Michigan: Drummond Island

Today turned in to a bicycling day.   After taking care of a few phone calls and paying bills, we jumped on our bikes to visit the produce stand down the street. We no sooner got back to the boat when I realized that I forgot to buy onions, so back we went for those.   I thought we were going to bike directly to the grocery store from there, but Clark had other ideas, so back to the boat we went.

We dropped off the onions and headed into town with a stop at the post office on the way. We found a fast food place similar to a Dairy Queen in town.  Amazingly,  the chicken wrap I had there was fabulous.  

The grocery store was directly across the street so we picked up essentials.  Clark regreted the request for orange juice since I put it in his backpack to carry the 3 miles back to the boat.

Once we had dropped off the groceries,  we decided to treat ourselves with ice cream so it was back on the bikes to go to the ice cream store we passed going into town.  After ice cream we stopped into the Drummond Island Historical Museum where Clark found many antique objects that reminded him of things his parents had.  He took loads of pictures of those antiques.

When we got back to the boat, I tallied up the miles traveled by bike and roughly came up with 8 miles.  I took a shower and laid down on the bed to rest for a while.   Then around 6:00, Clark came and got me to ride back into town to go to dinner before it got too late to ride our bikes.  That added another 5 miles to my tally for a total of 13 bike miles today.

I'm getting in shape ready to tour Mackinac Island which is coming up on our itinerary shortly!

Michigan: Meldrum Bay to Drummond Island

Day 44

Travel Time:  5 hours

NM today: 39

NM total: 986

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

At docktails last night the topic of conversation was returning to the US and going through customs.  What we gathered from the talk is that it is a total crap shoot as to what they will ask and look for.  General consensus seemed to be that citrus fruit and live plants were problematic.  That reminded me that we had clementines on board, so we decided we better eat them before we got to customs.  I had also heard that meats and raw vegetables might be a problem, so for supper last night I cooked all remaining vegetables plus two steaks.  We ate well and had plenty of leftovers for another meal.

Because we anticipated rough waters and a long trip, I packed a lunch to bring up top with us and peeled our 5 remaining clementines and brought the fruit up top for snack time.  As we proceeded towards the US border, the waters seemed to get rougher and rougher.  The VHF radio was conspicuously quiet and no other boats could be seen in any direction.  Periodically we got an announcement on the VHF radio regarding a High-winds Advisory for the North Channel.  North Channel???  That's exactly where we were boating.  Maybe the other boaters were sane enough to stay in port, but not us!

Before heading up top we did a check and double-check to make sure that everything was stowed well and all windows were closed.  Depending on the direction we traveled as we navigated towards Drummond Island, the waves got rather high (4 to 6') and broke over the bow of the boat creating a lot of splash.  Several times we got hit in the face on the fly bridge with cold Lake Huron water.  Thank goodness everything was closed down below.  

Windy weather stirred up the water all day long

Finally we arrived at Drummond Island Yacht Haven - our entry point into the U.S.A.  We needed fuel so we pulled up to the fuel dock to start.  A very businesslike dock hand told us that we could receive no services and we both had to stay on board until we had cleared customs,  Shortly thereafter a very pleasant man in uniform came out to check us in to the USA.  He was very chatty and sociable, told us anecdotes and jokes, and filled out the required paperwork.  He did ask if we had any goods we bought in Canada that we needed to declare, but he never asked about citrus fruit, vegetables, or meat.   

Yacht Haven Customs Office

Live Bait Machine at Marina - sadly out of order

All was going well.  We filled up with 183+ gallons of fuel (that ought to blow my budget for the month), checked in, and prepared to move to our slip assignment.  Concerned with the high winds and the slip assignment putting us in a situation where our boat would get blown into another boat sharing the slip space, we got a few extra hands to help with lines. As we started to back away from the fuel dock, one of the fenders got wrapped around a fuel-dock cleat.  Foolishly I tried to reach over to release it, but it was too late, the line had been stretched beyond its limit and snapped.  Something hit my left hand hard and instantly my hand swelled to 3 to 4 times its normal size and started changing colors starting with white and progressing to black, blue, and red.

I told Clark I was hurt pretty badly but to proceed with docking because I needed to see to my hand and wanted us to get into our slip.  I performed my duties as deck hand with tossing and holding lines, but as soon as we were tied in our slip, I ran inside to apply ice to my hand.  I could not bend my hand but that seemed to be from the swelling.  I did not believe anything was broken.  Thank goodness for small miracles.

That episode basically ruined my afternoon.  I sat and felt sorry for myself for a while as I held ice to my hand in an elevated position.  The ice worked wonders and over time the swelling reduced significantly.  I decided that I could work on my blog with my one good hand, and that helped to take my mind off my injury.

Meanwhile Clark had struck up a conversation with the boater sharing the slip and learned lots of good information in preparation for navigating Lake Michigan.  We had discussed it earlier and agreed that we would go into town for pizza so I wouldn't have to cook tonight.  We planned to walk as only my hand was injured - not my legs.  However, when he came back from his chat, we decided that the swelling in my hand had reduced enough that I could ride my bicycle since the restaurant was purportedly about two miles away.

We traveled at least those two miles plus some more and saw no pizza places.  In fact we found no town to speak of.  We had gotten directions from two young ladies driving by in a car, but decided we must have misunderstood as we passed through the rural countryside on our bikes.  Clark thought we might have turned too soon, so we went back to the last intersection and tried a different direction.  As we found no evidence of any town, we decided that we just had no idea where to go.  

I saw a person coming out of the side street and flagged him down for directions.  He said that town was three miles further down the road we were on.  Since we were on unfamiliar roads, in the country, with dark approaching, I told Clark that we needed to abort our mission and return back to the boat for leftovers for dinner.  We did not have lights with us, and I did not want to be caught out after dark.  We zipped back to the boat and raided the fridge.  

After dinner I worked on my blog while Clark read through the mail we had forwarded to the marina from our mail service.  Tomorrow we will be in Drummond again for which I am very grateful.  Clark and I have a ton of things to get done.  If we were on the move again tomorrow, I don't know how we would be able to take care of them.

As usual Clark went looking for sunset pictures at the end of the day.  This month we have a "blue moon" which occurs when two full moons happen in the same month.  In our collection of pictures Clark captured this month's "blue moon".

Blue Moon over Drummond Island

Canada: Beardrop Harbour to Meldrum Bay

Day 43

Travel Time:  2.5 hours

NM today: 20

NM total: 947

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

Last night Clark and I chased mosquitoes around the master stateroom for over an hour. We went to bed at 10:30 but at midnight we still had some buzzing in our ears as we tried to sleep.  I went to use the head at one point, was in there for no more than 2 minutes, and had killed 4 mosquitoes by the time I came out.  We don't know how they come in, but they sure know how to make themselves at home!  When I woke in the morning, I found several more that had avoided us during our attack on them the night before.  One thing I will not miss about Canada is the mosquitoes!  

We decided to go for it and make the crossing to Meldrum Bay today.  We left just after 8:00 and at 9:00 we tried to tune in VHF to hear Roy one more time, but sadly that turned out to be a fail as all we got was garbled roar on the radio until I begged Clark to turn it off.  The crossing was fine and we were at our dock by 11:30 so we missed the higher winds.  Meldrum Bay marina turned out to be low-to-no frills.  They seem to pride themselves on lack of cell signal and WiFi.  The water at the docks is not potable, so Clark did not even dare to wash the bugs off the boat because we'd have non-drinkable water flowing through the hoses we use to fill our water tank.

Meldrum Bay as seen from the jetty

After registering and getting the boat settled, e.g. plugged into electric, lines secured, etc.  We decided to go to the restaurant / inn near the marina for lunch.  After being seated and handed the menus, I inquired as to whether or not they had WiFi and received a lecture on no cell phone use allowed at the tables on the porch where we were seated.  I explained that I just wanted to see my email, and she said, "I guess I am not making myself clear.  We do not allow cell phone use at the dining area."  I told her she was very clear.  I did not tell her I thought their policy absurd.

Miniature Replica of Meldrum Inn
(in garden of Meldrum Inn)

We ordered and ate lunch and while we sat there, two women came into the restaurant rather louding talking about Sea Moss owners and how they had missed them again.  I spoke up and said, "Did someone say Sea Moss?"  whereby they came over and introduced themselves.   It seems that while we were getting settled, other looper boats had come in to port including Knot Home and Sea to See.  We have seen Knot Home at our various stops since Killarney but had not met them, so we were pleased to meet them in this stop. 

Later, when Clark and I were walking back to our boat, two gentlemen in uniform starting chatting with us and walking along with us.  They asked if we 'had just come in' whereby I responded, "No" at the same time Clark replied, "Yes".  You see I figured out very quickly they were Canadian Customs Officials, and the "just came in" meant 'did you just enter Canada'.  Clark translated their question to mean 'did you just get into port'.  We walked and we chatted and pretty soon it became clear they were escorting us to our boat.  

Once there, they asked if we had over $10,000 in cash whereby I responded, "No, but I wish I did."  Then they asked about alcohol, tobacco, and firearms.  "No No and No" to those except Clark had to volunteer that we had a flare gun on board.  Then they wanted to know if we had a safe and when we said we had a box that locked they asked to see the contents, so we opened it in front of them and they flicked through the not-very-exciting contents of our box.  They left shortly after that to visit all the other boats - some they boarded and went through in some detail.  After they left, Clark turned to me and said, "Now you have something to put in your blog!" 

The general store that used to provide some provisions and per folklore the WiFi for the harbor is out of business.  The marina provided basic essentials like bread, milk, and toothpaste to try to make up for the lack of store in town.  Despite the rustic nature of the marina, we did enjoy our stay.  We pulled out the bicycles in an attempt to see the area and get some exercise.  However, there was almost nothing of interest to see.  We rode over the hill to the museum which was a small building that we missed on our first attempt to visit it.  The cost to tour the museum was $3 per person.  I peaked in the window and decided better ways exist to spend $6, so we passed on our exciting tour of that place.  

We crossed the street to visit Dove's Homemade Goods store.  I liked the stained-glass lighthouse ornaments there a lot, but was not willing to pay the $20 to acquire one.  Never mind we had spend all but about $10 of our Canadian money, so I could not have purchased one if I had wanted to.  After the museum and Dove's we rode our bikes to the other side of town to visit the town meeting place and the historic church circa 1920 which seems pretty recent to me.

Local Church in Meldrum

The Mississagi Lighthouse was 5 to 7 miles away from the marina.  We biked up to the street sign that said turn here for the lighthouse road, and then biked back to the boat. I did a load of wash which took forever and $4 in quarters with the sub-standard dryers available at the marina.  I took a shower while the laundry was in the washer and found that when another person was showering only very hot water was available and when they completed their shower, only cold water became available.  A sign on the shower door said "Water temperatures vary".  I thought that meant be careful if someone flushes the toilet when you are showering.  I never guessed that it meant you were in jeopardy if someone else was showering as well.

Knot Home and Sea to See invited us to join them for cocktails on the dock (docktails) at 6:00.  Owners of a sailboat Vixen, sharing the dock with the other two boats, walked by to return to their boat and ended up joining us.  Vixen is kept in Lake Superior.  We enjoyed the camaraderie until 8:30 when I announced that Clark and I needed to go get dinner and so we had to leave.   

Docktails with Knot Home, Sea to See, and Vixen
(note the almost full moon in the background)

Canada: The Benjamin Islands to Beardrop Harbor

Day 42

Travel Time:  3.5 hours

NM today: 26

NM total: 923

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

Clark started the day by listening to Roy on VHF Ch. 71 to get the weather, news, and relays.  I heard Clark announce Sea Moss in attendance for today’s broadcast.  I was down below doing last minute prep for today’s trip.  Our destination today was Beardrop Harbour.  We left port shortly after 10:00 when Roy’s show ended.

Although I hoped to do some sewing to mend Clark’s comfy shorts along the way today, I spent the entire trip as navigator reading the charts and entering waypoints into the Simrad Chart Plotter.  After I set the route from Eagle Island through McBean Channel to Whalesback Channel, I ran downstairs to pack our lunch and bring it back up as I normally do on travel days.   The route past John’s Island and to near the entrance to Beardrop has channel markers, so at that point we went to eyeballs and binoculars to find our way to the harbor. 

Once again I stood on the bow of the boat spying for rocks as we entered the harbor.  We saw someone cleaning the mud off their anchor as we came in, so Clark opted for the Danforth yet again.  We have it down to a science now.  I do the anchor setup and Clark does the heavy lifting, i.e. dropping the anchor over the side and tying it off.  For some reason though today I could not tie a bowline for love nor money.  I finally abandoned the float and left Clark to do that as part of his anchor deployment.  It took him approximately 5 seconds to tie the bowline I had not managed in 5 minutes of trying.  Grrr!  Guess I better practice my knots!

We learned about Beardrop from Clark asking various boaters with local knowledge that we found along the way where the best places are to drop anchor.  That’s how he learned about our other choice anchorages as well.  The anchor he had drawn on the chart agreed with the Ports Guide that the best spot to anchor here in Beardrop is at the narrow split between two islands.  Fortunately a boat was just leaving that very spot when we came in, so we snatched up their spot.

Late day sun on the narrow split in Beardrop Harbor

Whether the weather made us groggy due to the warm, humid temperatures, or perhaps we exhausted ourselves with go-go-go every day, but neither of us felt like taking down the kayaks or the dinghy to go exploring.  Besides being hot, the winds made the waters choppy, and I just did not feel like dealing with any of it.  Truly I felt like taking a nap, but instead I sewed the pocket on Clark’s comfy shorts and then defrosted the fridge (yet again).   Afterwards I opened the hatch over our bed and climbed into bed with my Kindle to read more of my book with a cool breeze blowing over me to keep me comfortable.

I never did nap but the lying-down-with-a-book activity was a delight.  We ate an early dinner, watched the sunset, worked on the blog (Ev), and played guitar (Clark). 

Clark Playing Guitar at Sunset

As Clark does every night, he checked the TV for channels.  We got 0 digital and 1 analog channel; however the signal strength on the one channel was not strong enough to watch.  We don’t care about the TV; it is just interesting to see if any stations broadcast to these remote places we are exploring.  The funniest part of looking for TV channels is that when we do find one we can watch, we end up seeing a rerun of Castle.  We got the slightest hint (i.e. lots of snow) of a TV channel last night in The Benjamins and sure enough there were Richard Castle and Kate Becket.  The only other show I remember seeing here in Canada was a Canadian Info-mercial for I-don’t-remember-what product! 

As we move along on our voyage now, we are getting closer and closer to the U.S. and passing through customs.  We have plans A, B, and C for crossing the North Channel as the final leg of our Canadian adventure with the route selection dependent on west winds, south winds, or just plain miserable weather.  Somewhere between here and the U.S. we need to find a restaurant to get a good meal and use up Canadian dollars that are left in our pockets, so we need to find at least one more marina with a decent restaurant before we cross the border.

Canada: Little Current to The Benjamin Islands

Day 41

Travel Time:  2.5 hours

NM today: 18

NM total: 897

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

It is truly amazing how a day changes depending on location.  This morning we ran around Little

Current doing last minute things before leaving port.  This afternoon we enjoyed the serenity and sports opportunities of a beautiful anchorage.  At the end of the day I simply cannot believe it all occurred in the same day.  This is not the first time I have had trouble getting my head around the differences from site to site and thinking that something that happened in the morning must have occurred on some other day.

Little Current is the home to the Cruiser’s Net network by a man named Roy who broadcasts on VHF Ch. 71 every day in July and August.  His broadcast consists of the weather, some news, some history, and then he provides a relay service to help boaters connect to other boaters.  He has quite a following and large numbers of boaters tune in and announce their presence.  Today, Clark walked over to the room where Roy broadcasts, met Roy and some other boaters who came to the broadcast, and stayed to listen to the report.  While he did that, I walked around town and checked out the various nooks and crannies of the stores in town. 

When he got back to the boat, we went out on our bikes to the two marine stores in town but we didn’t find what we are looking for.  I need a new catch for my clothes closet so the door does not bang back and forth in high seas.  We have not been able to find one in any of the marine stores we have visited here in Canada.  Maybe we’ll be able to find something in the U.S.  Meanwhile when we have rocky waters, I hang my jacket over the door to cushion the slams against the door handle of the nearby door.  A second door catch also broke on this trip but so far I have not noticed it banging around in high seas.  Still it needs to be repaired too as soon as we can find the parts.

We finally pulled away from dock around 11:00 saying au revoir to our friends on Harmony.  Our anchorage for tonight is extremely popular and is referred to as “The Benjamins”.  The Benjamins consist of North Benjamin and South Benjamin Islands and a lovely anchorage in between.  We arrived at the anchorage around 2:30 and were settled in by 3:00 when we decided we should go exploring.  I hoped we would explore by dinghy so I could avoid a confrontation with the kayak, but no such luck, Clark said we were going out in our kayaks.  Oh joy! 

We circumnavigated the anchorage by traveling in a counterclockwise direction.  Some maneuvering was easier than other as in some directions the wind helped and in others it gave opposition to forward motion.  We found lots of little hide-y-holes where boats were anchored in out of the way places.  The rock formations with the mountains in the background and the trees all around made a panoramic view whereby it mattered not at all which direction we looked because beautiful scenery met our eyes in every direction.

Natural boat dock – note the rock bottom can be seen through the water

Rock slope in distance just begging to be climbed

Packed harbor as seen from the top of the slope
(Look closely and you can see me climbing up to meet Clark)

At 4:30 we headed back to the boat.  When we got there, Clark said he felt like going for a swim in the natural pool we had seen during our exploration.   Being hot from the exercise in the kayak I found a swim appealing, so I agreed and changed into my swimsuit.  Only after I came out ready to go did Clark make it clear that we would be using the kayaks to get to the swimming hole.  Ughhh!  Here I was proud of myself for having managed to get in and out today without flipping it over, and now I have to conquer the kayak a second time in the same day!?  Ugh!

I must say that Clark sets the bar much higher for me than I would ever set for myself.  He expects that whatever my issue is I’ll “suck it up” and get on with it.  Due to his high expectations of my capabilities, I have done many things with him that I would never have experienced otherwise including hiking, riding a 10-speed bike, kayaking, and skiing just to name a few.  I grumble and grumble; he ignores me; and I get on with doing whatever it is he expects me to do. 

It is a pattern we have followed for as long as I have known him.  I mostly think about this in sports-type situations, but the same sequence of complaints, expectations, and accomplishments occurs regularly in other aspects of our lives.  Sometimes I wonder how he puts up with my complaining, but we both know that when all is said and done, I’m happy I managed whatever activity he “forced” me into.  I truly think it keeps me younger just trying to keep up with him.

Anyway, to get back to the point, we did go out in the kayaks for a second time today and enjoyed a lovely swim in the natural pool.  Clark has a point-and-click device that reads the temperature. The water temperature by the boat was 67 degrees. The pool was warmer at 72.  The rocks surrounding the pool was 98 degrees – those are some hot rocks!  We had to wear our water shoes out there because the rocks were so slippery we couldn’t climb back out of the water with bare feet because we could not get traction.   Clark took his off because he said he couldn’t swim wearing them and then put them back on when he found he couldn’t get out of the water without them.  

Natural Pool made of stone -
rocks under water look much closer than their actual 6 feet down

Such fun!  The water felt great.  Clark helped me climb out once and then I decided that I wanted to swim more so I went back in for a second time.  Around 5:45 I decided that I was too hungry to stay out at the pool any longer as I needed to start cooking dinner.  So, back in the kayaks we went for the trip back to the boat.  I got a lot of exercise today – first on my bike in town, two times out in kayaks, and a swim thrown in for the heck of it.  I love it!  (The only part of kayaking I dislike is getting into and out of the kayak from the back of Sea Moss.)

After a lovely chat with my younger son on the phone, we watched the sky change colors multiple times as once again we enjoyed an amazing sunset over the water!  Life does not get any better than this!

Sunset at The Benjamins

Georgian Bay, Canada: Baie Fine “The Pool” to Little Current

Day 39

Travel Time: 3.5 hours

NM today: 22

NM total: 878

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

We targeted an early start to get to Little Current by the 11:00 swing bridge opening as the bridge only opens hourly for fifteen minutes.  When we went out to raise the anchor, a real mess greeted us.  The anchor line had 60 feet of weeds tangled on it and the anchor itself was buried under a mass of green weeds.  The time it took us to clean off all the weeds and get underway meant we missed the 11:00 opportunity.

We arrived at the bridge at 11:40.  Another boater at The Pool told us the clearance is currently 14 feet, but Clark called the bridge tender to ask.  He responded that the bridge clearance is 17 feet.  At 14 we don’t fit and at 17 we have loads of head room.  Hmmmmmm!  With the wind and the current against us, Clark felt that we could “go for it” and if we couldn’t make it, at least we wouldn’t be swept into the bridge by either wind or current.  We lowered our antennas (we have 2) and our radar tower making our clearance 15’3” based on our crude measurements taken years ago. 

We edged up to the bridge with me driving and Clark standing on the bench seats of the fly bridge to see over the Bimini top to get an eyeball on clearance.  I kept saying, “I don’t think we can do it.  It’s certainly not 17’ of clearance.”  As we got closer and closer, Clark finally said, “Put it in gear, we’re good to go.”   We were in neutral while he decided what we should do, so I put us into forward motion and took her through the opening amazed that we fit under.   The bridge tender must have been curious too because he came down to watch us try it and I could him yelling, “You’re good to go.  You’re good!” 

Swing Bridge at Little Current

Luckily we found space available at the Little Current Town Dock although at $1.75 a foot, it cost more than we expected to pay.  At 12:00 we had already tied up.  If we had waited for the bridge to open, we would have lost that 20 minutes just floating around doing nothing.  We love to shock even ourselves with fitting under these low bridges.  We passed a sailboat coming up to the swing bridge and he scowled at us as we went by probably thinking we were cutting in line to go through the bridge when it opened.  I would have liked to have seen his face when we went right on under.

As soon as we came in to tie up to the dock, we saw our friends on Harmony whom we had seen previously on this trip.  Once somewhat settled, i.e. at least tied to the dock, we went over to say hello.  I got the low down on where to get a free pump out using the coupon we received in Peterborough on the Trent Severn, how to locate the grocery stores, possible locations for overnight anchorages, etc.  Eunice from Harmony said they planned on using bicycles to get around because things were not close, i.e. the grocery stores are not close, so we decided to follow suit.  The town is quaint and has interesting shops many of which were closed due to it being Sunday.

quaint town of  Little Current

We needed quite a few groceries, so we took two backpacks with us.  Since the two stores are located across the street from each other, we went to Foodland first and Valumart second.  In other towns we found Foodland to be the better of the two.  Here Foodland did not have the selection or the freshness of vegetables that Valumart had.  The checkout person could not believe that I was going to get all my groceries into the backpacks, so she said, “Tell me when you want a bag.”  Hah!  I didn’t need one, but we were both staggering under the weight.  Canned goods and jars of spaghetti sauce are not light! 

When she saw that we were ready to be on our way, she asked if we were going back to the marina.  We said yes, and she said, “There’s a short cut.  You can cut down a back street and then through the park to the steps down to the docks.”  “We’re biking”, we said.  “Oh, then just do the same but instead of cutting through the park, just take the street back.  It’s downhill all the way.”

We followed her great directions and enjoyed an expedited trip back to the boat.  As we passed the park she told us about, we stopped to look around, read the dedication to the stockade that used to occupy that site, and took some photos of the harbor below us.

         

Little Current Harbor

We came back to the boat and stowed the perishables as quickly as possible so we could go back out and explore more of the town.  We heard a street performer singing as we came back to the boat.  Even though I hurried to get back out, she was done and packing her car by the time we got back, so we didn’t get a chance to hear her sing more than part of one Simon and Garfunkel as we flew by on our bikes.  Having missed her show, we rode our bikes through town and checked out any stores we found that were open.  We then decided to head back to the Valumart for something I had forgotten to buy on the first go round, so back up the hill we went.

We got back to the grocery store at 4:55 and the store closed at 5:00 but the clerk let us zip in “As long as you promise to be fast”, she said as we entered.   The personnel must have been in a hurry to leave or something.  The bill came to $8.35, and I had change but was struggling to come up with the 35 cents as all I had were quarters and toonies.  The sales clerk said, “Here.  I have 35 cents”, and reached into his own pocket and pulled out the change.  I was so shocked I was speechless.  However, I had given him a $20 plus his 35 cents, and he almost forgot to give me the $12 change.  Maybe he was as shocked that he had offered the money as I was.

With our additional purchase in hand, we zipped back to the boat on our fun shortcut.  After that Clark spent a good part of the rest of the day talking to fellow boaters, giving out his boat cards that I made for him (us), and finding out tips and hints from boaters with local knowledge.  We met a person today with a Mainship 400 (sister to our Mainship 350) who has made the Great Loop trip once before, and enjoyed it so much, he is doing it again.  He just started out from Midland, ON very recently.  He’s on a boat named Something Special and we expect to be seeing him off and on as we make our way around this loop “together”.

I called my son Jeff and we talked for a while so I could catch up on his news.  Keeping in touch while in Canada had been a challenge as phone service is expensive and as I mentioned in the prior blog entry - not always available.  I had hoped to connect with my other son, Chris, who said he would call me today, but timing didn't seem to work out well to make that happen.  Hopefully we can connect soon.  Being away from and missing family is the most difficult part of this adventure.

We ended the day with showers and ice cream – both needed treats.  Although we both went swimming twice yesterday, neither time involved any soap, so I was more than ready to try out the showers at the marina.  We just made it to the ice cream shop before they closed.  Clark met me as I came out of the shower and said we had to hurry or we’d miss our chance for the ice cream.  Heaven forbid!  Our current favorite flavor is Pralines and Cream.  Yum!                                                                               

Georgian Bay, Canada: Covered Portage Cove to Baie Fine “The Pool”

Day 38

Travel Time: 3.5 hours

NM today: 27

NM total: 856

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

We woke this morning to the rumble of thunder.  Shortly after the rain started.  Clark decided to listen to the Boaters’ Network broadcast at 9:00 before leaving since the weather report indicated the rain would blow over and we would have a clear day if we waited.  By 9:15 the rain had slowed so Clark went upfront to start hauling in the anchor, and I took the helm.  Unlike the anchorage at The Bustard Islands, the course to exit the anchorage at Covered Portage Cove was clear, so as Clark pulled in and cleaned up the anchor, I started us slowly on our way.

The trip from Covered Portage to Baie Fine took longer than I expected.  The fact that Clark followed the magenta line on the chart down a direction we did not plan or want to travel did not help.  When I looked at the GPS coordinates compared to the chart, I asked him where he was going.  We had to make an about face and backtrack only slightly to get back on track.  The magenta line is nice, but when multiple intersect, the pilot must take care to follow the correct line.  I have said it in prior blog entries, all these rocks and islands look alike to us, so it is easy to make a mistake. 

The narrow channel through Baie Fine to The Pool is long and skinny with few to no buoys, so the trip is slow to someone like us who is unfamiliar with where the rocks may be lying in wait. We had deep water all the way into The Pool, but it never hurts to be careful in a new anchorage with rocky terrain.  The Pool is well protected, so protected in fact that no cell phone service (at least not Verizon’s) could penetrate the area.  We have always had some service in other anchorages, poor perhaps, but at least in existence.  Today we had not a single bar of reception and nothing worked – text, voice or data.  That was terribly disappointing as my son had said he would call me today.  Figures!

We got settled rather quickly.  Clark used the CQR anchor today because we read that the bottom was weedy.  The guide books said to let the anchor settle in the weeds before setting it.  We did that and it gripped very well.  Not too long after, however, we noticed that the anchor line was growing a beard rather rapidly.  Many weeds float on the service of the water and become entangled with the line.  The guide book says that we will need someone at the anchor in a dinghy to chop away the weeds as we pull it up.  Sounds like fun – not!

After a late lunch we decided to take the kayaks out and go to explore a trail we read about leading to Topaz Lake.  Clark said we needed to wear our bathing suits so we could swim in Topaz Lake once we got there.  I said, “I hope it’s not 64 degrees!”  He responded, “No, it’s not even 64 here.  I measured the temp and it is 74 here.”  I put my suit on and my hiking shirt and pants over the top.  Once again I insisted on wearing my water shoes for kayaking and putting my sneakers in Clark’s backpack.

Well, it was a very good thing that I had on my swimsuit and water shoes because when I tried to get into the kayak, I overbalanced and whoosh, the kayak was upside down beside me in the water.  I went under water and came up sputtering and trying to catch my breath from the surprise of taking an involuntary swim.  I grabbed hold of the swim platform on the boat with my left hand to keep my arm out of the water in a futile attempt to save my watch.  As of the writing of this blog entry, it is still ticking (it’s a Timex!).

So, now I’m in the water, fully clothed and surprisingly still wearing my hat, sunglasses, and contact lenses; boats all around me; and no way to get out of the water.  My kayak floated on one side of me upside down and I could not figure out how to right it.  Clark’s kayak floated on the other side of me, but I figured if I tried to pull myself into there, I’d flip it on top of me.  Then there sat Sea Moss with my one square foot of swim platform to work with.  Although Clark can pull himself up onto that out of the water, I cannot.  I did not even try as I knew it was hopeless.  In between gasps of breath as I was still reeling from my surprise dip, I said somewhat pathetically to Clark, “I don’t know what to do”. 

The only option to get me out of the water was to launch the dinghy.  To do that I knew I had to get myself and the two kayaks out of the way, so having given my watch to Clark, I had both arms free to tread water and move the kayaks away from the back of the boat with me.  Clark asked if it was clear to let the boat down because he couldn’t see beyond the dinghy, so I told him it was safe.  Finally he got the dinghy down and the swim ladder deployed, and I climbed out of the water sopping wet.

Clark offered me a towel but I just stripped off the hiking shirt and pants since I had the swimsuit on underneath.  He got me some clothes pins and I hung my clothes up to try and went to find new ones. 

With the dinghy in the water, I had the entire swim platform at my disposal to assist with getting in the kayak, so I managed a successful and definitely more graceful embarkation on my second attempt.  One thing about taking the involuntary dip, I felt cool even with the sun beating down.  The dock we needed to reach lay on the far side of The Pool, so we paddled over and found a boat ramp of sorts where we could pull up our kayaks and start our hike.  

We followed the rocky trail to Topaz Lake where we found beautiful quartz stone and a lake with clear blue water. 

Rocky Trail to Topaz Lake from The Pool

Topaz Lake

The trail gave us a hard time without hiking shoes as many stones wobbled, and pine needles, mud, and the uphill climb made the trail slippery.  As we got closer and closer to Topaz Lake, we saw more and more quartz stone laying at our feet.  Walking around and on top of the granite in the area, I thought of kitchen countertops and gravestones depending on what color I saw at the time.  We reached the lake and for the second time today, I went swimming.  I did not plan ahead though and left my water shoes with the kayak, so I had to climb over the stones in the water in bare feet to get out for my swim.

Stones in Topaz Lake to swimming area

I could tell from firsthand experience that the water in Topaz Lake was colder than the water in The Pool.  Even so, it felt refreshing and all too soon from my point of view, Clark was saying it was time to climb out, dry off, and complete our hike.  Clark had read that a spectacular view of The Pool could be seen from the trail we hiked, but we did not see it.  Later we learned that we had to hike much further and higher than we had hiked to get to see it.  Oh well.

The hike back to the kayaks required a steep climb to get up to the trail.  For this part of the hike, I found myself on all fours climbing up the path and holding onto bigger-sized rocks as well as trees to assist so that I didn’t slide back down to the water.  After that the hike back to the boat was basically downhill and we traversed the distance much faster going back than coming.  Funny how it always seems to take longer to cover territory when it is unfamiliar but the return trip appears faster.   Before we knew it we were back at the kayaks and on our way back to Sea Moss.

As we passed a boat name Albin & Co.  the owner asked us how we liked our kayak ride and suggested that if we wanted more fun, we could explore the stream over to the other side of The Pool and see a waterfall.  Clark was all in, so off we went again to explore the stream and waterfall.  The entry to the stream is camouflaged by lily pads such that it looks like a dead end.  Clark thought we had the wrong place, but I remembered she said “lily pads” in her description of the route, so I thought we should keep going.  Sure enough we found the stream weaving through the lily pads and trees all the way to the waterfall.  We had to disembark from the kayaks and walk the last bit, but we got to see the waterfall.

Waterfall on Stream Leading to Lily Pads and The Pool

Since my kayak was in the back, I shoved off first from the waterfall stop and assumed Clark was right behind me, but when I turned to look, he was nowhere to be seen.  I called back to him to see if he was coming and he said yes, so I waited and eventually I saw the tips of his paddle over the weeds and knew he was following.  I proceeded out of the stream back to The Pool where I waited and waited and waited and still no Clark appeared.  I had heard no shouts of dismay, so I concluded that he was taking his time and most likely taking pictures as he came. 

I later learned that the flowering lily pads had attracted his attention, so he captured pictures of the different flowers presented.  The lily pad varieties included those with blue, some with white, and a few with yellow flowers.  I have only ever seen white before so the yellow and blue intrigued me.  Due to the direction of the sun, Clark got this amazing shot of what appears to be silver lily pads but are truly the normal green in ordinary light.

Lily Pads Reflecting the late-day Sun

 We finally got back to Sea Moss around 6:30 to find that the anchor line had grown the anticipated beard of weeds.  Clark paddled over and pulled the weeds off – yanked may be a better word as they were woven around the line and very reluctant to be removed.  Afterwards he felt like another swim, so we pulled the kayaks in and then he jumped in.  Having been swimming twice today already, I decided to forego the third dip and went to prepare dinner. 

We ate dinner relaxing on the fly bridge (the penthouse) while watching the darkness spread across The Pool as the sun set behind the trees.  What a full day today!  I prefer them that way.  Every day on this trip is an adventure waiting to happen.  I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I hope it does bring phone service as I am not entirely comfortable with being completely cut off from the rest of the world though I know some people pay big money for such seclusion.

Georgian Bay, Canada: Killarney to Covered Portage Cove

Day 37

Travel Time: 1 hour

NM today: 6

NM total: 829

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

For me today turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip thus far.   The weather was great and the day was fun.  We had a short travel day again today which was very nice.  As we prepared to depart a seaplane sailed by the end of the dock we were tied to.  Clark quick ran and grabbed the camera.

Seaplane in Killarney, ON

We traveled to Covered Portage Cove as our destination for today.  As I stowed anchors and lines for our departure, a man on the next boat over asked me our destination.  I just stared at him because for the life of me I could not come up with the name of the place.  He could tell I had no clue, so he resorted to pointing – left? Or right?  That I could handle and pointed in response.  “Oh, Little Current”, he said.  “Not today”, I answered, “to an anchorage”.  “But it’s only one and a half hours to Little Current”, he replied.  “I know”, I said, “but we want to see a couple of anchorages first”.  He nodded his head in understanding.

We took “the long way” to get to the cove from Killarney.  Clark expected the chart plotter to highlight the route with a magenta line.  One appeared on his chart that he thought led us to the cove when in fact it took us the other way.  I pointed out that he had missed our turn, and he turned to the proper heading using a wide arc to miss some rocks to our starboard.

It seemed no sooner had we left Killarney than Covered Portage Cove appeared on the charts, and before we knew it we had arrived and started hunting for our spot to drop anchor.  According to the boating guides, Covered Portage can be so busy “that it looks like a marina”, and therefore, can be hard to get into to get a spot.  We targeted our arrival to mid-morning to allow folks from the night before time to leave but to get us there before other boaters who most likely had further to travel.  As it turned out, even though it is Friday, plenty of space presented itself for us to choose from.

In Killarney this weekend there is a Fish Fry Festival of some sort and in Little Current there is a sailboat gathering.  Maybe all the boaters went to one of those two events.  I am very glad we missed the mass chaos of the fish fry at Killarney.  According to the staff at The Sportsmans Inn, the town will be packed and the marinas full.  We plan to arrive in Little Current on Sunday, so hopefully the sailboats will have departed by the time we get there.

While exploring the area to decide where to drop our anchor, we cozied up to a sailboat preparing to depart and asked them about the anchorage.  He said he had been in this cove for 5 days and loved every minute.  He pointed out trail entry points that we might like to explore, so of course, Clark couldn’t wait to get settled and go for a look around.  I looked around and saw rock cliffs and trees.  Then I looked up when I heard voices and I saw people walking around on the cliffs above us.

Hard-to-See People on Clifftop Among Trees

We grabbed a quick lunch so we could go play.  Clark thought the kayaks a better choice for exploring, so we pulled them down.  I do not trust myself not to get wet in a kayak, so I insisted in wearing my water shoes and bringing my sneakers along in a backpack to keep them dry for hiking.  I wish I had my hiking shoes on this trip and that is something that is on my “get when home” list.  Clark took the backpack so I did not have to deal with it as I have enough problems just getting myself into and out of my kayak.

I still find it “no picnic” to get into the dinghy off the swim platform of the boat with the dinghy taking up 90% of the swim platform space, but I am getting better at it.  Still when I got in the kayak today, he rocked in such a severe manner that I thought I might take a dip.  I appreciated the fact that Clark had my walking shoes instead of me all the more.  After a few whoa wobbles, I got stabilized, took my paddle from Clark, and headed out towards the first trail spot.

After the very short ride to shore, we pulled our kayaks up into the weeds and tied them to an old stump.  I changed into my sneakers and we started up the trail.  Although a gradual climb I still found myself struggling to keep up with Clark as he scurried up the trail.  Turned out he was trying to outrun the mosquitoes we disturbed by our presence and leaving me far behind in the process. 

Thankfully the mosquito portion of the hike concluded when we came out into the open, breezy and sunny rock cliffs portion of the trail.  Climbing over the rocks presented numerous challenges in terms of finding footholds that allowed me to ascend to the top of the trail.  The view, however, rewarded our efforts 100-fold.  We were greeted by a truly magnificent view of the cove below us as well as far out over the trees to the bay beyond.  Gorgeous!!!

View of Sea Moss from the Trail at Covered Portage Cove

Rock wall along edge of cove as seen from top of the cliff

Ev and Clark at the clifftop

 When we got back to our kayaks after our thrilling hike, we decided to go to a second trail on the opposite side of the cove.  We no sooner pulled our kayaks up to the start of the trail than swarms of mosquitoes attacked.  Their moto was clearly “take no prisoners” as they came in for the kill.  I killed several on my face, had a multitude buzzing in my ears, and even more chewing on my arms.  My arms swung round and round like a windmill.  I yelled to Clark to come back with the insect repellant we had placed in the backpack, and we sprayed each other with copious amounts of bug spray which seemed to give some relief.

We climbed up the trail and found a sunny, rocky spot with a breeze.  I waited there while Clark did some investigating.  He came back with a report that the view was not worth the time to go further.  That’s all I needed to hear and I was “outta there” and down that trail back to the kayak as fast as I could go without falling head over heels on the way.

I don’t think I have ever changed my shoes that fast before.  Clark kept moving over on the side and was ready to go in a hurry when I told him I was set.  I climbed into the kayak and Clark pushed me off backwards into the water.  I fought my way through the weeds and tree stumps to get out – it seemed much easier coming in, and eventually got myself backed out into the waters. 

I then went on a mosquito hunt as they covered my arms and legs.  One clever guy was down beyond my feet and so I could not reach him to kill him by swatting, so I got handfuls of water and washed him overboard instead.  Clark went paddling by me at lightning speed saying he was blowing away the mosquitoes with the breeze. 

After the bug fest, we enjoyed a relaxing kayak ride through the cove spying on the other boats and checking out the scenery from water level.  I can never stay dry when I kayak as the water runs off the paddles and drips all over me.  Today I did not care in the least as the cool – cold water dripping on me felt great.  Eventually Clark pointed out that 4:00 had arrived and we needed to head back to Sea Moss to “put away our toys”. 

I managed to get myself out of the kayak and back onto Sea Moss without toppling over or tipping the kayak precariously, so I felt proud of myself.  I helped Clark stow the kayaks back on top and decided that I needed a shower.  We have limited water on board so I decided that I could “shower” off the back of the boat.  However, the water temperature measured somewhere between 65 and 67 degrees.  Brrrrrrr!  I could not bring myself to jump into that.

Nevertheless I decided I wanted to wash off the sunscreen, bug spray, dead mosquitoes, and sweat.  I got my soap, shampoo, towels and a bucket and sat myself down on the one square foot of swim platform available and washed from head to toe (wearing my bathing suit) in the frigid water.  I started from the feet up to get used to it as the thought of starting by washing my hair was more than I could handle.  Even though I washed my hair last it still took my breath away when the water hit my head.  I felt great afterwards, however, so it was well worth it. 

Leftover stew for dinner with fresh broccoli (yay for green veggies from Killarney) made up the menu for tonight’s on-board dinner followed by a quick dish wash and dry which left daylight time for blogging (me) and guitar playing (Clark).  Tomorrow another anchorage is targeted.  I hope we have as much fun there as we did here.