Canada - Here We Come!

June 5, 2022

As we left Brewerton, we said our goodbyes to Oh Henry and Dark Side. They were taking a slightly different route into Canada than we were. It wasn't truly a goodbye, it was a "see you later" because they both will be travelling through Georgian Bay in a few weeks and we will see them again. As we left the dock and waved, we were on our way to the Oswego Canal and our destination was Minetto Lock O5.

We made a pitstop to fuel up, pump out and filled with fresh water at Winter Harbor Marina. Just as we were finishing up, Oh Henry pulled in to do same process. We caught their lines, said another goodbye and went on our way.

We had a windy day of travel which is stressful when locking. In Lock O4, Dark Side ended up sideways in the lock and as we sunk down, they struggled to keep their bow off the wall. As we drove out, we decided to stay at the rickety dock at the top of lock 5 in the town of Minetto. Oh Henry pulled in behind us, but Dark Side continued on.

We had a great time in Minetto walking the street to a Dollar Store up the road that was stocked with many brand named items we needed, we mailed a letter and cooked dinner on the back of Holy Cow for what was now going to be our last evening as a group. We said goodbye, once again, a little quicker this time and went to bed. Our plan was to be off the dock early. Oh Henry had planned a slower start to their day.

Voyage Log

Brewerton to Minetto travel log here.

OSWEGO TO PRINYERS POE - CANADA!!

The weather forecast was excellent for a smooth crossing on Lake Ontario, which was our window to cross. We were off the dock at 7:30am to get a jump on the day. We had a quick stop in Oswego to pick up some boat supplies Gord had ordered before heading into the Great Lake. As we passed through the locks, the lock masters told us over and over again how great this day was for travelling and how messy it was the day before for boaters who pushed through in the wind. Hearing the stories made us even more glad we had made the decision to pull over when we did.

We got to Oswego and tied up at the lock to run some errands and walk the town. Gord picked up the supplies he ordered, the kids got a treat at Dunkin' Donuts and then we made our way back to Holy Cow. As we were about to untie, Oh Henry came through the lock and was going to tie up behind us. They were waiting for a part to be shipped so they planned to stay the night here. At this point, we just laughed and said we weren't saying another farewell. We started our engines and headed out to Lake Ontario.

Lake Ontario can get nasty, but it was a beautiful run for us. It figures that our smoothest run on more open water was on Canadian soil. We made our way to Prinyers in Picton which was going to be our POE (point of entry) marina. The owner had given us clear instructions on the process and we had all of our ducks in a row. However, it wasn't ducks that greeted us at Prinyers, it was swans. There were swans everywhere. Like ev-er-y-where.

We pulled in, tied up, and got all of our paperwork ready. Gord and I headed to the bridge of Holy Cow and told everyone else that we were not to be interrupted as we made this call. Gord dialed the number. I think we were both a little nervous about the process. This could go one of two ways and we were bringing a boat from the US into Canada. Gord was on hold for approximately 5-7 minutes before a border representative came on the line. He asked us the standard questions of our citizenship, how long we'd been away and the purpose of our travel. We provided the details of all our passports and some details on the sale and process of bringing Holy Cow into Canada. The representative put Gord on hold....and now we waited. We were told they either provide you with a numeric reference number and you are cleared, or you'll be advised to stay put while they send someone to board your vessel. When the representative came back on the line, he asked for clarification on a couple of things and then placed Gord back on hold, so we waited. When he returned to the call, he asked Gord if he was ready to write down a reference number which he provided immediately. He then advised us we could disembark and had been cleared for entry. The entire call was exactly 20 minutes. Another milestone checked off the list. We were in Canada. We were in Ontario and we were cleared to carry on our journey home.

Voyage Log

Minetto to Prinyers travel log here.