Here’s a cut & paste of all our adventures in 2013 – just leaving the formatting as it appeared, maybe a little hard to read, but it retains the record in our new website.
Saturday, August 17, 13 – – – – – – sunny – – – Home – – – Got home in the early afternoon without event and the kitties were so-o-o happy to be home, as were we! What an adventure we had! Lots of beauty and good people, but lots of challenges as well. Planned boat upgrades needed for safe and more comfortable cruising next year include: replace the 35-year-old engine for which parts are scarce and hard to come by, get a bigger Bruce anchor and lots of chain, double the holding capacity of the head holding tank, and get a big motor for Little Dipper for faster dinghy yachting and as an extra safety measure if needed to pull NorthStar out of a tight spot, such as the Little Current docking wall with a 20 mph north wind. Planned personal upgrades: keep it cool boy, keep it cool – just play it cool boy (compliments of West Side Story). Also need to get an extra credit card because ours got compromised by fraud while we were gone. Mostly, just remember how much we enjoy the sailing and have confidence in our sailing ability and all the learning we have about the other aspects of cruising, which were so new to us this year. Looking forward to seeing our friends back in Madison.
Friday, August 16, 13 – – – – – – sunny – – – Escanaba, MI – – – Got up early, grabbed breakfast to go, and headed west in Big Dipper.
Thursday, August 15, 13 – – – – – – sunny, breezy – – – Harbor Vue Marina, Little Current, on the hard – – – Had a great breakfast at the Red Lodge, drove back to the marina, and finally finished packing up and all other activities after dark. Barbie bumped into Tartan’s Bob and Martha once more at the grocery store where she was picking up bounce to keep the pests out during the winter and vinegar to keep the mildew out. Said we’d look for them next year. Had a quick dinner at the Anchor Inn and drove back to the Red Lodge in the dark.
Wednesday, August 14, 13 – – – – – – sunny, breezy – – – Harbor Vue Marina, Little Current, on the hard – – – Took down the sails and pulled NorthStar out of the water and onto the hard with the outstanding work by Rick who drove the travel lift, fondly named “The Money Maker” and Mark who aided the entire effort. Unpacked the boat and the car and repacked the car and the boat, somewhat. Couldn’t find lodging in town that would take the kitties, but found the beautiful Red Lodge Resort about 20 minutes south on Manitoulin Island. Had a great dinner there, authentic German food, and a bottle of wine, and slept until 7 am.
Tuesday, August 13, 13 – – – – – – cloudy, NW 20-30 gusting to 35 – – – Harbor Vue Marina, Little Current – – – We awoke to the wind we knew would be there, as predicted at 20 from the north. We talked to Bob in the morning on his trip to shore with Cocoa and said we were heading for Little Current under our stay sail. He talked for quite awhile, giving various advice. The best advice was not to go to Wally’s in Little Current to pump out on their dock wall because we’d never get off it in the wind and with the current. We thanked him and said we hoped Harbor Vue would have pump out facilities – we found out later that they didn’t 🙁 We motored out, set our course, closed up the cabin windows for security, and set the stay sail as the wind blew from the NW at 15-20 to take us back to our marina. Barbie had previously put the foulies in the cabin just in case. So we sat side by side as Andy helmed the boat and Barbie pulled “jib” (actually stay sail). After a while the wind picked up to 25 or so and the boat sailed as steady as can be. Barbie spied a couple of colored sails to the north, pulled out the binoculars, and there in the middle of nowhere were two sailboats clearly racing each other as they came out of their harbor and one lee-bowed the other. Spotted some loons on the water, kept watching the clouds, and kept working together as the wind increased to a steady 25-30 with a handful of gusts at 35-36. And still the boat sailed like a dream, running and reaching under the well-designed stay sail. Andy called for some board and for the first time we finally understood why Tartan had included a retractable board with the full keel. It was for just such conditions, which we typically didn’t seek out. When we came to one of the larger islands to our north, which blocked a bit of the wind, Barbie went in to don her foulies because it appeared they might be needed. At the next island, she asked Andy to hand over the tiller and then the sheet to see if she could handle it while he got his foulies on. After a few minutes she sent him in with only
Monday, August 12, 13 – – – – – – some rain, S->W 6-11 ->12-> 0.0 – – – South Benjamin, southern anchorage – – – Started off for South Benjamin with a light wind from the south under full main and genoa on a beam reach. As the wind lightened Barbie put up the whisker pole and when the wind shifted behind us we tried some wing-on-wing. Just before deciding this, Jennifer poked her head out for the very first time when we were under sail. But sadly, just as she got to the cockpit the main auto-jibed and she headed quickly for the familiar cover of the V-berth. For several hours of light wind sailing, we messed around trying the main first on one side and then the other as we watched the clouds close in and gradually approach. Since we didn’t know what wind might come with the rain and as we felt it increasing slightly, Andy went forward and took down the pole in case we would have to reef. As he got it down and a few raindrops started, Barbie steered and watched the wind readings decline until they registered an absolute 0.0. Yes, that’s right, zero-point-zero. So we furled in the jenny in the rain, left the main up, and started up the motor for the final entry into the southern anchorage of South Benjamin Island, still wondering if the coupler was truly an “alignment coupler” – which would be fine – or just a “vibration coupler”, which could potentially break at any time. But we forged ahead. As we approached the harbor in the early afternoon with the sky clearing, we knew we’d find other boats because of the predicted 20 from the north for the evening. We dropped the main, motored between the rocks at the entry, and found ourselves among about a dozen anchored boats in the small harbor, which is fully protected from west to north to east, in this small but long and narrow, north-to-south bay. We circled our way counter clockwise from south to north, found our friends on Tango in the choice, northerly spot and circled back to a spot near the western granite wall that indicated a deep enough spot for us to clear the bottom but shallow enough to anchor. Here we set anchor watching the nearby boats closely for the appropriate amount of rode on each boat. A little later Andy asked the couple closest to us what they had out and
Sunday, August 11, 13 – – – – – – sunny – – – John Harbor, south of John Island – – – Awoke again to a beautiful day. Our neighbors were pulling out after the 9:00 Roy Show (a bit about that later), and we headed over in Little Dipper to say goodbye. Bill generously offered us his extra Bruce anchor for the remainder of our voyage with the understanding we would return it to Roy’s broadcast site at Anchor Inn in Little Current, which we did a few days later. That was a big relief for our final night at the Benjamins when the wind picked up. Barbie was hell-bent on catching a fish, so Andy took her trolling in Little Dipper that afternoon, where she had several nibbles but couldn’t land that bass. In the process, we passed our new neighbor in a huge trawler once, and on the second pass they came out and invited us aboard for a nice visit. Well, first, don’t assume that people in a big boat don’t want to talk to people in a little boat – they were as happy to meet us as we were to meet them. Secondly, so we thought we had some issues — well, they had some dousies as well. They were recently retired and doing the loop. Started in Florida, where they got the boat, came up the intercoastal to return to their home in Massachusetts, and encountered two large fishing boats going the other way in the fog, speeding like crazy, and unresponsive to hails. They had a very near miss in a narrow channel passing with the first boat, who yelled as he went by “there’s another one behind me”. Later, on their way through the northern route, they had smoke in the engine compartment, checked it out with no problem evident, but ultimately had the smoke again and found the problem this time and got it fixed. However, they were still very game to continue their journey and looking forward to the trip down the river and a winter over in Florida.
Saturday, August 10, 13 – – – – – – sunny – – – John Harbor, south of John Island – – – Awoke to a beautiful morning and went over to the sandy beach near where we anchored. Tramped around a bit and found that someone had setup the poles for a teepee, a grill, a campfire, and a couple of seats on cans. Debated on whether it was the folks from the YMCA camp or perhaps some collection of First Nation families or other such. Barbie thought perhaps the latter because of a little wading pool that had been formed out of a large log right on the beach and a semi-circle of stones that made a 3-5 inch wading area that would be safe for toddlers. Had a good swim and bathed. Bill from Persistence came by in his kayak and invited us to happy hour at 4 o’clock, which was a bit early to start but we accepted enthusiastically. (It had to be at least five o’clock in Nova Scotia.) He invite Glen and Janice from Last Resort as well and we all had a good time together. Told lots of stories and drank a bottle of wine before heading back to NorthStar that night. Got lots of advice about anchors and lots of commiseration about the learning curve so many of us go through on choosing the right anchors for the area and conditions. Had hilarious discussions about the Coast Guard announcers for the MAFOR weather codes, and why it is so hard to get a bead on the correct starting hour to help calculate the weather for the day ahead, without which, you have no idea what to expect, rather than just a slim idea.
Friday, August 9, 13 – – – – – – rain, NW 5->15 – – – John Harbor, south of John Island – – – Set the alarm for 5:30 to leave at crack of dawn but it was dark. Why? Because it was pouring rain. Barbie negotiated with Andy to have her coffee and if it stopped raining she would get the foulies out of the cockpit hold and they could leave if they started dry. Andy took a shower & then the rain stopped long enough that we decided to set sail for John Harbor because the wind started to pick up. Got away from the marina and the navigation points, set full main and genoa, and had a great sail. The rain came again and the wind started to increase so we reefed both sails and ultimately unfurled the jib and furled the genoa in. We sailed under nice wind conditions with rain on and off all day. Marvelled at the reality of a good sail on a rainy day. Found our anchorage in a beautiful spot south of John Island where two other boats – “Last Resort” and “Persistence” were already at anchor. We made initial acquaintances that night and got very friendly the next day.
Thursday, August 8, 13 – – – – – – evening update – – – Blind River – – – Well, the bikes were locked up so we took our friendly neighborhood cab to Monique’s, got the pictures, and went straight to dinner followed by community music event. The music was an amazing event although we only got there for the final couple of numbers. It was hosted by the small-town Rotary as a weekly fund raiser. The park was full of locals of many ages, mostly elderly, in their lawn chairs. The trio played and sang all Neil Young music with little boys fishing at the side of the river. The signs of all the community services provided by the Rotary really warmed the heart. It is wonderful to see what one single charitable group can do in a small town.
Thursday, August 8, 13 – – – – – – sunny, wind light – – – Blind River Marina – – – Decided to wait for tomorrow’s good wind. Cooked up the remaining pancake batter on the stove with lots of blueberries and syrup. Showered, talked a lot about pumping out & finally did that and changed the kitty litter in prep for journeys away from civilization tomorrow. Plan to ride the marina-provided bikes into town and check out the Thursday evening music program at the gazebo on the Blind River. Also need to get some pictures of Monique’s since we were so busy eating that we forgot to snap a few. Andy agreed to bike the distance if he could go to the hardware store yet again. Barbie acquiesced.
Wednesday, August 7, 13 – – – – – – rain, squalls up to 50 knots with large hail and frequent lightning strikes predicted – got some wind but not the rest – main highway washed out down the road toward Spanish – – – Blind River – Lakeshore Wayside Motel – – – Yee-gads! Decided to stay put for another day due to the weather prediction and reality. Took most of the day to load up pictures on Facebook and got claustrophobic in the motel room that had the good wifi connection. Got back to the boat by late afternoon and the kitties were so-o-o glad to be “home”! So were we. Had a beer and sandwich for dinner and put everything back in order from the haul of stuff to and from the motel. Thought we might leave in the morning if the predicted moderate wind for morning was true. But when we arose, the flags hung like, well, you know.
Tuesday, August 6, 13 – – – – – – moderate, in town, didn’t matter – – – Blind River – Lakeshore Wayside Motel – – – Andy met at the boat with Blind River Boat Works guy who said he couldn’t fix the alignment but that it was a real concern that should be addressed. We decided to take it real easy on running the engine until we get back to Little Current to have it fixed at the Harbor Vue Marina at the end of our journey. We’ll just wait for good wind in the right direction and use the engine for anchoring and docking and channel navigation at most. After this disappointing news we walked all over town – hardware store in one direction, pharmacy and grocery store in the other. Lunch at a Subway, to the down-town street with the library reference information that produced the location of Barbie’s relatives’ gravesite. A pause for a good ice cream cone, pictures by the river, and a cab ride to the top of a long hill where we found the three King family members that are likely Barbie’s great grandmother and her grandma’s siblings – a brother and a sister. We took lots of pictures there and Barbie called her dad from the cemetery for a wonderful conversation about his memories of his grandpa and the delight of finding this spot. Back to Monique’s for another delicious dinner at the end of the day.
Monday, August 5, 13 – – – – – – nice, SW 10-15 – – – Blind River – Marina -> Motel – – – Had to motor to Blind River due to wrong wind direction but got there handily. This is the home of Barbie’s paternal grandmother and great grandfather who lived with her dad when he was a child in Saskatchewan. Had pre-arranged for Andy to meet with Boat Works guy on Tuesday to look at the engine alignment, so we made motel reservations to get the kitties off the boat Monday through Wednesday morning. Did a huge pile of laundry and got everything cleaned up at this nicest of the marinas we have visited before heading for the motel – a little roadside spot with a marvelous surprise on the same site but under different management: haute cuisine at Monique’s. Monique is a fine chef and very congenial. We went from beans and rice to: beautiful dining room of recently renovated wood floors and beams and nice table linens, Barbie had salmon chowder, salad of greens-pear-goat cheese-candied walnuts, beef bourginon; Andy had curried chicken soup and fresh pickeral prepared al dente; we shared a marvelous bottle of cabarnet sauvignon and a to-die-for chocolate mousse cake with kahlua and espresso sauce. Barbie thought we had died and gone to heaven!
Sunday, August 4, 13 – – – – – – sunny and pleasant – – – Long Point Cove – – – Barbie woke up and made a stronger cup of coffee for herself to start the day. The result: take control of life. She told Andy that if he’d just come along, she would take all the things needed to make a campfire and cook bacon and blueberry pancakes on his favorite rock. The pictures are the evidence. We sat in easy chairs and enjoyed our breakfast. Then a couple, who had arrived after us yesterday, joined us for a chat while Barbie burned up a very large delivery box someone had left on the rock. It’s amazing how much wood it takes to keep the fire going while burning a semi-soggy box, but the job was completed. The couple have a daughter in Madison so we enjoyed talking about Madison sailing with them and encouraging them to hook her up with MYC. Later that day Barbie decided to go fishing for bass under the lily pads in the little cove within the cove, got stuck and found a stick to push herself out, caught lots of lily pads and drowned two worms before switching to plastic ones. She had a great time. She has no idea what Andy did all day.
Saturday, August 3, 13 – – – – – – W light -> 15, fair – – – Long Point Cove – – – Due to the light wind direction, motored the very short distance to Long Point Cove early in the morning. Found the cove empty of boats, which was very nice. This is a place of many memories for Andy – sailing with his parents, Pepper and Kathryn, and their good friends Tom & Betty Jones – Rex’s folks. Took our time selecting an anchor spot due to the predicted shift to strong N winds later in the day. Planned to depart from a swing anchor and drop one off the stern – one off the bow, and pull the stern into shore to tie off. Unfortunately, we did it too far out and had to start over. Then chaos hit – the wind came up, we went to a different location, had a communication breakdown, ended up with the CQR set and then it started to drag – again! Aaagh! We pulled up, started over, and Andy dropped the Bruce as well as the CQR. Ultimately we talked it all through, decided how to keep calm in the future. Because the wind was light Andy decided to just use the CQR but while we were picnicking on the Jackson family’s favorite rock he noticed it was dragging again after a 90 degree wind shift. Took the dinghy over to reset it and dropped the Bruce again as well. Andy analyzed the situation and determined that the CQR pulled out with even the slight wind shift while the additional side hooks on the Bruce allowed it to reset itself on the wind shift. Kept both anchors in for the rest of the stay and were comfortable the rest of the time. Determined that a bigger Bruce would be bought when we can find one to replace the CQR. Andy’s subsequent conversations with folks at Long Point and later at Blind River confirmed his conclusion: let the CQR join the fate of our small Danforths – off the boat.
Friday, August 2, 13 – – – – – – rain, Tstorms – – – North Channel Yacht Club, Spragge – – – Stayed put & organized pictures, provisioning, AND HOT showers! Diane took Barbie to a great fresh food store similar to Brennan’s quality and the liquor store to reprovision with reckless abandon that that she understands the storage space and need to keep the ice box full. Andy took lots of picture of the fantastic rail system and we were lucky to get to watch Nate step his mast and launch his 15,000 pound sailboat before and after the rain. We’re gonna have corn on the cob for dinner. Hooray for fresh produce, we were down to rice and beans and a few cans of V8.
Thursday, August 1, 13 – – – – – – windy PM – – – North Channel Yacht Club, Spragge – – – We stopped at the yacht club to pump out and get ice with the intention of then going to Long Point Cove for 3 days of very protected anchoring. But by the time we finished the chores the wind had kicked up to 20 at the dock and the channel was frothing at least 30. So, since we needed a rest from last night’s fiasco, we decided to stay put at the dock. Good thing too, we have met lots of very nice people and gotten some good R&R. Who but Andy and Barbie need to get R&R from their vacation?
Wednesday, July 31, 13 – – – – – – rain in PM, Tstorm risk – – – John Island-east end, Moiles Harbor – – – We had a lovely day, swimming, built a campfire & roasted hot dogs on the rocks near the shore. While Andy was COOKING!!! a mink loped across the rock about 10 feet behind him near the water. A minute later, up screamed one mink chasing the other one away up the rocks with a fearsome, scolding voice – again about 10 feet above us. They ran lickiddy split up the rock and Barbie made a few startled noises to keep them from accidentally coming our way (and because she freaked). That night we dragged anchor in a Tstorm with a 180 degree wind shift. Out in the pouring rain and thunder & lightning to set a second anchor & then Andy kept all night vigil watching it on our monitor. Pulled out early and motored west the next day. Earlier that evening Andy wanted to reset the anchor because it didn’t look right with the angle to the anchor marker buoy but Barbie thought he was just being overly worrisome, which proved not to be true. It was good we bought the Bruce, bad Barbie didn’t trust Andy’s instincts, and we resolved after this affair not to use the anchor marker anymore because the line on it was a tangled mess that could have caught in the dinghy motor (or the Tartan motor had we decided to use it, or somebody else’s motor if they had gotten too close) resulting in disabling both our safety boat and our main boat, which was headed for the rocks. He was a champ handling the bad situation and we have decided to be much more cautious for the rest of our trip.
Tuesday, July 30, 13 – – – – – – Part 2 – – – John Island-east end, Moiles Harbor – – – Miscellaneous thoughts and pieces of wisdom we have acquired: (1) Per Lon’s “if you can’t tie a knot, tie alot of them” we have concluded “if your small Danforth won’t hold, throw in another one.” (We got a Bruce to supplement our CQR.) (2) Per the pleasure of having a “lucky line” when you need it we have found the pleasure of a “lucky paper towel” always in your pocket (except when doing laundry in the Whales Back). (3) And after 3 weeks afloat, per the movie Kramer vs Kramer, we, like Dustin Hoffman, have finally learned how to make a peaceful, connected breakfast without breaking all the eggshells into the pancakes and without always affirming “see, isn’t this fun.” We’re beginning to find a harmony with our lives on the water, irrespective of the risk of waterspouts, the reality of mosquitoes singing in our ears at bedtime, etc.
Tuesday, July 30, 13 – – – – – – NW->N::light, sunny and pleasant – – – John Island-east end, Moiles Harbor – – – Hung out and took it easy, went swimming to wash up and did some light-colored laundry by hand in the Whales Back channel because the water at Spanish was discolored from the vegetation (beautiful oaks & pines). Watched kids portage and paddle canoes at the YMCA camp located out of sight within this bay. Set up appointment at a boat works place for next week when we get to Blind River to look at the motor/shaft alignment problem.
Monday, July 29, 13 – – – – – – SW::5->15, light rain, waterspout watch – – – John Island-east end, Moiles Harbor – – – Decided to ignore the weather and head west under motor just to get back to an anchoring site. Put on foulies for first time but ended up not needing them. Found this beautiful bay suggested by Gary and decided to stay for a few days at anchor. Hiked around on the rocks and found apparent evidence of a bear rolling rocks away to get grubs. Made photo record of the evidence. In retrospect, it may have been kids from the YMCA camp on the island who rolled those rocks – who knows? We have evidence of rock n roll. Met John & Martha, a couple who were dinghy yachting with their Chesapeake Bay Retriever and he had alot to say about using more chain to anchor, fixing our shaft alignment with the motor, putting reflective tape on our anchor buoy but he didn’t like using one, Martha wanted it, taking it easy on the water and tempo-ing for the weather and what is easy to do, and suggestions about getting a dodger for cooler weather. We decided to take him up on all but the last suggestion. He races his J-40 singlehanded from Port Huron to Mackinaw. Enjoyed our chat.
Sunday, July 28, 13 – – – – – – Rain – – – Spanish Municipal Marina – – – Stayed one more day due to rain
Saturday, July 27, 13 – – – – – – Rain – – – Spanish Municipal Marina – – – Rested up, maintenance by Andy & travel logging by Barbie
Friday, July 26, 13 – – – – – – Rain, some strong wind @ night clocked 30 – – – Spanish Municipal Marina – – – Laundry, etc., walked to town for dinner – got it at convenience store
Thursday, July 25, 13 – – – – – – S->W->SW :: 5->10->15 – – – Spanish Municipal Marina – – – Sailed to Little Detroit passage motored through and sailed into Spanish, beautiful entry, dredging at channel – very shallow. Started with full main and Genoa, then reefed, then switched out Genoa to jib, then doused main and sailed entirely with jib. Should have reefed sooner. Still learning.
Wednesday, July 24, 13 – – – – – – ??? – – – South Benjamin – – – Watched sunset from rock with pools and zen gardens, lots of people with dogs and dinghies – festive time
Tuesday, July 23, 13 – – – – – – ??? – – – South Benjamin – – – Snorkling near beach on little inlet to south of North Benjamin – little fishes, blueberries, wild roses, & one raspberry we split
Monday, July 22, 13 – – – – – – SE-S 5->15 :: SW-NW 15->30 – – – South Benjamin – – – Sailed on a hot day – got some sunburn. Tried for Clapperton anchorage but looked too unprotected for pending N wind that night. In retrospect, should have stayed there. Dinghied around & took pictures of mink wanting to fish, thus hitting a rock. Anchored among 13 boats, learning to swing on a single anchor, which held through 30-40 nauts with insufficient protection – nerve wracking but made it through the night.
Sunday, July 21, 13 – – – – – – NE-E 15->5 :: Moderate – – – Little Current Dock :: Mosquito Island – – – Tarried for the night in preparation for tomorrow’s sail to Benjamins
Saturday, July 20, 13 – – – – – – N-NE 15->5 :: Moderate – – – Baie Fine :: north shore inlet, 1/4 in
Friday, July 19, 13 – – – – – – SW-W-NW 15->20 :: Nice – – – Baie Fine :: north shore inlet, 1/4 in
Thursday, July 18, 13 – – – – – – S-SW-NW 15->20 :: Nice – – – Baie Fine :: north shore inlet, 1/4 in – – – Paddled dinghy around inlet,
Wednesday, July 17, 13 – – – – – – W 15 into bay :: strong T-Storm @ night – – – Baie Fine :: north shore inlet, 1/4 in – – – Begin cruising, sail into Baie Fine learning navigation with substantial wind & narrow navigation room.
Wednesday, July 17, 13 – – – Well, we’ve been here at Little Current since last Thursday with a broken flexible coupler for our prop, which went out just as we were docking with an onshore breeze and lots of helping hands – LUCKILY. The part came in from Farymann today after a VERY LONG WAIT and we are good to go in the morning, which we will do. – – – – – -We put in at Harbor Vue Marina a week ago Tuesday because we had flat tires on our trailer – one in Beaver Dam and one in Neenah. When the second one blew we decided to replace them all for megabucks and a day late arrival at the Marina. We finished rigging the sails after dark on Tuesday and woke up Wednesday to 35 knot breezes gusting to 50 or more so we sat tight until Thursday, motored over here with a 4 knot head current at the “Little” Current bridge. We had to really power up to get to this side and then switching to reverse to slow us stripped the 30+ year old rubber, which we discovered only as Andy lost steerage about two boat lengths from the dock. Everyone was great helping us get in safely and secured at the dock. – – – – – – Well, we used the time to get little odds and ends done on the boat that hadn’t been completed before we left. I finally threw in the towel on our bad technology yesterday and drove to Sudbury to get a Walmart throw-away phone and Canadian Bell service that works like a charm. But it’s 50 cents a minute so I’m just using it to call Daddy and check voice mail once per day. If you want to get us a message, just call the phone number and leave a voice mail. There will be a day lag in my response. Email won’t work out of port and they won’t give us a hot spot because we aren’t Canadian citizens, so there you go – we’re all fruit. (to quote MBF Greek Wedding). – – – – – – Oh, and by the way, it was 95 and no wind today & high 80s-low 90s the past several. Kitties are staying cool in their “basement” apartment Andy created for them against the hull under the cabin starboard seat. – – – – – – BUT, we’re ready to get going and we’re resolved we needed to regroup before our big sailing adventure, which we have now done. I’ve sorted everything in the boat about 50 times and it is all in its most very proper place (Andy says, for now). We’ve had some nice dinghy rides to snorkel a bit west of here and to cool off in the chilly water. Andy got some great shots of the tug rendezvous and we’ll post them sometime when we have a better network connection.
Tuesday, July 16, 13 – – – – – – Hot – – – Little Current Dock – – – Andy fixed prop while Barbie drove to Sudbury (180,000) to get Canadian Bell cell; learned can bus from Sault and get dropped at Spanish.
Monday, July 15, 13 – – – – – – Hot – – – Little Current Dock
Sunday, July 14, 13 – – – – – – Hot – – – Little Current Dock – – – Got some fish & chips and then ice cream at local waterfront spot.
Saturday, July 13, 13 – – – – – – Warm – – – Little Current Dock – – – Dinghied out during tug flotilla spectacle and then snorkling. Went to classic car show at night.
Friday, July 12, 13 – – – – – – Nice – – – Little Current Dock – – – Dingied to place to go snorkeling. Worked on further boat organization and prep for several days while stuck at the dock. Ate out at Garry’s family restaurant several eves – good food.
Friday, July 12, 13 – – – We are at the Little Current public docks awaiting the festivities for the 100 year anniversary of the turnstile bridge this weekend. We’ll head out to sea afterwards. Lots of stories to tell but I’ll wait for now and tell you later. They’re bringing all the trawlers (old restored working tugs) in for the festivities & we’ll get to have tours. They are quite a spectacle of character boats. Most are about 40 feet but one pulled in this morning right in front of our immediate neighbor’s sailboat measuring over 100 feet. We all got off the boats to make sure we were safe (we were) – it looked like Moby Dick was going to get us – so had a great time talking about it, taking pictures, and getting to know the neighbors of the day. – – – – – – We’ve had no internet or phone access so we’re in a very limited communication mode – this is both good in some ways but very inconvenient in other ways. We’ll setup facebook with lots of info later, but not for a while. – – – – – – For now, we’re busily putzing around on little boat chores like getting screens on the port hole, etc., getting a pitcher for the bags of milk because the bags at the grocery store are too big for Kathryn’s old, pretty blue one and you can’t just buy a carton. It’s a beautiful day with a light breeze to cool us from the warm sun in the clear blue sky. The kitties are settling into the tempo, sights, and sounds of their new life and are really doing quite well.
Thursday, July 11, 13 – – – – – – Nice – – – Little Current Dock – – – Docked next to wood boat with matching dinghy – nice folks, watched Presquetont Tug pull in
Wednesday, July 10, 13 – – – – – – 30-40 – – – Harbor Vue Marina :: Little Current – – – Hunker down
Tuesday, July 9, 13 – – – – – – Nice – – – Harbor Vue Marina :: Little Current – – – Launch, step mast (Rick & ___), rig past dark
Monday, July 8, 13 – – – – – – Nice – – – Harbor Vue Marina :: Little Current – – – Drive, shuffle car/boat contents, slept in boat on the hard
Sunday, July 7, 13 – – – – – – Nice – – – Espanola, MI – – – Drive, little motel – young couple from Maryland, dinner @ Hudson’s Diner
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