Story of Our Summer Cruise 2013

August 21 - Parry Sound to Shawagana Inlet (Hopewell Bay)

Today's Route

Beautiful morning with sun and a light breeze for the start of our trip north from Parry Sound. We were on the water by 9:00 am and had a pleasant cruise out around the north side of Parry Island following the Small Craft Route.

The Route extends all the way from Port Severn at the start of the Trent - Severn Waterway to Killarney at the north end of Georgian Bay and is over 170 miles long. Much of the Route stays "inside" the main waters of Georgian Bay weaving its way through literally thousands of islands giving protection for small boats drawing less than 6 feet. The channel is heavily buoyed and re-checked every year by the Coast Guard so it is relatively safe providing you know where you are and follow the buoys. They have an excellent set of charts that cover the whole channel with a scale of about 1 mile = 3 inches and, in some areas, you need that scale to see the exact route of the channel and the way into some tight anchorages. In the channel, it is rare that you can use the autopilot for any length of time so a lot of hand-steering is called for and constant paper chart/electronic chart/visual confirmation is the order of the day. Four hours on the water can be a tiring day.

The day's run was very pleasant with relatively easy navigation compared to the last day on the water. GO and Five O'clock were following in our wake as we had given them some anchoring locations.

About half way into the trip, we came across "Work Boat 10", a tug we met in Midland, pushing a barge north. It must have been a short trip as we saw them coming back about ten hours ago at dusk.

Work Boat 10 and Barge

Randy's #1 Recommended Anchorage in the Shawanag was, as promised, quite spectacular but already occupied by four boats. There was room for us and we threaded our way in with no problems. GO managed to tuck back in the far corner, and one boat left leaving room for Five O'clock.

STB, GO, and Five O'clock in Shawanaga

Views Around Our Anchorage (Shades of Fall Appearing)

 

August 22 - Shawanaga Inlet to Beaverstone Bay

Today's Route

Last night's weather forecast did not look too optimistic so our route for the day was a bit undecided. If the winds had moved to the north, going outside was a reasonable route as the wind would flatten the waves. If the wind was late moving around, the waves would be on our side - not good. GO and Five O'clock left early in the morning so we headed out at our normal 8:30 with our guinea pigs ahead of us. At the decision point, the lighthouse below, the outside looked quite reasonable and GO was reporting fair conditions so we headed out to open water for the first time in a long while. Six hours of improving seas followed, with just a swell by the time we reached Beaverstone Bay.

Pointe Au Baril Lighthouse

In Beaverstone Bay, the winds were out of the north and predicted to move around to the northeast overnight so our normal anchorage at Burnt Island was too exposed so we hunted around the chart for likely candidates. A couple of Randy's suggestion were not that good for northeast winds but we found a good possibility with protection and shallow water on the SE side of the 56' island.

Beaverstone Bay

GO and Five O'clock were two islands north with a similar exposure and even had room for us when we dinghied around to say "Hi." We stayed where we were - a mistake.

Five O'clock South of the Small Island South of Sheep

Our night ended up being quite noisy as the wind moved further around than forecast and we ended up with a lot of bow slap from the east.

 

August 23 - Beaverstone Bay to Little Current

Today's Route

Today's run made up for a disturbed night's sleep as the water was like glass as we pulled the anchor and headed to the top of Beaverstone Bay and into Collins Inlet. Water levels were still good at the turn. We ambled along at 5-6 kts with the sun still low behind us illuminating the rock walls of the inlet. The last two times we have come in this direction were later in the day and very overcast so we did not appreciate the scenery as much. This was truly a special ride.

Scenes of Collins Inlet

Just as we reached the end of Collins Inlet, who should we see but "Sea Dog," an NT 42 with friends, Bob Harvey and Kim aboard. Sea Dog had been travelling with Meritage, a 42' Grand Banks.

Sea Dog and Meritage In Collins Inlet

Our fortune continued with the best crossing we've had of the open water from Collins Inlet to Killarney and the transition to white quartz rock from the pink granite well lit by the sun.

Pink Granite gives Way to White Quartz

 

Killarney Lighthouse

Straight through Killarney today - GO and Five O'clock stayed.

 

Dead calm run from Killarney into Georgian Bay again, south of Badgely and Heywood before heading north along Strawberry Island. For some reason, in six trips from Little Current to Killarney, we have never taken this route - probably because of weather but it was quite scenic.

Strawberry Island Lighthouse

 

Still Laying Cable at Little Current

Our timing for the LC swing bridge was good and we only had a few minutes wait with no wind or current so we just sat there. They guys at the marina were efficient as usual and soon had us docked by the ice cream store. We had talked on the way about getting some Rolo ice cream but to our dismay, the ice cream shop was already "CLOSED FOR THE SEASON".

Little Current was very quiet when we arrived at 2:00 pm with just a handful of boats at the docks and one boat on the wall. The rest of our day was spent catching up with shopping, cleaning, and laundry before a long walk to the ice cream shop by the hotel and an early night to catch up on our sleep.

 

The Well-fendered Canadian Boat (the Dock Side Had Ten!!)

Over the course of our trip we have observed that the typical Canadian boat travels with its many fenders down (sometimes dragging in the water). It makes sense to do this on the Waterway as the locks come along on a regular basis but we see it on open water as well. The boat above set the record to date with six on port and ten on starboard.

August 24 - Little Current

 

Early Morning in Little Current

Glassy Water In LC

Early risers for once and saw a beautiful sunrise with the bridge in the background. After a quick trip to the store, we joined Roy at the Anchor Inn for the morning Cruisernet broadcast on 71, followed by a breakfast out, something we don't do very often. Sea Dog and Meritage were heading for Snug so we decided to take off for the Benjamin Islands a couple of hours away. Just when we thinking about leaving, Judy noticed a Nordic on the other side of the bridge and it turned out to be Sea Dog (Bob and Kim) followed by Meritage (Vern and Laura).

We ended up doing a bit of troubleshooting on Bob's charging system and narrowed his issue to overheating of the inverter/charger. Either the cooling fan or thermostat appear to be the problem. Running a fan directed at the inverter/charger allowed Bob to get his battery fully charged, probably the first time for a while.

Later in the afternoon, a voyageur canoe arrived in Little Current paddled by four young guys and two young women. Their goal is to paddle the old voyageur route from way out west in Alberta to Montreal and they have obviously been doing quite well to get this far. They managed the whole north and east shore of lake Superior in just fourteen days. Looked like they were living on peanut butter judging by the number of jars in the canoe and were definitely lean. You can see more information if you are interested at www.paddleacrosscanadatour.org. T-Baac also arrived on their Loop trip.

The Paddle Across Canada Tour Team

Later in the day, we joined Vern and Laura on their newly acquired Grand Banks 42 together with Bob and Kim for drinks. The GB is in great condition for its age and has an amazing amount of space for a 42.

Meritage

August 25 - Little Current to Benjamins

Today's Route

A late start after the Cruisernet broadcast under cloudy skies and a few sprinkles of rain - most of it is going north - as we headed out with Sea Dog and Meritage. Sea Dog lost their GPS signal twice on the at out to the Woodbine Channel so we all hung around. Third time was lucky and we were on our way to be hailed by Go and Five O'clock, both heading for Mudge Bay and not enjoying the good 3 footers on the nose, some of the worst they have travelled in as the waves are so close together.

We were also hailed by Howard and Margaret Tait, friends aboard "Taitug", a 37' Nordic heading for Little Current so they will triple the boat population there today.

Taitug Making 10Kts in Woodbine Channel

After making the turn around Rouse Island, the waves and wind really started to pick up and we were soon in 4s which were almost on the beam and getting worse as we headed west. Bob on Sea Dog was towing his dinghy and made a smart move to head into Rouse to stow it up top. Meritage continued up front to the Benjamins while we ducked into Amendroz and just set the anchor as the squall line hit. Bob clocked 35 kts at Rouse so it was probably the same here. For the next two hours, storm cell after storm cell rolled through, some just south; some just north so we were spared the worst of it but the Benjamins took a couple of direct hits.

The Radar About an Hour Into the Storm - A Lot More to Come

Dismal View

The skies started to look quite bright by about 4:00 pm so off we headed to open water again - in hindsight, we should have stayed put as we had larger waves on the beam than before. However, it was only for five miles before we turned into the Benjamins. A check of the weather radar showed more storms lurking near the east shore of Lake Superior heading our way and, by 6:30 pm, they were here and a lot lumpier than in Amendroz Island. The waves seem to be curving around the opening to the east and we are rolling! Maybe the wind will die and the waves as well by later.

As Good As It Got Today

August 26 - Looked Like the Benjamins Were It for the Day But We Got Lucky

It was a dark and stormy night .......! Woke at 6:30am after a disturbed night with storms rolling through and lots of anchor chain grinding. Opened up Radarscope for the latest storm info to see the screen above. We are at the blue circle at the right and the white lines are storm cell tracks - not good for us. This weather extends all the way back to Duluth, MN which must be 500 miles from here. I think we will be staying here for some time. Meanwhile the thunder and lightning continued to move through with little change by 8:30.

Meritage In The Rain - (Yes it is Focused)

Our pessimism about the day was too pessimistic as, by 9:30, Roy was reporting that the radar was now showing all the action moving southward rather than to the east. Based on the clearing skies, we decided to try a run to Harbor Island. Just south of the Benjamins, we turned to the west in calm seas to see a front (?) line running north to south that looked quite threatening.

Scary Looking!

Knowing any weather they are hold is usually short in duration we headed straight under it with dense cloud only 100 feet overhead. It was black underneath and windy (25 kts +) but no rain fell. In 15 minutes, we were clear and on our way in 2-4s on the nose, which was not too uncomfortable. As the day progressed, the waves diminished and, by 3:00 pm, the water was flat and the sun was brilliant in a hazy sky. Along the way we made contact with Sea Dog and Meritage who were heading for Long Point Cove, GO and Five O'clock who were going to Blind River, and our friends, Dick and Marla on Marla D, a 42 Nordic, who were making a long run from Meldrum Bay to Little Current.

We arrived at the border at False Detour Passage around 4:15 and checked in via telephone with Immigration in Sault St. Marie (using the Small Vessel Reporting System) - no problems other than a weak telephone signal. We anchored in the smaller of the two Harbor Island anchorage in 10' right near the shore, safe from any west winds.

Today's Route

August 27 - Harbor Island to St. Ignace

Awoke early to a cocoon of fog with the shore only three boat lengths away but invisible - unusual as the water temperature was in the high 60s. As we prepared to get under way the fog lifted slightly, at least enough to see the shore and the sailboat moored nearby.

Fog in Harbor Island

Slowly, we groped our way through a number of small islands - thank goodness for good radar until we reached the Detour Passage, the main shipping route from Superior. We only had two boats to contend with as we made our way through the thinning fog, the Drummond Island Ferry and the Mississagi, a large freighter going to Drummond Dolomite - needless to say we gave both of them good clearance - and the Thunder Bay following the Mississagi.

Ferry and MV Mississagi (620' x 67')

Thunder Bay (740' x 78')

Fog lifted upon exiting the Detour Passage and, after rounding the Detour Lighthouse, we headed west in calm water that was to get even calmer as the sun broke out, Not much to do then for four hours with the boat doing all of the work for us.

What We always Hope For

St. Ignace Municipal Marina welcomed us as they usually do and filled our fuel tanks and pumped us out before we headed for a slip well away from the dead air corner with all the bugs. Not that it would have made any difference as we had a mayfly hatch in the Benjamins and thick gnats at Harbor Island. The upper deck and back end looked like Gettysburg must have looked with dead bodies piled everywhere.

Thus, the first job after we had shore power hooked up was a washdown of the boat and the burial at sea of thousands of bugs. I did pick up one of those miracle hoses that you see on TV and I can attest to the fact that they are a great invention - lightweight, kink-free, and compact. Randy and Dale had them on their boats and raved about them. We will have to see how it does as far as longevity.

The 75' X Hose

A Shining STB

After our big clean, we rewarded ourselves with a meal out at the Mackinac Grille, one of our favorite restaurants, and some Mackinac Dairy ice cream at Bentleys, a good breakfast place.

We saw a couple of interesting boats, a 32 NT, owned by Rick and Jill Ericksen and a 1970 fully restored 65' Offshore made by Huckins. "420" has a glass covered cold-molded mahogany hull on the same lines as a PT boat. The Huckins looked perfect after nearly three years of work by the previous owner.

A Beautiful Huckins 65 Offshore - "420" - Homeport Chicago