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.
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| 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.
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.
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| Miniature Replica of Meldrum Inn (in garden of Meldrum Inn) |
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.
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| 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.
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| Docktails with Knot Home, Sea to See, and Vixen (note the almost full moon in the background) |
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