Haul out day is complete

We woke up to a beautiful day on 8/21 and made the final preparations to put the boat away for the season. A thorough washing on the outside, some final interior cleaning, drain the water tanks, a final pump out, and out she came. We were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and welcomed a comfortable bed in a local motel. We will spend our last full day on the island completing steps before locking it up for the year. The pictures below highlight some of the activities on haul out out day. Just so you know, four more jack stands were added to steady the boat after the last picture was taken.

End of cruise statistics 2012

As always I kept detailed statistics that captured the various run time aspects of our cruise. Under normal circumstances we would had travelled far fewer and burned less fuel but considering the number of crew changes and trips in and out of Canada the stats were almost identical to last year. Hopefully next season will see much lower numbers. The final stats are as follows:

• Launched 6/13 hauled out 8/21
• We were on the boat 68 nights with 35 in a marina and 33 at anchor
• Total miles traveled was 849.28 nautical miles (977.33 SM) with an average of 12.49 NM/day
• Our average speed was 6.96 nautical miles per hour
• Total time underway was 130.31 hours
• Total fuel consumed was 426.50 gallons and averaged $4.21 per gallon (lowest $4.11 highest $4.38)
• Our average mileage was 2.23 NM/gallon
• We ran the generator for 58.30 hours averaging 1.77 hours per anchorage (don't need to run it at the dock)

I hope you found these informative and we will see you next year.

Almost done for 2012

After sitting out another three day blow in Blind River, Sheri and I headed west across the North Channel for the last time and made our way back to the U.S. where we cleared Customs via telephone using our new all powerful NEXUS cards. We stayed at De Tour Village for one night and then made the short hop over to our home base at Drummond Island on Sunday morning. I decided to go to De Tour first because I thought the fuel would be cheaper ($4.38/gallon) and was surprised that Drummond's was 3 cents less. In any case we are only a few feet away from the haul out well and will be "on the hard" probably on Tuesday. We started to service the engine today when we got in but had to delay finishing until Monday when I can get a Racor fuel filter (that I thought I had) and some oil for the transmission (that I thought had). At least the engine oil is done which is the messiest part.

While in Blind River we passed the time with our friends George and Lorraine and their two grand daughters. At least once a day I would give them each a Hershey bar from my stockpile because once we leave they will melt in the car.

Tonight we were treated to some beautiful skies to close out a rather cool and windy day.

More bad weather on the way

Based on marine weather forecasts we pulled out of our Turnbull Island anchorage and headed over to Blind River. This has become all too familiar a pattern over the past few weeks and it has made a big impact on our ability to plan our next move. At this point we may arrive in our Drummond Island base a few days early just so we don't we get stuck and not be able to make our haul out date next Wednesday. This part of our summer cruise is always a drag because we start having to time everything we do to our end of cruise closeout activities.

We did have a nice last anchorage and had one last wildlife shoot this morning before we left. I found another photogenic loon and a muskrat with a big fish in his mouth.

Only a few days left till it's over

We left Hotham South this morning under perfect conditions and made our way along the north coast passages to Turnbull Island for our last hurrah with our Blind River friends. We also said goodbye to our gracious Hotham cottagers, Norm and Elaine, who we hope to see several times next season. The 24 mile leg to Turnbull was made under sunny skies and calm seas and was capped off by a beach gathering at the end of the day as we had done many times before this season. We met many new folks as usual and will hopefully do it again tomorrow before we head to Blind River for some dock time on Thursday. Windy conditions are predicted for late Thursday and we hope to only be at the marina for a night before heading back to Turnbull for our last anchorage before making our way to our home base in Drummond Island for haul out next week. The attached shots are from today's leg.

Good bye to Little Current for 2012

After three somewhat relaxing days in Little Current we were ready some anchor time again and headed back to one of our favorite spots on Hotham Island. The skies were not quite clear but the wind was calm and the 21 mile ride over was easy. Along the way we listened to a Mayday call for a 48' power yacht that had hit a rock and was taking on water just north of Lett Island in the Whalesback channel near Beardrop Harbor. Obviously most of you have no idea where that is but Dave and Gary have been there. I don't know what rock they hit but anytime your are taking on water it is not a good thing. As the day progressed we lost radio contact with the rescue activity but it turns out that they were able to slow down the water intrusion and arrange for a tow back to Little Current or Gore Bay (not sure). Anyway, when Sheri and I were out on an extended dinghy ride we passed the aforementioned boat in tow heading east. I hope that I never have to make that call during my boating days that remain up here.

We will be here for a few days and plan to return to Blind River on Wednesday. I hope to get some more loon shots while I'm here. Speaking of loons, Sheri and I saw a "pod" of what we believe were immature loons all swimming together in open water. We counted 10 which is many more than you typically see at one time.

Road trip for dinner

After sitting inside the boat at the marina during the worst weather of the season we were grateful to meet up with a local acquaintance from Sudbury who drove us to a new spot on Manitoulin Island for dinner. It's always a treat to leave the water and see what's "down the road" from where we are currently docked. I contacted our friend Richard from Sudbury, who we met up with a few years ago, and made arrangements to meet in Little Current on Saturday for a get together. Richard and his wife are in the process of relocating to Ottawa where they will retire officially next year. In the meantime Richard is living by himself in Sudbury and jumped at the opportunity to pay us a visit. I told Richard that we would buy his dinner as long as it was not in Little Current. After Googling the local area for restaurants (not that many) we landed on the quaint spot at the Red Lodge Resort on the shores of Lake Manitou. It was a nice spot and the food was good.

Upon returning to the marina I asked Richard for one little favor and that was to drive us over the Little Current Swing Bridge which we had only been under by boat. Much to our surprise the bridge was only a single lane affair and has lights on each side to control traffic flow. In 2013 the bridge will celebrate its 100th birthday.

Surprise, back in Little Current again

After three uneventful days at anchor in Marianne Cove we headed back to Little Current for our last visit this season. Unfortunately, we may be here a few days waiting out windy conditions much like last weekend. August up here is noted for its windy days and we definitely believe it. As we white knuckled our docking around noon, we were witness to the first cruise ship making port here that we've seen in two years. The last one we saw was the notorious "Clelia II" that was featured in a YouTube video as it bounced around the South Ocean in December 2010. This year's ship, the Yorktown, is US based and makes regular trips between Detroit and Duluth during the summer season and other exotic spots the rest of the year. It's a very similar ship in size to the one my buddy Marty and I will be on this October when we make our way to South Georgia Island.





Our anchorage was rather calm with no invaders and no big fish. Although I did fish a bit most of the fish that followed my lure to the boat were the same size as the lure. A few did manage to get on but were tossed back. On Wednesday we climbed most of the way up Fraser Hill to make cell calls and connect to the Internet which cannot be done anywhere in Baie Fine. Our next destination will probably be Croker Island for another three nights.

Still in Little Current

Since we've been here the wind has howled and howled and hopefully will let up tomorrow. The win did not seem to dampen the Haweater Weekend festivities that had a street fair today and a really nice fireworks show tonight in 30 MPH winds. I did not take any fireworks shots as I felt the wind would buffet the camera during the time exposures. Since we have free wi-fi here I spent most of today working on a website rebuild for my friends at San Juan Sailing in Bellingham, WA. Hopefully tomorrow we can head out for some anchoring at one of our favorite spots in Marianne Cove at Baie Fine.

Back in Little Current

We made the three hour ride to Little Current (orange line) this morning under beautiful conditions. We will be here a few days doing some admin before heading out to anchor again. When we arrived a boat came in just after us and I could not help but capture the forest they had attached to their anchor. The boat had just arrived from Baie Fine and had been in the "Pool" which is notorious for its weeds. Normally you clean those off when you recover your anchor but I guess those folks were in too much of a hurry and made the 15 mile trip with the mess still attached. Personally, I would have been embarrassed to show up in a marina like that. What rookies!!!

Little Current is the hub for this part of the North Channel and has much to offer. It has a gas station, two grocery stores, a drug store, a hardware store, an auto parts store, and the it has these other creatively named businesses. And of course we were happy to see the motels are clean.

Windy day on the hook

Today was spent mainly wishing the wind would die down which at 9PM has finally subsided to a reasonable velocity. Sorry but there are no new bird shots or party pictures from shore. The only excitement today was when the sailboat next to us started dragging its anchor while the crew was ashore on a hike. After realizing that no one was on board, I was joined by several dinghies and pulled the boat back in open water. Shortly thereafter the crew returned and placed the anchor on the bottom where it will hopefully hold until morning. Tomorrow we will head to the bustling metropolis of Little Current for the fun and festivities of Haweater Weekend. See you next time.

Loons, loons, loons......

Today was spent peacefully at anchor under sunny skies and a comfortable breeze. We took one long dinghy ride in the morning and the rest of the day was spent just hanging out on the boat. We did have a fun evening spending time with the local cottagers, Norm and Elaine, socializing with them and the folks from other boats on shore at the cottage. We have about six boats in the bay tonight which is fewer than last night. Our hosts are very gracious with their time and property and gladly welcome all comers to the party. We're expecting rain tonight and drizzle tomorrow so today was the perfect day for the social hour.

During the idle time today I spent chasing a lone loon around the bay for some really nice shots and very up close. This loon was actively fishing so I had to guess where he might pop back up. Enjoy the pictures from today.

Looking for a fish

Down for the catch