Day 1 - Canada Day Departure

Sunday July 1, 2012

Canada Day

Today is momentous. Not just for the country in which we live but for we two who today embark on what, for us, is a great journey. We will leave today from the Outer Harbour Marina in Toronto aboard the Mary Mary and, when all is said and done, some time from now, we’ll be in Caribbean waters; all this by way of the Trent Canal, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.

I must admit to being a little antsy this morning and the excitement of our departure has a certain edgy tint to it. The weeks (months, more like) of preparation and organization are now behind us and the path ahead, although planned, unsure. Have we put everything together properly? What have we forgotten?

To be sure, it’s not like we’re Shackleton preparing the Endeavour for the Antarctic, but like any degree of a showdown with the unknown, with your fate in the hands of certain other gods, there is a nagging suspicion that things will happen you couldn’t possibly account for in your planning. At least I hope that’s the case. Why do it at all if everything were predictable? Still as I walked down the dock towards the boat that last time, I was a little overwhelmed by the vastness of it all.

The wind that the weather office had been predicting to be light today seems gustier than expected and was blowing about 8 knots. The last thing we wanted for the first leg would be choppy waters; especially with the new cat, Mister Hattie, on her first lengthy voyage. (Note: the cats have had ‘Mister’ affixed to their names as they are the ensigns on board. I doubt whether either of them will rise above this station however as they have no opposable thumbs.)

We motored out of the harbour at 0820 with a light wind from the NW and when we rounded Gibraltar Point and headed east towards Newcastle, the off-shore wind was kicking up nothing in the way of chop and we realized, with considerable relief, that we were in for a smooth ride. It would be about 5 hours to our port at 8.5 knots and 1500 rpm.

The conditions were amazing and Mister Huxley (first amongst ships cats) leaped up to the bridge to take her usual position on the deck chair there. Even Mister Hattie, the shy one, came out for a look. We had our first onboard breakfast sandwiches in a long time and enjoyed a return to that comfortable tradition of getting underway prior to the first meal of the day.

We decided to not do our usual one hour on/one hour off watch switch protocol so that Brooke could finish up some curtain making she had been doing to get that chore behind us. Replacing all the curtains on the interior of the main salon and stateroom was a long task  and Brooke has motored through it to be close now to finishing it up.

Newcastle Marina

We pulled into the Port of Newcastle Marina at 1315 hrs and took up residence at a dinky 15’ slip on the north side. The Mary Mary is 36’ long so getting in and out of the boat was a bit of a chore as we couldn’t use the railing gates.

Tiny Finger Pier

The Newcastle Marina is small and the docks and finger piers are in disrepair. Every now and then a voice comes over loudspeakers announcing upcoming marina events such as ‘Christmas in July’. “Decorate your boats for Christmas and maybe win a prize” the shrill, female voice booms out at us. We’ll be gone the day after tomorrow, so that will have to wait. For like… ever. Their seems to be a lot of charter fishing boats and we are surprised to learn that they are almost all skippered by francophone’s. Bit of a mystery there.

Tomorrow, unfortunately, Brooke has to return to Toronto to pick up our truck from the marina and drive it to her parents house in Port Hope. The set for her play that she will be leaving to do in August is in the truck, ready to drive to Blythe, Ontario at the end of the month.

We settle in for the afternoon and have a dinner of pork ribs and baked potato. The ribs were kept cold in the cooler that Brooke constructed in a boat locker out of R5 insulation and plastic lining. Clever girl.

Mister Cookie's Cooler

The marina put on a fairly good fire-works display in the evening which seemed to be a fitting way to end our first day of the journey. We should have left it at that but decided to try the apple pie offered by the marina restaurant. Oh well, it’s still pretty exciting and once we got the taste of the pie out of mouths it was all good.

So far, no pirates.

End of Day 1.