Racing Butterflies (Crossing Lake Ontario)

Racing Butterflies (Sept 28-Oct 2)
-currently in Waterford NY-
Crossing from the Eastern end of the Bay of Quinte South across Lake Ontario to Oswego should take about 10 hours. With the continued bad weather we managed to turn this into a 5 day journey. Okay we only sailed for 11 hours and spent the rest tucked comfortably in snug harbours but you can picture us battling towering seas for days on end if you want.
Unfortunately we weren't able to get a shot of those shy Butterflies making there way across the lake. As we were both heading South at the same time we shared the wind with a number of Monarchs migrating to a warmer climate. As we crossed paths they would come nearby or flitter through the sails and rigging. A great photo oppportunity we couldn't pull off unfortunately.

Prenyers Cove (Sept 26/28)
We spent 2 days in this popular harbour waiting for the lake to calm down. We arrived from Hay Bay, ( a gail had blown through the previous night), on Tuesday. Stayed over Wednesday installing a new bilge pump (only took 4 hours to connect 2 wires and some hose clamps), added some safety (jack ) lines and other maintenance jobs.
Finally on Thursday the weather between two fronts was calm for our 3 hour journey ((Hum Gilligan Island tune here..."a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour"...). We motored midway across the lake to Main Duck, later the winds shifted and another small craft warning was in effect by the evening.

Main Duck Island (Sept 28-Oct 2)
Main Duck Island is about a third of the way South across the lake. It is 2 miles long by 0.8 miles wide and has a lighthouse and has reputedly sunk many a ship on it's shoals. Fortunately if you approach from the North and carefully follow the markers there is a very snug little harbour to tuck into. Schol House Bay, named back last century when there was a ship building industry and small community on the Island. Today Main Duck is a migratory bird Sanctuary kept by Parks Canada. There are signs of human visitors in the summer but this time of year we had the whole place to ourselves. Such a remote location meant we were all alone for our stay. At first we kept expecting to see someone but came to enjoy the isolation. We beached combed and explored abandoned buildings. The dogs tore around Maggie especially enjoyed finding and rolling in dead things. She however was very shocked by the reapeted cold water shampoos to gain entry into the boat. Everyone enjoyed the the stay but when the weather broke on the 4th day we were ready to go.
Later we would meet a retired couple from Cobourg who got slammed for 18hrs straight crossing directly on the outside route (during our first day of exploring). They were finally escorted into Oswego Harbour after dark having set out at 4am trying to make a daylight landing. They said they learned a number of lessons that day, on Main Duck we did school work and the kids discovered hatched snake eggs shells down by the beach.
Finally on Monday the weather changed again and we grabbed the window. The wind was from the NW and light. The left over waves were making the sails slat around as they wouldn't stay full with such a light press of wind. Sailing or motoring made little difference it was just uncomfortable for the first couple of hours. The wind shifted back to the SW, earlier than expected, light at first so we motored sailed for an hour. Then over the next 3 hours as the wind built we sailed south hard on the wind starting out at a moderate pace but in the last 2 hours built our speed to 6+knots as we zipped towards the harbour. The boat was going 7+ knots in the last 1/2 hour for short bursts so we just rode it out. Reefing to get rid of the weather helm would have been necessary if we weren't so close to our destination and enjoying the sensation. For those of you who sail you realize that 7 knots in our small over loaded cruiser is truckin'. For those non-sailors you now realize how slow sailboats really go even if they look and feel very fast heeled over bashing through the waves. Apparently sailing is about the journey, if you just want to get to a destination you better chose a quicker mode of transportation. (By the way a knot is about 1.8km/hr) Bay of Quinte to Oswego NY, 35miles in only 5 short days. 35m/5D*24hr= about 1/4mph- Smokin!!!!
Made it to Oswego NY with no trouble, checked in with US immigration and have plans to drop the masts, get some food, and start heading through the canal the next day.
Snow day crew.