OPEN WATER AND DARK CLOUDS

August 9, 2011  Dateline Drummond Island, Michigan USA

Plain Jane and Rock Chalk left Meldrum Bay before 6 AM this morning because the weather was projected to be horrible in the afternoon and they wanted to get to Drummond before it blew in.  I got to sleep in a little longer but got on my way by 6:50.  The trip to Drummond was only about 35 miles and I got there in a little more than 2 hours. 

I had to wait two hours for the Customs and Border Patrol to clear me into the US , but Rich and Carol were free to get off of me until the agent arrived.  No problem, he asked a few questions and the three of us could do whatever we wanted.

Just after lunch the dark clouds began to roll in.  These were some of the meanest looking cloud that I have ever seen.  See what you think when you look at these pictures that Rich took.

At the Drummond Island Yacht Haven there was a boat called Lollygag.  The boat is doing the Great Loop.  Rich understands that it was built by its owner using parts he purchased at home improvement centers.  Lollygag is powered by an outboard engine when there is insufficient wind to fill her sails.  Her generator is wind driven.

Rich asked the marina to lift me out of the water so he could check my propellers.  One blade on my starboard prop had a bend in it.  Out came one of my spares and on it went, then, I was put back in the water.  Rich and I are really happy to be out of the shallow waters and moving into deep Lake Michigan.

A beautiful Kadey Krogen express trawler called Coconuts was also in the marina.  She is a beautiful boat that her owner rebuilt in 2010.  She was taken into a narrow cove to anchor for the night and on her way out she hit a rock.  She mangled a prop, bent a shaft and tore up one rudder.  Now I know there are only two kinds of boats on the Georgian Bay and the North Channel.  Those who hit a rock and those who have not (but they are likely lying about it).

MY LAST DAY IN CANADA

August 8, 2011  Dateline: Meldrum Bay, Ontario Canada

Plain Jane and I left Gore Bay this morning for Meldrum Bay.  Early in the morning the wind was blowing and the waves were lapping on my bow.  By the time that I was ready to leave the wind died down and the Lake Huron was almost flat.  The two of us traveled together for a couple of hours then Plain Jane decided to take a different route than me.  That was fine for me as Rich could tell me to go faster.

Meldrum Bay is a tired marina in a town that costs of one very good restaurant and a country store.  The road past the country store is a dead end.  The bay is very pretty like the rest of the North Channel.

Tomorrow morning Plain Jane is planning to leave at 6 AM to beat the weather that is coming in and she will be heading for Drummond Island.  Rock Chalk and I will be leaving later because can travel faster.  Once I travel the 35 miles to Drummond Island I will be back in the United States.  I have spent approximately 30 days in Canada.  I will be good to be back home.

I AM HALF WAY TO NORTH POLE

August 7, 2011  Dateline:  Gore Bay, Ontario Canada

I got going before 8 AM this morning.  Rich and Carol debated whether or not to go because of the weather forecast.  Needless to say they decided to go.  The trip was going to be short, some 36 miles, and I was traveling alone.  Traveling alone means I can get up on plane and move faster than the trawlers.

Last night in Little Current there were 11 boats on the Loop.  The marina was so large that we were not near any one of them.

Along the way, I passed a few degrees north of the 46^th Parallel. The 46^th Parallel is the furthest north that I will go, so from here on in it is all south to Key West.  Key West is months away.

I have always said it is better to be lucky than smart.  Today was a lucky day for Rich and Carol.  Right after I got them into the marina the skies opened up and the rain came down.  They stayed dry----and me—well I guess you don’t need any hints.

About an hour or so after I arrived, Plain Jane arrived—in the rain.  She had left Little Current shortly after me this morning but she’s a trawler and travels a lot slower.  She also burns a lot less fuel than I do.  I first met Plain Jane in Brewerton, NY.  She had also been pulled out of the water for some work.

Yesterday, Rich and Carol loaded a new program into my weather chartplotter.  The old program was “unstable” after a while.  Carol didn’t want to look at the screen because most of it was covered with green and black indicating rain and heavy rain.

The town of Gore Bay is small but it has a few wall murals.  They are not as elaborate as those in Midland but they make the town nice.  While walking around Gore Bay, Rich and Carol came upon a garage sale.  Walking around the sale was this dog.  They asked its owner what breed he was, a Coton was the answer.  He move and acted just like Sandra’s dog Monty.

RANDON MUSINGS

August 6, 2011  Dateline: Little Current, Ontario Canada

I did not travel today so I decided that I would post some pictures that were taken but were not previously posted.  Remember double clicking on a picture will enlarge them,

When Rich worked for D. George Harris & Associates he met with many banks to obtain financing for the group’s operations.  He missed this one that was in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

At Bobcaygeon before going into the lock I had to go through this bridge, the lock tender also operates the bridge.  Bet you didn’t think I could get under it.

While this railroad bridge is open at Fenelon Falls it is narrow and I had to twist to get through it.  The Trent Severn Waterway is full of narrow places.

I had told you all that the water level was low in the Trent Severn, look at the mud in my wake that I stirred up when I went through the “Hole in the Wall”.

The Big Chute marine railway operates with cables that raise and lower the cradle on each side of the hill it goes over.  This photo shows the cables that keep the railway car from going uncontrollably down the hill.

Carol allowed Rich to take this picture.  I bet she beats him up when she sees this----she will leave me alone.

THE WORLD’S LARGEST FRESH WATER ISLAND

August 5, 2011  Dateline: Little Current, Ontario Canada

I left Killarney, Ontario this morning at 11 AM, it was a late start but I had only 25 miles to travel to Little Current.  Before I left the dock this morning, this boat came into the Channel and picked up a barge.   I understand that this type of boat is also used for fishing.  Later in the morning I saw the boat again near a silica mine.

This picture shows the view of the Killarney Channel off of my stern.  As I said the Channel is narrow and where there are no docks it is covered with trees.  It is very pretty.





Shenanigans followed me out of Killarney this morning.  Her chart plotter wasn’t working and her owner wanted to follow someone.  Rich talked to her owner and they agreed that the root of the problem was the weather reporting program of XM Sirius Weather.  Rich had had the same problem and disconnected the weather and all was good.  Rich also learned that Raymarine has a fix for the “instability” of the weather reporting. Shenanigans’ owner is traveling alone except for the two Shitzus that are always by his side.  Rich told me that that he cooks them rice and chicken for dinner every night.  I bet that my niece Lucy would like to travel with them.

When I got to Little Current I encountered this bridge.  It is a single lane bridge with traffic lights on each side so that the traffic can move in only one direction.  It opens on the hour for 15 minutes and 15 minutes only. If you don’t get through during the 15 minute period, the bridge will close and you will wait one hour for the next opening.


Little Current is located on Manitoulin Island.  Manitoulin is the largest freshwater island in the world. It has an area of 2,766 square kilometers, which accommodates a diverse, untouched landscape. Manitoulin Island is also a fisherman’s paradise, having 108 inland fresh water lakes including the famous Lake Manitou, which is the largest lake within a fresh water island and has been dubbed a “fish breeding hotbed.”
Rich and Carol met Roy Eaton today at the weekly Happy Hour cruisers get together at the Anchor Inn. Roy is the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association Harbor Host for Little Current.  He also operates a VHF Cruisers Net radio show each day that brings cruisers of the North Channel up to date on the news, who is traveling in the North Channel, weather, upcoming events and anything else that Roy wants to discuss.  Roy takes a picture with each Looper that comes through Little Current.  Here is Carol, Roy and Rich, was I invited to be in the picture-----of course not.

WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!

August 4, 2011  Dateline: Killarney, Ontario Canada

After a really rainy morning yesterday and a windy afternoon in Britt on the Bying Inlet I left this morning at 8 AM.  Glory Days, Dockers Inn and Shenanigans left at the same time.  There were two routes to get to Killarney, the Small Craft Channel and the Outside Channel.   The other three boats took the Small Craft Channel; Rich told me that I was going on the outside.  The direction I was taking was in deep water; I like deep water, and is 15 miles shorter.  The scenery was not as pretty but I could throttle up the Caterpillars.  At first the Cats were not happy, they had been running at idle and slow speed for too long and they needed to get back in the groove. It took them about an hour to get back in shape but they did and off I went.  I arrived in Killarney about 11 AM and the other boats arrived at about 3:45, nearly 5 hours later.

I have now traveled 1,000 miles on this trip.

Killarney is a town that exists on a channel between two islands; the channel is lined on both sides with docks.  It exists on a 6 week summer period and a silica mine.  I know about silica sand.  The plastic bottle business has hurt the mine here just as it did in the United States.  The mountains surrounding the cut are white with the silica sand stone.

The water here is aqua colored and very clear.  The picture shows my bow sitting in the marina and the bottom under it.  I was in plenty of water but it is so clear you can see down about 9 feet.

Rich told me that besides Henry’s fresh fried fish restaurant on Frying Pan Island at Sans Soucci, there is also Herbert’s fresh fried fish business here in Killarney.  The business is operated out of an old school bus and the menu consists of a box of four pieces of fish and French fries.  The fish is a combination of Walleye (Pickerel) and Lake Trout caught locally early each morning.  The fish was good and it was certainly very fresh.

As I pulled into my slip I learned that the cut is also used by float planes as a runway.  I am glad that I was tied up when this plane landed.  I doubt that there would have been sufficient room in the cut for the two of us to pass each other.

Rich showed me a picture of Forem II she made it here from Summit, NJ but I doubt that she will make it back.  It is too bad because in her younger days I bet she was a beauty.

ROCKS, ROCKS AND MORE ROCKS

August 2, 2011  Dateline Byng Inlet Ontario Canada

As there was no internet last night, today will be a two day post.  After the port engine was realigned and a reconditioned propeller delivered to me, Rich, Carol and I went to the fuel dock to get me some diesel.  Love that stuff!  After an hour using their slow “sail boat pump” I was ready to leave the dock.  I took on 1,021 liters or about 269 gallons.  I had traveled some 250 miles and had run the generator for about 15 hours at 2 gallons per hour. 

After I left Midland yesterday Rich and Carol took me to Henry’s Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island.  While the General Manager of Bay Port Marina called ahead for a reservation, there was no room at the docks when we got there so we continued on to Killbear.  At Killbear, we met up with Glory Days and Dockers Inn.  Rich and Carol went with the owners of the Glory Days and Dockers Inn to a German restaurant that was at the marina.  The food was good and the service very pleasant.  It was late when dinner finished and we agreed that we would travel together the next day.  Glory Days and Dockers Inn were going to anchor out while I was going to a marina but since both locations were close by we travelled together. The Georgian Bay is full of rocks and the channel weaves among them.  You could be 15 feet from a rock island and be in 45 feet of water.  You can see waves breaking over the rocks that are just above the surface.  Notice the way the wind has forced the branches of the trees to grow in one direction, away from the prevailing wind.

This morning all three of us left Killbear at 8 AM and headed out together.  Dockers Inn led the way.  Along the way I saw this cross made out of rocks, it looked kind of neat.

Here is a channel that I had to pass through.  I suspect that it was not much wider than 3 feet on either side of me.  The water in the channel was 13 feet deep.

One of the early markers in the Georgian Bay was at a place called Pointe Au Baril.  The marker was a barrel on a pole. Below are pictures of the replacement barrel as well as the lighthouse that ultimately replaced the barrel.

Tonight I will be at Wrights Marina in Britt, Ontario along with 6 other Looper boats.  Their owners are going to have a cocktail party in front of me and I get to just float and watch.