Out for more time anchoring

We've been in Little Current for two days catching up and will head out in the morning for three nights in Marianne Cove which is part of the very popular cruising area in Bay Finn. This is one of our favorite spots as it has some associated hiking trails located nearby.

We are excited to have some company arriving this week all the way from Seattle. Our friend and cruising buddy Gary Anderson will make the trek all the way out here via Toronto and a rental car and will meet us in the quaint port of Killarney on Friday. Having a skilled boater on board makes Al happy and someone else to talk to makes Sheri happy.

Check out the cool tug we saw this afternoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=METl1R0GDk8

This morning we had a small flotilla of trawlers arrive at our dock including another Mainship like ours. I'm attaching a panorama of the two boats nose to nose.

Happy July 4th

We're back in Little Current after touring the Bay of Islands area for three days at anchor. We spent the first two nights in a very nice spot called Sturgeon Cove and last night in a not so nice spot called Sturgeon Bay. We saw no sturgeon, however. Sturgeon Bay is just east of the first spot, much larger, and almost too deep to anchor. We were the only boat there and it became a bit spooky when two very fast jet skis buzzed us just before sunset. There was very little boat traffic in this bay so it came as a bit of a surprise. Last night we were treated to a beautiful starlit sky where the stars go all the way to the horizon and actually reflect off the water. Between anchorages we followed the recently charted small craft passage up to the town of Whitefish Falls but did not stop as they don't have accomodations for larger boats. On our way back today we stopped and checked out a future anchorage at Louisa Island. Below is a sunset panorama from Sturgeon Cove and a panorama looking south from our anchorage in Sturgeon Bay.

Off to the Bay of Islands

We headed out around noon for the short jog north to our first anchorage in Sturgeon Cove on the west side of the Bay of Islands. After that we will plan one other stop but are not sure where that may be.

Still sitting tight in Little Current

Today is nice and sunny but still cool and windy. The wind is pedicted to subside after today so we will head out for some anchoring tomorrow with a return to Little Current on Sunday. We're going to try a new area just north of Little Current called the Bay of Islands. There are several attractive anchorages as well as a resort that is rumored to have a nice restaurant. The two pictures above are of beautiful downtown Little Current and the town's swing bridge which opens on the hour and is the only way out heading east. I could not resist taking the shot below of two locals catching some rays on the lawn just outside the boater's restrooms. The temps were probably in the low 60s.

Sheri got her hair cut today and I took care of some maintenance items and continued to relax (main activity on trip). Today, Little Current hosted a cruise ship, the Clelia II, which is on its way back to Toronto after a Great Lakes transit originating in Duluth, MN. We saw this ship last year and were amazed at how expensive it was. There are 100 passengers and 50 staterooms all of which have an outside view but only four have a balcony. The bottom price is around $5K and the balcony rooms are $10K for an 8-day cruise. It's all-inclusive but still pricey in my opinion. Here's the web site in case you are interested http://www.greatlakescruising.com/ .

The passage here in Little Current is one of the few places in the North Channel that actually has a current. As indicated by the bouy in this picture it's fairly stonng in the channel and is even noticeable at the dock where our knot meter is registering about a half knot. The following link will show just how noticeable the current is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8hEp8HHmXs&feature=youtube_gdata

Sitting tight in Little Current

Today is admin day with laundry, haircuts, and grocery shopping in order. It's very windy and cool again and will get worse as the afternoon progresses. The city docks are very empty which indicates just how bad the economy is in both countries.

Spanish to Little Current

fter a quick stop in Spanish we headed off to Little Current, Ontario which is the hub of this magnificant cruising area. We're bypassing spending another couple of nights at anchor due to poor weather conditions forecasted for the next few days. We'll be back in contact later today.

The remainder of the day was windy and much cooler. Since we don't have a thermometer on board I would say it was in the low 50s.

The forecast for tomorrow:

Strong wind warning in effect. Wind northwest 15 knots increasing to 20 late this evening then backing to west 20 Tuesday morning. Wind increasing to west 30 early Tuesday afternoon.

We plan to stay here in Little Current at least until Thursday which also happens to be Canada Day. We might stay to celebrate with our kin up north, eh!! The shots below were taken from the stern of the boat. It's remarkably still right now but things will change.

On to Spanish

We arrived in this quaint little burg about 2PM after a quick 12 mile jaunt from Beardrop. The marina is quite nice but really off the beaten path. The GLCC had a rendezvous here a few years back and I think that might have been their moment in the sun. Word has it that the community of Spanish has be trying to sell the marina due to the financial overhead. The facilities are very nice and the associated restaurant was also nice since town is over a mile away. We stopped by the gas dock for a pumpout which turned into a real circus and took over an hour. A sailboat (27' Catalina with four aboard for two months) was also getting a pumpout and fuel. The dock attendant accidently dropped their holding tank cap in the drink so they spent about 30 minutes trying to fish it off the murky bottom with a dip net but to no avail. They eventually stuck a bung (conical dowel) in it as a temporary fix and headed out for a cramped, rainy, overnight in some anchorage.

We're looking at the weather to see where we will go next so stay tuned.