Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario

Did not want to waste any valuable days travelling, so off we go. Left Cobourg at 10pm, nice motor sail, by 8:30am we were just outside Main Duck Island. We are travelling in sort of a convoy of 3 boats. One boat just arrived in Cobourg, and the other was not leaving until morning, so we were a little ahead of schedule I guess. So we decided to anchor the boat and explore Main Duck Island a little.

http://www.cruising.ca/guide/docs/gd-main_d.html

This area is very rocky, and drops off very quick from 6 feet to 60 feet. A friend of ours scuba dives here every summer and finds a ton of boat anchors that were stuck in the rocks and abandoned. He made $500 last year selling them on e-bay. I did not want to lose my $2,000 polished stainless steal anchor. So I had a very carefully orchestrated plan.

I decided to go in with the bow very close and drop in about the 6 foot depth, and pull the boat back into deeper waters. Roxane was a little worried we were getting a little to shallow. We ended up dropping the hook in about 10 feet, and backing down on it about 50 or 60 feet.

Then we launched the dinghy and explored the island and swam on the windward side facing out into the lake.

This is also a bird sanctuary, and a national park. Queen Elizabeth also visited here on her yacht Britania. We made it back to Black Diamond a couple of hours later. The wind shifted about 90 degrees, and the boat was dangerously close to drifting towards the shallows. No problem, we boarded Black Diamond, and  off we were.

During the whole anchoring situation, we realized something was not working right with our windlass. Since we were ahead of schedule, we decided to divert our course to Sackets Harbour where there is a Jeanneau Dealer. Next leg to Sackets Harbour is about 90 nautical miles! We asked Sea Wolf the boat that just left Cobourg to meet us there, and the next day we would head to St. Vincent, and meet the 3rd boat there, “Fortune’s Favour”.

s/v Black Diamond

With almost 30,000 Nautical miles of experience and 1,800+ sea days and nights on the water. (1,800 sea days is like 5 years on the water, 365 days a year!) I am an RYA Skipper and ICC International Competent Captain, currently working on my RYA Yacht Master with a Commercial endorsement for a 200 ton vessel. My qualifications include; MED A2 Emergency Safety at Sea, Helicopter Rescue, Life raft deployment and use, Offshore Rescue and Fire Fighting at Sea, etc, STCW Code A-VI/1-3, Canadian Equivalent Marine First Aid and CPR/AED. I am an Open Water Certified diver and completed various CYA & Canadian Power and Sail Squadron certifications which include Power/Sailboat handling, Seamanship Sail, Piloting/charting, CYA Coastal Navigation, GPS Navigation, Extended Offshore Cruising, VHF Radio operation license and a Toronto Harbour License. I am now providing skippered charters and yacht deliveries globally, including crew positions for offshore passages. However, my specialities are the Bahamas, US East Coast, The Great Lakes, Welland Canal, Erie Canal and the Adriatic Sea, Croatia, looking to add Greece. Feel free to contact me at [email protected]

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