Saturday, July 18, 2009

After packing things up and visiting with John and Susan Spragg, we drove over to Mason City to see Mark and Diane Holt for a few minutes. Afterwards we returned home to pick up Maureen’s car and stopped to visit with Steve Ford in the parking lot. From here, it was out to see Maureen’s mother, Pat, at Apple Valley Assisted Living and then south on the Interstate to Des Moines. We stopped to see our friends, Bob and Susie, at their townhouse and enjoyed a wonderful roast beef dinner in their home.

Our final destination for the day was our daughter and son-in-law’s where we arrived at 3:30 pm. It was so wonderful to see their smiles and enjoy the reunion. JT had grown from a toddler into a little boy in the past three months and Jess was looking radiant. Late in the afternoon, Gale, Maureen, Jess and JT all piled into the car to pick up some groceries for the week. When we returned to the house, Joe was home from work and we were all ready for a nice meal of hamburgers and homegrown Iowa sweet corn followed by a dessert smorgasbord of fruit pizza, angel food cake w/strawberries and peanut butter and chocolate ice cream!

Friday, July 17, 2009

The car rental agent was at the marina at 8:30 am to pick up Gale so we could rent one of their vehicles. We were expecting a new grandchild any day and Maureen was going back to help Jess, Joe and JT out and wait for the new baby to arrive. We arrived in Clear Lake at 5 pm and our first stop was to see Gale’s parents. Gale and Mary looked great and were very surprised to see us. After some time with the folks, we drove out to the condo. It felt very nice to walk into our place after nearly three months on the water. We enjoyed some Chinese take-out food and then spent time visiting with our neighbors, Nick and Jane Ong, who brought us up to date on what was happening around the Sandpiper Condominiums. We were both exhausted after the long drive and, as was our usual routine, went to bed about sunset!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

We awoke at 4:15 am and found a beautiful clear morning. After walking Lucy and snapping a few pictures at sunrise, we pulled anchor and left the dock at 5:30 am. We had a good 50-mile sail and arrived at the Manitowoc, Wisconsin, harbor at 12:30 pm where we hooked on to a mooring ball at the municipal marina. We took a dinghy ride up the river and into town, going by the World War II submarine on display outside the Maritime Museum. Twenty-eight of these submarines were built in Manitowoc for WWII, the last two of which were never placed into service. If we’d had a little more time, we would have toured the museum as well as the submarine; however, it was getting late in the afternoon and we needed to get back to the boat to finish preparing for our trip to Iowa tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Okay, so the boat wasn’t so secure!! Around 4 am, Gale got up to use the head and found that the stern was floating out into the middle of the channel! When he pulled in the stern line, he found it still wrapped around the cleat but the cleat was no longer attached to the dock. Our shore power cord was stretched to its limit from the dock to the boat, but it was also ready to break at one end or the other. Fortunately, the bow line held and Gale was able to pull the boat back by running the stern line up to the bow, pulling on the bow line so he could jump to the dock, and then grabbing the stern line and pulling us back in. He did all of this while Maureen waited for him to come back not knowing that he was even outside!

All morning and much of the afternoon we lived with wind, waves, fog, and cleats breaking away from the dock. It was a good day for hanging out doing laundry and boat chores. About 2 pm, Terry and Tony, brothers from Minneapolis who were in Algoma for a few days to do some fishing on their boat, “Rolling Thunder,” stopped by and offered to take us with them to “The Flying Pig,” a unique gift and garden shop located a few miles down the road. They told us that it was the one thing we really needed to do while we were in Algoma so we enjoyed a little break and checked out the store where we found a few small treasures. One of those items was a painted flying pig made from a ping pong ball with wings and other doo-dads added which is now sitting on the shelf in our galley.

By the time we finished browsing at “The Flying Pig,” the fog had lifted, the winds had died down and the sun was shining! It was a whole different day! Back at the boat at 3:30pm, Maureen made beds and put laundry away while Gale got some tips for fishing for the big ones on Lake Michigan from Terry and Tony. They even gave Gale a couple of lures to get started with. When Gale returned to the boat, he had the keys to Tony’s truck in his pocket. Tony had graciously offered the use of his vehicle while he and his brother went out fishing because he knew we were planning to go to the grocery store. What a nice thing to do!

At 5 pm, the Farmer’s Market opened in the park next to the marina. A little bit later, we heard a reggae band begin to play at the band shell. The music was excellent and we danced in the cockpit as the sun was going down! Terry and Tony stopped by just as the last song was playing at 9 pm and joined us for a couple of beers.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We pulled up the anchor at 6:15 am and headed west across Lake Michigan. We would have liked to stay on the Michigan side a while longer; however, after listening to the forecast, we decided that Tuesday was going to be a better day for a crossing than Wednesday. The skies were mostly clear and the wind was out of the east at 6 knots in the morning building and changing to the south at 16 knots in the afternoon. There was talk of thunderstorms with 35 mph winds coming in by midnight, so we motorsailed the 55 miles directly across and took dockage at the Algoma, Wisconsin, city marina.
Since we gained an hour
traveling west into Central Time, it was only 2:00 pm when we tied up to the dock. Algoma, The Sportsman’s Fishing Capital of the Great Lakes, is a city of 3,300 people with a nice downtown and all of the services we were interested in within a few blocks of the marina. We took Lucy for a walk and stopped at a couple of shops including the Von Stiehl Winery. After going back to the boat and completing a few chores, we left Lucy aboard and walked back to the winery to sample and purchase some local wine.

With the boat secured, we settled in for a stormy night.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Today we traveled 67-1/2 miles in 12 hours – a very long day! We left Charlevoix in time for the 6:30 am bridge opening and motorsailed along the coast enjoying the beautiful sand dunes along Lake Michigan’s east side. The day was sunny and cool with temperatures never getting much above 72 degrees. The sailing wasn’t the best since the wind was usually coming straight at us. We entered the harbor at Frankfort, MI, around 5:30 pm, stopped at the Jacobson Marina for fuel and water, then anchored in 10 feet of water at 6:45 pm. By the time we finished with dinner, it was 8:30 pm so there wasn’t much time left to dinghy into shore – instead, we enjoyed the sunset from the boat and fed bread to the birds that swam up.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

We left our slip at Mackinac Island at 6:30 am and headed toward the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac. We had originally planned to stop at Beaver Island for the night but since the wind was straight out of the west and that was the direction of travel, we decided to drop south along the coast and try to get to Charlevoix. The wind picked up to between 12-18 knots which allowed us to sail at 8.5 knots. The ride was a bit bumpy, but after 10-1/2 hours and 55 miles, we pulled into Charlevoix’s harbor to find a festival going on. We dropped anchor in 60 feet of water (our deepest anchorage ever), and after a nice dinner, we let the dinghy down and pulled up to the city dock to check things out. By that time, the booths were being taken down, but there was still good music playing at the bandshell and lots of people about. We walked down to the beach and through some beautiful residential areas. Charlevoix looked like a place we would like to come back to.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

There was a nasty thunderstorm last night and we were quite glad we were tied up in a protected harbor. At 5:30 am we were out of bed and preparing to make the 13-mile crossing to Mackinac Island. The wind was out of the west (the direction we were going) but the breeze was pretty light so we had no difficulty. We arrived at the marina at 9 am and were out exploring the island about an hour later. We enjoyed the fudge, took a carriage ride around the island, browsed some of the shops, and loved just being in this charming and romantic place. There was a new yoga studio located right next to our slip which offered a 5:30 pm slow flow yoga class. We were the only two participants and it was nice to have the private session.

Friday, July 10, 2009

We pulled anchor at 8:00 am and followed Distant Voyage to DeTour Village where we bought diesel, filled the water tanks, pumped out and topped off the gasoline tank for the dinghy. It wasn’t long before we were on our way again and headed toward Les Cheneaux Islands , about 20 miles west of DeTour Village. Les Cheneaux means “the channel” but many boaters refer to these islands as “the snows.” Most of the shoreline is privately owned; however, Government Island is public land and provides beaches and picnic spots as well as one of the best anchorages in the area. As we motored through “the snows”, we noted many old wooden boats at docks and out on the water. Our stop for the night was at the north end of Hessel Bay in the village of Hessel at the Township’s marina. Hessel is a quaint little fishing village with friendly people, a nice marina, and basic services. The village celebrates wooden boats the second Saturday in August and we were told the harbor is a mad house with virtually no dockage available.

After securing ourselves in the slip, checking in, and taking Lucy for a walk, we walked over to the general store to pick up a few grocery items. It was here that Maureen found the lime green “spinner bait” earrings that go so well with anything! The lures that we had been using to catch all the great fish in Canada were lime green spinner bait so, hopefully, these will become lucky fishing earrings!

About 7 pm we joined up with John and Lisa and walked across the street for dinner at the Hessel Bay Inn where Gale and Maureen shared a rack of delicious ribs!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Northern Lights were visible last night! About 1 am, Gale had gotten up and stepped outside when he called to Maureen to come out and see the lights! Because of the full moon, the show was not very brilliant, but, at least, we did see them while we were in the North Channel.

We were underway at 5:45 am with the destination of the United States at Drummond Island, Michigan, in mind. We rendezvoused with Distant Voyager near Turnbull Island and headed west into a beautiful morning and calm seas. The crossing was lovely – blue skies, comfortable temperatures, turquoise water and flat seas. We spent about 1-1/2 hours at Drummond clearing Customs, checking out the Ships Store, and reviewing charts with John and Lisa. We found a nice anchorage at Harbor Island, about two miles from the Drummond Harbor, and had John and Lisa over to Blue Heron for a nice meal of Northern filets and brown rice. We truly enjoyed getting to know this couple a little better.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

When we set out yesterday, our plan was to head for Thessalon today and then on Thursday make the crossing to Drummond Island where we would clear customs. As we were visiting with Betty and Leo last night, John and Lisa of Distant Voyager hailed Dues Paid. They know each other since both couples live in Punta Gorda, Florida, and they both spend time in the North Channel each summer. We spoke with John and he invited us to travel with them on Thursday directly to Drummond Island since it was supposed to be a nice day with winds out of the Southeast. For the past several days, we have been heading directly into a west wind so the change sounded good to us and we stayed at Long Point Cove another day.

In the morning, we explored in the dinghy, hunted blueberries (found a few nearly ripe ones), and fished. Just before noon at exactly the same time, Gale and Maureen each had a fish on the line – two big Northerns! Back at Blue Heron we enjoyed a fantastic lunch of our first pancakes made with North Channel blueberries. Mid-afternoon we moved the boat into the shallow pool at our anchorage and Gale pulled the big boat with the dinghy into less than two feet of water. Here we scrubbed the hull and removed the scum that had accumulated – mostly in the saltwater during the first few weeks of our trip. After cleaning Blue Heron we moved her back into about four feet of water for the night, took baths ourselves in the co-o-o-o-o-o-l- d waters of the North Channel, and went fishing again. Gale caught another Northern, but since it wasn’t as big as the others we’d been catching, he released it.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The forecast for the day was similar to yesterday but since it wasn’t raining when we awoke, we decided to move on. We had noted several different anchorages along our route in case we needed to duck in to a safe harbor. Leaving early in the morning usually allows for a few good hours of traveling before the wind picks up so we hauled up the anchor at 6:30 am and set out for Sanford Island. We came through Little Detroit Strait, a spot so narrow it is customary to announce your intentions to pass through on the radio before entering. Fortunately, it is also protected, so there is no concern about waves or currents making it dangerous or difficult to navigate. The wind did get stronger as it got later into the morning and by 10:30 am we were very glad that we were nearing the end of our trip for the day. We had originally intended to anchor at Sanford Island, but Gale noticed a Gemini catamaran coming up behind us and hailed them on the radio. Leo and Betty of Dues Paid said they were going into Long Point Cove and they would be happy to lead us in. We followed and found another lovely, secluded anchorage where, amazingly enough, there was only one other sailboat. Since it was only 11:30 am when we set our anchor, we had the rest of the day to look forward to. We took the dinghy over to meet Betty and Leo in person and they invited us aboard. This was the first Gemini we had seen since leaving Delaware City two months ago!

After lunch, Gale and Lucy went fishing while Maureen stayed on the boat to do a little housekeeping. There were showers off and on all afternoon, but it didn’t stop us from fishing, hunting blueberries or visiting our neighbors. Gale caught a large Northern just before it was time to come back and pick up Maureen so we could share “happy hour” with Betty and Leo on their boat. Gale cleaned the fish, we spent a little time aboard Dues Paid and came back to Blue Heron for fresh Northern.

Monday, July 6, 2009

It started raining sometime during the night and continued into the morning hours. We slept in and enjoyed the peacefulness of this place, listened to the wind and rain, and felt the boat being gently blown from side to side on the anchor. We decided it was a good day to stay put especially knowing that if the wind was affecting us so much in a protected cove, it wouldn’t be much fun out on the open water. A black bear cub showed up about the same time of the afternoon in the same spot we saw the adult bear yesterday. We believe there were two cubs and a mother bear living in the vicinity. Again, we tried to get some pictures, but the only way one would know there is a bear in the photo is if we point it out!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

It was a sunny morning and the breezes were light and out of the west. We pulled anchor at 7:00 am and headed for an anchorage behind Hotham Island near the LaCloche Mountains where we arrived at 10 am. The spot we tucked into already had three sailboats and three power boats at anchor, but there was room for more so we motored all the way into the cove and dropped our anchor in about 5 feet of water. As usual, the water was very clean, clear and cool. We talked to some “old friends” and met some new ones as we toured the area in our dinghy before lunch.

After a nice afternoon nap, everyone was outside on deck: Gale working on the dinghy, Maureen reading a book and Lucy continuing her nap. Lucy started sniffing and making some noise and when we looked to the shore, we saw a black bear on the rocks. He gave us a look, Lucy barked at him and he disappeared into the bushes before we could get a picture. Gale and Lucy decided to try to take the dinghy out to catch some fish while Maureen stayed on Blue Heron and enjoyed reading her novel. The fishing expedition was unsuccessful this time, so we thawed the fish we’d purchased in Killarney and added a salad for a late dinner.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Fourth of July! The skies were blue, the sun bright and the temperature around 70 degrees. We were up at 6 am to enjoy this beautiful day! The Laundromat was only a few feet from the boat, so Maureen couldn’t pass up the opportunity to throw in a couple loads of wash. It didn’t even feel like a chore with things so handy! We had decided to hang around this morning to take care of a few things but, mostly, to check out the Little Current Yacht Club Cruisers’ Net program which broadcasts every day on VHF Channel 71 at 9 am during the months of July and August. Roy Eaton is the announcer and he makes his broadcast from the Anchor Inn Hotel, just across the street from the docks. At the hotel, we met Steve and Rae Mason, Barefoot Shoes, whom we had heard checking in on the radio program for the last two days. In fact, they had been anchored at The Pool when we first arrived, but left before we had the chance to meet them there. Steve gave us a good lead on an antenna that they use to boost their WiFi signal. We hope to catch up with them again during our travels. Roy, from the radio program, stopped by the docks with his radio tester to offer to check anyone’s VHF radio. We could not easily get to our antenna and radio, so we passed on the test; however, Roy did take Gale and our propane tank to the only place in town that refilled tanks. Thanks, Roy!

A few more chores, a little lunch and we were just about ready to leave Little Current when two female customs officers walked by and asked for our paperwork. They were very pleasant, friendly and professional and gave us some more paperwork in case someone wanted to check us again.

We left Little Current at 4 pm and as soon as we were out of the harbor, we headed into the wind and 3 to 4 foot waves. This made for a very rough ride! Our original plan was to anchor at Fox Island, but we soon realized that was too far to go in these conditions. There was a sailboat coming out of Little Current behind us which turned north. Instead of continuing west and riding the waves as we were, we decided to fall in behind the sailboat, Olajuna, and try to hail them on the radio. Gordon and Hilda were piloting the boat and Hilda told us they were going to Louisa Island for the night where there was a very well protected cove. We followed them in to a delightful anchorage that actually had a small sand beach! After setting the anchor and putting things in order, Gordon rowed his dinghy over to meet us. We invited them back after dinner for a cocktail and some snacks and enjoyed getting to know this very nice couple.

Friday, July 3, 2009

The forecast for the day was for sun and clouds with winds beginning to build from NW to W and up to 15 to 20 knots by afternoon. It took a little bit of work to free the anchor from the weeds, but we were on our way shortly after 7 am and headed to Little Current, the only “big” town in these parts (pop. 1,500). There is a swing bridge just at the entrance to the Little Current harbor which opens for 15 minutes every hour on the hour. We just made the 11 am opening and found ourselves at the fuel station on the town dock by 11:20 am where we topped off the diesel fuel tanks and filled the dinghy gasoline tank and the fresh water tanks. We were told that we could tie up to the wall or move into a slip and stay for the rest of the day to shop, lunch, do laundry, or whatever. We stopped at the post office, checked out some gift shops, took our laptop to the Pantry restaurant for lunch and picked up groceries. Both of the grocery stores in town have free delivery to the docks. What a nice service! After groceries, we walked to the LCBO to pick up some wine and wandered a bit around town. The winds had increased to over 20 knots, the water was beginning to show whitecaps, and the sky was getting darker. We thought it best to stay tied to the wall tonight and venture out again tomorrow. We settled in, did some business on the computer and went out for a burger at the Anchor Inn.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

We stayed at anchor another day. Gale and Lucy took the dinghy out around 7:30 am to see if they could catch dinner. While they were out, one of the neighboring boats hailed him over and asked what he thought about all the commotion last night. Maureen had mentioned to Gale that the boat that came in late in the day seemed to have a lot of lights on it and they were using a spotlight on shore. She also heard someone’s VHF radio with the volume cranked way up and thought another boat came in during the night. She didn’t hear the two little girls aboard hollering things like, “Daddy, Please don’t! Daddy, No!” There had been a domestic incident happening right next to us and we were unaware of any problem or that the woman had sent out a “Mayday!” The Coast Guard and the Ontario Provincial Police were on scene and handled a difficult situation very well. The mom and two girls were taken away on one boat and the dad on another.

While Gale was out, Maureen was putting together some snacks to take along while we ventured out of The Pool and into the fjord. We couldn’t go too far because we were getting low on gasoline, but did make it out to The Narrows portion and had a little picnic on an island. We saw beavers in the water, eagles over the water and loons on the water! After lunch, we headed back to The Pool and tied off to the dock used by the Killarney Provincial Park staff. It was here that we found the trail up to Topaz Lake and hiked up to see the mountain lake. Even though we were wearing full raingear, rubber boots and hats, the mosquitoes found their way into any exposed areas and left us all with a few large welts. As we stepped over the ridge, we discovered that the lake was aptly named because the water appeared to be a beautiful dark turquoise color. Gale enjoyed a little swim in the clear, cold water but neither Maureen nor Lucy joined in.

After the hike and a little break back on the boat, we thought we had better get out and try fishing again. Maureen was the one who brought home dinner this time – a good-sized Northern.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

This was Canada Day, the Canadian Independence Day. We slept in until 8 am and enjoyed listening to the light rain around us. The temperatures were cool so we picked out a project to work on for the morning. And the Winner was: Find the leak causing the loss in water pressure making the pump run every minute or so. The galley sink was pulled out and things were tightened up there, both the shower in the head and the shower in the cockpit were checked and all hose clamps on all water lines were tightened. We then emptied the aft cabin where the water pump and all the hoses come through, removed and reinstalled the water filter and checked for leaks. And while we were at it, we adjusted the drain hose for the air conditioning unit so that it had a better angle for draining. Hopefully, the problem is fixed!

Our project of the day ended up taking a lot more time than we expected but at 4 pm we were ready to do some fishing. Gale caught a really nice Northern but we lost it as we were trying to haul it in with the net. Not to worry, there were two wonderful bass to follow, a large mouth and a “smallie.” Maureen caught the biggest fish of the day: a 15-pound dogfish. Boy, was that an ugly fish! He went back into the water.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The word of the day was “Spectacular!!” which was uttered many times, as well as, "Beautiful," "Gorgeous," "Stunning," "Unbelievable" and "Amazing!"

The forecast was for calm to light winds for the morning with the chance of showers and thunderstorms beginning at noon. We left Covered Portage Cove at 7:30 am and headed into Lansdowne Channel which is the main water highway between Killarney and Little Current. The channel can become very shallow in low water years so many cruisers pass on this route and go around. After coming through the channel we crossed the mouth of Frazer Bay to Frazer Point and came to the entrance to Baie Fine, one of the few fjords in North America. The scenery along this 10-mile passage to the Pool at its far end is unmatched. At 12:15 pm we dropped the anchor about as far into the Pool as we thought anyone would venture and admired the view of white quartz mountains, heavy woods and turquoise water. As we were eating our lunch, it started to rain a little so we relaxed and waited for the skies to clear.

At 3 pm, we took the dinghy out and two fishing poles. Gale immediately caught a large mouth bass and after it flopped around for a while, we decided we needed the stringer out of the big boat. As soon as we were going again, he caught two more bass and one of those was nearly 5 pounds! After an hour, it clouded up again and cooled off, so Gale took Maureen home and he and Lucy headed out for a little more fishing. After 45 minutes or so they made another pass by Blue Heron and said they’d be out for 10 more minutes. That was when Gale caught the 10-pound Northern! Needless to say, we had a glorious fresh Canadian fish dinner that evening. What a wonderful celebration for our 2nd Wedding Anniversary!

Today also marks over 1000 nautical miles traveled since leaving Delaware City on May 12th. (1,017 nautical miles = 1,170 statute miles)