Gore Bay, North Channel

I am writing this from inside a marine store in Gore Bay, a bay on the south side of the North Channel about half way along. I am writing from land rather than the boat because the weather is so bad, and the boat is so rocky, that trying to use my computer on board makes me seasick. Mind you, the boat is tried to the dock and still rocking hard enough to make me seasick. Not a fun time.

We really can't complain. Until this week the weather has been wonderful. But this week has more than made up for it. We left Little Current and went to a nearby anchorage in Clapperton Island for the night. The weather forecast for the next day was winds 15-20 knots from the west-northwest, so we changed our plans and went to Hotham Island which had a protected anchorage for winds from that direction. We weren't the only ones with that plan. There were already 6-8 boats when we got there and another 5-6 came in during the afternoon. By the evening the winds had picked up considerably and it blew hard and steady the entire next day. We just hunkered down on the boat in sunny, not particularly cold weather. Unfortunately, the winds shifted 180 degrees between when we arrived and when the strongest winds blew. Those of us anchored at the end of the pack all ended up dragging anchor. Fortunately, we were the last boat to drift and by then, having watched three others deal with the problem, Ron and I were sitting on deck and he noticed immediately when the problem began. Like the well-oiled machine that we are, we started the engines and got re-anchored with a minimum of drama.

The following morning the winds were still brisk, but they had lightened up and were blowing from behind us, given where we wanted to go, so we moved on to Eagle Island. The crew (Jim and Ron) claim to have seen an otter in the water as we anchored, I can't confirm that, I was busy driving the boat. We had a wonderful, sunny day but next day dawned overcast and crisply cool. Our next planned anchorage required navigating through rocks to get in and it isn't easy to see rocks under water with overcast skies. We decided to sit at Eagle another day. That night the winds kicked up again to over 20 knots coming straight down the mouth of the bay at Eagle. Wary because of our recent dragging experience, neither Jim nor I could sleep. We decided to sit up, spelling each other in one hour watches, to keep an eye on the anchor. Of course, she held like a champ.

We moved on the the Benjamin Islands which are one of the most popular anchorages in the North Channel. But now it was the 8th of August and the vacationing Canadians are beginning to thin out. The Great Loopers who are doing this trip in a single year are also moving through because they need to be through Chicago by Labor Day to stay ahead of the weather. So we had only six other boats in an anchorage which apparently holds up to forty boats on a typical summer night.

North Benjamin Island

Ron and I got off to walk on the island and stretch our legs. Fortunately Ron recognizes poison ivy when he sees it, so we were able to steer clear of the abundant weed. We did find an Inukshuk, a rock representation of a man created by the First Nation people to identify places where men had passed before. These things exist all over the Georgian Bay and North Channel. They were meant to indicate places where food had been stored, or locations critical to the fall hunting excursions.

Inukshuk

The Benjamin Islands also treated us to another of those beautiful Canadian sunsets.

Sailboat in the Benjamins at sunset

During our walkabout on North Benjamin Island, Ron did something only crazy Canadians do, he went in the water. You have to understand, the water is cold up here, seriously cold. The Canadians, hardy people that they are, jump in all the time, but we wimpy Americans limit our water experiences to dangling our feet from the swim platform, or trailing our hands in the water when riding in the dinghy. We don't, as a rule, put our whole bodies in the water. Ron will kill me for posting this picture, but he won't see it until he gets home and by then it will be too late.

Ron at the Benjamins

While we were at the Benjamins, the weather forecast got ugly, north and northeast winds at a steady  25 knots with higher gusts for two full days. This is the kind of weather where you want to be safely tied up at a dock, not swinging around on an anchor. We needed to re-provision anyway so we left early Thursday morning headed for Gore Bay.

Gore Bay is southwest of the Benjamins, so we had the winds behind us all the way. A good thing because the seas were already building to 3 feet. We got here at noon and by that afternoon the boat began to bounce. Even in a protected bay, the winds and seas were rough, Then it began to rain. All in all, an icky couple of days. So here we sit, on shore to avoid the lumpy seas and bouncy boat, waiting for the weather to change. It is Saturday, and the forecast doesn't look like we'll be leaving before Monday.

When we do leave, we'll be starting what will probably be our last week in Canada. By the end of the week we'll be in Drummond Island, where we will clear back into the U.S. The season is coming to an end up here. Soon it will be time to clean and store the boat. We have enjoyed both the North Channel and the Georgian Bay, but neither of us feels the need to stay up here another year. So we'll put the boat away for the winter and next year we're headed south.