0500 - 43.56.4'N x 76.56.13'W
By Matthew Maples

We are now in the Great Lakes and in our wake lie days of motoring through the St. Lawrence Seaway and its locks. As the confines of the green river gave way to the open gray horizons of Lake Ontario, we decided to celebrate our new "sea room" with a sail and some tacks to get our crew back into "sailing shape" for the Tall Ship's races we will be participating in this summer. Our tacks were cancelled when our partner, the wind, stood us up - we dropped anchor instead near Prince Edward Point. As the afternoon ended, the wind left so little a trace of itself that the water of our anchorage became a mirror to reflect the setting sun. In a few hours we will heave anchor, and hopefully sail to Toronto. We are apparently making good time, so maybe we can wait for our belated wind.

As we cruised down the St.Lawrence river yesterday morning, our pilot (we need a local pilot on board while we are in the lakes to guide us) regaled us with fish stories and photographs of the large lake fish (muskies, pikes) caught in the area. It inspired Frank, our engineer, to put forth a considerable effort this afternoon to catch a fish. He arrived on deck first with a small fishing pole and a huge lead weight and hook intended for sea fishing. Eventually more proper fishing gear could be found. Alas, he caught no fish, but said he would not let his bait of bacon go to waste. I'm not sure what he did with it. Between him and Diven, there may be a competition to catch the first lake-fish.

We made a stop in Montreal, staying from the 22nd to the morning of the 25th - This "very-French" city in Quebec was a unique place to explore for our crew in their time-off and it gave us time to catch up on maintenance to beautify our ship for Toronto. The hull was cleaned until it shone white again and the pin rails gleamed with a rare coat of varnish. Diven put his welding skills to work putting rings for the Desmond sail onto its new stay.

Most notably in Montreal, Diven accomplished a feat of eating; a challenge issued by a pub to eat a plate of ridiculously hot chicken wings.
I don't know what the sauce was, but I licked some off my finger and thought for fifteen minutes after that my lips and tongue were bleeding! Diven however, methodically wolfed it down in a mere five minutes - a gluttonous feat worthy alongside the twelve labors of Hercules! He is very proud this conquest and wants the world to know what he has done.

As I write this, I notice a bit of a breeze in the flags aloft, maybe we will sail off the hook this morning as we turn towards Toronto? We shall see.