Leg 25 of our 2022 cruise up north
(to read about Leg 24, Staying Flexible: The Benjamins to Gore Bay, click here)
We sailed a bunch of miles today! While 60 miles is still less than most of our Lake Michigan crossings, it still feels far compared to the last few weeks up here.
The forecasted south winds actually materialized today. Actually, the forecast increased to a “Strong Wind Warning” with south winds at 20 knots. Fortunately, we were headed west, and roughly followed the shorelines of Manitoulin, Cockburn, and Drummond Islands. The nearby shores kept the water somewhat flat and comfortable, despite the wind. Much of the day was spent reefed, but by afternoon the wind moderated, then picked up strangely a few times, so we shook out, then rereefed multiple times. At one point, the wind died completely for about ten minutes with no explanation I could think of, then quickly picked up to just over 20 knots within a few minutes. There have been thunderstorms in the forecast as well, so I kept an eye on the sky and our SiriusXM weather radar.
As we passed the west end of Manitoulin Island and crossed the Mississagi Strait, I noticed a large cumulus cloud emanating from the island that I hadn’t noticed a few minutes earlier. I then realized it was smoke or dust, which was strange. About thirty seconds after noticing it, we heard a rumble then a deep, low frequency boom. I think it must have been explosives… a quick check on Google Maps shows a large dolomite quarry at the western end of Manitoulin. The cloud dissipated before I thought to grab my camera.
We’ve anchored in Milford Haven for the night, very near the US border but still in Canadian territory. Originally we were going to anchor near Beef Island, which would have been a new place for us, but there was lots of wind there upon arrival. Milford Haven was just close enough that we could motor and anchor there before dark, and before the rain arrived. Though the weather radar doesn’t look too scary, with thunderstorms and a frontal passage in the forecast we wanted good protection for the night.
Milford Haven is a pretty bay in St. Joseph Island, Ontario. It’s known to have a lot of weeds on the bottom, but our anchor held well when we backed down on it this evening. There also is much less wind here than we had at Beef Island, so it’s very comfortable.
We could have entered the US this evening at Drummond Island or Detour Harbor, but we wanted one more day to prepare for our border crossing. This year, I plan to use the US CBP ROAM app to contact customs for the first time. It seems like a promising way to clear in remotely, but it’s only partially phased in. It has a tricky limitation right now: any duties must be paid in person at a customs office, which for us would involve a day long trip up the St Mary’s River to Sault Ste Marie, and another day to return. We really want to avoid paying any duties! While duties on alcohol over the 1 liter per person exemption are tiny (maybe in pennies), I don’t want to have to make this extra trip… so right now I’m in the process of consuming a few beers to get us under the limit when we clear in tomorrow!
We considered hiding some beer in the spinnaker sock, lying, or reporting it and hoping they wouldn’t impose the duty. Alcohol (particularly beer) is expensive in Canada, though, so we actually don’t have that much extra. Consumption and honesty seemed like the smartest bet and isn’t really that costly. Hopefully the app, or the exemption, will be updated in the future to accommodate this.
We’re headed to the US tomorrow.