Plan B - Life with our Sea Ray 400: 2012 so far

Wow, we are past the Canada Day long weekend already and I have not posted anything….

So, I guess a bit of catch-up is in order. We have been using the boat quite a lot although the schedule tends to be fluid with William’s cycle racing / training schedule. Someone is up virtually every week-end although both Sea Ray girl and I are not necessarily there together the entire week-end.

William has competed at the Pan-American Championships in Guatemala and then the Canadian Road nationals in Quebec and next up are the World Championships for the U19 track – held in New Zealand in August. So between all those events and the training and his work schedule it is hectic in the Simonds household.

We took the whole family – including Mary’s boyfriend Austin across to Port Huron for lunch back in June. We all have Nexus which allows us to call ahead and clear customs. Austin only has a passport. So when we called in we were told that we had to land in Port Huron and then call in and a CBP officer would come down to the boat. So we went across, tied up at the fuel dock being careful not to step off the boat and called in and waited, and waited. Luckily it was a nice day so we chatted in the cockpit and half hour later 2 CBP officers arrived. One came on board and searched the boat; the other reviewed all the paperwork – passport and Nexus cards. We got the all clear to move the 200 yards up the river and on the other side to tie up by the Quay Street Pub where we were planning to have lunch. So, no issue but hardly the most convenient way to get cleared into the States. We are all anxious for Austin to get a Nexus card. Mary said no way she is doing that again so we will see if she pressures him to apply. For now he got a summer job in Ottawa so is living back at home.

For the July long weekend we planned a few days away with George and Jen on Iron Jenny – adults only. Then the week before Mary announced she had the long weekend off and was looking forward to being on the boat. OK – adults only + one offspring. The girls wanted to go back to Mac Ray so I called to make reservations and sent in the required paperwork. Both George and I had gotten the Friday off as well as the Monday so we were up at the boat Thursday afternoon. Really the only bit of prep other than engine checks was to get the dingy ready. Last time Sea Ray girl and I went down to Mac Ray we did not take the dingy. This time we planned to explore. So Liddy and I hauled the dingy out of the water and scrubbed the bottom so it would be clean on the davits.

Friday morning Iron Jenny cast off at 9:00 AM. We took our time to get the dingy loaded and were leaving the dock at 10AM. The trip down was sunny, calm and quiet with little boat traffic on the river. We took the same route as last time, taking the North Channel route past Algonac and Harsens Island and then the snaking buoyed channel out into Anchor Bay. We caught up with Iron Jenny by the no-wake zone just before entering Anchor Bay. George preferred to follow us so once past the no wake area we passed Iron Jenny and then throttled back to 15 knots. With a bit of trim tab work we can stay on plane at that speed and Iron Jenny can keep up. So we followed the channel out and then set the course to the waypoint off Mac Ray. Having done this before we were at least ready for the shallow water but still – traveling at speed in 5 ft of water is un-nerving. But we made it and got into Mac Ray without touching although we sure stirred the sand up in the approach channel. We tied up by the fuel docks and went in to sort out our transient slips. Hmmmm, no record of us. Apparently the lady I had e-mailed the papers to was off with a family emergency and no one could access her e-mails. Well, we are here so…….

They did get right on it. All the large transient slips were full so they asked if we were OK in a 42 ft slip. Fine by me as long as they don’t mind our bow sticking out a bit since with the dingy on we are over 46 ft long. The dock hands were super helpful and we were soon docked and hooked up. We were right next to the pool and restaurant – excellent since it was over 30 degrees every day.

We had an excellent couple of days at Mac Ray – lots of swimming and dingy rides exploring the marina, the adjacent canals and Belle Mar marina next door. Saturday afternoon Sea Ray Girl mixed a couple of killer batches of Pina Coladas which we enjoyed on Iron Jenny. We had a couple of great dinners at Mac and Rays – including one in the Sea Ray room – ah how fitting. And speaking of Sea Rays, I know I wrote this last time we visited but wow – there are so many Sea Rays here – there must be 8 Sea Rays for any other brand. And there are a lot of big ones. Liddy said it was like the mother ship calling Plan B home!

Sunday we cast off about noon and both boats made a bee line to the fuel dock for some go-juice and free pump-out. With it being the week-end before the July 4th (Wednesday) events it was BUSY. Iron Jenny got tied upon the fuel dock wall and there was a Tierra on the dock where the pump-out was. So that left a gap between them. The dock attendant suggested we try to squeeze in that gap. OK – let's have a go. I basically came alongside the Tierra and then reversed in – parallel parked in effect. Our bow swung over their swim platform as I slowly edged Plan B in. We fit smoothly with no touching but with about 3 ft to spare. Wow – tight maneuvering.

The amount of boat traffic was staggering. There are 5 fuel dock fingers plus the area on the wall to get boats in and everything was full. The guy looking after us said they carry 27,000 gallons of gasoline and last year sold it all in one week-end………that is a staggering amount of fuel. The really big activity down there is to go just outside the north wall into Anchor Bay where the water is 3 – 4 ft deep and drop the hook and 10 ft of chain, stand in the water, crank the tunes and relax. Most seem to give the waterline a quick wash also. And hundreds of boats do this – way cool.

The trip back was uneventful although a lot more traffic and wakes than there was on the way down. Sunday evening back in Sarnia we went out on Scott’s trawler to watch the Canada Day fireworks from Sarnia Bay – great view and impressive display. Monday afternoon it was back home to then go and pick up Will – coming back from Road Nationals in Quebec.

Plan B - Dingy loaded and ready to go.

Sea Ray Girl at the helm. I am not sure if the hat holding is because it was going to blow off or more likely part of her "get that camera away from me" response!