Just Enjoying the North Channel

 July 12-25, 2012

 

Once we left the docks at Little Current on July 12^th, we headed toward the Benjamin Islands.  We caught up with Potest Fieri and Alacrity there.  We were immersed in the beauty of our surroundings and then about 10 minutes after we set our anchor, we noticed a small powerboat drifting back toward us.  No one was onboard, so we put our fenders down and Roger jumped into the dinghy, planning to tie the boat to us until the owners returned.  Craig & Barb from Alacrity quickly brought their dinghy over too and acted as a big fender for us.  This little bit of excitement in the anchorage was just a preview of what might lie ahead.  

 

We took dinghy rides around the island and saw all the little gunkholes that locals squeezed themselves into.  It was fascinating!  One of the nights, we had dinner on our boat; I made chicken lettuce wraps, Susan made pork lettuce wraps, and Craig and Barb brought the appetizers.  It was so hot, that after dinner, everyone jumped into the water to cool off; some of us wore our bathing suits and others just their undies!  I won’t mention any names.  

 

After 3 nights, all of us left Benjamin Island together and went to Hotham Island for a change of scenery.  There was a little more excitement after Roger & Danny and Craig & Barb went dinghy-exploring.  Someone came by our boat and told me that Alacrity was dragging anchor.  I tried several times to raise them on the radio and was about to take our dinghy over to Potest Fieri and wake up Susan, but they finally heard me and came back to the boats.  Thank goodness, because I didn’t want the responsibility of trying to save their boat from landing on the rocks!

 

The next morning, we were getting ready to take Louie ashore and he thought the dinghy was next to the boat (when in fact, it was behind the boat) and he jumped in – to the water!!  Roger saved him, since Louie isn’t such a good swimmer as we discovered a couple of weeks ago.  It was fairly traumatic for all 3 of us, but this time Louie couldn’t blame either of us for falling off the boat with him; he did it himself!  After the commotion, we took a dinghy ride around the area and met some people from Indiana and another couple who knew our friends Rae & Steve.  It’s a small world!  Then all 3 boats left Hotham Island and headed west, through a narrow channel called “Little Detroit” and set our anchors at Aird Island.  This one won’t be at the top of my list, but it was okay for a night.  The following morning, the three of us split off to go in different directions.  We said good-by to Craig & Barb because we may not cross paths with them again for a while.

 

We headed to Gore Bay and it was so windy coming into the dock that we had to do a “go-around”.  Not a problem, but we were glad there were people on the dock to help catch our lines.  We spent 2 days at Gore Bay Marina and really enjoyed it.  Roger was set up for his business phone calls and I did the usual laundry, provisioning, etc.  We ate dinner ashore both nights and got to know a couple of the local people who live there all year long.  

 

Gore Bay is on Manitoulin Island, which is 100 miles long and borders the southern end of the North Channel.  It is only accessible from the Ontario mainland by bridge at Little Current or by ferry from Tobermory.  One of the girls that waited on us said that there is only one high school, located in the center of the island.  Some kids have a 2-1/2 hour bus ride to school each way.  Imagine trying to arrange a play-date for your kids in the winter!  I find it hard to believe that people could want to be so remote, but the people who live here year-round just love it.  In fact, Richard, who owns Buoys restaurant in Gore Bay, keeps his business open all year.  He said that when the bay freezes over, you can skate in the harbor and the scenery is magnificent.  It sounds tempting (at least from a curiosity standpoint) to visit there in the winter.

 

After 2 nights in the marina, it was time to go back to the Benjamins again.  Danny & Susan’s daughter and grandkids had arrived and their favorite place is the Benjis.  I couldn’t agree more.  Again, Roger & I had just gotten our anchor set and a catamaran decided to leave in an unorganized fashion.  They were scrambling around and totally unprepared, so once again, Roger got in our dingh, just in case he had to become a human fender, but everything turned out fine.

 

The wind has been blowing the last couple of days.  Monday night was the worst.  We had 100 feet of chain and 50 feet of rode out, so when the gusts straightened us out, it looked like we’d dragged anchor around dinnertime on Monday.  We decided to reset just to be sure.  We ended up skipping Happy Hour at Potest Fieri and staying on the boat all evening – the gusts were 25-30 mph.  Everyone in the anchorage was up all night because the wind shifted a couple of times, and everyone was on watch.  

 

So, ask me what we’ve been doing here for 6 nights so far.  We’ve hiked up the rocks to the other side of the island, had a long chat with 6 sailors we met on the trail.  We’ve dinghied around, talked to other boaters, and have been enjoying Danny & Susan’s family.  We’ve been reading books, Roger’s been doing work, Louie’s been playing on shore with a chocolate Labrador.  It may sound a little boring, especially compared to last summer where we were “on the go” to a different place nearly every day.  I mean, we haven’t even done one lock this summer.  We have really just been enjoying the North Channel!  

 

We’ll probably leave the Benjamins tomorrow (Thursday) and go to a couple of other anchorages west of here, but that depends on the winds.  The winds are supposed to keep up through the week, so it will present a challenge, particularly when they keep shifting direction.  We’ll hopefully have a good day to get all the way to Drummond Island on Sunday or Monday and, after nearly 2 months in Canada, we’ll check back in to the U.S. of Eh and find our way back to Lake Michigan.