Today the Viking Octantis was stationary in Lake Erie off the shore of Point Pelee, Ontario. Point Pelee National Park is the southernmost point of Canada, known for its variety of birds, especially during migration season. Octantis has a unique system of remaining stationary in a lake or ocean, using a series of stabilizer thrusters and GPS to hold its position so that it never has to drop anchor, thus protecting the ecosystem. We had a Facebook request to identify our cabin location:
It was to have been our most active day, with a kayak tour along the Point Pelee peninsula in the morning and a hike along the boardwalk in Point Pelee National Park in the afternoon, plus we had hoped to squeeze in one of the other hikes available. Unfortunately, mother nature did not cooperate. High winds and rough water canceled most planned activities. We made it out for a quick Zodiac tour along the shore of Point Pelee, but all we saw were Herring Gulls and a couple of Turkey Vultures. We were not able to go ashore and by 11 am, all activities were canceled. It's a shame, because Octantis is equipped with an abundance of aquatic toys, but we couldn’t use them today. It happens – not Viking’s fault in any way. They always put passenger safety first.
In case you are not familiar, a Zodiac is a 10-person glorified raft with a powerful motor that makes it quite manuverable. Half way into our Zodiac tour, another Zodiac with Viking staff on board pulled up along side us, anxiously explaining that they were taking on water and needed to offload some cargo to us. Well of course we fell for it and offered to help -- turns out the cargo they wanted to offload was a glass of champagne for each of us. The Viking crew is really quite amazing.
Here are more views of Octantis from our Zodiac. In the second photo, you can see the ramp deployed in the rear of the ship, where the special operations boats depart and then are safely returned to the hangar.
The truly disappointing part of today's journey was Viking’s decision to sail up the Detroit River after 11:00 pm in the evening. We only had a short trip from Point Pelee to Detroit, and we were told that we would sail up the Detroit River tomorrow morning, so we had planned to rise early to watch the excitement. Cruising across the Great Lakes isn’t very interesting except when passing close to shore through the connecting rivers and narrower passages. That is the best sightseeing and we missed it. Around dinner time, Octantis sailed west through Lake Erie and then stopped short of the Detroit River. As announced, we thought we would stay there until morning. But at 11:15 pm, we saw channel markers and quickly identified it on Google Maps as Grosse Isle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see anything but a few house lights. I have run the Grosse Isle half marathon several times and was looking forward to seeing the spectacular homes from the river. As I write this, we are stopped at River Rouge, just south of downtown Detroit. I’ll find out what happened in the morning.
At least the endless supply of amazing food continued through three more meals today. I haven’t been taking photos of all my food choices, but it has included lobster, prime rib, lamb, halibut, perch, salmon, duck and a wide variety of quality side dishes and fresh-baked bread. We keep going back to the sushi bar for one of our dinner courses. And our standard practice has been to indulge in three desserts after every dinner (only two at lunch). The Viking World Cafe is served buffet style, but it’s not an ordinary buffet. Chefs are lined up behind the buffet tables, re-stocking selections and making sure everything is fresh and well-presented, plus accommodating special requests. Last night when we attended a reception with senior staff of Octantis, it was the head chef that received the biggest applause.
Tomorrow we will be at the old Boblo Island departure dock in Detroit. We are not joining the excursions, since we have seen everything that is offered at the Detroit stop, but we look forward to sailing up the remaining section of the Detroit River during daylight, plus Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River, on our way to Alpena (Wednesday’s stop).
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