Lake Huron Sailing

The beach near our boat. Lake Huron's water is a lovely blue.

At the Sarnia Yacht Club we sat down with the Goodyears to discuss the next day's destination. 32 miles would bring us to Grand Bend; 45, to Bayfield. Later when Bob went to have a shower, he talked to someone who used to belong to the Grand Bend Yacht Club (the only place to stay there). The water is usually shallow, he told Bob, and is too often less than the 6 feet they claim. Since our keel is 5'10", that wasn't encouraging news. The recommendation was to go to Bayfield - "a straight shot" from Sarnia. So even though we'd had a rather long and tiring day the day before, Bob and I decided that it was best to go the 45nm to Bayfield - weather permitting. We weren't sure if the Goodyears would want to go so far so soon but we offered to wait at Bayfield for them if they wanted to do the shorter sail.

It was fairly bumpy out there but a NW wind from 15 to 20 knots allowed us to sail and make good time for the first few hours until it dwindled and then died. Karen and Warren had decided to follow and so joined us in another less than comfortable sail. The going was easier than on the day we left Put-In-Bay but, even so, I have to say that 8 hours of being tossed around is tiring and leaves us worn out. Is it our age? Couldn't be!


Our reward for making the longer sail was arriving in beautiful Bayfield. I think that this is one of the nicest ports that we've been in anywhere. The marina's river location is picturesque and peaceful and the main street of the village, which is a short walk from our boat, is wide and lined with tall old growth trees. There are quaint little stores and good restaurants - many just a little "unique". There's also a quite beautiful sandy beach just around the corner from where we're docked. We've staying for two nights and we'll definitely stop on our way back in 2015.


Not sure how far we'll go tomorrow. It all depends on what it's like when we get "out there".