As we motored out of the bay and past the Humber Bay lighthouse, we glanced toward the CN Tower. The Canadian Air Force Snowbird squadron was sweeping past the tower in a tight diamond formation. It seemed to be a good omen. We continued across Humber bay and docked in Ashbridges Bay, less than two hours from MCC. For us, leaving the dock was the important event, rather than arriving any particular destination.

On the next day we again motored, as there was little wind, to Cobourg. This gave me a chance to exercise the auto helm and to learn more about the new GPS/computer interface, which I hope will provide most of our navigation requirements. The system performed flawlessly, which considering that the Garmin GPS 36 had been installed only a few days ago and the upgrades to the software only the evening prior to our departure, was very encouraging. ( Thank you Rod and Keri from Vision Quest.)

We anchored in the small anchorage west of the main dock. We had one other boat for company, a pretty wooden sloop named Kryssa.

We visited the Cobourg Yacht Club and later when we rowed the fifty yards to the boat we found it was covered in THOUSANDS of insects (aphids?). They covered the hull and hundreds of them were inside all three cabins, which we had left open for cooling and left ourselves a light on for safety upon our return. After we recovered from our initial shock at the size of the invasion, it became a fight to the death. Diane brandished a copy of Cruising World and I a copy of the Cobourg City magazine. We fought side by side for 20 or 30 minutes, pausing only to occasionally wipe up the bodies with a sponge. We were lucky that our dinner was in a sealed pressure cooker.

The next morning there were still hundred of the insects on the sail covers and bimini. We prepared for the next attack .