We had a great sail across Lake St Clair, the conditions were almost Caribbean-like; clear skies, blue water and plenty of wind. We got to see a barge setting buoys - so for those that want to know how, ask Ken. We began more serious navigation as we entered the St Clair River cut-off channel at 4:05. The river has a reputation for very shallow areas adjacent to the deep water channel. Combine that with the reputation for strong currents and commercial ship traffic it becomes even more challenging. Fortunately the combination worked in our favor; very little commercial traffic and except for the Blue Water bridge we only experienced an average current of about 2 kts.

We were motor sailing up the river, and for the most part the main was helping us, however about 2/3's of the way up we experienced high winds in the wrong direction. Up to this point Roger was using the width of the channel to keep the main full but we got slammed with 21kts right on the nose. With Roger at the wheel, I dropped the main and with Mark's help we were able to get it folded and sail bag zipped. For our spouses: yes we were tethered in, the rule on the boat was when in the cockpit everyone must wear life preservers, outside of the cockpit or at night in the cockpit everyone must have life preservers and be tethered to the jack lines.

The watch schedule continues to work well, as Roger and Mark are able to grab some sleep as Ken navigates us under the Blue Water Bridge at 11:00. As mentioned previously this area is notorious for strong currents but we only experienced 3-4 kts directly under the bridge. Since it was dark, it was nice not having any commercial traffic to deal with during this passage, however the small fishing boats were something else as there were quite a few anchored or drifting in the middle of the channel. Most of these boats are poorly illuminated and probably have no clue as to the potential hazards they represent. We're finally in Lake Huron, the engine is running well.