A hazy day's sail from Pelee Island. Hard to see any shoreline for most of the trip out of Lake Erie. As we approached the outlet from the Detroit river, we were presented with a vast array of channel markers. There are two or more channels at the river mouth, and some of the channel have multiple lanes and include double red marks. The channels include a few large light platforms which include a helicopter platform, and typically host a large number of cormorants. Strangely, we saw no freighter traffic, for which all these buoys were really meant to guide. We did pass the same ship that held us up at lock 8.
Much of the rest of the Detroit river was a combination of giant industrial and modestly expensive homes.
As you can see on the buoy at the right, there is a stiff current in the river. Varying from 1.5-2.0 knots, it reduced progress and we certainly noticed our pace up the river was particularly leisurely.
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We're the little boat at the bottom ...
BIG red cell in front of us. |
Our passage up the river was not without some excitment brought on by a nasty line of cells passing perpendicular to the river. The radar imagery on my GPS was busy using all the colours available to it to to tell us how wet we were going to get. In the end, a number of cell passed in front and behind us and a few squalls hit us directly. 39 knots was the peak wind speed we saw.
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| Steel Factory #1: Before |
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| Steel Factory #1: During |
All that is nothing compared to the surreal effect squalls lofting up vast amounts of coal dust and other industrial left overs, and, at times, completely obscuring out view up and down the river. The boat was literally being sand blasted as we passed through the dust clouds.
The pictures below have some before and after of the same factories. I have to say, it was the strangest sight I have seen in a long while.
The rain was pelting so hard it hurt any exposed skin, and the coal and dust grit would get in your eyes if you looked upwind. Given the prevailing winds and direction of storm tracks, I guess that the Canadian side spends a lot more time dusting and cleaning windows then do our American neighbours. Squalls aside, the amount of pollution, noise, grime and grit produced by the US side is quite startling. The size of some of the factories would cover most of downtown Kingston. On the other hand, the Canadian side appears to be populated by modest commercial development, residential houses, and distilleries.
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| Steel Factor #2: Before |
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| Steel Factory #2: During |
We had called ahead to the Windsor Yacht Club to make sure we had a place for the night. Upon our arrival, we found a welcome note taped to our designated slip with bathroom codes, but not a soul to be seen (~6pm arrival). The club is clean and new looking, but primarily populated by large motor boats. Less than 10 stick boats out of 60+ boats. In any case, the showers were very clean, and the grounds neatly kept. A few friendly boater dropped by to chat and say hi.
The night was hot a humid, scatter with some light rain. I think a few additional fans are in order once we get to a chandlery.
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| Looking Back and the pollution blow from the US to Canada |
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| Truck ferry pushed by a tug. |
A hazy day's sail from Pelee Island. Hard to see any shoreline for most of the trip out of Lake Erie. As we approached the outlet from the Detroit river, we were presented with a vast array of channel markers. There are two or more channels at the river mouth, and some of the channel have multiple lanes and include double red marks. The channels include a few large light platforms which include a helicopter platform, and typically host a large number of cormorants. Strangely, we saw no freighter traffic, for which all these buoys were really meant to guide. We did pass the same ship that held us up at lock 8. 
Much of the rest of the Detroit river was a combination of giant industrial and modestly expensive homes.
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