7/3/17: It was a beautiful day to make the trip from Grand Bend to Sarnia. We left early in the morning, and winds were light, so we motored the entire way. We had heard that the marina we were going to catered to large motor boats, but we chose it because of it’s ease in maneuvering. Or so we thought…

The drive to Sarnia was uneventful, and the sun actually shone the entire day! It took 43 days, but we finally got one full day of sun! Sarnia is located on the St. Clair River on the south end of Lake Huron. For us, this meant one more lake done (and what a challenge it’s been)! Just outside the river’s edge, we picked up a current, which only increased as we proceeded towards the marina (about a mile downriver). At one point it was so swift, our 6 knot boat was doing 10.5 knots! Woo-Hoo and Yee-Hah!

The powerboat traffic was horrendous. This was definitely not a ‘no wake zone’. We had at least 20 boats coming at us, and equally as many going down. The wakes were unlike anything we’d ever seen before! One set was so large, or boat dropped into the trough, water came over the bow and sides, and the wire holding up our radar reflector snapped, bring it crashing to the deck. Wow! Talk about an adrenaline rush!

At the entry to the marina, we were told to follow the bouyed channel. But there was no bouyed channel. There were 4 seemingly randomly spaced bouys which we just assumed were what they were talking about and passed them as best we could. Next challenge was the fuel dock. It was outside the ‘bouyed channel’, and across an unmarked bay. We weren’t sure if we should cross the unmarked bay because we were told not to leave the channel. We radioed in and they said “cross the bay”. So we did. About 1/2 way across, the depth went down to 6, then 4, and then to nothing. We weren’t actually grounded but we didn’t know what the heck was happening or how deep it really was! We radioed again. The said there was plenty of depth, and that the weeds would sometimes give false bottom readings. We looked over the side and couldn’t believe how many weeds there were. DON’T FALL IN! ICK! But we made it, filled up with diesel and got to our slip. Whew!

We tidied up, took showers, and grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant down the road from the marina. Tomorrow we have a 60 mole leg downriver to the next marina, in Windsor Ontario. For us, Sarnia is a milestone. It marks completion of our second Great Lake (of four that we will cross). Lake Huron was 392 miles in crossing, and we now have 741 miles complete (of 3000). We are hoping to make good time across Lake Erie, and plan to use the next several days of good weather to do quick overnight stops at anchorages or marinas.

Pics of Sarnia