We took the “outside” route today instead of the protected small craft channel. We reasoned that since it was the weekend and the forecast was so good, the channel would be extremely busy. We needed a break from the intensity of the navigating we’d been doing and we were hoping to have the chance to spread our wings and actually sail on the open water. In addition, the North Channel was beckoning and “going outside” was a way to save a few miles.
We charted a course on the outside from Point Au Baril to Beaverstone Bay, raised the sails and enjoyed moving silently over the water without any other boat traffic in sight. The winds started out at 5 knots building gradually to 15-20 knots by mid afternoon. It was a perfect day to be sailing on the open water with blue skies, clear blue water and warmth from the sun. Maureen spent most of the day at the helm while Gale adjusted the sails between naps. The sailing conditions were so good it took only six hours to travel 40 miles on the open water passage before it was time to come in and look for an anchorage. We found the inlet at Beaverstone Bay to be narrow, rocky and poorly marked; on top of this, we had 4 foot waves to contend with. It reminded us a lot of the Atlantic inlets we encountered early in our adventure. After traveling a total of 52.3 nautical miles between 7:15 am and 5:45 pm, we dropped our anchor in Muskrat Bay of Beaverstone Bay.
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