Progress Map

Here is a progress map with all our stops marked so that if you are curious about a certain anchorage or port that we have been too you can easily figure out where it is. please note that only places where we have spent the night are displayed.  Orange dots are marina's or places we have docked and Green being anchorages.  You can also view this in full size on the Photography page.

Tadoussac to Matane

July 10th we departed Tadoussac at 14:20 heading for an anchorage on the south shore behind Isle aux Basques, by 14:50 we had raised full sail and were doing 6.0 knots with a nice breeze yet a bit cold. On our way out we were amongst many whale watching boats mostly the zodiacs filled with tourists and were able to spot many belugas in the distance. Yet at about 15:30 I spotted what we now determined to be as mink whales off our port beam.  It was a much more splendid sight seeing them crest the water with their small dorsal fin back near the tail which is what makes it easy to identify, We seen a large number of belugas and minks that day.

We anchored behind Isle aux Basques at 18:24 and watched a nice sunset along with a curious seal that got closer and closer for a while until his curiosity faded and so did he. We then ate a can of chunky soup as a quick supper and had a good nights sleep. 

July 11th the following morning we slept in due to fog and pulled anchor at 7:15 as visibly increased. We motored with sails up yet no wind and as we approached 2 ships that should not have been on the south shore. But realizing as we got closer they were anchored after passing the first 2 a 3rd appeared and then a 4th out of the fog. We then encountered a 5th looming in the fog ahead much larger than the rest with deck rigging we have not yet seen. It appeared the fog to look like a oil platform without being able to see the hull due to low lying fog.  As we approached and the entire ship came into sight shaded by the fog it almost looked as if it were a ghost ship looming to our starboard side, it did make for some very nice pictures. We tried hailing 2 of the ships we passed but with no response, we we're hoping to ask if there were going to be any moving ships we should watch for due to the low visibility in the fog.

I went down for some sleep and awoke when we neared Rimouski  at 16:00 where we made a quick stop to let the dog ashore as we had not been able to that morning and put some oil in the engine. We had a small chat with a fellow sitting aboard his catamaran and departed in less than 30 minutes heading for an anchorage 12.7 miles away.

We anchored at 9:35 beside a break wall that did not provide much protection, it was a simple straight break wall built of rock that pointed straight out from shore and in any conditions other than light winds would not have been a good spot. We watched a beautiful sunset on our way in and another sailboat continuing on in the night on an easterly course.

July 12th we departed our anchorage at 6:20 and I went back to bed at 6:45 after helping my uncle pull anchor and get underway, I had a very broken sleep being tossed about and nearly falling out of my bunk as my uncle would tack the boat and we would lean the opposite way, at about 9am when I awoke feeling slightly natious. I made some beans and ate them quickly which was a mistake and came up on deck and threw up slightly. I instantly felt better and with a bit of a laugh my uncle headed down below for some sleep.  We were 20 miles away from Matane when I took over and continued tacking back and forth into the head wind with large waves that occasionally dipped our bow under water, our speed was reduced to 4.5 knots and as low as 2.4 when a succession of large waves would slow us down.

At 12:50 I was about to write in my log that my uncle had just woken up when a large rogue wave hit our port beam and with my back turned towards it and my hood down on my rain jacket which acted like a scoop as it washed over with water pouring down my back and flushing into the cockpit and soaking the dog, who then looked miserable for a while standing there cold and wet, until I got him dry and comfortable again in the stern hatch called the lazarette where he curls up comfortably.

I finished my log entry a half hour later on wet paper and headed down below for a while to dry off and warm up. I relaxed for a while down below not being able to sleep and was back out on deck just over an hour later when the fog was thickening and we neared Matane harbour. Due to the thick fog we decided to stop at the fishing harbour which was faster then continuing up the bay to the marina which could have taken up an extra hour or two.

We dropped sails when we were able to get the break wall in sight and that being only about 600 feet, we then followed the rocky break wall around the corner and into the harbour blasting our horn so that any other vessels would know we were entering.  We tied up at the floating docked had a fishing boat arrive shortly after but I made sure to ask that we were not in anyone’s way. We had a gentlemen come down the dock to greet us and assured me we should not have any problems staying for the night.  We walled up to see the harbour master and he gave us the phone number to call to speak to a man in charge of the floating dock and said that he might charge us a docking fee or that if we wanted could anchor inside the harbour between the 2 abandoned piers.

With our cell phones not getting any reception and not really wanting to call someone so they could come down and take money from us we figured if someone came we would be glad to pay but if not we were not going to go out of our way to find someone.  We got directions on where the nearest place to buy some foods and stuff would be and we took a short walk about 2 kilometres to a Tim Horton’s and a Wal-Mart to grab some food shampoo and a new mop as ours had gone missing.

We returned to the boat ate some junk food and as my uncle pieced together our track log I worked on write ups for the website.

Tadoussac

We stayed in Tadoussac for 3 days so that we could give time for our friend Jim who was awaiting the arrival of his cousin from new Newfoundland. He was held up in Quebec for a day or 2 more than expected and it not only gave us the opportunity to catch up but to pass and be a 2 days ahead of him. On the 8th of July we walked around town and had a pretty lazy day as the town was fogged in. Later that evening we had a small fire on the beach and I received a few calls from family members and we had a single beer for my birthday at the pub and retired early.  

The next morning July 9th was not so foggy and we decided we should at least take a small trip up into the Saguenay fjord as we had been told by so many people it was a must see.
At about noon we untied our dock lines and headed for some fuel and on our way around the dock noticed the fog setting back in, at that point we were unsure what to do and after fuelling while on our way back to the dock we made a 180 turn and decided what the heck were here now.  We made our way out of the harbour and the fog again seemed to dissipate and we headed up inside the fjord.  We motored up inside for about 2 hours, passing along its steep hill side and rugged terrain, along with a small pod of belugas passing near the shore.  it was a nice sunny day as I sat on the bow and wrote out some post cards.  And then almost on cue it started to rain and the fog began to settle back in.    
We turned around and headed back towards the dock with a heavy rain that lasted 15 minutes and cleared up as the fog set in reducing visibility to a few hundred feet as we passed through the dense patches.  By the time we had reached the ferry crossing at the mouth of the fjord visibility was very low and we could hear yet not see the ferries.  We passed there crossing lanes with enough time not too impede them and made our turn for the dock.

That evening our friend Jim with his cousin Lester arrived with the hobo 2 and we met them in the marina where we sat down for a beer and they invited us for an old fashioned
 East coast supper of fish and brews, a meal of salt cod potatoes griad which is onions and pork fried in lard and brews being a hard bread that is boiled to a sponge like texture. After a fine meal we went back to our boat and bedded down for the night.

The next morning on July 10th I awoke around 4:30 and went out to use the washroom, it was a dark foggy morning and we had plans to leave that morning between 5 and 6 along with our friend Jim who had changed his agenda from taking the same route as us and possibly coming to our home town on Miscou island to taking the north shore and planning to go up the Labrador coast and north around Newfoundland following the currents.  Had it been he was taking the same route we would have made it a point to leave at the same time but with all the fog we were not enthusiastic on crossing to the south side of the st Lawrence without radar and having to pass through the busy shipping lanes.

We decided to await till the next out going tide before we departed. We made a last trip to the grocery store cleaned up the boat had a small breakfast in the marina and departed Tadoussac at 14:20 after the fog had lifted.   I would also like to thank the.  Tadoussac marina. For giving us a discount on dockage in order to help us with our trip. Thank you very much we enjoyed our stay in the small town.

Cap a L'aigle to Tadoussac

July 7th we departed Cap a L’aigle at 13:45 after doing some laundry and helping 2 gentlemen with their dock lines and some French translating. They were on their way from Toronto to Newfoundland with their 37 foot prospect sail boat. We departed a much later than we had planned due to our laundry taking longer than expected. We had planned on leaving about 2 hours before high tide to take advantage of the falling tide that started at 1:37.

At 15:28 that after noon we had an approaching thunderstorm along with a weather warning on the weather broadcast.  We shortened sails by reefing our man and hanking on our storm jib. 

We could see the storm on its way over the tall hill side along the shoreline and it came on very quickly first we got a lot of wind and seen a small waterspout created by the wind sweeping down off the hillside and then as the wind died off the rain set in and it was a torrential downpour for about 15 minutes.

After that cleared it was back to being hot and muggy for about a half hour and then the cold front moved in and it went from 28 Celsius to 12 Celsius within minutes. The wind picked up and a hour or so later came the fog. Although it did lift a little while later and we seen a pod of belugas off our port side but almost as if we were given a window to look through to see the belugas is was shut rather quickie again and were back to a few hundred yards of visibility.

While my uncle was down below and I sitting on deck having a conversation I heard the sound of a horn off the starboard bow, having a large freighter to our starboard side on a parallel course to us about a mile and a half off my uncle mentioned it might have been his. I being on deck and having heard it more clearly figured it seemed to have come from ahead in the fog. I changed course to port about 50 degrees and when he sounded again we knew it definitely was not the ship we could see.

Although it was cause for concern when he did appear out of the fog to our starboard side he was at least a mile away and in no danger to us. Although as night approached and the fog did not lift our senses were heightened and we had to prepare ourselves for anything our main concern even though we had strong winds and large waves was not being able to see an oncoming vessel in the fog which had enclosed around us giving us less than a couple hundred feet of visibility.

We had dealt with more wind and larger waves but never in so much fog and without radar we could have no idea of knowing where other boats were which was our main concern. We knew that anything that would be thrown at us we along with our sturdy boat an Alberg 30 could handle it.

We continued on towards Tadoussac sailing outside the marked channel amongst the rip tides in order to be more sure of not encountering other vessels and although it slowed our speed to less than 3 knots and even as low as 0.7 kts. Although it was better than having the possibility of more boats being around. And after a long while of concentrated silence with us keeping watch on either side of the boat as we would rise and crash through oncoming waves with the occasionally salty spray splashing us in the face my uncle broke the silence and said "I've just decided what I will get you for your birthday, a cleat to tie your dock line too" I replied "that we be a great gift" and we had a small laugh.

Through that evening we had gone through a few options of what ifs they were from worst to best. Possibly having to sail back and forth through the night awaiting a break in the fog to allow us to get to a dock or anchor, anchor in a not so great a spot on the south shore of the fjord and be up most of the night tending the lines for chafe or anchor drag. Or make it to the Tadoussac harbour and dock or anchor close by.

We decided to cross the channel to the north side of the Saguenay fjord entrance to the harbour of Tadoussac and try to anchor inside the harbour or best case scenario e capable of docking. As we started across the channel our speed increased to 7 knots for a while before decreasing again to 3 knots and less as we neared the harbour. Crossing the channel we had passed the buoys merely a couple hundred feet away and although we could see the green light flashing on one and the bell clanging on the other we were not able to see the buoys themselves.

As we entered the harbour and dropped our sails the fog started to lift and the lights of the town and marina came into view we knew then that we could make it to the dock. My uncle went below to check the chart and I on the helm. He then told me to turn to starboard and head for the dock I replied "I already am there's a large sail boat anchored only a few hundred feet dead ahead".

We smoothly docked at 22:45 on the very first spot we seen and stepping on the dock we can not say we have ever been happier to have reached a dock.  We enjoyed warm yet great beer and with that rush of exhilaration still flowing though us it took more than an hour to head to bed.

Kington to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield

June 28th We departed Kingston a little late at 10:55am and headed into the Thousand island area with a partially sunny morning and a bit of wind that allowed us to raise our jib for a down wind sail, until about 13:00 I had been on the helm all morning due to the fact that our auto helm is no longer functioning properly and we could only manage to get it working at that time. 

For most of the day we ran with our jib and maintained a speed of over 5.0 knots while we weaved in and out of the islands which would make such a beautiful place in my opinion if it were not so populated.  We docked in Brockville at 19:15 just after passing a large Laker in the channel, and having his wake throw our boat way up in the air and coming down again our bow plunged under water scooping up a bit of water that washed over our boat.

After arriving in Brockville we took a walk downtown but found nothing much was open and had a bite to eat at a small diner with the patio overlooking the marina.  We then went for a walk and I noticed an old railway tunnel and a sign out front that indicated it was the first railway tunnel ever built in Canada, looking in there were a few lights at the beginning of the tunnel and large black and white pictures of its history but the tunnel was too dark to see down so I am not sure how deep it was, I was planning to walk in when I returned but the doors were shut by the time we returned from the convenience store.

We departed Brockville the following morning June 29th at 7:03am after a sleepless warm and muggy night of 1000 mosquitoes.  We passed a few Lakers that day but one that stood out from the rest, a red hulled Laker by the name of “The Federal Oshima” with its port registry of Hong Kong.  It stood out because it is the first Laker I noticed that was not of American origin, yet since then I have seen a few more.

And with a quiet day due to the fact that we were still very tired we dropped anchor that evening at 19:30, outside the channel near the town of St Regis, QC our first night in the province of Quebec.  St Regis an native reservation that has the American Canadian border running through it.  After arriving we had a bit of rain as we had a few rain showers through out the day and the sunset with a peculiar sky of dark ominous clouds and the sun peeking out on one side creating a beam of light that lit up the town.

On June 30th we departed our anchorage towards the Iroquois lock, and arrived there at 11:10 but were informed after contacting the lock master that we had about an hour wait due to commercial traffic which get right of way along the seaway.  Shortly after an American couple arrived with there older well maintained wooden cabin cruiser and we quickly moved our boat forward in order to give them some space at the dock.  We awaited as 2 large Lakers passed us one heading out of the lock and another on his way in, and our turn came shortly after.

We arrived at the Eisenhower lock at 16:40 and the American couple were there awaiting the lock also.  After we passed through the lock we were able to raise our sails, I went down for a quick nap while my uncle took the helm and a short while later he called me up on deck as the weather picked up.  Arriving on deck with a large gust of wind and the boat heeling over with our starboard rail touching the water I took the helm as my uncle started reducing sail, as I took over steering the boat and a gust came up it stole my new sailing hat I had bought in Kingston and not being able to keep an eye on it I was not able to find it once we had dropped sail and turned around to look for it.

We were forced to drop sail instead of just reducing due to our enclosed space inside the channel and another Laker on its way, so we continued motoring to the Snell lock and arrived at 17:50 where we found the American couple awaiting for a Laker to get through before they could proceed.  The man on board said he might as well be driving in reverse, I guess seeing as he is aboard a power boat doing about 3 times our speed and only getting somewhere to have us catch up might be frustrating.

A few miles on the other side is the entrance up in toward Cornwall, and where we were slightly hoping to spend the night.  We had figured we would not able to beat the current that flows out from the entrance to Cornwall but we gave it a try anyway, the American with his small cabin cruiser was also heading that way and after seeing his engine pushing a lot of water and not moving too fast we figured there was no way.

We tried anyway for about 10 or 15 minutes but with a 5 or 6 knot current pushing us backwards the best we could do was make it a few hundred feet before we came to a dead stop, unless we were to push our engine a bit more we were not going to make it.  We turned around and headed back down stream to our secondary option an anchorage off the shore of St. Regis.

We anchored in the bay by St. Regis at 19:30 just before a bit of rain and a great view with a sky of dark clouds with the signs of heavy rain in the distance and the sun peering through a small gap lighting up the town of St. Regis along with a full rainbow to our east moments later.

The next morning June 30th we departed our anchorage at 8:35 am after a very chilly night, luckily we had a sunny morning that warmed up rather quickly.  For most of the day we sailed downwind using our jib and the engine off at speeds between 6.4 and 6.8 knots, the American couple who had passed through the locks with us and gone up into Cornwall for the night passed us at 9:40am.

We had a great day with a strong breeze and a few 1 meter swells crossing St Francis, sailing we did not think we would have on the St. Lawrence. We stopped in Salaberry-de-Valley field just after the lake on the North East side in the early after noon for some fuel and maybe a shower before heading through the Beauharnois locks.  But soon after arriving we had decided to spend the night and how could we resist being so nicely welcomed by the marina staff, with the offer of a complimentary drink at the bar and a free nights stay we could not refuse.

We stayed in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield for 2 days in which we enjoyed the small town with incredibly friendly people and marina staff. The dock was located just alongside the main street inside a small man made canal that had to small walking bridges that need to open in order to get in. You dock along a wall on the inside that has a small outside bar and everything is in close walking distance to your boat.

After arriving on the first day we had a shower grabbed a couple of cold casers at the dockside bar went for some food and groceries in which the cashier was kind enough to loan us a shopping cart in order to carry our groceries back to our boat only about 2 blocks down the hill.  That evening we enjoyed a barbeque of beef skewers and potatoes and a very relaxing evening.

We thank the Port of Valleyfield staff for their great hospitality and recommend to anyone passing through the area to stop even if just for an hour, you may end up spending a day or two.

We departed Salaberry-de-Valleyfield 2 days later on July 2nd at 11:20am, after a short sail we anchored before the Beauharnois locks just outside the entrance to the canal, and it is here that I finished this write up while watching an amazing sunset and the passage of large Lakers passing through it on their way out of the canal only a few hundred feet away.

Parry Sound to Bayfield

After Dave and Jeff departed on May 29th while getting ready to depart the owners of the boat beside us showed up, Now before I go on I will explain a little about how we came to know these 2 wonderful people. It started out last year when we noticed their boat Carandy in Little Current, it being an Alberg 30 and very well maintained with a painted red hull and very well done wood work, all done by the owner himself.

My uncle had a small conversation with them and later they left us there card on our boat while we were away and we did not expect to see them again. After arriving in Parry Sound we noticed there boat but were not expecting to see them.  And so as we were preparing to depart and choosing our anchorage for the night out beyond the sound in order to get a quick departure the next morning to cross Georgian bay they arrived and we quickly struck up conversation as we were docked alongside.  They recommended we not go to the anchorage that we had chosen as it did not give much protection and was not a very great place.  They gave us the coordinates for an anchorage inside Franklin island and although we took them gladly we had still planned to go to our intended one.

As we left our dock heading for fuel they helped cast us off, my fondest memory of them will be of seeing them standing on the end of the dock arm in arm beside their lovely boat. We departed the Parry Sound at 14:20 and on our way out our lovely friends in the Carandy met up with us and gave us an escort out sailing side by side before they seen us off.

On our way out that day untold to each other my uncle and I were both uneasy, I myself felt am ominous anxious empty feeling for quite sometime until we had reached our anchorage. Once exiting the Sound it was quite a bit windy and a bit of choppy water but nothing we had never seen before and not enough for concern. After a while we were able to raise sail again after having doused them to get through the channel exiting the Sound.

Upon nearing Snake Islands where was to be our intended anchorage we decided against it and continued slightly north a few miles to the coordinates given to us by the Carandy owners, to an anchorage inside of Franklin Island.  We had a nice sail there with brisk wind and a tack around a large Coast Guard ship on his way back in and we entered the narrow passage into Franklin island and were amazed at what a nice little spot it was. Although a very narrow entrance only 30 feet wide at the most and some cautious piloting when entering for the first time we were greeted by the most perfect anchorages we have yet come across.

For the first time we were able to drop one anchor and tie our other line to shore by 18:45 we were anchored and I quickly went to get some pictures as the sunset and to try my hand at some fishing. I did manage to catch some Bass while my uncle made a fire and cooked up some hotdogs, but although not yet in season I let them go.

We got to bed early that night at 21:30 and when I awoke around 3 am to go out on deck for a bladder relief I was greeted by a magnificent sight of the moon behind a narrow strip of cloud which was also so beautifully reflected upon the water and it was accompanied by a lonely loon in the distance, it was the sort of thing you would only read about in someone else’s story.  We slept in a bit the next morning till about 6:30 and departed our best anchorages so far at 7:20 May 30th heading for the Bruce Peninsula across Georgian Bay

Our sail across was rather uneventful with a descent wind we were able to sail across doing 2 hour shifts upon reaching the Bruce Peninsula we encountered tall hill sides covered with trees and one lonely lighthouse. We entered Wingfield Basin which was a fairly shallow pool tree lined with large hills in the background and 2 small cabins which we later found out were part of the bird sanctuary, and an old wrecked flat bottomed Laker which was wrecked close to the western shore.

Not long after anchoring in the Basin another sailboat named Top Sail arrived and anchored not far off, as I was readying the zodiac to go for a row around the old wreck I went down below deck to grab something and did not loop the rope properly on the boat and when I came back on deck it had already drifted too far away.  So I adorned my wet suit and was forced to go for a swim to retrieve it, and continued on to take a tour of the wreckage afterwards.

The following day May 31st was quite windy and even though at 12:20 in the afternoon we decided to head out of Wingfield Basin and towards Tobermoray.  On our way out of the Basin we encountered some of the windiest and roughest weather I have ever encountered.  We also had a hard time hoisting the main due to the fact that our halyard was twisting and after getting our reef in and sailing for about an hour into 30 knots of head wind and over 2 meter waves only reaching a speed of about 3.5 knots we decided to turn around and head back to Wingfield Basin, we dropped our sails and turned around riding the waves back and were reaching speeds of 7 knots under bare poles .

We arrived back into the Basin and anchored in the same spot, and although it being so rough and windy outside, on the inside of the basin was a completely different world, being calm and peaceful. My uncle being a bit tired went down for a nap and I took a paddle to the shore to go for a walk and needing some water was hoping to obtain some from one of the cabins.

After arriving onshore and taking a walk around the cabins I did not find anyone around so returned to the boat, although not long after arriving back at the boat a girl who we had noticed a few times before was out walking around.  I returned to shore and upon arriving had a long conversation with her and it was then found out what the cabins and the bird sanctuary was all about.

Jenny was a university student who was volunteering at the bird sanctuary for the first time and had been there a few days, she explained to me everything they did there which included monitoring the types of birds their migration patterns and how well each species is doing.  After Jenny had refilled my water container I returned to the boat and we watched a movie and retired early.

The following morning June 1st, we slept in and departed Winfield Basin at 11:00am heading for Tobermoray, We had a great day of sailing with a bit of left over swells from the wind the previous day and a good breeze we even put on a few extra miles by passing between Bear rump and Flower Pot island at about 14:25.  The name of Flower Pot island comes from two rock pillars on its eastern shore, that have been carved out of the rock by the water into rock pillars that resemble flowerpots, it was a very nice view passing by with full sail in the almost perfect sailing weather of a good breeze and slightly choppy sea to make it more interesting.  After a bit of playing around and a few tacks we arrived in Tobermoray at 17:20 and I do have to add that Tobermoray has some of the most clearest water I have ever seen and it is a well know spot for dive enthusiasts with many shipwrecks in the are and with such clear water I definitely see why it would be so popular.

Tobermoray is a Scottish town with mainly tourism in mind its size is not large yet the people were very friendly.  We spent 2 days in Tobermoray as I was not feeling that great and there was thick fog and rain with an uncertainty in the weather, yet we departed after 2 days on June 3rd at 6:00am in a fog with drizzly rain that later cleared up around 16:00.  We had originally set out for Kincardine but at about 18:00 with just a little over an hour to out intended destination we decided with such fair weather that we would continue through the night too Bayfield and make up for our night lost.

And so after a 23 hour run doing 2 hour shifts throughout the night we arrived in Bayfield on June 4th and Docked by 5:00am.  Arriving in Bayfield we were greeted with a horrible smell and gross looking green water, along with an enclosed flat bottom fishing boat which are common among the lakes, who was heading out for there morning catch and shining there spotlight on us while they passed which was a nuisance as it took away from our ability too see properly. 

After docking we took a walk around and admired the very polished boats that sat in the marina and went down to get some well needed rest. I awoke at 10:00am and was informed by the dock attendant that we had docked in the permanent docks, So after moving our boat over to the transient docks we headed to town to find a bite to eat.  Not knowing the layout of Bayfield we ended up walking a good ways before finding a restaurant where we did enjoy a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, ham toast and potatoes. On our way back we stopped for groceries and found the downtown street of Bayfield with its small shops of art galleries, restaurants, inns and pubs.

Later that day after arriving back from a walk we noticed a boat called the Hobo 2 docked close by. While admiring this boat and wondering what its story was, as we had seen it a few days prior in Tobermoray a gentlemen appeared on deck and we started a conversation leading us to find out we was originally from Newfoundland and having left Penetanguishene the place where I started my trip last year heading to Thunder bay. He was on his way back home for a family reunion before heading south.  It took but a few minutes of conversation to find ourselves aboard the lads boat having a drink of whiskey and a new found friendship, after a few drinks we headed to our boat after some friends arrived and Jim owner of the hobo 2 decided he should head to bed as he was leaving early the next morning. My uncle and I proceeded to the pub with one of his friends and some family members who had been in town for a family reunion.

We retired a bit late that evening and for the next few days were greatly accommodated by my uncles friends with a barbecue and drinks at the bar and a large array of great people we met that seemed to be very interested and made us feel extremely welcome.  We do recommend the town of Bayfield for some of its fine people and great hospitality.   I do recommend if you are planning to stay in Bayfield I’m sure you will be well accommodated at the Little Inn as we were not guests at the Inn but the family treated us extremely well.

By the time we departed Bayfield we had just to walk downtown and someone was saying hello or the bartender at the restaurant already knew what we wanted.

Killarney to Parry Sound

  May 25th I awoke at 5:00am but after a short walk around the dock I crawled back into my sleeping bag for another hour, because I had been up much later working on pictures and the website.  We departed Killarney at 6:45am and departed with a beautiful sunrise and glass textures water and a morning mist.  We raised sails at 10:30am but due to light winds we motor sailed most of the day.  We had decided not to go up into Byng Inlet as it would be too much backtracking to get out onto the lake the next day so we continued further south to find an anchorage.

    At 15:15 my uncle informed me over the VHF that we had just passed our 500 mile mark (N45 38.20, W080 42.64).  It was a quiet day of mostly sitting around without having to tack as we were on a beam reach, and light winds all day, for a few hours we were out of sight of land which would have been the first time for Jeff and Dave. The wind picked up a bit around 16:00, to about 8 knots and not long after about 5 miles away from where we would have to douse sail and motor inland, my uncle and I started racing to our first waypoint just beyond the first buoy before heading inland.

    Around 16:00 my uncle and Jeff were about half a mile behind us when we began which would have been a descent handicap due to the fact that the Alberg 30, is faster than my buddies boat that I was sailing a Bayfield 25.  I noticed them gaining on us and started trimming our sails in order to get more speed, after asking what there speed was over VHF and finding out they were still doing .4 to .6 knots faster than us I tried to figure out how I could get more speed and so I sat up on the bow leaning to leeward and with a lighter boat I was able to make the water line slightly longer and gained .2 knots.

    I figured with the distance we had left to go and them now being only .2 or .3 knots faster we were possibly going to make the waypoint just ahead of them.  As we got closer to shore and the shore line effect picked up we got a bit more wind and my uncle was able to pull up alongside us and for a while I was sure he was going to pass, and after just over an hour we passed the waypoint side by side only a few meters apart and we won by less than a quarter of a boat length, and of course after a bit of gloating and cheering we had to douse sails and start our motor inland.

    We had decided to go to a dock on Ojibway island so after a twisting small craft route through all kinds of island inside Pointe au Barril, meaning barrel point, and there is actually a barrel across from the light house sitting atop a pole on a rock just before entering the channel and a sign that says “site of the original barrel denoting safe passage through turbulent waters”.  After over an hour of motoring through a twisty channel around rocks and island we arrived at Ojibway island and docked at the, I guess it would have been a sort of resort type of place which had a small grocery store and large older style building which was like a hotel, I am not quite sure as a guy quickly came after about 15 minutes and told us they were not yet open for the season and would not let us dock for the night. We untied and left their dock at 18:20,  slightly disheartened that someone would turn us away and not allow us to dock for the night.  We motored around to the backside of the island and anchored in a small cove at 18:55.

    Dave and I tried our hand at some fishing as we had seen lots of fish around the boats on our way in, and hoping to catch a trout for a delicious meal I was rather enthusiastic.  Jeff made some burgers on the barbeque while we fished and after eating my uncle and Jeff went to shore to walk around a bit while Dave and I sat on the boats and fished for a while. Seeing some fish eating the bugs at the surface and not having any luck on the boat I rowed ashore with the other zodiac and tried some fly fishing, although soon  I was surrounded by a hoard of thirsty persistent mosquitoes and I could not endure it much longer seeing as I was in shorts and shirt and I rarely ever use repellent. I quickly packed up and made my way back to the boat and even got Jeff to come tow me around in a few zig zag patterns and circles with the zodiac that we had mounted the engine on in order to escape my determined hoard.

We sat on the bow of the boats drank lots of coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows and as it got dark without notice Jeff jumped overboard for a swim a cold one at that, and after a few minutes I jumped in as well, it being probably the coldest water I have swam in as I dislike cold water swimming. And I would never have done it without my body glove suit that Jeff and Tim had bought me before I left Winnipeg.  We actually stayed in for about close to 30 minutes before I could hardly feel my extremities. Luckily my uncle had pulled out of propane heater and had it on deck so I quickly warmed up.

    We then started plying on the spinnaker halyard that my uncle had set up with a webbed chair attached to it and swinging ourselves around from the bow of the boat to the stern. Dave retired about an hour before us as we sat on deck and star gazed for a while, I laying on the bow of our boat amongst our large Genoa sail almost fell asleep on deck.

    The next morning May 26th I awoke at 5:30am and got some nice pictures of the sunrise but being again the first one up I went back to bed for about an hour. I got out of bed as Jeff was cooking up some bacon and oatmeal and after breakfast we pulled anchor and departed our small cove behind Ojibway island at 8:15am and headed for Parry Sound 30nm away. And in the end anchoring on the backside turned out to be better than if we would have docked at the resort.

    We had to motor most of the day through the islands and rocks and only got to sail a small bit where we ran downwind in a wing and wing sail formation, which is when you have one sail to one side and the other on the opposite which makes it look like wings hence wing and wing.

    When we entered the Sound the wind picked up off our stern due to getting funnelled in through the entrance and we were able to achieve 5.5 to 6 knots on a downwind run.  We arrived in parry sound harbour and docked at the Boat Works Marina at 14:20 Davis boats new home and the end of my journey aboard Movin North which we moved south ha-ha, and back aboard our boat.

    After arriving we placed the engine on the zodiac and my uncle Jeff and I motored across the harbour as Dave stayed behind to wait for his partner to arrive who was arriving with his car. We motored across the harbour and walked up the hill into town and sat down at Don Cherry’s pub for some food. Dave arrived soon after without his partner Wing as he was eager to do some fishing and stayed behind.

    After some delicious fish and chips and a Caesar Jeff and I walked back to the zodiac and my uncle and Dave took the car back to the boat. That night after some nice showers and a beautiful sunset we retired early.

    The next day after Jeff and I took Davis car a dodge challenger to do some running around in town for groceries and supplies we departed the marina at 14:00 with the boats to go out and anchor for a night.
On our way across the Sound we tried some halyard riding for the first time and as my first try was uneventful due to lack of wind Jiffs first swing off the boat landed him almost up to his neck in the water due to a gust of wind and, we got some cool video and had a good time. We sailed a little over 10 miles up into the north tip of Blind bay rafted both boats together and anchored at 17:00.

    Jeff and I went to shore to make a fire and cook up some wieners and corn on the cob as Dave and Wing went fishing and my uncle put up some tarps on deck as we were expecting rain.  When the corn was ready I went back to the boat to pick up my uncle and Dave and Wing joined us for some hotdogs and corn and afterwards some roasted marshmallows.  We were on the shore just over an hour when we had to return to the boats just as the Thunder storm hit, we comfortably enjoyed the lightening and thunder with pelting down rain which lasted about an hour and it was nice again shortly afterwards. Although that night I had a terribly sore back and laid in my bunk most of the night and fell asleep early while the guys were on deck.

    The next morning, May 28th we awoke to a hot sunny day and Jeff and I made large breakfast of eggs, beans, bacon, bread, and oatmeal.  I went ashore and used the washroom the old fashioned way and got some nice pictures of the boats from the top of the rocks.

    I got back to the boat as they were pulling anchor and we headed back to Parry Sound at 10:50am. We arrived back in the early after noon after motoring back due to no wind. Jeff and I took Davis car into town to grab some postcards and ice cream. We got back and had a wonderful meal of barbequed steaks and potatoes along with corn on the cob.

    Jeff and I had wanted to check out the lookout tower atop the hill which you can see from everywhere in parry sound so I unstrapped my bike from the boat and put it together and we went to check it out Jeff took a jog while I biked. It was a nice uphill wood trail to get there and we arrived just before sunset.

    The way back was a very quick bike ride down which I strapped my camera to my chest and took some footage down hill, after a quick ride back we then enjoyed some left over corn took some showers and I placed all the pictures from the trip on a cd for Jeff although he forgot it anyway  because I forgot to give it to him oups its now in the mail.

    The next morning we were informed there was a get together for the marina members at 9:30 to 10:30 am with pastries and coffee, and we were invited to attend. I’m glad we did because there were some very delicious home made date squares that I’m a big fan of and cookies and muffins. We also got to talk to some fellow sailors who were quite impressed at what we were doing.

    And at 11:00am Jeff Dave and Wing unfortunately had to depart back to Toronto so that Wing could get to work and Dave needed to catch his flight back to Winnipeg that evening. After they departed it was quite lonely for a few days being back to my uncle and I and his dog Fred.

 

Blind River to Killarney

May 24th,  I am now sitting in the hotel In Killarney.

After docking in Killarney we were advised that none of their dock hook ups such as power and water were not yet in place for the season, and that their showers were also not available.  And so they offered us a hotel room where we could shower and clean up, so here I sit.

After my last update on May 21st, I climbed the mast on our buddy’s boat in order to pass the halyard line through his roller furling to hoist the jib.  It was my first time up a mast and gave me a nice view of the surrounding area, I should add that heights do not bother me.  After me and Jeff went into town for groceries, we ended up taking a rather large transport cart from the docks to carry our groceries in.  It was not in the best of shape having been homemade with bicycle tires that had no air and rubber that was about to peel off the rim.  We managed to make our way to the store and back which is about a half hour each way, we did get many looks our way walking around with the cart through town.

When we got back Jeff cooked us up some steaks and potatoes on the small barbeque aboard the boat and I worked for a few hours setting up the navigation equipment and making sure it was ready to go on my buddy’s boat.

We departed Blind River the next morning May 22nd at 6:45am , heading for Little Current, we had a nice South East wind of about 10 knots for a few hours and were able to sail a good run with both me and my uncle slightly competing for speed, although I am on my buddy’s boat which is a 25 foot Bayfield and me and my uncles boat being a 30 foot Alberg he has the advantage of speed, but I did manage to take a better tack line and passed him for a while until about 11:00 am in which the wind died off just after passing The Cousins.  A small set of islands about 8.5 nautical miles South East of Blind River, As my uncle started his engine it quickly died and he contacted me on the VHF saying he had engine trouble so I hove too and awaited for a response but within about 30 to 45 minutes he was back up and running.  We had not been able to get fuel since Thunder bay and he had ran out, Luckily he had a spare canister and was able to make it to Little Current.

We arrived in Little Current at 20:45 as we had a beautiful sunset, after docking we took a walk over to the tavern and had a bite to eat in which we were fortunate to get as the kitchen was already closed but they were kind enough to offer a few sailors a good meal and a cold beer.

We departed the next day May 23rd at 12:45pm  and passed through the swing bridge at 13:10, it opens every hour and if departing East you must await till it opens.  We sailed 12 miles East to a Boyle Cove where we anchored The Alberg and I sailed us north to just over 3 miles to Baie Fine.  A place we had heard so much about, it is a fjord that extends almost 8 miles in and has very steep quartz rock walls on either side, in some places the rock face drops straight down and you can pass merely feet from the wall with the sail boat and still be in 30 plus feet of water.

We returned to Boyle cove and rafted both boats together for the night and had another meal of steak and potatoes on the barbeque, after we went to shore and had a small camp fire and enjoyed roasting some marshmallows and enjoyed some fireworks my uncle had picked up for a bit of amusement.

This morning May 24th I awoke around 7:00 am and tried a bit of fishing while I awaited the other guys to wake up.  They awoke a little later at around 11:00 am and Jeff and I made a breakfast of bacon, eggs, beans and bread and peanut butter.

Jeff and I wanting to explore a bit left with the zodiac at 13:45, as my uncle and our buddy took the sail boats.  We passed around the small island on the end of the peninsula and went ashore to explore, we climbed to the top of the rocks and got some very nice pictures of both sail boats passing by under sail. After wards we passed through the island and the peninsula and met up with the sail boats once again but decided to stick with playing in the zodiac due to it being a passage through a small channel and not much in the way of sailing anyway.

We ran out of gas at one point and after switching to the second small gas tank that we got originally to replace the larger one.  We were no longer getting any power from the engine, after a while of problem solving but to no avail we decided to continue at a slower speed in order to try to keep up and not fall too far behind. But as much as we tried we eventually did and had to radio them to hold up for us.

We took the zodiac to the entarnce into Killarney before they turned around and picked us up, we ended up doing a 10 mile run in the zodiac.  I believe it is just the gas filter being a bit clogged , I am sure we will figure it out tomorrow, it made for a good laugh.

So tomorrow May 25th we depart East towards Byng inlet and plan on anchoring  just inside a cove so that we do not have to make the motor up into byng inlet, It will be about a 45 mile run.

This post was posted In Tobermoray on June 2nd as I have not been able to acquire internet connection since Blind River, most marinas are still closed or not yet fully setup for the season.

Thunder Bay to Blind River

It is now May 21st and the first leg of the journey is complete, I now sit in a small café after having eaten some breakfast here at the Blind River Marina, This is My first Entry since departing and it has taken this long because i've not been able to get a internet connection, my apologies.

We departed Mackellar marina in Thunder bay on May 15th last Saturday at 7:40 am, we motored a ways out around the sleeping giant as we washed the deck and I had a small nap. We raised sail at 14:30, 7 nautical miles west of Gull island in a very light South East wind, which was very unexpected because we had been expecting 20 to 25 knot NW winds from what we were hearing on the weather broadcasts, although we got that weather 2 days earlier than expected and by the time we left it was quite different.  We had a very leisurely sail all day and I started my shift at 20:35, we decided to take on the same shifts as we did last year every with 4 hours on and 4 hours off, mine being from 4:00am till 8:00am then from 12:00 till 16:00 and 20:00 pm till 00:00 which gave me the opportunity to see the sunrise and set for 3 days.

Crossing Lake Superior was very calm and the weather treated us nicely even a little too nice not getting very much winds at certain times of the day, although it was never any warmer than around 10 C and the nights fell to almost 0 C, we adorned our working immersion suits just after supper on the first night and wore them constantly even when going to our bunks to sleep we only removed them on the other side of Superior when we approached Isle Parisians  about 247 nautical miles later.

The first night on the lake we both did not get much sleep due to the fact that we were still very close to the shipping lanes and it was safer to have 2 men on deck as the fog set it after sunset to which we were treated to a beautiful starry sky with the big dipper pointing directly off the top of our mast, and soon after we noticed 2 satellites on the same path only about 80 degrees from each other and a 3rd passing in the opposite direction merely seconds later.

I will tell you that after the mist sets in and you can no longer tell where the horizon begins and the water ends it is an odd feeling and your brain almost seems to play tricks on you, especially when you are watching out for the lights of large vessels which can be in excess of 800 feet long. This made the night shifts more interesting by the constant urge to scan the horizon with the binoculars, So with the constant scanning sail adjustments and log book and journal entries it made the 4 hours pass very quickly.

Mornings were pretty much the same with the wind dying down and the fog rolling in just before dawn,
On one particular morning there was a large shipping vessel just to our south and he had been there half way through my 8pm till 12am shift all though my uncles and was still there when I awoke for my 4am to 8 am shift, we were comfortable with his heading being able to see his port side lights, port side being his red light meaning we were seeing his left side and this telling us he was on a course perpendicular to ours.

But just as dawn approached and the fog set in I lost sight of him and after raising the sails again as my uncle had doused them due to no wind he came back into view and was much closer, I decided to head north for a bit just to give him some room and then returned to a South East course.

Our crossing of lake superior took us 290 nautical miles a little over our 240 nautical mile planned route due to the fact that we had head wind most of the time and had to go north a bit more than expected.

We anchored in Goulais bay for the night which is situated outside of Whitefish bay at the end of Lake Superior on the north east shore, because we did not want to enter Whitefish bay and pass through the locks at night because of all the large traffic and such a small channel.  We arrived and anchored at 18:22 and enjoyed a nice evening with a small campfire on a deserted rocky beach and awoke to another beautiful day of warm weather which was a dramatic change from being on the lake.  We pulled anchor and departed at 9:30am and motored out of Goulais Bay as I made us a breakfast of eggs beans cheese and bread.

We were fortunate to have been able to sail into Goulais bay and sail out just after the point on our first down wind run sailing wing and wing, all the way up into Whitefish Bay passing alongside some rather large shipping vessels.  We dropped sail at 15:03 and entered MacArthur lock on the US side at 16:15 behind a barge.  The locks were quite busy and the lock master was very helpful in getting us through as fast as possible.

We docked at the Roberta Bonder Marina at 16:40 which to our disappointment was not open yet this season, and having not yet taken a shower since I left Winnipeg was quite dissassipointed. We made our way to the mall where we picked our selves up a couple of cold beverages a sandwich from subway and headed back to the dock where we relaxed on the grass in the hot sun for a while.

The next morning I was awoken by a text from my buddy Jeff from Winnipeg who had just arrived at the bus station at 6:20am from Winnipeg to join us for 10 days of the journey from Sault St Marie to Parry Sound and get to see what sailing is all about. Being a guy from the prairies it is his first time on a sail boat and is doing quite well.

We departed Sault st Marie at 8:45am and made our way down the St Mary’s river passing a few more large Shipping vessels and actually passing the Montrealis which we passed at almost the same point of our journey last year.  We were lucky to have had a beautiful down wind run the entire day around St Joseph island to our anchorage in Sterling bay on the South East side of St Joseph Island, we were approached by the border security in their fast intercepting boat and asked a few questions about where we were coming from and where we were heading in which they seemed impressed, but continued on our way within a few minutes.

We arrived at our anchorage in Sterling Bay at 16:55 and made a perfect anchoring under sail without having to start the engine. After having a wonderful meal of BBQ pork which my uncle had bottled before he departed Winnipeg, me and Jeff went ashore and made a small fire.  My uncle joined us a while later after I went back to the boat to get him and we reset one of our anchors which turned out to take a little while due to the fact that our zodiac ran out of gas which made for a bit of a laugh.

We returned to the boat that evening around 21:15 and enjoyed a nice sleep only having to get up twice to check our position and make sure we were not dragging on our anchor.  We departed the next morning at 9:40am as I made us a hearty break fast of eggs, beans, oatmeal, cheese, bread and peanut butter.

We had another day of downwind sailing and were fortunate enough to set out our spinnaker which is a nice almost new sail of blue red and light teal green. We had a nice run of about 40 miles and dropped the spinnaker 5 miles away from our destination at Blind River.

We docked at 18:40 In Blind River and as we arrived late the Marina was already closed so the bathrooms were locked which meant holding off a shower for another day, But we quickly made some friends whose names elude me at the moment. But they gave us their spare washroom key and we were able to enjoy a nice hot shower before heading into town to enjoy a cold Caesar and some Tim Horton’s after wards.

This morning we awoke to a nice sunny windy day and are awaiting the arrival of our buddy who owns a boat here that he bought last year. I will be boarding his boat and we will depart tomorrow and sail down to Parry sound with both boats and enjoy a few stops along the way to do some sight seeing.I am joining him on his boat because he does not have much experience with sailing and is counting on me to help him out.

Well I am off to help my uncle prep our buddy’s boat, and I must climb the mast of his boat to install a few lines that were not placed when his boat was put in the water. We are hoping to take his boat out for a test sail before our departure tomorrow early morning just before sunrise in order to make our 60 mile run to Little Current.

In Thunder bay

    I arrived in Thunder bay on May 3rd after having left Winnipeg on May 2nd, my departure was late because I needed to wrap up a few loose ends and went to visit my cousin and his inlaws on my way out of town where I enjoyed a nice meal and said goodbye. I left there at about 17:00 and departed Manitoba having been there for almost 5 years.

    I drove almost non stop to Dryden ON, where I stopped for gas and Tim Hortons for a coffee break, my uncle called me on my cell and advised I should get a hotel and spend the night, I refused thinking it wasnt that late, only being 21:00 I decided to have a small nap in the car and continue when I awoke.  Although trying to sleep in a over packed small hyundai hatchback along with my uncles dog and myself proved almost impossible, when I left Winnipeg I still had alot of supplies, tools and miscellaneous objects to bring with me, luckily my buddy Tim helped me with the packing and we managed to squeeze everything in, it was almost like playing a game of tetris.  So being unable to sleep in the Tim Hortons parking lot in Dryden I continued on my way for about 2 hours when I decided to pull over and sleep as I was starting to have trouble staying awake.

    I was very tired because I had not gotten a full nights sleep the nightbefore I left, instead after arriving home from visiting people all day, I met up with a few buddies from work at boston pizza and got home a bit late. I decided to pull over when the tractor trailer I was following pulled into a truck stop in the small town of Ignace, there I tried my best to get a few hours sleep.

    At about 5:00 am having gotten a bit of sleep I let the dog run around and stretch his legs then departed from the noisy truck stop, I drove for about an hour when I arrived in Upsala and stopped for a coffee at the gas station.  This being the same gas station I ran out of gas at last fall when my uncle and I drove to Thunder bay to check on the boat, and we had to spend the night in the car due to the fact that it was closed.

    After feeding the dog and grabbing some coffee, I departed and arrived in Thunder bay at about 8:00 am, I drove straight to the boat yard unpacked most of the stuff out of the car and took it up on the boat, Then I drove to the airport to pick up my uncle who was flying in from Toronto.

    Since we have arrived, we have worked almost non stop on the boat, from the time we pull ourselves out of our bunks in the morning till about 20:00 when we stop to eat and go to sleep. There is alot of wood work and small maintenace repairs that needed to get done and today has been the first time I have taken some time to do some logistic work, sitting here in the car with an extension cord plugged into an outlet in the boat yard, where I am thankful to have a wifi connection. 

    We are a few days behind schedule as we were hoping to have the boat in the water by now but it is still dry docked, we are planning to have it in the water on Monday and will depart next week across our first leg of the journey Lake Superior.

Trip to Thunder bay

Our trip to Thunder bay on the 11 and 12 of April went well, we had gone to check on the boat and remove the coverings we had made for the winter, along with bringing a few supplies in order to lighten my load for the upcoming drive when I depart Manitoba for the last time.

I thank my buddy Jeff for loaning me his truck in order to transport a good portion of our gear.

Here are a few pictures of the trip.

Upcoming Trip Details

    My upcoming trip begins between May 10th and May 14th weather permitting, I will be sailing Canada's portion of the longest inland waterway, departing from Thunder bay Ontario heading across Lake Superior to Georgian bay, then on to Lake Huron continuing to Lake Erie through to Lake Ontario with a stop in Toronto, then on to the St. Lawrence and up to the Atlantic passing around Quebec, the final destination for this summer being Miscou Island New Brunswick where I am originally from.

     This trip is a total of approximately 1800 nautical miles or 3700 kilometers, I do not plan on setting any speed records as there are many places along the way that I would like to visit.  So I am planning to arrive in New Brunswick early July,

    I will be departing Winnipeg may 2nd to head to Thunder bay for about 8 days before departure, I will meet up with my uncle in Thunder bay where we will commence rigging the boat and preparing for our departure, and yet again living in a boat yard for a short time before we depart.

Below is a photo of the planned route for this sumers trip.

Why and how this trip came to be

It all started with a blue Gatorade

    In August of 2008, I was visiting my uncle in Toronto while he was renovating his house.  We were sitting in his basement when he got up to head to the store.  Naturally in those days before my surgery walking the short distance of less than 2 blocks on most days was nearly impossible without a few breaks and the occasional vomiting.  As my uncle was about to leave I asked him if it wouldn’t be too much trouble to grab me a bottle of blue Gatorade.
   
    In order to stay hydrated when I was sick, I drank a lot of Gatorade, preferably blue.  On his way out the door, my uncle said, "there is nothing you could ask that would be too much trouble".  Pondering that statement, he really asked himself if there would be anything I could ask him that would be too much trouble.  And by the time he returned from the store he had decided that no, there was not.  When he returned, he told me that he would be joining me wherever I was in order to help me fulfill any last adventures I hoped to accomplish.
   
    At that time I was almost certain that I would not receive a lung transplant, and figured I only had a year or two left before I would be incapable of any substantial ventures.  During that same visit my uncle gave me a book to read, titled "Beyond the Horizon" by Colin angus.  The book documents the journey of a human powered circumnavigation in which he and his fiance biked across the continents and rowed across the oceans.  Their story stoked a spirit of adventure  in me that burns stronger each day.  It is my inspiration.  After reading this incredible story I realized that with the little time I had left I would have to do something to make my life more significant than it was.

    In the month's to follow I thought about my uncle's pledge and asked if he would loan me his sailboat so I could sail the Great Lakes from Thunder Bay to the Atlantic, completing the World's longest inland-waterway.  He agreed right away but with the stipulation that he come along.  I figured at the time it would be one of the last things I would do before my time was up.  We planned to bring the boat from Toronto to Thunder Bay in 2009, then depart for the Atlantic the following Spring.  In March of 2009, I unexpectedly received my double lung transplant and missed the Toronto departure by two weeks as I did not get the go ahead from my Doctors.  I was able to board in Penetanguishine in the South-end of Georgian Bay and over the next 650 nm (1170 km), I learned the rudiments of sailing.  Now as mid-May approaches and I ponder this trip with a renewed energy that is almost unbelievable, I feel truly exilerated.

    This trip is not just about proving to myself that such a feat is no longer out of reach, but hopefully to encourage others with cystic fibrosis that there is a chance that you can be more than just another CF patient.  You just  cannot give up!  I do not have to tell you that it is not easy.  When my lungs were slowly failing I hardly believed I had a chance of leading a better life.  I had almost given up a few times but I persevered and eventually got my second chance, and for that I will always be grateful to my donor.  Don't give up!

     I hope to encourage people to sign their donor cards so that more people like me can get that second chance.  The gift you bestow as an organ donor is not wasted.  The quote you see at the top of my website came to me while in hospital after my lung transplant.  It is what I have lived by since then, pushing myself for a faster recovery in order to pursue my dreams.