7.10.11 Good bye E World
ten to seven, one eye open. warm winds from the south west. pretty sure the internet won't work on the next island destination since it's uninhabited. be safe, enjoy your day.... we certainly plan to. we're off for Harbor Island, Ontario, Canada
Cool but sunny on the water
10 pm We are hangin' on the hook at Harbor Bay Island near the shores of Drumond Island. Sun has just set. Officially in the North Channel. Winds died out before even getting back past Mackinaw Island. Motored all the way, about 8 hrs. Encountered lots of ships. Made the narrow passage through Detour Village, dodged the ferry. There are islands in every direction: big and small with areas that are barley visible, some spots not much more than a few rocks and some spindly pines. Follow the charts and watch for the buoys. I took the opportunity today to organize the food lockers. I was tired of playing the "where's the food" game every time I needed somehting. I even made a cheat sheet to find things, now I have to keep the lists in a spot where I remember. Lunch and dinner featured the fresh lettuce and herbs from Brenda's garden. Salad of organic leaf lettuce, wild rice with dill and onion, chicken with fresh sage surrounded in a blanket of prosciutto, finished with fresh lemon.
Had a great nap and refreshing shower aboard. Neighbors: 2 Sandhill Cranes, a couple of white tailed deer and a trawler.
Fly report: they were back and brought reinforcements.
ps: Reminder to Kathy A.... "the hook" is NOT a restaurant
pss: Dave and Rose... according to our friends who a have a house here, water is too low to get into the bigger of the 2 bays. plus we were to timid to deal with a possible grounding
Fresh from the garden....
Harbor Island Bay
7.11.11 Why they REALLY call it the Blind River...
We set out this morning from Harbor Bay with Blind River, Ontario our destination. A bit cloudy, looking like possible rain. Not much wind to speak of but with so many obstacles (rocks and islands) to navigate around to get to our first way point, motoring is best. Clouds continued to thicken until we needed our fog horn. The echo of a freighters horn sounding in the distance was a bit unsettling. In and out of fog and rain all day. So much for weather reports. It rained so hard it was sideways for a while. Jim was gracious enough to sit topsides while I stayed below. Foulies were not an option but required apparel. To make use of my time I made French Onion soup. It really hit the spot with the weather so nasty. After entering Canadian waters, Jim raised the yellow "Q" flag (quarantine) to signify we had entered the country. Boats on the radar, actually saw a few now and then. Visibility low with pockets of open sky. 2 power boats came out of the fog just before we entered the harbor mouth. Shore began to materialize and the lower half of the 240 foot smoke stack emerged. Could this be one of the reasons it's called blind river? We couldn't see much to help us navigate. The fog broke as we made our way to the pier, Tony was there to catch our lines with another couple. Tony may need a whole entry all for himself in the blog. What a character. Jim reported to customs with the ships papers and crew report. Entry was granted. The "Q" flag was replaced with the Canadian flag that now snaps lively in the breeze. The clouds and fog have left. The evening turned out nicely. We biked to town with the complimentary bikes and had dinner at the Iron Horse Inn and Mustange Grill. All homemade, no "Gordon's or Sisco's" products to be seen. A nightcap back on board and Tony returned with the neighbors on their Dinghy. He seems to be the dockside version of the Welcome Wagon although I don't recall them ever bringing beer and offering their vans for use to strangers in the W. W. commercials. Check the weather and consult the charts in the morning to see where we'll end up next.
Detour Village Ferry
The "Q" flag
Cleared Customs
Chart Duty...
7.12.11 Sleeping Inn
I got to sleep in this morning. Jim is off to town to see about weather, charts, provisions... stuff. Pretty quiet here. We are thinking Bear Drop Harbor for the next anchorage. About 15 miles away. The Kinderman's recommended the spot and we are looking forward to a short passage. Take care.
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