Leg 8 of our 2022 cruise up north.
(to read Leg 7, A Rainy Day: Government Bay to Harbor Island, click here)
While there weren’t really any thunderstorms last night, we woke up to another foggy, rainy day. Kristin got a few photos of eagles and other wildlife, but animals kinda hide from the rain just like we did this morning.
At some point, though, we had to decide if we were gonna head out or not. By noon, most of the nasty thunderstorms looked like they would miss us, and with winds predicted to be only 10 knots from the north, we headed out around 1:30pm.
Since we were crossing into Canada on this leg, I filled in the last trip details on the ArriveCAN app with the last fleeting US based cell signal. We were officially headed to Thessalon, Ontario to clear in!
Unfortunately, Thessalon lay about 15 miles north-northeast, and as we rounded Harbor Island we found the wind to be on the nose at 12 knots. Had we left earlier in the day, we could have sailed a beat to get there. Instead, since we now sorta had a schedule to keep, we motored into the wind, waves, and rain. At least there wasn’t a lot of fetch, so the waves were small. We got there in less than three hours.
As we approached the marina, the rain and clouds moved off, leaving clearing skies and dry air. I tried hailing the marina on the VHF (Canadian marinas only monitor 68) several times with no luck. They didn’t answer the phone, either. Seems kind of strange to enter a foreign country with so few people around. Not exactly a warm welcome, eh?
Thessalon is a pretty small marina that I’ve never seen busy at all. We found ourselves an open slip, and I made my way to the marina office. Their hours said, “Open until 7:30pm.” It was 4:30, but they were closed. Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time I had cleared customs here. I walked around to the back of the building, found the pay phone (yeah, they still exist!), and called Canadian Customs. I bet I could have used my cellphone, though.
Other than the long wait to speak with an officer, clearing customs was easy, as most of our info had been transmitted electronically via the app earlier in the day. Only a little alcohol and fresh meat left aboard for me to declare. I wrote down our reporting number, and we were welcomed in without inspection! I wrote the reporting number on a spare piece of paper in large letters to display in our cabin window (Customs agents actually have looked for this in Little Current in years past). I also switched our “Q” flag to a Canadian courtesy flag on our flag halyard… as if anyone were around to notice.
We made a run to the grocery store for some quick provisions just before they closed, saving the receipt in case of future inspection by a customs officer. I tried ordering deli meat in kg, but the attendant just wanted to know the quantity in pounds. I had tried to fit in like a local, but instead looked like just another American!
I got the marina bathroom code from another boater, and topped off our water tanks so we’d be good for another week on the hook. Hopefully we can talk to someone tomorrow about another pump out.
As of now we are technically in the North Channel of Lake Huron, but this is the boring part. One more long day tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be in the “fun” part!
