Once again, we found ourselves a nice little cove to tuck into for the day. Ruff Life scoped out the anchorage and radioed back to Merrill with the “all-clear”. We hear there is an abundance of blueberries on the island, and I brought pancake mix! We took a dinghy ride around and found some great little swimming holes that we played around in. We didn’t make the hike for the blueberries as we touched base with our friends, WaterKraft who are out in their tug and would like to come back to this cove with us and go for the blueberry hunt. We got our first rain shower when we woke up Thursday morning. We had had our canvas off for 8 days, and we managed to put it all on with about 2 minutes to spare! The downpour allowed for me to get out on the deck with my Magic Eraser and work on some of the dirt and bug marks! I didn’t have to use my fresh water supply to spiffy up the Ruff Life! Off to Killarney to meet up with our other friends from Sturgeon Bay.
Ruff Life at anchorage
Hmm...floating trash? Nope...
...that trash was marking these big rocks underwater!
More dingy rides...
Love the water color in the background...
We were a little too far away to get a really good picture of this Beaver - but we could hear him chewing for hours!
Sharing our grill with Merrill
July 16th, 2010
Posted by
Laura |
Extended Cruise, Lake Crossings |
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Because the North Channel is full of islands, we have lots of choices for our next anchorage. We chose Heywood Island. Upon approaching the anchorages, we saw several other boats already anchored – this always gives great comfort to know that other boats can “make it” in the coves. We passed through 2 “pools” of anchorages and decided to go to the 3rd and final pool of the island. We came across our first “dead head”, which we thankfully missed. A “dead head” is a submerged log that is vertical in the water. One end is buried in the mud below, and the other end is floating up toward the water line. Another boater had made an attempt to mark the log with a plastic white bottle, but the white bottle was not floating on top very well, so it made it very hard to see. We missed the dead head with only about a foot to spare – and, unfortunately, we didn’t get a picture! Once we safely navigated to the anchorage spot, we radioed back to Merrill, and they made their way through the passages. Heywood turned out to be a great anchorage for us. The water was nice and Janie swam to shore at her convenience. The sunset was gorgeous. Off to Covered Portage Cove tomorrow….
Janie assuming the position after arriving at Heywood Island
Mirror image of the Merrill
Ut oh - someone could end up in the water....
Sunset in Heywood Cove
July 16th, 2010
Posted by
Laura |
Extended Cruise, Lake Crossings |
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We left Gore Bay today and headed to Baie Finn – specifically, MaryAnn Cove. The route was a little tricky for us novice north channel boaters, but with me on scout at the bow and the captain using his electronics, we not only managed to not hit any submerged boulders, we didn’t even SEE any! The North Channel waters are covered with rocky areas – and in fact, have a rock named “cash flow rock” for the simple reason the rock has caused more damage than any other! It creates a generous “cash flow” for the local marine service shops – so, we hope to avoid that route! There were several boats in this anchorage and it got more crowded on our second day. One boater advised that they saw a bear walking along the rocky cliff the night before…so, we broke out Janie’s “cow bell” and put that on her neck – she is none too happy to where such a hideous necklace, but we would hate to update the blog with a bear attack – so, little miss sassy britches is wearing it!
Welcome to Baie Finn
The "noise maker" necklace!
Scot trying to catch dinner...but ultimately...
Filet Mignon and asparagus for dinner...
Dinghying around the coves...
- Steep rock climbing!
Swimming in Baie Finn
July 16th, 2010
Posted by
Laura |
Extended Cruise, Lake Crossings |
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We couldn’t ask for better weather. No fog, no waves, warm temps and an abundance of sunshine! We left St. Ignace this morning and made our way to Gore Bay. The water was calm enough to cruise at a nice slow speed, but we were anxious to get our engines going, so we put the throttle down and smiled at the success of getting on plane in a few seconds, vs. a few miinutes! Merrill is meeting us in Gore Bay, Canada today. This is our first time in Canadian Waters (see chart below where we cross the red line in the water) – and first time checking into Canada. We pulled into Gore Bay, and Scot went to the marina house to use the pay phone to call Canada Customs and tell them we are here. It was a pretty uneventful check in – mostly just hot! This will be our last night in a port for a while as we plan to anchor out the next several nights.
"Michigan / Ontario" - we just crossed the RED LINE into Canada water!
Scot on payphone in Gore Bay - letting Canada know we are here!
July 16th, 2010
Posted by
Laura |
Extended Cruise, Lake Crossings |
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Our traveling companions, Merrill, left this morning and the Ruff Life stayed in port to wait for the Volvo mechanic. Around 4 pm today, we received two new Volvo turbo fuel sensors!! He also replaced the trim tab system, but to no avail – we can now get on plane (turbo fuel sensor), but still can’t trim the boat. So far, weather has been cooperating and we haven’t missed trim tabs too much – yet….
We met a nice couple on The Nanny¸ Ed & Nan, who have been traveling the North Channel for years. They live on their 50ft Sea Ray all summer long. They gave us a lot of useful tidbits and we had a nice dinner with them at The Village Inn – no, not the chain restaurant from down south. It is a local joint that is known for their smoked whitefish. It was a beautiful evening. We exchanged cards, and went to bed – the Ruff Life was to be underway in the morning for our long journey to Gore Bay, Canada.
Sassy will not get her feet wet!
On the beach in St. Ignace
Steve - Volvo Mechanic - new Turbo sensors installed!
July 16th, 2010
Posted by
Laura |
Extended Cruise, Lake Crossings |
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