Day 68, Thursday August 29th

Day 68, Thursday August 29th

Detroit side of river

Ambassador Bridge

An easy exit from the dock solo.  Just the 2 of us most of the pushing off.  Landing we have help most of the time but not always.   We are getting more confident of the boat handling.  We are now leaving the north of Windsor on our way down the Detroit River and under the Ambassador bridge.  We pass the old Ford plant on the Canadian side, the casinos, and the renaissance centre on the Detroit side.  Detroit has declared bankruptcy, but the tall buildings still looked shiny to me.  The current is helping us with a 7 knot speed which is nice.  There are lots of freighters and tugs, but not as many as we anticipate in the New York harbour.  The ambassador bridge looks cool as we go under our second bridge of the trip.



Rich homes along channel

Many spots seem like a ditch and we imagine that parts of it are similar to what "the loop".  We are glad no freighters pass in this section.  Much of the trip has been in 25 feet of water.  If you leave the dredged channel here you can be in 3 feet of water which is not good for us.  We approach Bois Blanc island which is the old Boblo for us Sarnia readers.  The houses on the island are monstrous and beautiful.  The wealth that we see on this trip constantly amazes us.  Unfortunately the wind has died and after sailing for only an hour we are now motoring again.



Jazzebelle at anchor taken from on shore

Once out in Lake Erie we now have to make sure we read the charts as their is no buoyed highway.  The wind dies even more and it starts getting very warm.  We are down to our bathing suits getting some sun as we go along.  The skyline is hazy, however we can see some islands to the south as we approach Pelee Island.  It is a 10 hour passage made uneventfully and we anchor in the North Bay which is quite open to the north, but the forecast is favourable.  Once we are sure we are anchored well we dinghy over to the marina.



Sunset at Pelee Island

Due to the shallowness of the lake the water is quite warm and hence the plant growth in the marina is gross.  There is not much commercial activity going on.  There is an ice cream kiosk, a closed co-op (closes early in the evening), and a pub which is having a band tonight and for the next 2 nights.  We head back to catch the sunset, and grab a bite for dinner.  Another great day on the water.

Cheers
Julie and Dawson