The (Im)possible Dream?

The dream began following a trip to Newfoundland in August 2017. We had flown to Deer Lake and drove much of the province, including Gros Morne, Bonne Bay, St. Anthony, Fogo Island, Bonavista and St. John’s. Touching on most of the highlights and tourist attractions, we set into action the plan to return one day on our sailboat, also allowing us to explore my maternal roots in Riviere Saint Paul, PQ and Birchy Head, NL.

More by good luck and timing than by good management, we stumbled on a Pearson 36-2 which checked all the boxes on our list of “must haves” for the journey east.

Early in the 2018 boating season we traded Spirit, our much loved C&C 35, for Seabiscuit, “the boat of our dreams”: not too much boat for us to handle but large enough with live aboard comforts and stable sailing attributes.

After two seasons of weekends and vacations in Wiarton and the Georgian Bay area we initiated the plan to have the boat trailered to Port Whitby Marina in Lake Ontario - during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic - with the hope to set sail for the east in mid-June. That wasn’t meant to be.

Seabiscuit took us to Kingston on our cruise vacation in July, transiting the Murray Canal, visiting the Bay of Quinte, Prince Edward County, anchoring in Presqu’ile Bay, Prinyer Cove, Stella Bay, Waupoos and Cobourg.

In the fall we moved the boat from Whitby to Wiggers at Bowmanville where she would over winter with our new plan to depart for the east from there in June of 2021. Possible? We are now living the second spring of the Covid pandemic.

We’ve accomplished more preparation than we thought possible, with the hope that the pandemic will settle enough to allow marinas to open, we have been vaccinated and no other surprises come our way delaying our dream.

On the day I write this, May 16 2021, we are putting the final touches on our plan, now a year later. I retired in December so we spent many hours over the winter learning about tides, understanding the Seaway system, studying the experience of others who have gone before us and investigating harbours and opportunities from Bowmanville to Bay of Islands Newfoundland, where we hope to haul out this fall.

YouTube videos shared by Jayne & Mike on Loonslace, Andy on Sailfish, FaceBook groups like St. Lawrence Seaway Ship Watchers, Cruising & Sailing Maritime Canada and new friends Ed O’Reilly & Jim Miller - so much inspiration, so many ideas, charts and advice. Social media at its finest!

Our resources, as well as all we learned from the aforementioned mentors, included Capt. Cheryl Barr’s “Down East Circle Route”, Navionics, Google Earth, several editions of Sailing Directions and CCA Cruising Guides. Fortunately, many eastern communities also have websites and were very quick to respond to my questions regarding the availability of diesel, drinking water and travel lifts.

Many upgrades and additions, purchases and replacements: Espar Heater and overboard sewage pump installed, Axiom 9 chart plotter, Raymarine radar, floater suits, smaller dinghy, fog horn, life lines, cockpit cushions, full canvas and screened enclosure, anchor sail and many small items that didn’t require any discussion to purchase. (In other words, under $1000!)

Some days it felt like we were rebuilding her, but we are now comfortable with what we believe to be the necessary safety equipment and a few added comforts for our home away from home.

Food list, clothing list, emergency supply list, gear list, maintenance list, to-do list for home and boat…..lists upon lists. Lists turned into actions during lovely March weather until a second stay-at-home order and then an extended order kept us at home and not able to travel to initiate our work plan.