Tuesday 23^rd July 2019

We came very close the  CHI CHEEMAUN

We upped anchor from the little basin in Club Island it was about 6.30am,  just as the sun was rising, I spotted about 20 Canadian ducks close by.  

There was no wind, so we motored for a while, we tried the spinnaker but there really was no wind so down it came and  on went the engine again.  We turned a corner out of the shelter of an island and yay we were sailing we crossed the top of the peninsula in no time.  We were cruising along a about 5 knots just sailing along minding our own business when we spotted the chi Cheemaun Ferry on its way back to Tobermorry.  We were going to cross paths literally pass really close.  We watched it get closer then the Captain of the chi Cheauman called us on the radio, both vessels are on AIS so he knew our name 

“SV Adriana I have you passing on my stern” he said, 

we confirmed this, as we got a bit closer the wind picked up and we started to go faster !! 

we needed to slow down so we could pass behind the chi Cheemaun, so we furled up the head sail and slowed almost to a stop as she sailed past.  I think they had to divert their course slightly.

Lake Huron

The wind was behind us and we kept sailing all day and into the night, during the day the temperature dropped and we were back to wearing track pants, fleecy jumpers and our ugg boots.

Not Happy- back into ugg boots

Passing the time

 Just before sunset we donned our wet weather gear, not because there was any rain forecast but because the pants have a high bib almost to your underarms and this makes them really warm as your back is totally covered and the jacket is snug around the collar, its also made for sailing so sort of snug and contained no gaps for chills to get in or flaps to get caught on things.  There was a beautiful sunset, the ONLY other vessel we saw after the Chi Cheemaun was this strange sailing ship that passed us at sunset.

Taken through the binoculars

We sailed all through the night it was amazing the wind was behind us (North Westerly) pushing us along our average speed was about 6 knots it did not waver and we sailed from one end of the Bruce peninsulas to the other.  

All rugged up and strapped in for the night sail 

At the end of the lake we could see the Blue Water Bridge and our destination, a small yacht club that we had found out about while we were in Wingfield Basin.  The couple we had chatted to when we saw the bear had stopped as they were sailing out and we had a quick chat, we noticed the port of origin on the yacht was Sarnia and asked if there was anywhere there to anchor,  Michael gave us his boat card and yes we could anchor at the yacht club. 

The entrance to Sarnia YC

As were approaching Sarnia we messaged him and found out there is a small area outside the entrance to the yacht club where public are allowed to anchor.  He also let us know about the tricky current getting in to the yacht club, Craig says it was a bit like getting into Newhaven YC as the entrance has a strong current that flows fast right out the front.  Craig manoeuvred us in without any problems.  We had been up since 6am and dropped the anchor about 2pm the next day, that’s 32 hours with only a few hours’ sleep, Craig and I had taken turns of doing 2 hour watches but I think Craig got more sleep than me, every time I woke up he was asleep !!

Sarnia Yacht Club is the prettiest YC I have ever seen, it was immaculate, the colour of the water probably added to its charm, the cute ducks swimming around and the sailing school with about 50 kids buzzing around in little sailing dingys all made it look so pretty. We had a well-deserved G&T, an early dinner of chicken and veg stir fry and collapsed into bed before 8pm. 

St Clair River/ Lake St Clair

We found the YC Wi-Fi in the morning which delayed our start slightly, then we were off, our first point of interest was passing under the blue water bridge, its 177ft high so there was no chance of us hitting it but it’s still deceptive when you go under, it looks so close.

  

The bridge links Canada to the US, Ontario to Michigan, there was a constant stream of trucks banked up due to it being a border crossing. 

As we head down the canals and lakes we will have Canada on our left and USA on our right, we are going to stick to the Canada side because if we anchor or go ashore on the other side, we have to check in to USA and out of Canada it is just going to be easier to stay in Canada until we leave Canada for the last time.  

The next point of interest was passing the huge freighters the first one was scary but we didn’t have to get too close, Michael who told us about the Sarnia yacht club messaged Craig to say hello he was working on a tug boat pushing one the freighters, he had waved and we waved back, without knowing it was him, I said “tell him we are Australian we wave to everybody”.  

The Canadian side started off very industrial and the US side was all pretty waterfront houses, then the Canadian side turned rural and the US was built up almost all the way down the St Clair River.

We made excellent time doing 8 ½ - 9 knots with the current contributing around 2 ½ knots.  There were NO WAKE signs all along the US side, there has been flooding due to the water sitting between 1- 1.5mt higher than average. Most of the houses are built right on the waters edge really close to the waterline.  All the houses have pull out facilities for their motorboats as the lake freezes over in Winter.  The passage down St Clair River took less time than anticipated we left Sarnia around 8am and entered Lake St Clair around midday we had motored all the way.  Lake St Clair was so aqua blue and calm we had to follow the channel markers - as either side gets really shallow (only 2-3mt deep).  The channel markers wind across the lake showing the way for the big transport ships that constantly move up and down through the lake system. It was a huge expanse of aqua blue as far as the eye could see in every direction. The huge freighters traverse up and down the channels all day taking grains, iron ore, different types of rocks and minerals from the mineral rich north to the rest of the world.

Its hard to show the size of these things 

Detroit River

We then passed into the Detroit River, probably not high on anyone’s must visit holiday destination list but very interesting none the less. As we motored along, the river narrowed enough that we could see both sides but we moved along closer to the USA side passing Detroit City.  

Detroit City GMH 

GMH was  the dominant building we had sighted from miles away it is very impressive and  bit further down the river on the Canadian side we passed the Chrysler building, then Canadian Club brewery.  
The landscape became very industrial as we headed down the river out of the city. 

It certainaly got very industrial

Around 4pm we were getting tired there were no designated anchorage areas but we had been told its ok to anchor along the banks of the river so on the Canadian side of the river we found a spot where there was an island buffer between us and the shipping channel.  There was a strong current, but the anchor dug in and we were set for the night.  I took advantage of the warm 24.5c river water and did some washing, that made us look like gypsies camped by the side of the river.  We had travelled 8am to 4pm down the St Clair River, across Lake St Clair and most of the way down the Detroit River.

The next day we headed out towards the Benjamin’s, The Benjamin Islands were high on everyone’s suggested lists as a must see in the North Channel and they didn’t disappoint.

Close to the Magnetic Anomalies

We planned to catch up with Matt and Julia – Sea Jay – Owen Sound.  We hoisted the sails and set the chart plotter for the 21 nautical miles north west, we had the wind hard on the nose all the way, tacking our way across until we had to drop the sails and motor our way through the rock strewn entrance.  
Once we arrived at the suggested anchorage, we could see it was extremely busy with motor boats so we scouted around and chose a spot just outside the main area that was less congested.  Within half an hour of us arriving just about all the boats left but they were replaced later in the afternoon by another group of noisy partying motorboats we were happy to be away from them all. We let out 30mt of chain with only winds of 10 nm  forecast.

Look behind Craig you can see the motor boats

Matt and Julia arrived later in the afternoon and we caught up for a beer on board Adriana, we had picked up a part for Sea Jay from Wiarton Marina and we had to return the cruisers association  book Julia had lent us for navigation and also return what was left of the special UHMW plastic (Ultra High Molecular) that Matt had given Craig when he was installing the solar panels.

The next day the wind was forecast to increase in the afternoon, so we did our planned visit to Matt and Julia’s parents (Cheryl and Peter) and their friends, who were anchored at Fox Island.  It was a 15 minute dingy ride across open water, I was a little out of my comfort zone but as I had hopped into M & J dingy with Matt driving and Julia navigating I felt in competent hands these guys have been in boats on the water just about their whole life.  As we steered through the unexposed rocks close to shore. Craig followed in our dingy M & J dingy is faster and the theory is our dingy will only plane – get its nose out of the water and skims across the top, hence going about 4 x times faster - with one person whereas M & J’s will do it with 3 people onboard.  After a mosey around looking down the inlets and all the little tributaries of the main channel we parked the dinghies and had a walk around the rocky shoreline. 

Waterlilies ready to burst into bloom

Behind, where we had landed there was a huge lake full of pond lilies ready to burst into flower. We saw frogs, a different type of dragonfly and a mink ran past us, it was not worried by our presence. Everyone was so lovely Matts mum presented me with a bag of blueberries she had just picked, they were for herself but when she realised we were moving on the next day and this was my last chance to pick some, she gave me what she had picked that morning. 

So many blueberries

We headed over to Blue Corona and had blueberry muffins and coffee onboard Blue Corona is a twin hull and I was able to have a look through,  it was interesting to see inside a different type of boat, it was very spacious and all white and blue inside and the outside dining area was a great place to sit and chat.  I was also invited over to see Event Horizon, Cheryl and Peters boat, wow I actually don’t remember the manufacturer or the size of it but they had gutted the interior and had a professional refit the inside to their own design, it was very comfortable, practical and also very beautiful with stunning craftsmanship in the woodwork, it even had custom made stained glass windows. I’m just sorry I didn’t take any photos. 
These two boats were rafted up together and M & J will tie up next to them too.  Its called Gunkholing what they do is throw out an anchor then tie the stern to shore , this means they can squeeze into cute little spots totally sheltered from the wind and very secluded and private. We saw boats all over the North Chanel tied up like this.

We headed back to Adriana, getting drenched along the way, it didn’t matter as the sun was shining and we were soon dry.  Back on board I did some washing and Craig had another swim before we headed over to visit M & J for a beer. 

The water temp reached 24/25c amazing considering this whole area is frozen over again in just a few months

Sunset at The Benjamins

Craig had been chatting to Matt about the fact that we blew a portside navigation light and he thought he had a spare, but the one in the box was blown too, Matt said “oh that’s easy, we can make a light bulb”  and he was serious. These marine light bulbs apart from the fact they are really hard to source they also cost a fortune.  When we realised that we didn’t have a working bulb Craig had called all the marina shops in Little Current but we couldn't source one.
Matt instructed Craig to take the glass off the light bulb but keep the bayonetted intact, then Matt soldered a red LED globe to the contacts, filled it with hot glue and then sprayed the whole thing with a special waterproof silicone spray (conformal) coating  - Valla a functioning port navigation light.  

Julia is a research geologist and gave us the low down on the surrounding landscape and such things as the Benjamins have magnetic anomalies  – there are rocks that contain more magnetic force than the earth’s magnetic field. I believe our gps was affected - we were using autopilot when suddenly the boat swung out of control for no reason, it was easily rectified but gave us a fright.  She pointed out where there were random rocks off a different type that would have been picked up by glaciers and deposited far far away from where they originated. The landscape has been totally different in all the areas we have visited from pink granite to quartzite to basalt to sheer escarpments or steep cliffs covered in vegetation so many trees clinging to incredibly steep rock walls. 

Its time to move on and start heading out of the Great Lakes.

After a very windy night we upped anchor and headed back to Little Current.  Things can change so quickly when you are sailing, here we were sailing along averaging 4 knots, we had just tacked to change direction to keep in the wind when an alarm went off inside the boat, it was the high water bilge alarm!! 

I had to finish winching in the main sail while Craig dived downstairs – This alarm means the bilge is full and the boat is sinking-  The bilge is at the very bottom inside the hull where any overflow from water tanks, toilets or blocked sinks pours into. 

Craig could not see anything wrong, it was not full of water so he disconnected the alarm.  On coming back up to the cockpit we realised that during the tack one of the ropes had flicked the test alarm switch on !!!

The North Channel is dotted with these cute Pepper Shaker shaped lighthouses

We dropped the anchor at the same spot in Little Current jumped in the dingy and motored into town.  We walked the half km to the supermarket, we had to buy a few things that were not on the list at our last visit.  We have to stock up as we will now be heading down the other side of the Bruce Peninsula from Georgian Bay, all the way to Sarnia at the bottom of Lake Huron, where we enter the St Clair River through to Lake Sinclair, into the Detroit River, past Detroit on the USA side and Windsor on the Canadian side, out into Lake Eire, across lake Eire to the Welland Canal system probably without stopping at any towns or Marinas.

Amzing Sunset at Club Island

We are leaving Ontario it is all downstream from here.

We pass back through the Little Current swing bridge and sail back to Haywood for a planned overnight stop.  Next day we sail down to Club Island to a little alcove anchorage, this is the last night of our Georgian Bay/North Channel adventure, tomorrow we cross opposite the top of the Bruce Peninsula and head down lake Huron to Sarnia at the very bottom.  The East side of the Bruce Peninsula is totally opposite to the Wiarton side, it is all sandy like a beaches or marsh it is very shallow close to shore so there are no anchorages, there are a few Marinas slightly inland but we will be sailing well out from land so no stopping we will be doing an overnighter.

We bumped into this family a couple of times have a look at the set up !! There were 2 little boys with every toy imaginable, dad had a depth sounder on his upright sort of fishing dingy they had a big roll out square of foam that they could use as a swimming platform, Craig wont let me get one :(

This family had all the toys.

North Chanel

Saturday 13^th July 2019

By 6pm Friday evening the forecast for Saturday had changed and they were calling 25 knot winds by midday so we had to rethink our plans we decided to get up early and head over to Killarny we couldn’t be so close and not have a look around we figured it was about a 20 minute ride across and if we left to come back about 10.30am we should be fine.  The dingy ride was across open water and we didn’t want to be fighting our way back to the boat.  It’s a pretty little town very touristy but it looked lively and fun.  

A funny thing happened we stopped at a little bakery café attached to the lodge and Craig ordered a small double shot latte Take away, the service was quite slow and I had a look around the boutique next door, Craig was just being handed his latte when I got back, he was given a large cup, he questioned if it was his and the young girls said yes “we put the doubles in a large cup so the ratio of coffee to milk is the same”  was I rude in explaining that if someone orders a small double shot they want their coffee to be strong ? 

We had a quick look around, but the famous Fish and Chip shop and the famous Ice Cream shop didn’t open until 11am.  

wild iris 

From the dingy going through Killarney

As it turned out the forecast winds didn’t amount to much and we could have stayed all day but we were happy to sit back on Adrianna and watch the passing parade of motorboats head in and out of the cove, there were some real strange crafts one looked like a Melbourne tram, this area is a favourite destination for Canadian and American boaters Michigan is not too far away about 9 hours drive by car.

Sunday 14^th July 2019

We saw a bear

We were up reasonably early we have a routine going where we are up and dressed pull up the anchor and head off then have breakfast and tidy up on the way.  We decided to head over to Baie Fine  a deep fjord cut out of quartzite by ice billions of years ago it was 16 nm and we managed to sail most of the way only switching on the engine a couple of times for 5 minute spurts, we were in no hurry and smooched along sometimes as slow as 2 knots but we did pick up to around 5 at one stage.  

The scenery is amazing everywhere but this fjord is supposed to be up there with the best, and it is.  We motor sailed into the entrance for the first nautical mile or so as we had to follow the chart plotter very carefully. The entrance is extremely narrow - as narrow as 2 boat widths at its narrowest but then it opened up and we could sail straight down the centre for 6.5 nm.  

We were travelling through a deep fjord enclosed by white quartzite mountains with trees clinging to their steep sides. At the end of the fjord there is a place called the pond and you can hike to an inland lake called Topaz Lake.  We anchored just outside of the entrance to the pond as we had been told that there are lots of rocks and to be very careful, we figured we could take the dingy in there tomorrow and make it a full day trip.  After we set the anchor and had showers Craig lowered the dingy and went for a run down the last 2.5nm into the Pool, the very end of the fjord.  He was gone about an hour, stopping and chatting to an American couple who laughed and said getting in was no problem and gave us the local info on manoeuvring into this most reverend spot in the North Chanel. After a cold beer and a dinner of curry from the freezer, we escaped below in fear of the mosquitoes. The setting sun was making the cabin glow inside so we popped our heads out to witness the stunning sunset as I turned to look back at the land we saw a bear walk along the shoreline, climb over a rock and disappear I sat with the binoculars focused on the shoreline for another 10 minutes or so and saw either the same bear or new bear run on the opposite end of the flat area Infront of us.  I have since spoken to the American couple (Anne and Jim) and Anne tells me she still hasn’t seen a bear in the 7 years they have been spending their summer holiday here in the North Chanel.

Monday 15^th July 2019

Into our usual routine -  we were up and heading off into the depths of Baie Fine we motored the 2.5 nm into what is called the pool, it is another stunning protected anchorage.  I can see why it is one of the most popular destinations up here.  We dropped the anchor in our little patch of paradise.  The water temperature is now 24c its like a bath !! we jumped in for a cool down and  then gathered what we would need for our walk to look at Topaz Lake, the main item being mosquito repellent. It was a 20-minute hike mostly uphill, we saw a small striped snake, numerous frogs and chipmunks. 

The drop into the lake was over quartz rocks and was very steep. We didn’t go for a swim but picked blueberries instead, I kept close to the track as Craig kept going further and further away always finding a bigger patch in his quest to find the mother load that hadn’t been eaten by local wildlife or the weekend visitors. We had spent abut 3 hours there so headed back to Adrianna for a swim.  Our neighbours Anne and Jim came over for a glass of wine or 2, Craig had whipped up a hummus and a sweet potato dip to share. Our first cruising visitors on Adrianna tuned out to be very entertaining. They serenaded us with their music when they returned to their boat Anne plays the cello and Jim plays finger picking style on an acoustic, they travel with their instruments and love to play a few original compositions in the evenings.

Tuesday 16^th July 2019

We couldn’t decide whether to stay or move on, so we stayed and made blueberry muffins. We had a bit of a lazy day relaxing in the sunshine and after lunch (sweetcorn covered in butter and sweet chili sauce done on the BBQ) we went for a little motor around the pool. Our destination was Artist lake another inland lake this one is covered in waterlilies.  This lake and Topaz Lake were portrayed to the world in the 1930’s by a group of famous artists called the Group of Seven.  

We dropped off a couple of muffins to Anne and Jim as really we don’t need to eat them all and before we could hand over our gift we were gifted one of Jim's CDs.  consisting of  music composed and played by themselves inspired by their time spent on the lakes and is a tribute to their daughter.  It is beautiful music and we really appreciate the gift.  The other boaters had said to watch out for Snappy the snapping turtle and yay he came for a visit , he is huge with big harp claws the turtles snap as they grab their food.  After our dingy ride we were hot and sweaty and covered in insect repellent so it was with great trepidation we jumped in for a swim.

Wednesday 17^th July

Headed out of Baye Fine, such a beautiful place, we managed to sail the whole way out of the fjord.  Anne and Jim left at the same time and at one stage we were sailing parallel.  Our destination was Heywood Island on our way to Little Current,  we have had to get familiar with a whole new set of names but bit by bit the names are becoming easier and the location of the main islands that we have been told are the best ones to visit are beginning to become clear, now we are exploring The North Chanel. 

Upon our arrival at Haywood Island we had a problem dropping the anchor.  The anchor winch stopped turning, apiece of it had come off and it was jammed. We had to idle with me keeping the boat facing the right direction while Craig worked on freeing the winch. He did manage to free it and drop it.

Craig managed to undo the jammed bit on the winch and over the kitchen gas burner, he heated up the plastic part that was the problem and bent it with plyers. He also discovered all the screws were loose and when he took it apart it was void of any lubricant. , Again it was a case of Craig making a temporary work space in the kitchen.

It was still early afternoon and we were tossing up whether to just go to Little Current (which is a little town with 2 supermarkets and a few other shops) when a couple came past to tell us they had just seen a huge bear, they were out in their dingy with their Golden Retriever and I think they were just heading up to the shore to let the dog out for a run and the bear was there just in front of them, they said it looked about 200kg the biggest they have ever seen, I think they got a fright.  They are from Drummond Island USA where they regularly see bears but not as big as this one.  So we dropped the dingy to go and have a look, but with no luck.  Heywood Island was famous last year because there was a large bear getting on to people’s boats, it was a very dry year with not so many blueberries and the bears were all hungry and looking for food.  After we had had a scout around in the dingy it was too late to move on.

Thursday 18^th July

Little Current has a Supermarket not far from the town docks and we had run out of a couple of things and we were looking forward to going for a walk.  The town gets its name from the Currents that run through the channel that runs past the town the town sits on Manitoulin Island. This is where the main highway connects the Island to the mainland.  There is a 100 year old swing bridge that we had to wait until it swung open for us to pass through.  The bridge was originally built for trains, but cars use it now.  The bridge swings on the hour, every hour and boats have about 10 minutes to get through each time. 

We sailed from Haywood on a light wind that got us there just in time for the 10am bridge  opening, we had to idle for a few minutes carefully watching other boats do circles in front of us.  After all our stressing, was a pretty easy thing to do.  Little Current is another town set up for boaters, there is a town dock with showers and a laundromat, a LCBO and 2 supermarkets about half a km away. There are 3 marinas but as we don’t need a marina we motored straight through to the other side of town to a marked anchorage (the anchor winch is fixed now)  we dropped the anchor in a big bay with houses on the shore and the town park just opposite us.  

When we motor this heats up our water so once we were settled, we had quick showers and dinghied into town.  I wanted to upload my blog so after a quick look though a few gift and clothing shops we headed for The Anchor Inn.  The Anchor Inn is an institution up here in the North Channel.  At 9am every day during the Summer season Roy broadcast on the marine radio on channel 70 everyone who is out cruising listens in.  Roy gives world news, then Canadian news, then a detailed weather report, he asks if anyone out there needs assistance, he does  a “this day in history” and then all the boaters “check in” They give their boat name, their location and where they are heading.  We checked in too, what this does is gives all the boaters, yachts and motorboats a way to keep in touch, pass on information and see where their friends are  – the man who told us about the bear at Heywood he called in to let other boaters know that it was there. It was kinda cool to be a part of it.  Anyway we called in there to have a look, id also heard they had a book exchange so I did remember to take a couple with me to exchange.  We ordered a beer and I sat down with the laptop.  The pictures I put on the blog always take ages to upload, Craig got bored, so he went for a walk to the Supermarket. The internet was quite slow !! we ended up staying at the Anchor Inn and had a burger for dinner as the heavens had opened with torrential rain, it had been forecast and we had felt it building all day. It was heavy when it hit, so we decided to stay and eat. We had to pump a couple of inches of water out of the dingy before we could jump in and head back to Adriana.  It cost us $24 for 3 beers and $35 inc tip for our meal that’s almost $60 and tbh the burger was not that nice we were a bit angry at ourselves wasting our kitty money, we spent more at the Anchor Inn that we did at the Supermarket.  Our anchorage was a bit open and we swung around a lot that night which doesnt allow a very restful sleep.