After Gore Bay

Sat out winds and rain at Gore Bay for almost a full week, but on the 17th of July the sun came out, the winds died, and it was time to go.

Traveled north east up to Sturgeon Cove -- a well protected anchorage that runs along the north side of Great La Cloche Island.  From the anchorage, you can look north to the La Cloche Mountains -- and, if you are lucky you can see eagles and bears.  I saw the former, not the latter.  It is tricky to get in, but a good holding bottom and plenty of room for lots of boats.  And, a good place for both blueberry picking and dog running.  What could be better!

I now have about a quart of small, delicious blueberries picked from various locations -- and consumed with a creamy yogurt and granola for breakfast many a morning.  

After three days in Sturgeon, we decided to head up into McGregor Bay -- the most remote of the anchorages that I'll see this summer.  The Bay is north of the Killarney Mountain range, and is sided by a provincial park (think bears, wolves, and other critters of the north).  There are no marks on the channels, just rocks everywhere that one learns to recognize from year to year -- thank goodness for modern technology.  So with a chart plotter and "tracks" created where ever one has successfully transited a difficult spot it's relatively easy to get back to Usual Reason Cove on a clear day.

There are a few cottages in McGregor, but only a couple can be seen across the water from Usual Reason.  More blueberry picking, and time ashore.  We went about two miles west in dinghies to a "portage" which links McGregor with Baie Finn -- hiking across with Sophie leading the way.  Then turned around, and headed back.  On the way there, the winds were in our face so we got relatively wet but on the way back the winds had died somewhat and were behind us.  I moved Sonador to another, more protected, area of Usual Reason before the big storms hit on Saturday.  Lightning, thunder, winds gusting into the upper twenties, and plenty of anxious moments when you hope the anchor will hold.  It did, we survived, and enjoyed an evening with friends aboard FAIRY TALE.  

Our last day there, we climbed the nearby rocks to pick more blueberries -- they were so thick that even from several yards away the low bushes were blue.  YUM.

Then on the 25th we moved into Little Current in anticipation of more strong winds and rain.  Little Current is the oxymoron of the North Channel, very seldom is the current much below three knots -- which may not seem like much except when you are trying to hold your position while the swing bridge opens to let the traffic thru.

On the 25th the Cruisers' Net hosted a talk on the fossils of Manitoulin Island (which some hundreds of millions of years ago was actually somewhere near the equator) and then a pot luck dinner in the pavilion at the Little Current Town Docks.  As predicted, the 26th was a washout -- but a ride to the grocery store, and dinner at the Anchor Inn made for an enjoyable day.  

Right now, I am waiting for word from one of the local boat shops on the fate of my dinghy outboard which is giving me fits again.  I'll borrow a "spare" from Bill Matley (SPIRIT of ALOHA) while mine is either being repaired or is condemned to being junked.

Later this morning, we'll leave (SPIRIT, CLASS ACT, SONADOR) for South Benjamin.  To hopefully be joined by LEADING EDGE and THYME HYSSOP WRY.

Pictures in separate postings.