It was a quick, easy cruise today. Well… sort of.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today. With a light breeze and 78 degree high temperature, we decided to leave a day earlier than intended and find a nice spot to anchor for the night. The marina was getting jam-packed and the dockmaster seemed grateful that she could squeeze in someone from the wait list.

After a leisurely morning, we threw off the bowlines at 10:40 AM and puttered the 0.8 miles to RJ Marine to get fuel. This would be our last fill up with “cheap” fuel before entering Canada. “Cheap” was $6.90 a gallon. As we pulled up to the dock, two attendants came out and expertly handled our lines. After a fuel up and a pump out, they expertly guided us out. It was an easy stop.

As we left Clayton, the bay was starting to get the bustling feel of a warm summer day. Our plan was to go the short 8 miles or so to Brakey Bay on Wolfe Island. The cruise was simple and beautiful. As we came into the bay there were a dozen or so other boats already anchored. Being a sizable bay, we found a spot that seemed to have plenty of room for us and dropped the hook in 18 feet of water.

A couple of the reviews said that the bed is weedy, so make sure to really set you anchor. Following that advice, we put both engines in reverse after it felt like the hook caught and gave it a tug. We were shortly moving at 4 mph in reverse as the hook drug on the bottom. Ugh. After another try with the same results, we decided to abandon the effort and go to a backup anchorage.

As we lifted the hook all the way out, we could see the problem. Weeds. Lots of them. The entire anchor was covered, and I couldn’t lift it. My guess is that it had a solid 50 pounds of weeds and mud on it. After some pivoting and work with the boat hook, we were able to clear the anchor and get it secured. Off we went.

 Our second choice was McDonnell Bay, but we decided to poke in and take a look at the smaller Oak Point anchorage on the way to see if it might work. As we got into the bay by Oak Point, there weren’t any other boats and we could see sandy/muddy spots through the clear water. We moved in to about 13 feet and dropped the hook again. This time it set on the first try. After checking, double checking, and triple checking, we powered down and enjoyed a delightfully quiet afternoon and evening. There were some families on the shore and playing on jet skis, and the occasional fisherman, but it was very peaceful.

We only went 16.3 miles today, but we are stopped in the territorial waters of Canada. Tomorrow we make our way to Trenton and the gateway to the Trent-Severn Waterway!