My cousin Zaza has come from France to visit her daughter, Lucie, who moved here a couple of years ago. Before this visit, I hadn't seen her in over 35 years, since my only visit to France when I was 14 years old. Zaza had spent a year in Canada when she was in her late teens. It's been wonderful getting to spend time with her, and what could be more relaxing than an evening sail at the end of the work week. My niece Magda and her boyfriend Alec also joined us. We headed out on a beautiful, sunny, late afternoon. We raised the sails just after going through the eastern gap, and turned off the engine. There was little wind, but our guests were happy to be on the water. While I was below preparing some snacks, Ed said I should come up to see the mist rolling in. We don't get a lot of fog in Toronto, so this was strange. The wind picked up just enough that we could actually feel that we were moving, and we thought we could still stay out on the lake, when suddenly, we were enveloped in really thick fog. Visibility went down to a few dozen feet almost instantly. We started the engine, got the sails down, and I went forward with the air horn to keep an eye out for shore and other boats, and to signal our position.
We started up the handheld GPS, and while it was acquiring a signal, we motored as slowly as we could in what we thought was the right direction for the channel. Ed spotted the green buoy near the island, and the fog lifted enough so that we made it through the gap and into the harbour. We were debating whether it would be safe to stay out a little longer when the fog thickened again. Decision made. We got back without incident and enjoyed some refreshments aboard before heading up to the club restaurant for dinner. During dinner, the fog rolled in again, so thickly that we could hardly see the other side of the lagoon, but by the time we were done, the skies cleared and we got a great view of the Toronto skyline.