Day 65: Return to the Soo

 Day 65: September 21: Weather conditions improved enough overnight to allow us to head back to the Soo. The waves that were slapping up and over the break-wall diminished. Although the lake was still a bit unsettled, we figured that once we got out a bit beyond, things would calm down even more. 

We got UW at about 11:30 and traveled 36 miles in just under 5 hours. Not long after leaving Whitefish Point, the seas began to become calmer. Before long we were cruising in glass-like conditions on the St. Marys. I continue to marvel at the color of the water. 


As we neared the Canadian lock we contacted the lock-master; he told us we had the green light so we proceeded through with Zendeavor following. There were quite a few onlookers recording us as we entered the lock. On such a beautiful day folks were out enjoying a walk along the lock and lovely grounds. 



We exited the lock and began to cross the river to get to George Kemp Marina; the same marina we stayed at on Monday. At the same time two lakers were crossing paths, one heading for the lock and the other heading down-bound. In addition, we heard the Coast Guard cutter Spar announce she was pulling out and getting UW. She was docked pretty much in front of the entrance to the marina and although she had announced her departure, it takes time for a large vessel to get moving and we did not want to get in her way. What timing! We had no choice except to put the boat in neutral and wait until all 3 vessels moved on before we could make our way across. 

We pulled into the marina at about 5:30 and got settled. The first thing David did was take down his Canadian flag. We wanted to wait until we completed our travels on the St. Marys because the route does flow back and forth between Canadian and U.S. waters. 

We tried to check back into the U.S. before we went to dinner but had some problems with the CBP Roam app that we needed to use. We contacted the number provided for technical help but didn't get very far so we decided we would try again later on. We headed downtown to a restaurant called The Palace. Two margaritas and some delicious fajitas hit the spot! When we returned to the boat we successfully checked back into the U.S. making us legal! 













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