We moved on once we had two days of direct tailwinds in the forecast.
Clearing Back into Canada on our way to Skeleton Island - a beautiful sunny day
After a short upwind motor to Rockville to clear in with Canadian Customs, we turned down river, shut down the engines and slowed down a lot. Then we hoisted the spinnaker and got half our speed back.
Going slow was no big deal. We had all day to get only twenty miles, and with the current helping us, we wouldn't even need to go that far through the water. It was lovely to glide down the river on flat water through the islands and past the shore, barely making a sound, as if we were on a big inner tube.
At the far end of our sail, just short of the town of Brockville, we rounded Skeleton Island and anchored in the nook between it and the Ontario shore. That side was lined with tidy houses on the bank, while Skeleton and adjacent Mile Islands were municipal parks. It looked like it would be a nice place to spend a few days, but everything in the forecast after tomorrow was going to be headwinds, so we would be better off if we kept moving.
It rained heavily overnight and the next morning, we woke to drizzle and thick fog. It was exactly the type of weather that makes a day of sailing sound not so fun.
We left the anchorage, shut down the engine, and coasted to a stop. We did have about five knots of tailwind, but the current was keeping up with about a third of it. We raised the spinnaker. It filled very slowly and we accelerated to almost a knot. That decreased our wind by a knot. The sail collapsed. Begonia decelerated. The wind caught up with us again, filled the spinnaker and then accelerated us back to a knot again. Rinse, repeat.
Since, like the day earlier, we weren't in a hurry, we decided to be patient and just enjoy the ride.
A bit later, some more rain came, which brought with it some more wind. The spinnaker filled nicely. Then the rain made it so wet and heavy that it couldn't support its own weight anymore and it collapsed again. Still, even with it draped over the front of the mast like a theater curtain, we were able to make two knots through the water. That gave us enough steerageway to keep out of the way of the ships going either way.
Despite the rain, it actually ended up being a very pleasant sail as we ghosted along the Canadian side of the border. Since the wind was so light, the rain fell straight down, which made it easy to keep dry under the cover of the bimini.
As the last overtaking ship, a Dutch one bound for Rotterdam, came up astern, the wind picked up even more. The spinnaker filled, and for a brief while, Begonia started pulling farther ahead. They weren't able to close the gap again until we doused the spinnaker in preparation for anchoring.
The ship pulled up alongside of us as we were warming up our port engine and slowly adding power. They were simultaneously slowing in preparation for the Iroquois Lock. When we were about abeam the ship's bridge, we started to overtake them again.
That's when the pilot came out and told me to get out of the way, motioning backwards with his arm. We were on their port side, and they would need to tie up on that side to wait for an up-bound ship to clear the locks.
I suppose I can forgive the guy for not being up on his pleasure craft bulletins. The Iroquois Locks are the end of the road for us and our season doesn't open for three more days, so we would have no reason to go there with them. {Maryanne:Normally when we are in close quarters with a big ship, I give them a call on the VHF radio to let them know our plans - i.e. how we will keep out of their way, in this case Kyle assumed they would know we were heading for the anchorage and were not trying to beat them into the lock}
I told him we were just going to anchor on the other side of the island to port and we would be out of their way in a minute. I hardly had to raise my voice, the two vessels were so close. To this, he gave me a blank look and then re-entered the bridge, shutting the door with what seemed to me a bit of a slam. Perhaps he was in a hurry to go get that "please" he had left out earlier.
Nope, nothin'.
Our anchorage behind Toussaint Island didn't offer much in the way of diversions, apart from watching the bridges of the big ships as they glide over the island a few times a day. Still, we were in position to be the first ones through on Opening Day.
Sailing by Brockville, and sharing the waterway with larger boats
Sunset while anchored off Toussaint Island
Incidentally, Toussaint Island was the site of the Battle of Matilda, where the Canadian militia soundly defeated five hundred American militiamen, who eventually bid a hasty retreat back to the American side of the St. Lawrence.
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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