Various

OK, I've been doing a little research. Got a little time between semesters now.

First, I've been looking into how to deal with going from the US to Canada and back. Complicated. Canada has kind of a "frequent traveler" program that is supposed to streamline the process, but not everyone recommends it. Anyway, it requires you to call a toll-free number no more than 4 hours before entering Canada. It's hard to see how to predict that accurately on a sailboat, I suppose one could carry a cell phone, though. (And what does that mean, anyway? Four hours before crossing the border, that imaginary line across the lake, or four hours before arriving in the port where you are checking in?) Looks the big things are 1. to have all the right documents (passport looks like the simplest ID for a number of reasons; boat documents; list of people; etc.) and 2. call the customs people when you arrive at an approved port. Coming back to the US... I'm still looking into it.

Next, I've been taking a long look at the charts for Lake Erie, which is a lot more fun. It still looks like about 3 weeks to go around the lake without pushing real hard. It could be done faster except that the point is to see things, not just get around quickly. It could take a lot longer if one really explored and photographed all the harbors, etc. The north (Canadian) shore seems to be especially bereft of good places to anchor or otherwise stop, except behind Long Point, which has a great area. I wonder if it gets crowded there.

Erie, Pa, has an exceptional harbor. It looks like a good place to explore around with a shallow-draft boat, which makes it a great place to take the Dovekie. In other words, it would be a good place to tow the boat to, drop it in the water, and sail around for a day or two or three. I guess that implies that maybe my best course right now would be to stick with the Dovekie for a while. The big difference between it and some of the others I'm looking at is comfort. That includes easy place to cook/eat, sleep, and get out of the weather.

Hmmm.