Welcome to the cruising blog of Wayne and Michele Sharp!

If you want to learn a little bit about cruising, satisfy your curiosity, live vicariously, or be entertained, I think you've come to the right place.

Feel free to ask questions or post comments in the comment section of each post; I will respond to all of them. You can also email us at reluctantsailor@me.com.

We've written a book based on the blog from our first journey in 2007 - Adventures of a Once Reluctant Sailor: A Journey of Guts, Growth, and Grace. It is available online from my website at reluctantsailor.net, and from Apostle Islands Booksellers, Copperfish Books, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Your local bookstore can also order it for you. We've included over 170 color and black and white photos.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Oh, Canada! You busted us at customs!

We’re docked at Roberta Bondar Marina in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. I am frantically trying to multi-task online, watching the clock like a prisoner on death row. Reply to emails, upload photos, post to blog, download and install satellite data software, and if time allows, I'll read the news and get caught up on what's happening in the world. We need to leave by noon or so to get to our anchorage in the North Channel at a reasonable hour.

We experienced the first of many locks yesterday, my first time ever. It was a bit nerve-wracking, especially not knowing what to expect, but all went smoothly.
After docking at the marina, our first duty was to check in with Canadian customs using a special phone on the dock. Wayne was up there for quite a while before he returned to the boat for an exact count of the alcoholic beverages we had on board. Now, we didn't have a whole lot - we're not big drinkers - although we did stock up for the entire trip before we left, but apparently it was more than Canada thought we should bring into the country. Wayne returned to the customs phone, where I'm sure he told them - to the ounce - exactly how much we had. He disappeared into the marina building and was gone for a long time. I'm thinking, "Oh dear, they threw him in the slammer. Now who's going to drive this boat?" But no, they just taxed us $17 for our excess. Note to selves: get below the limit before clearing Canadian customs next time.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant next door, came back to the marina, and got online for a little while before turning in for a FULL night's sleep. It is stifling hot here, so we were grateful to be plugged in at the dock and able to run our air conditioner without using the generator.

Tonight we will anchor in Milford Haven, on the west side of the North Channel. It was a recommendation from Fred - hi, Fred! - in the slip next door. Fred was once chased by a BEAR!

After today, I don't know when I'll be able to post again, unless we can get our satellite data going. Wayne’s working on it.

1 comment:

  1. Wayne,
    I hope you and Michele finally find winds like you and I had on the leg from Ontanogan to Bayfied on Wind Dancer back in 1998 (as I recall) when we sailed up from Toledo.
    Don

    ReplyDelete

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