August 30,2024
When we last wrote we had just survived and inspection by Canadian Border Patrol and left quickly for the north channel. Waiting for CBP had eaten up some of our time. We were trying to make it to West Grant Island southeast of Thessalon where we were stuck for almost a week.
We took the downbound ship channel on the St.Mary’s River to the cross over to the St.Joseph Channel into the North Channel. This was the fastest route and we pushed Hercule and Arthur to their limits. We arrived at West Grant around 5:30 and put down our anchor. We were the only boat in the anchorage. Our plan was to move on to Meldrum Bay on Thursday and stay through a rain storm till Saturday.
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| Sunset while at anchor in West Grant Island |
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| Ships in the St. Mary’s Channel |
The anchorage was wonderful and quiet. We were tired of the noise and crowds in the Soo and needed a little down time. This was perfect.
The next morning we got up fairly early and pulled up the anchor to set off for Meldrum Bay about 3 hours away. We had called and arranged for a slip so we would be secure during the coming weather. Our timing was off by a bit and the wind arrived before we did! It was a simple docking - we’d tie up starboard side along one of two wharves. A dockhand was there to help us tie up and I had fenders and lines ready. The wind was pushing us away from the dock so a quick tie was important. As I threw the bowline the dockhand informed me that he didn’t know how to tie a line!!! I instructed him to wrap it around the cleat and I ran to the stern to get that line on and jump to the dock to re-tie his line. Just about now another boat decided to come in so dockhand was off to help them. Thank heavens for thrusters. Bob and I managed to get 3 more lines on cleats and in close enough to board into the swim platform.
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| Our slip at Meldrum Bay |
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| Friday and the street sweeper goes by- just like at home. |
The rain began just as we finished securing the boat. We weren’t going to get into town and it turns out the only store was not open on Thursdays.🤪 This was not the worst marina we have been to but was close to tying for second worst. The pedestals were covered with live spiders, the docks were floating but tippy, one cleat was very loose and the facilities were minimal. When I say minimal I’m being kind. There was one toilet and two showers. These were shared by the 25 or so campers parked in the campground as was the laundry. Definitely not worth what we paid. We asked about the Meldrum Bay Inn thinking dinner out but we told it closed during COVID and never reopened. Second stop that had no restaurants. No wonder loopers don’t stop here!
On Friday we walked up to the General Store and bought some souvenirs. Unique “bear” printed t-shirt and glass cutting board. We walked to the Net Shop Museum which was supposed to be open but it wasn’t. Another strikeout. We spent the afternoon doing boat chores and prepping for our departure the following day.
Saturday dawned cloudy but calm. We had our window to move on. As we were preparing to cast off two river otters came by to say hello. That made our day.
We had chosen a well protected anchorage at Turnbull Island and hoped it would not be full. It was only a few hours away but we wanted to get there before the weather did. We had some rain as we left but nothing to worrisome. The anchorage had one other boat in it belonging to a Canadian couple. We set our anchor then prepared for a longish stay.
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| Sunset |
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| Blue moon rising |
Turnbull was a great stop. We had a nice respite from marinas and other boaters. Our Canadian neighbors were quite nice and the Austrian couple we had met in the Soo showed up for one night. We stayed as long as we could but we soon needed to reprovision, dump garbage, and fill up our water tank.Next stop would be Blind River.
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| Old lumber mill in Blind River |
Blind River is a fairly large community compared to others (like Meldrum Bay) where we have stayed. The population is about 4,000. We had high hopes for Blind River. The grocery store should be awesome compared to the last one stop we made. We’d heard good things about the marina and were looking forward to a night with fans on or air conditioning. Well we were sorely disappointed. The grocery store was half what the last town had with many empty shelves. The produce looked old and they didn’t stock many items that we needed. I’ve been in worse stores but this was a great disappointment. We did what we had to do, bought what we could, and headed back to the boat. We were leaving the next morning for the Whalesback Channel.
The dockhands convinced us to go to “17”, a local restaurant. We had chosen another spot but after our experience in Thessalon, we took their advice. The place was like a homey diner. We sat in the counter service side rather than the dining room. Our waitress was good and helped us chose the best from the menu. She also talked us into trying a butter tart. Another boater we had met in NY had made me promise to try a butter tart when we got to the north Channel. So we did. It’s like eating a pecan pie without any pecans. Dry sweet and full of all things bad for you. We split one.
Butter Tart
We left earlish on August 21st for the Whalesback. The channel is 14 miles long and between 1-1.5 miles wide. Within that area are hundreds of small granite islands that help give it the feel of a secluded lake. We love gunk-holing but we had yet to tie our stern to the shore. We were hoping we could find an anchorage that had swing room for our big girl. There were lots of beautiful little coves to anchor in but we had some wind coming and we needed protection. Between Serpent River and John’s Island turned out to be just perfect. There was one other boat about 300 yards away so we felt we wouldn’t disturb them if we ran our genset. The anchor grabbed on the first try and we were set for the next 2-3 days.
This anchorage is off the Serpent River First Nation where the Anishinaabe First Nation reside. You’ll see a fish drying rack in one picture and a fishing hut.
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| Drying rack |
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| Fishing hut |
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| Beaver Lodge |
Our Canadian companions were out fishing as we finished setting the anchor and pulled in an 18-20” bass. That’s another thing the Whalesback is know for - great bass fishing. We cheered them on and poured ourselves a sundowner to watch the sunset. The next day we put our dinghy in the water, preparing for adventures in the islands.
We ended up staying just 2 nights. We were anxious to get to the Benjamin’s and the weather was in our favor. We waved goodbye to our Canadian cove mates and headed off to the Benjamin’s.
To get from the Whalesback to the Benjamin’s you have to travel through a narrow channel called Little Detroit. The narrowest point is about 100 feet wide and 16 feet deep. There is a swift current running west to east. This sure makes you stand up and pay attention! We waited for another trawler to exit heading west then we took out turn heading east.
The Benjamin’s are a group of islands ( two of which actually called North and South Benjamin) that are known for the great gunk-holing and their pink granite. They are situated on the eastern end of the North Channel and provide spectacular scenery. (None of our pictures do them justice.) This is the most popular stop in the North Channel and it was obvious by the number of boats trying to crowd into the anchorages. The winds were not good for the one anchorage and the second was full to the brim. We opted for Crocker Island the next island east. It’s also pink granite and very quiet and dark at night.
We found a likely cove and realized to stay there we would have to do a stern tie. A new skill for us both. We made a total mess of it…first our stern line was too short, then Bob ran over it with the dinghy and tangled the line in the prop, we forgot to wear our head sets so we couldn’t communicate and while trying to tie us off, the boat began to swing away from the shore. We eventually got it right, tied up tight and strung out straight. We both vowed to do better the next time. After one night in this spot, the boat down from us left their sweet cove and we decided to move over there. The neighbors on the other side had played loud music into the night. Not what we expected in the wilderness.
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| Neighbors |
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| Still evening |
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| You can just see our stern line under the water |
We pulled in our stern line , pulled up our anchor and hightailed it over to the new cove. I must say that this time we did a much better job anchoring and tying the boat. We spent two nights here enjoying the birds and taking dinghy rides around the islands. You cannot help but be relaxed here. Unfortunately, all good things must end. We had some stinky weather coming in another day, wind was gonna change direction, and the provisions were getting low. When we woke the next morning the wind was howling and blowing us into the shore. We decided to untie and up anchor and find a more protected spot to make breakfast, then head on to Clapperton Island.
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| Frying pan tree at an abandoned campsite |
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| Pink granite boulders |
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| Seclusion |
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Carolina tucked into the rocks |
We decided to move closer to Gore Bay, which is where our next marina stop would be.with left with every intention of heading south and closer but to get there you had to head north and we found a secluded cove that we could tuck into out of the wind. This was on Fox Island. BTW there are so many islands that half have not been given a name. Once again we got to practice our stern tying skills. The first place we dropped the anchor was not to either of our liking so we brought it up and backed down further into the cove. This spot looked good, the anchor grabbed first try and there was a lovely large pine tree directly behind us to tie off to. We were in for the night. Plans were to get up early-early and book it done to Gore Bay before the rain set in.
We were up at 6 am and away by 7:15. We had just a 2.5 hour trip to Gore Bay. The weather was still good and not too windy…yet. We ran through a brief rain shower and the wind began to pick up but we were tied up by 10am. We relaxed for a bit then went for a quick ride to get the lay of the land. We found the hardware, grocery, post office and LCBO Store. Then we had lunch at The Codmothers. I had some of the best fried white fish- in fact best fried fish ever here. Maybe we’ll be back before we leave.
The next day we rode to the grocery to reprovision, stopped at the hardware for a filter for our compost can, and checked out the LCBO. We were glad to get some fresh fruit and vegetables but things are sure expensive.
Back st the boat we filled up our very empty water tanks (3 loads of laundry will do that to you!) and scrubbed down the boat deck while the dinghy is in the water. Bob worked on his “to do” list while I worked on this blog.
On Thursday we wrote postcards to our grandkids, then rode out to the Janet Head Lighthouse. After the aborted trip on Beaver Island, we were taking no chances. The website said “Open July and August, 1-4pm on Tuesday-Saturday”. This was Thursday so we should be good to go. It was not a 19 mile ride like last time. A measly 2 miles. We ride out there and arrived a bit early. We explored the beach across the road and I found some interesting fossils. Then Mark arrived in his electric big tired bike.
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| Janet Head Lighthouse |
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We talked electric bikes and cars for a bit with him. He loves his bike even if it doesn’t fit into his trunk. Says without the battery on it weighs about 55 lbs. The battery weighs about 30lbs. He had his smoke that wished us a great day and rode off into the sun.
Next a young family arrived- also there to see the lighthouse. The kids were excited but dad was hot so he took off to the beach to swim. Brrrr! He agreed that it was cooler than he expected. By now it was 1:15 and still no docent to let us in. We were getting hungry so decided we’d come back another day and rode back to town. The family passed us in their car - guess they gave up too.
In town we visited the Harbour Center to enjoy the local artist’s works. There is some talent here. We purchased a little sack of stones that have been energized by a local member of the First Nation to protect our boat. Sure hope it works!
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| Harbour Centre |
Next we went to the Split Rail Brewing Co. For a cooling adult beverage. We ordered some tapas and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. Next door was the chocolate factory so we went in to sample their wares. We got a raspberry fudge sickle. Yummy.
We rode back to the marina and stopped in at the Marina Store. It was about what we expected. Nothing we really needed but some interesting charts on the wall to peruse. Back at the boat we got dinner ready and enjoyed a beautiful dinner with sunset on our aft deck.
We will be staying here one more day to wait out some nasty wind coming through. It’s blowing 12 gusting to 24 here in this protected marina. I’d hate to be out in the channel right now. Next time I write we will be in Little Current, ON the gateway to Georgian Bay.
Till then stay safe and keep cool!
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| Sunbathers at Janet Head |
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