Day 6, August 8th
Left Little Current with Twice 's Nice and Sheer Connection after doing the laundry in the morning. Arrived in the Benjamins in the middle of the afternoon. It was a great sail over there with the wind behind us. The sun disappeared and it got windy and rainy too, but oh it was a sweet sail! Sheer Connection and Periwinkle II battled it out and we were so delighted to finally get ahead of Jimmy and Wanda at the last minute. It may be the first and only "race" Periwinkle has ever won!!!! Thanks Jimmy!! We had planned to anchor in the South Benjamins but felt it was exposed to the south winds and so motored around to the North anchorage. Its a gorgeous spot.
Day 7, August 9th
The following day we stayed put - went for a hike, did a little fishing (no luck!), and swam. There was a good crowd there and we ended up talking to several other boaters.
Paul and Sue and John and I were invited aboard "Falkor", a 32' Grand Banks trawler owned by Al and Gayle from Burlington Yacht Club in Hamilton. They are doing the Great Loop for the 3rd time. They shared loads of tips with us, recommending anchorages etc. to get us safely down to Chicago. We hope to meet up with them en route again.
In the evening we were delighted to see two Brigantines come to anchor in our little bay.
These are two training ships, crewed by young people between the ages of 13 and 18. They did a fantastic job, bringing the boats in and anchoring up to the rocks with stern anchors out and the bows tied to trees on shore. The kids had great fun swimming and whooping it up that evening. What a great thing to do!!
Day 8, August 10th
Our three boats pulled the anchors up at 0800 and we set off further west. Wind was light and on the nose but it was beautiful as we travelled up McBean Channel, through "Little Detroit" where you have to radio a warning to boats approaching from the other direction as there's only room for one boat to pass through between rocky cliffs. From Little Detroit, we did sail for a short while up the Whalesback Channel, but again the wind was on the nose and progress was slow tacking back and forth. Sheer Connection points so much better than Periwinkle and he was already ahead of us when we put the motors back on and chugged along to the Otter Islands where Periwinkle set the anchor and Twice 's Nice and Sheer Connection rafted beside us and came on board for a shared lunch. It was good to have a last meal together before saying goodbye, "See you next year!!!", to Sheer Connection. While Sheer Connection went back east, Periwinkle and Twice 's Nice got going west again! That night we stopped at Turnbull Island, further up the Whalesback. It had started off a cloudy day but ended with lovely warm sunshine.
Day 9, August 11th
Wind on the nose all day, tried to sail for a bit but it was so slow. Travelled from Turnbull to Thessalon. Brooding clouds overhead with quite a wind when we arrived. Decided to take a slip at the marina since the recommended anchorage on the chart was very exposed. As luck would have it the wind died down nicely and the clouds blew over. However, it was a lovely spot just 5 minutes walk from the little town. Stocked up at the grocery store and cooked a good supper. Paul and Sue made contact with some friends there and they came down to visit at the marina after closing their store.
Day 10, August 12th
Borrowed two curtesy bikes after breakfast and biked up to the library. Able to hook onto their non secure wifi while sitting on the bench outside! Caught up with e-mails etc. Set off around 1030 heading due South!!! Beautiful hot day with very little wind. Didn't take long to cross the open water to Drummond Island. Came into Drummond marina 1430 and were met by the Customs Officer. He was friendly and brief and it seemed to take no time at all before we had officially arrived in the U.S. and were able to put up our "Stars & Stripes"curtesy flag. Motored just 1.5 miles from there to this gorgeous anchorage at Harbour Island. Paul and Sue came on board and we celebrated our arrival with a can of beer!!! Its all south from here!!!!
I tried fishing again - better luck this time - a wee pickerel about 3" long!!!! I was so hoping for fish for supper but it was barbecued steak instead. Yummy though!!! Gorgeous weather, water warm!!! This is the life!!!
Left Little Current with Twice 's Nice and Sheer Connection after doing the laundry in the morning. Arrived in the Benjamins in the middle of the afternoon. It was a great sail over there with the wind behind us. The sun disappeared and it got windy and rainy too, but oh it was a sweet sail! Sheer Connection and Periwinkle II battled it out and we were so delighted to finally get ahead of Jimmy and Wanda at the last minute. It may be the first and only "race" Periwinkle has ever won!!!! Thanks Jimmy!! We had planned to anchor in the South Benjamins but felt it was exposed to the south winds and so motored around to the North anchorage. Its a gorgeous spot.
Day 7, August 9th
The following day we stayed put - went for a hike, did a little fishing (no luck!), and swam. There was a good crowd there and we ended up talking to several other boaters.
Paul and Sue and John and I were invited aboard "Falkor", a 32' Grand Banks trawler owned by Al and Gayle from Burlington Yacht Club in Hamilton. They are doing the Great Loop for the 3rd time. They shared loads of tips with us, recommending anchorages etc. to get us safely down to Chicago. We hope to meet up with them en route again.
In the evening we were delighted to see two Brigantines come to anchor in our little bay.
These are two training ships, crewed by young people between the ages of 13 and 18. They did a fantastic job, bringing the boats in and anchoring up to the rocks with stern anchors out and the bows tied to trees on shore. The kids had great fun swimming and whooping it up that evening. What a great thing to do!!
Day 8, August 10th
Our three boats pulled the anchors up at 0800 and we set off further west. Wind was light and on the nose but it was beautiful as we travelled up McBean Channel, through "Little Detroit" where you have to radio a warning to boats approaching from the other direction as there's only room for one boat to pass through between rocky cliffs. From Little Detroit, we did sail for a short while up the Whalesback Channel, but again the wind was on the nose and progress was slow tacking back and forth. Sheer Connection points so much better than Periwinkle and he was already ahead of us when we put the motors back on and chugged along to the Otter Islands where Periwinkle set the anchor and Twice 's Nice and Sheer Connection rafted beside us and came on board for a shared lunch. It was good to have a last meal together before saying goodbye, "See you next year!!!", to Sheer Connection. While Sheer Connection went back east, Periwinkle and Twice 's Nice got going west again! That night we stopped at Turnbull Island, further up the Whalesback. It had started off a cloudy day but ended with lovely warm sunshine.
Day 9, August 11th
Wind on the nose all day, tried to sail for a bit but it was so slow. Travelled from Turnbull to Thessalon. Brooding clouds overhead with quite a wind when we arrived. Decided to take a slip at the marina since the recommended anchorage on the chart was very exposed. As luck would have it the wind died down nicely and the clouds blew over. However, it was a lovely spot just 5 minutes walk from the little town. Stocked up at the grocery store and cooked a good supper. Paul and Sue made contact with some friends there and they came down to visit at the marina after closing their store.
Day 10, August 12th
Borrowed two curtesy bikes after breakfast and biked up to the library. Able to hook onto their non secure wifi while sitting on the bench outside! Caught up with e-mails etc. Set off around 1030 heading due South!!! Beautiful hot day with very little wind. Didn't take long to cross the open water to Drummond Island. Came into Drummond marina 1430 and were met by the Customs Officer. He was friendly and brief and it seemed to take no time at all before we had officially arrived in the U.S. and were able to put up our "Stars & Stripes"curtesy flag. Motored just 1.5 miles from there to this gorgeous anchorage at Harbour Island. Paul and Sue came on board and we celebrated our arrival with a can of beer!!! Its all south from here!!!!
I tried fishing again - better luck this time - a wee pickerel about 3" long!!!! I was so hoping for fish for supper but it was barbecued steak instead. Yummy though!!! Gorgeous weather, water warm!!! This is the life!!!
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