Tuesday, June 24, 2025, Bayfield Canada

I woke up early today and listened to NPR for an hour or so before I popped up. A quick weather check verified that it was still a nice travel day. There was no wind and minimal current so I was able to disconnect all the extra lines I put out and remove all our fenders before we started our departure process. Bayfield is 50 miles away. The high is 80 in Bayfield today which will be a nice change. Kerry made us toast for breakfast.

We left the dock about 8:05 and were through the second bridge by 8:30. The bridge tenders are excellent here and very considerate of boaters. They try to minimize our wait. Boaters need to wait in place in the narrow river between 2 bridges. It can be challenging at times with wind, current and other boats. 

On the way to the Bluewater Bridge we passed the lightship Huron, now a museum. Peter and I have visited it before. It's staffed by volunteers who served on the ship when it was in active service, so it's a really interesting and informational visit.

It's always exciting passing under the Bluewater Bridge. All the water from Superior, Michigan and Huron pass under this bridge. The current is really strong, causing the water to appear to "bubble up" and upriver boat speeds to slow noticeably. Plus, passing under it means that the real adventure is finally starting. 

The navigation to Bayfield could not be simpler. It's one of the easier voyages, weather cooperating of course. It's a straight shot across Southern Lake Huron. We have had some runs that have been less than ideal for sure.

A smooth sea gave me the opportunity to sit out in the sun and read in front of the pilot house. I love to do this when cruising. Opportunities are always limited because of sea conditions, bugs or navigation requirements, so I take advantage of every chance available. I always wear my Crewwatcher when sitting out, as it will give Kerry an alarm if it gets wet, should I fall overboard. For some reason it went off today, bringing Kerry scrambling up from the main salon. She was very happy to see me standing there looking surprised and saying "What?"

Annie led across Lake Huron with the speed showing 8.2 and 8.3. It must have been satisfactory to Peter as Voyager stayed a constant .4 NM from Annie. The trip today was 48.9 miles. It took us 6 hours and 10 minutes, at an average speed of 8.1 knots. The seas were almost flat which were perfect for a powerboat. Lunch was cold fried chicken, chips and beer. How could life get better?

It's always amazing that when there are only two boats on a big empty sea, their paths will cross. I had to call a fishing boat that was coming right into my path to ask if he wanted me to pass in front or behind him. Fortunately he answered and said he was stopping so I should go in front. I wanted to avoid any nets he may be using. I am glad I was nice as a few minutes after we docked, he motored by and docked across the river.

Peter and I are bummed about our TV service. Neither Direct TV Stream, which I have, or Spectrum, which Peter has, allow use in Canada. I thought about trying Sling TV, but Canadian use is verboten too.

Clearing Canadian customs was as easy as usual, meaning I could have bought a lot more booze with me, as I usually do. Now I'll have to buy expensive Canadian spirits. Although I do need to consider the savings due to the exchange rate. My $203 docking bill was only $148 American, a 27% discount. Whoo Hoo!

During happy hour, Peter and I spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to get our TV's to work. Most service providers prohibit service in Canada. He has Spectrum and their app, which worked last year, and also Roku. He also has a Surfshark VPN which is supposed to hide your location. Still nothing worked for him. I contacted son in law Nate, who advised me to buy a VPN, either Express VPN or Nord. I decided to buy Express VPN on a monthly basis so I could cancel after this trip. It took about an hour, but I finally got it loaded on my laptop and was able to watch Direct TV. I loaded it on my phone too. I could not load it on my Starlink or Direct TV box, but I can connect my laptop to the TV with an HDMI cable. Not ideal, but at least Kerry can get her Fox News TV fix. 

It was nice and breezy when we arrived, but the wind has died and it got warm. We turned on the air conditioners again. I was hoping I was done with them. They ran nonstop in Port Huron. Tomorrow's high is only 72, so that should be nice. 

Dinner was PBJ sandwiches with Costco chips. After dinner I spent a frustrating hour and a half experimenting with various combinations of equipment trying to find a way to watch Direct TV without tying up my computer. I have a Chromebook which should work for this, but it sure did not want to do so.