Friday, July 29th.

Can’t believe it’s almost August!  Headed out towards Rogers City, 45° 25’.36N 83° 48’.70W.  Had a very pleasant downwind sail - the first for a long while.  The wind died at the end of the trip so we motored for a short while.  Then the winds picked up again for the last half hour and, of course, by the time we were docking it was blowing 20 knots.  Borrowed some rinky dink marina bikes and went to explore.  Ron’s chain came off 8 – 10 times in the first hour, which is unfortunate since these bikes only means of braking is back pedaling!  Dined on pork chops, rice, leftovers and red wine.  Nice!

Today’s log: 32.2nm, season total: 669.8

Thursday, July 28th

The forecast was for no wind so we set off motoring towards Cheboygan 45° 39’.27N 84° 28’.05W anticipating a pretty boring day.  It seems the US Coast Guard may have had the same sentiments, so they decided to zoom up upon us in their high speed RIB with a cannon mounted on the front.  They claimed they wanted to carry out a routine safety inspection of our boat – to ensure that we were compliant with their requirements such as carrying sufficient life jackets, not dumping poop overboard, etc.  Luckily we passed the inspection and were not shot out of the water.   (To be fair they were very courteous and non-threatening, but that doesn’t make such a good blog does it?  - But they really did have a cannon on their boat and boarded us with sidearms.)  We continued on to Cheboygan and went for a bike ride.  Saw Harry Potter in 3D at the movies and had a pizza for dinner.  Well this is America after all. 

Today’s log: 14.8nm, season total: 637.6

Wednesday, July 27th

Took the ferry to Mackinac Island (45° 50’.94N 84° 36’.91W).  It was billed as a step back in time to the 1820s, with no motorized vehicles on the island; bikes and horses as the main means for transportation.   After disembarking the ferry, we set off on our bikes to find a place for a little breakfast.  The street was chaotic, with bikes, pedestrians, people on horseback and horsedrawn carriages all moving without much regard for normal traffic rules.  Pedestrians and bicyclists were busy trying to miss the horse droppings on the road.  The main street was a tourists mecca with Tshirt, souvenir and fudge shops galore, as well as bike, horse and horsedrawn carriage rentals.   After a breakfast stop we bicycled the 8 mile perimeter road around the island.  Once out of the main street area the atmosphere changed a lot.  The natural beauty of the island was then apparent.  We stopped along the way to hike up to Arch Rock.  The hike itself was a fascinating climb through the forest ending at a lovely overlook through the Arch Rock.   Had lunch at the outdoor café on the grounds of the Grand Hotel (truly Grand) then cycled through the small roads of the West Bluff, with many big, beautiful houses.  Most of the people we encountered were tourists or service people, who were immigrants.  It was a strange place, with a very strong odor of horse manure.           

Tuesday, July 26th

Had a very pleasant sail, to windward again but mostly on one tack, towards Mackinaw City.  This will be our furthest point west, so from now on we should benefit from the prevailing westerly winds – we’ll see!  On the way to Mackinaw City, 45° 46’.85N 84° 43’.34W, we found ourselves only ½ hour from the Mackinac Bridge, which separates Lake Michigan from Lake Huron.  So we took a little detour and crossed into Lake Michigan - just for the giggles.  The bridge is known locally as Mighty Mac, and at 5 miles long is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world. 

Went for a bike ride around “the city” and out to some lighthouses and walked to a beach on Lake Michigan.  The “city” is pretty small and very touristy, but an interesting change from being at anchor. 

Today’s log: 29.4nm, season total: 622.8

Monday, July 25th

Had a tough sail, (to windward again), today.  The route was 28.7 nm long, but by the time we tacked back and forth for most of the day, we covered 51.8 miles.  We weren’t sailing very efficiently due to the large waves that stopped the boat frequently.  We arrived at Government Bay, 45° 58’.38N 84° 19’.58W, after 8 ½ hours sailing.  So our average sailing speed was 6.1 knots, but our average speed towards our destination was only 3.4 knots.  Such is the life of sailors!  Government Bay is a huge anchorage and there appears to be enough space for 100 or more boats, however it wasn’t mentioned in any of our guides or as an anchorage on the charts.  We found out about it by asking a neighbor in Drummond Island.  Thank goodness we did, otherwise we would have had almost twice the distance to travel to Mackinac.  Not much going on here though, except for a dramatic thunderstorm followed by a beautiful night sky. 

Today’s log: 51.8nm, season total: 593.4

Sunday, July 24th

Went for a bike ride around Thessalon – surprisingly a much nicer looking town than Blind River, despite the fact that Blind River was billed as a metropolis of the North Channel.  We then had a fast reach to Drummond Island, 46° 01’.42N 83° 44’.82W, where we dropped the Canadian courtesy flag and entered the US for the first time.  Customs formalities were extremely easy and quick.  Took a short bike ride on Drummond Island, and returned to do laundry, shower and cook dinner.  Drummond Island does not seem to be too exciting. 

Today’s log: 18.2nm, season total: 541.6

Saturday, July 23rd

Happy birthday Rome! 

We got a late start today and as usual were sailing to windward towards Thessalon, 46° 15’.28N 83° 32’.89W, our last port in Canada before entering the USA.  After a few hours however, the wind died and then came in from the NE and we found ourselves on a broad reach.  This was the first time we were not sailing to windward in 19 days.  Whatever happened to the old adage that “gentlemen do not sail upwind”?  The reach was very pleasant but short lived and we ended up motoring.  On the way we saw a fishing boat with a gazillion seagulls flying around and over it.  Let’s hope they weren’t all pooping on the catch.  We arrived at Thessalon and contemplated docking rather than anchoring, since Ron’s shoulder has been giving him trouble recently.  Decided to anchor after all, but after 3 failed attempts at getting the anchor to hold, ended up in the marina.  So we had the worst of all worlds – Ron lowered and raised the anchor 3 times, and we ended up paying for a dock anyway, and got there too late to get the access code for the showers!  

Today’s log: 35nm, season total: 523.4

Friday, July 22nd

The forecast was for westerly winds at 10 knots which would have made for a nice windward sail to Blind River 46° 10’.72N 82° 57’.93W.  The wind did not materialize however and we motored all the way in hot hot humid weather.  Arrived around noon and set about investigating customs procedures, since we’ll be entering the USA in a couple of days.  The marina offers rinky dink old bikes to guests so we borrowed a couple and set off to explore the town.  The jet fountain was reminiscent of Geneva.  Visited a museum and watched part of an old film depicting the loggers of the early 20^th century.  Logging was the big industry in these parts in those days, and boy did those guys have a hard life.  3 or so open boats were loaded to the gunwhales with food and camping supplies for the trip and then had to shoot the rapids without losing anything.  They weren’t always successful.  One boat was swamped, so the crew of 2 (the cooks) had to beach the boat quickly, unload everything and save what they could.  The loggers had very hard and dangerous work – and of course everyone worked in all weathers. Looks like the marina where we are is the site of the old logging mill.  You can see the remnants of the structure in the background of the photo taken at sunset.  

Today’s log: 16.6nm, season total: 488.4

Thursday, July 21st

We had a 20+mile sail to windward again today so we set off early and had breakfast  underway of banana bread and fresh wild blueberries that we picked yesterday.  It was another great sail ending up with 20+ knots and a reef in both sails.  We went through Little Detroit, (46° 08’.93N 82° 22’.41W), a passage between 2 islands that’s so narrow only one boat can get through at a time.  You need to call on the radio to announce your intention to transit the passage.  Looked scary on the chart, but was actually OK in the nice weather we had.   Sailed through Whalesback Channel and anchored in Beardrop harbor, 46° 09’.68N 82° 37’.41W, with a little difficulty – it took 3 attempts to get our anchor to hold.  As of this writing, (7pm), it’s still holding so we think we’re OK for the night - with this beautiful sunset what could go wrong?.  This whole area is an Indian Reservation.

Most of our blog so far has been upbeat and positive, but it’s not all perfect.  We’ve been tormented by flies, heat and humidity.  And last night was pretty bad – no wind, plenty of humidity and flies.  This evening we have 20knt of wind over the boat which is wonderfully cooling and, so far at least, is keeping the bugs at bay. 

Today’s log: 30.4nm, season total: 471.8

Wednesday, July 20th

Fox harbor was only 6 or so nm away and we didn’t want to miss it, so we decided to have an easy days sail and stay there for a night.  We went for a short hike on South Benjamin then set off for Fox Harbour 46° 06’.71N 82° 14’.27W.  Motored all the way – no wind.  Went ashore for a hike, and it started raining, so we returned to Quinita to close the hatches.  Went ashore again, started our hike and discovered gazillions of wild blueberries, yum.  So we returned to Quinita again to pick up some containers.  Finally started our hike on the 3^rd attempt and collected 2 containers full of blueberries.  (The rain did not really materialize).  All the sailing guides to these parts warn against relying solely on GPS and chartplotters for navigation.  Today we found out why.  There was a plastic bottle on a line between us and the shore.  We went to investigate and found that the line was marking a submerged “deadhead” – a log sticking straight up out of the bottom and terminating about 6’ below the surface.  Apparently these logs are left over from the old logging days, and do not appear on any charts. 

Today’s log: 6.9nm, season total: 441.4

Tuesday, July 19th

We had planned to anchor in Fox Harbour on Rich and Sandra’s recommendation, but the forecast was for SW winds which would have blown straight into the harbor.  So we opted for South Benjamin Island instead 46° 05’.16N 82° 15’.36W.  Actually this was also a Rich and Sandra recommendation and deservedly so – it was beautiful with the ubiquitous pink granite rocks all around.  We started out with no wind, but it filled in later and we had another pleasant sail to windward.  We anchored in a small cove and took a stern line ashore as seems to be the custom in these here parts.  Fellow boaters are very friendly, (who wouldn’t be in beautiful places like these), and a guy came over from a neighbouring boat to borrow a cup of sugar for their morning coffee.  It turned out that they had 4 adults, 5 kids and a dog on a 42’ sailboat.  Now that’s friendly!

Today’s log: 20.1nm, season total: 434.5

Monday, July 18th

Light winds again, but we tried sailing towards Little Current, 45° 58.84N, 81° 55.04W.  The winds died however and we resorted to motoring.  Little Current is named for the currents that flow through the channel – up to 4 knots, but they’re not like proper English tides that are predictable – rather they sometimes change direction several times a day and sometimes not at all.  I asked a few locals but could not find out why.  I’m guessing they’re dominated by the winds, but am continuing research …  Little Current is a nice little town and the swing bridge provides the only access to the large island of Manatoulin.  Surprisingly, provisioning here was cheap – Teresa got some nice steaks and pork chops which were cheaper than chicken!

Today’s log: 10.5nm, season total: 414.4

Sunday, July 17th

Set out with very light winds motoring towards Haywood Island where we planned to anchor for the night.  The wind picked up a little and since we had all day and a relatively short distance, decided to change our route from a narrow channel to an open water route that was easier to sail.  A great decision – the wind started out very fickle and at times we were down to 1 knot boat speed, but we persevered and eventually it picked up and we had a great sail – to windward again of course.  The boat was sailing well – at 50° to the wind we were sailing at half wind speed – e.g. 6 knots in 12 knots of wind.  Our pointing angle was not great, but we probably more than made up for that in boat speed.  In fact we met 2 sailboats who were motor-sailing with engine and genoa and beat them both which made Ron very happy!  Anchored in Browning Cove, 45° 56.04N, 81° 46.22W, took a swim in beautiful warm clear water and started planning our next few days in the North Channel.

Today’s log: 21.0nm, season total: 403.9

Saturday, July 16th

Left Covered Portage Cove about 9am heading back to Killarney Channel.  We reserved a dock at the Killarney Mountain Lodge (KML) for tonight. What a lovely area!  It’s on the eastern end of the channel and is very rustic.  There are docks for about 25 boats, a lodge with dining room, circular bar with extraordinary views of the channel, many cottages, flowers, big granite rocks  and Adirondack chairs all over the property.  There is also a swimming pool, tennis courts and badminton net.  We got settled then took our bikes for a spin around the town.  It’s a small town with everything concentrated along the waterfront.  Just about every place of business has docks they rent out to transient boaters or let boaters tie up to while they shop.  We started to hike the trail from the KML to the Lighthouse.  It’s a pretty trail that meanders through the woods to the Lighthouse.  After about 20 minutes into it we surrendered to the mosquitos and turned back thinking we’d return after lunch with long sleeves and pants on.  We had fish and chips for lunch at Herbert’s Fisheries on the docks.  They serve one thing only, fish and chips.  Seating is outside on the docks.  It was packed and the food was good.  After lunch we wanted to take a bike ride to the western end of town.  We came to a dead end with a dirt driveway up a hill with a sign saying welcome to my studio.  We stopped in and spent about a half hour looking a Pierre Sabourin’s art work.  He was an interesting man and enjoyed talking about his work.  We bought a few cards with prints of his paintings.   Upon leaving he invited us to go out to “The Rock” to see the view.  It was magnificent.  Perched on the top of his rock we could see the entire western bay.  It was a stunning view.  Upon leaving we decided to bicycle to the Lighthouse instead of braving the mosquitos again.  It was a pleasant ride on mostly dirt roads. Back to the KML to sit in the shade on this hot day and get our blog up to date.  Tonight we’ll dine in the KML restaurant then go to the bar to listen to the live entertainment, a local guitarist.

Today’s log:  4.5nm, season total: 382.9nm

Friday, July 15th

Left Second Bay and continued through Collin’s Inlet.  Once again we have warm, sunny weather but hardly any wind.  It really doesn’t matter though cause the Inlet is too narrow to sail in so would have to motor anyway.  We decided to pass through Killarney channel without stopping and spend the night at anchor in Covered Portage Cove so that we would have a full day ashore at Killarney when we dock there.  Covered Portage Cove is a beautiful cove nestled between cliffs.  We anchored in the inner cove with about 6 other boats already there.  Then we took the dinghy ashore to the start of a hiking trail that leads up to a lovely overlook of the bay.  After hiking we took a spin around the inner and outer coves admiring the boats at anchor and the lovely scenery.  Back to Quinita and swam off the back.  The water was clear and warm.  Oh yes, it’s Friday so we had a little happy hour with homemade salsa that we bought at the Farmers Market in Lion’s Head (scrumptious!).   

Todays log:  17.7nm, season total: 378.4nm

Thursday, July 14th

Started the day with a morning dinghy ride to explore the many inlets in the river.   Tied up to a rock and went ashore on one of the islands.  Walked on the distinctive pink granite rocks and discovered blueberry bushes, juniper bushes and pine trees.   Back in the dinghy we covered more territory to see a large turtle sunning himself on a small rock, loons floating around and diving and of course the ever present conference of seagulls.    Left the Bad River around noon, following the small craft channel to our next anchorage.  Planned to anchor behind Burnt Island in Beaverstone Bay but got there early and decided to continue on into Collins Inlet.   At 2:14pm  Quinita sailed her 500^th nautical mile!!!!    The entrance into Collin’s Inlet looks very challenging on the charts but we found it to be well marked and with our shallow draft (3.5 feet with the centerboard up) we had no problem at all.  Once in the depth runs from rocky shore to rocky shore so navigating was easy.  We anchored in Second Bay in 4 feet of water (put the rudders up so we only draw 1.5 ft).  Sure is nice to have that flexibility.  The water temperature was in the 80s, although not as clean as the rest of Georgian Bay.  We went for a skinny dip then rinsed off with HOT Georgian Bay proper water from the sun showers.

Todays log: 23.8 nm, season total: 360.7nm

Wednesday, July 13th

Hard on the wind again today coupled with large waves made for a lively sail most of the day.  The wind died about 5 miles from our destination so we motored the rest of the way.  Our destination was an anchorage in the Bad River, an outlet of the French River.    The scenery is very different from what we’ve had since leaving the northern side of Georgian Bay.  It felt great to be back sailing among  the dramatic rocks.  We dropped anchor close to the Devils Door rapids then went on a dinghy ride to see the rapids. 

Todays log: 36.8nm, seasons total 336.9 nm

Tuesday, July 12th

Hard on the wind all day with 12 – 18 knot winds.  Planned to go to Club Island but made good time and were having fun,  so decided to keep going and anchored in James Bay, off Manitoulin Island.  How could we miss an opportunity to anchor in a bay with the same name as Ron!  Took the dinghy ashore and walked along the beach.  There were interesting sand sculptures looking a bit like veins.  The forecast was for 20 knot winds during the night but we had a very calm night.

Todays log: 32.2 nm, Season total 300.1 nm

Monday, July 11th

Stayed in Tobermorey for the day. Tobermorey is a quaint harbor town on 2 tiers. Took a longer hike, (about 5 hours), along the Bruce trail through extremely varied terrain to beautiful Little Cove where we had lunch. Returned to the boat, Teresa busied herself with laundry while Ron took care of the composting head. Oh, I forgot to mention my pride and joy, our composting head! This is a magical head (ship’s toilet) that separates the liquids from solids and composts the solids in peat moss. Pee goes into a pee pot and is easy to empty about every other day, (or everyday with 4 people aboard). The compost container lasts much longer but does require emptying occasionally and today was the day. The job went very well, no bad smells – the contents were indeed composted as advertised in the sales literature. See http://www.natureshead.com if you’d like to buy one. So, we have a nice sweet smelling head with no need of a 20 gallon holding tank full of “stuff”, blocked pumps, leaky plumbing or pumpout requirements.

Sunday, July 10th

On waking, we both remarked on what a bug free night we had. And then we looked out at the cockpit – we were absolutely infested with little critters. Spent some time trying to get rid of them and then set sail towards Tobermorey. Had a great sail westward in the forecast SW winds which blew all the bugs away. We were hard on the wind all day with the occasional short starboard tack inshore. Winds gusted to 30 knots and max boat speed was 10 knots. At one point, Teresa was on the helm, in 25 knots of true wind, saying “This is fun”. Monohull sailors, please take note! Tied up in Tobermorey’s Little Tub harbor and met Rich and Sandra who were in the boat next door and who gave us lots of advice on where to visit in the North Channel. Went for a bike ride and hike on the Bruce trail. Had fish and chip supper, went to sleep happy.

Todays log: 22.6, Season total 267.9

Saturday, July 9th

Something’s going wrong! The forecast for today is for NE winds and we’re heading North. Tomorrow the forecast is for SW winds and we’re heading West. Oh well it worked out OK – the wind was actually from ENE so we were able to make our destination. Until the wind died that is, and we motored the last half. Anchored in Wingfield – a perfect anchorage with a narrow entrance and protection from all wind directions. Our Fortress wouldn’t hold in the mud so we used the Rocna. Ron dived on it to check things out and couldn’t find the anchor. It was buried so deep in the mud. Don’t think we’ll be moving far tonight!

Today’s log: 17.1nm, Season total 245.3

Friday, July 8th

Started out motoring to Lions Head and finished up beating in light winds to our destination. Cats don’t point as high as monohulls, or perhaps I don’t know how to sail them yet. Anyway we got there and took the bikes for a tour of the cliffs comprising Lions Head, switching to feet when the going got too tough for the bikes. We were biking/hiking on Bruce Trail, (on Bruce Peninsular), which was spectacular - potholes, and scary lookouts with a vertical drop of 1000’. On the way back to the boat, we noticed there was an open air concert with local musicians. So we rushed back, cooked our supper, and ate it at the concert.

Today’s log: 30.2nm, Season total 228.2

Thursday, July 7th

A hot and windless day, so we motored to White Cloud Island. Sailed in 3 – 5 knots of wind to take in the magnificent bluffs of Colpoy Bay. Anchored in Kid Bay and watched the anchor dig in through crystal clear water as Teresa backed up the boat. Took the dinghy ashore and walked to an old school house that now appears to be in use as a summer cottage. We also walked along a grass covered airstrip, keeping a good lookout for airplanes, (but didn’t meet any). Ron took a bath in the 16C, 60F water and Teresa took a nice warm sun shower in the cockpit. Watched a lovely sunset while cleaning up after dinner.

Today’s log: 35.9nm, Season total 198.0

Wednesday, July 6th

Had a beautiful sail to the town of Thornbury, where we stayed in the Municipal marina, conveniently located close to the town centre. Thanks, Andy for suggesting we come here – it’s a quaint and interesting town. One of its features is a recently refurbished dam, with a fish “ladder” – steps bypassing the dam that allow spawning salmon and rainbow trout to get to their spawning grounds. Unfortunately we were not there at the right time, but in the spring you can watch the fish swimming up the steps right from the town centre.

Today’s log: 25.6, Season total 162.1

Tuesday, July 5th

We cut the cord today. Left Midland and Bay Port Marina who looked after us extremely well during the winter and spring. Started out with a nice sail towards Hope Island, but the winds soon died and we motor sailed most of the way. Teresa enjoyed yoga on the trampoline. Arrived at 5pm to another beautiful anchorage with the clearest water imaginable. We used our lightweight Fortress anchor for the first time. On a sandy bottom, it dug in immediately, and at 16lbs it’s much easier to handle than our Rocna (22lbs). Went for a swim, a walk and a dinghy ride over our anchor to take photos of it with our new fancy underwater camera (thanks to the 3 Burg boys). Just as we went to bed the wind started picking up and during the night the Fortress was tested in winds up to 25 knts. It didn’t move an inch all night. Nice!

Today’s log: 20.4, Season total 136.5

Friday, July 1st

Returned to Midland. Light winds finally arrived so motored all the way. Borrowed Brenda and Vin’s car to do some bulk shopping while our guests packed and cleaned our boat for us. (Future guests, please take note!). After a great vacation with our sailing buddies, it was sad to bid them farewell.

Today’s log: 9.3, Season total 116.1

Thursday, June 30th

Stayed on the town doc. Went for a 30 mile bike ride, in beautiful weather, on the “Tiny” cycle path. This is a disused rail line with some very interesting roller coaster sections. We wonder how the train passengers enjoyed it – we certainly did. In the evening saw a fantastic performance of the Wizard of Oz at the Kings Wharf Theatre in Discovery Harbour.

Wednesday, June 29th

Sailed to Penatanguisine with another forecast of light winds. Had another exhilarating sail with winds up to 32 knts (fortunately behind us). Teresa on the helm most of the day.

Tied up on the outside of the town dock, while we waited for the winds to decrease enough to dock on the inside. This didn’t happen, but we managed to dock safely anyway, after much strategizing.

Today’s log: 16.7nm, Season total 106.8.

Tuesday, June 28th

Sailed to Beckwith with a forecast of 15 kn winds decreasing in the afternoon. Had an exilerating beat in winds of up to 25 kn. Tried out reefing in earnest for the first time. Anchored in Beckwith and took delight in the wind generator producing 10 amps all night. So much for the weather forecast. Had a brief visit ashore in dull, cool weather. Very pretty island - lots of wild flowers. The island is hour-glass shaped and from the neck, you can see both west and east beaches.

Todays log: 27.2, Season total 90.1

Monday, June 27th

Sailed to Chimney Bay - another beautiful anchorage. Several boats were already anchored here but we realised the benefits of our shallow draft by anchoring inside all of them. Hiked on Beausoleil island, taking care to avoid the Rattlesnakes.

Todays log: 8.7nm, Season total 62.9nm.

Sunday, June 26th

Returned to Midland to celebrate Brenda and Vin's 35th anniversary! Had dinner at the Library (nice restaurant in Midland).

Todays log: 29.3nm, Season total 54.2nm.

Saturday, June 25th

Sailed to Indian Harbour along the beautiful and rock strewn small boat channel. We had headwinds and narrow channels all day so motored most of the way.

Today's log: 13.4nm, Season total 24.9nm.

Friday, June 24th

Having recruited Brenda and Vin for various jobs the past 2 days, we went for our first sail of the season today. Had a great sail to Lost Bay, anchored, explored ashore, ate, drank and played cards. Nice!

Today's log: 11.5nm, Season total: 11.5nm.

Wednesday, June 22nd

Our first guests (Brenda and Vin) arrived on Wednesday. As expected they pitched in to help up doing a few jobs afloat (like putting sails on etc.)

Tuesday, June 21st

4pm engine repaired. 4:30 Quinita afloat. 6:15 settled into berth and off for showers. Yippee.

Monday, June 20th

Still doing some jobs on the boat. Launch delayed another day - problems with port engine.

Sunday, June 19th

Josephine (from the UK) happens to be visiting her sister in Owen Sound - Just around the corner in Canadian terms - about 100 miles away. Small world. Josephine, Helen and Mrs. K. stopped by for lunch on Quinita. (Still ashore unfortunately).

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Arrived in Midland at 6pm after 10 hours on the road from Vermont. We’d already spent a week in May and found the boat in great shape. Still plenty of little jobs to do though.