Island Yacht Club to Port Credit Yacht Club - 10 nautical miles sailed, 3 miles in dinghy, 1 kilometre walked
Toronto had been fun, but it was time to move on.
After a significant breakfast of overturned eggs, fresh guacamole, American baked beans, tomatoes, toast, and banana bread, I zipped Dave and Kira back to Toronto's Harbourfront Centre in the dinghy. It was a short, but exemplary visit with our buddies and we wished they could have stayed longer.
At 11 am, Daryl helped us push SeaLight off the dock and we were on our way to Port Credit, a mere ten miles away. There was a sailable breeze, but it was directly in our face and we were not interested in hours of zig zagging so we motored straight to the club, filled up with diesel, then found our way to our assigned slip and docked without issues.
Port Credit Yacht Club is a huge marina and home to many large and luxurious motor and sailboats, more than anywhere else on Lake Ontario. It is a busy and active place with a restaurant and bar, outdoor firepit, a large swimming pool, nearby walking trails and parks, and a sheltered bay perfect for paddleboarding.
As this was the first day of our Newport club cruise, our boating buddies from home base were arriving in force. The Daryl and Lydia Collective and us took up residence in the shaded lounge of our friends' Darryl and Nathalie's luxurious SeaRay All Aboat Wine and between nibbles of fancy cheese on grainy crackers, sips of perfectly mixed Caesars, and bites of mini smoky sausages, we would help our other Newport buddy boats dock as they arrived.
Soon, the gang was all here and after a refreshing pool swim for some, all gathered in Sweet Lady, our club's largest vessel at 68 feet, owned by the Tessiers - Michael and Maria. It was an extended happy hour that went on for so long everybody abandoned their dinner plans and we moved in a pack to the restaurant for dindin (table for twenty, please...)
After the entire restaurant was cleared of everybody except for us and our hard working server, the pack migrated back to Sweet Lady for nightcaps. Ana and I attempted to find the switch to activate the propane-powered firepit in the park beside the clubhouse, but were chased off by a resident skunk whose erect tail gave us cause for concern.
We wandered back to the boat sometime near real midnight and Ana took some lovely night photos of scenes in the marina. Along the way Ana was stopped by a boater docked across from us in his 46' Beneteau sailboat.
"Looks like SeaLight found her way back to her slip," he said.
"What do you mean?" Ana asked, confused.
"That slip you are in is the same one SeaLight was in when she was owned by my friend. In fact, his new boat is normally in the slip right beside you, but he's away on a boating trip at the moment."
"That's crazy!"
"I helped him sail her back from the Caribbean after he purchased it, then sailed with him and raced her for years."
"Well, she's just returned from another trip to the Caribbean. She's been a great boat for us."
I'm hoping to spend some time with him tomorrow to learn of SeaLight's complete backstory.
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