we had to have proof of negative covid tests within the past 72 hours.  We tied to the guest dock and the marina staff informed us that the Border Report phone was out of order.  Thank goodness our phone plan has calling for Canada and Mexico!  It took a while to connect to the right 800 number, but we finally got an agent, who said he couldn’t see our vaccination cards, and we would need to update the file online before he could help us. (At this point Fred’s patience level gave out, and Lisa took over). He was nice enough to keep us on hold, and checked back a couple times until we had things resubmitted. After the usual border questions – Any fruit/veggies? Guns? Fireworks? Currency over $10,000 (hahahaha – sure.); he noticed that Fred’s vaccine card was missing the date and lot info for his first shot. The sticker was completely blank! Not sure how we missed that, but since he had his second shot, and his card was basically the same as Lisa’s, the agent let it go with a warning to get it corrected. We will see if this causes more problems down the road! The Canadians are taking covid very seriously, and masks must be worn if one is indoors – vaccination or not, even though Canada now has a higher % of vaccinated folks than the U.S.  Many people wear them outside as well.

We spent the next day getting situated for our transfer through the Welland Canal north to Lake Ontario.  The dinghy, which we tow when moving short distances, was put up on the foredeck and we went to explore a bit. This was a very nice marina and town was a short walk away.  We biked to the small boat staging area on the canal to see where we would be starting in the morning, had a great lunch at the Canalside Restaurant, and made stops at the grocery store and LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). All alcoholic beverage sales are done through the province. The liquor store sells everything, but beer choices are limited, and there is also a shop called The Beer Store. Canadian alcohol is expensive compared to the States, with a 12 pack of basic beer beginning around $25.  Oh well, priorities.

We had pre-registered and paid online ($200.00 CA) for our down-bound transit of the 28-mile long Welland Canal, which gets one around Niagara Falls. We reported to the staging area on the south end of the canal before the 7 am start time. There were five private boats making the trek – one huge racing sailboat with its mast down (“OC 86”, an 86-footer owned by famous sailor Dawn Riley, was first to finish the Chicago-Mac race this summer), one large cabin cruiser, and 3 sailboats (us included). In the locks, the larger boats tie to the wall and handle the lines, with smaller boats rafted to them, so our order was OC 86 alone, followed by the cruiser with one sailboat rafted, and us, with the smallest sailboat rafted. So, we worked, and the guy rafted to us actually fell asleep in the last lock!  With OC 86 taking the first 100 feet of the lock, we were right up behind that cruiser, sucking the exhaust, because we couldn’t block the freighter pads (giant suction pads that actually grab the side of the freighter, so they don’t use the lines). In the last 4 locks, they finally let us stay behind the pads – much better! There are a series of 8 locks, averaging a 50 foot drop each, mixed with some longer motoring passages. There are also several lift bridges that require opening, so it is a day of “hurry up and wait”.  We left the last lock at 5:15 pm and tied to the guest dock wall for the evening. We had only passed two freighters, both upbound.  Small boats must wait for commercial traffic locking in the same direction, so we were lucky. We have heard stories of people waiting for several hours!

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After a quiet night on the wall, we left early to try and beat the rain forecast.  Lake Ontario was flat with a very light breeze, and we motored north in the drizzle to Toronto.  Ritual’s cockpit is protected with a dodger and bimini, which keeps us fairly dry, and we have side curtains we zip on for those really nasty or cold days. Due to the haze and mist, we arrived at the outer harbor and were disappointed that we still could not see the skyline! 

Toronto is surrounded by a set of islands to the south, and a large peninsula to the southeast.  We followed the channel east to the Outer Harbour Marina to buy ice (really starting to miss that fridge), and were thrilled to find they had blocks! Surprisingly to us, up to this point all bagged ice had been crushed or cubed, and they don’t last more than day or two. 

We returned out the channel to anchor in a small bay occupied by the Aquatic Park Yacht Club. They have 100 mooring balls and guests are allowed to use the few empty ones, but we couldn’t raise anyone on the radio or phone, so we anchored in the area marked for such on the chart.  We dinghied up to the clubhouse, but it was locked up tight with covid signs on the doors.  This is the most “rustic” yacht club we have visited, and suspect the members pride themselves on that!  What an awesome, protected spot, surrounded by a huge park with lots of birds and an incredible view of the Toronto skyline, which finally began to show itself as the afternoon sun slowly burned the mist away.

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Just as we got comfortable, a guy zipped over in his dinghy to tell us anchoring is no longer allowed, and we might get hassled by the Toronto police.  Apparently they have had problems with boats rafting together and partying ‘till all hours.  It seemed like a pretty quiet Wednesday evening, even with the few club boats that were headed out for a race, so we decided to take our chances. It seemed unlikely that the Toronto cops would bother to look for us – one quiet sailboat tucked behind 100 others!

We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the dinghy bottom, which had developed an interesting web of some kind of growth, and washing the canal lock crud and mud off the hull and fenders. The water was clear and warm and a welcome change from Lake Erie. Two small boats came in and anchored for a swim but did not stay.  By dusk, one other sailboat had settled in.  We stayed in the cockpit until late, watching the lights of the city come on, and very happy to be in this place.

Toronto has a few marinas right along the city shore, and several out in the islands.  After striking out at a few of the island places, we scored a city slip in the Marina Quay West, right in front of the Music Garden near the foot of Spadina Ave, giving us great access to a few of our favorite city spots.  Ritual was directly across from the promenade, and it was fun to watch the “parade” along the walkway.  We found a great Japanese restaurant (Guirei) across the street; took the bus up Spadina Ave. to the Chinese District, where we visited the new T and T Asian Grocery on its opening day (crazy busy and couldn’t understand much!) and the Kensington Market area (so many cultures!); ate more sushi, walked the waterfront, wore out our feet, and wished we had more time (and $) to spend here.  We were sad that the normal Harbourfront Centre concerts in the park were all virtual due to covid, and yet, reminded of how much we appreciate urban landscapes and the cultural opportunities offered.

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Seeing a good weather window, we left on Saturday for our trek along the northern coast of Lake Ontario toward the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Fair winds!  Fred and Lisa