LITTLE CURRENT TO STURGEON COVE – AUG 19 On Tuesday morning, Roy Eaton, who is the Cruisers’ Net broadcaster, came back to our boats to check Woody’s and Ken’s radios. He went over our charts with us, told us about some neat anchorages and visited for a little while. He gave the girls a ride to the Farmers’ Market and then to the grocery store. He took me back to the boat with the purchases Ellen and Barbara had made at the Market. On the way, he took me to the original site of the founding of Little Current. It was on a high bluff over-looking the channel. An American Indian set up a large sawmill there to provide the passing steam boats with the wood they needed to continue their passage. He was very successful for several years, until, according to Roy, the Hudson River Trading Company decided that a Native Indian should not be allowed to own such an enterprising and successful business. They made him give it up and move back to the reservation. Roy did not tell me just how they went about aiding him in that decision, but it probably was not good. He moved north and became Chief of the Indian Nation for the next ten years. I will bet that the Hudson River Trading Company did not get a lot of cooperation from the Indians during the next ten years! The grocery store in Little Current delivers and when Ellen and Barbara arrived their groceries were carried down the dock for them. Soon after, we were ready to leave. We left Little Current about 2:00pm. We did not have far to go, only to an anchorage in Sturgeon Cove. We arrived about 3:30pm. We rafted to the “Mother Ship”. It was difficult to enter into Sturgeon Cove because it has many rocks. There are stones which have been painted white on the rocks to guide you as you enter. Unfortunately, they were in the shadows and very difficult to see. They were not very helpful to us. Woody went in first because “Double SS” only draws 2.8 feet of water. He was our “scout” boat. We draw 4 feet and “Barbara” draws 5 feet. A guy in a dinghy who was anchored in the Cove came out to lead us through the entrance. Once inside, it was deep and calm. We all made it through okay, although it was very stressful, with all the women standing on the bows, looking for rocks under the water. Ellen, Barbara and I planned dinner and we ate on “Barbara’s” top deck Phil, Ellen and Barbara blew their conch shells at sunset. Sturgeon Cove Anchorage STURGEON COVE TO THE BENJAMIN ISLANDS-AUG 20 We left our anchorage at 10:15 on a beautiful, sunny and calm day. We had decided to g to Kagawong in Mudge Bay to see the Bridal Falls. We arrived there about 1:20 pm. It was a 30 minute walk down a path through the forest to get to the falls. Kids at play It is a really pretty place, enjoyed by people from the area. There were several families with young children, swimming or wading in the pool at the bottom of the falls. The falls were very pretty and did, indeed, look like a bridal veil, very delicate and frothy. We took many pictures and strolled back to our boats. Falls back to Kagawong St. John the Evangelist- Anglican Church of Canada Renewing Vows? There is a small church there that has as its’ pulpit the bow of a boat. The story is that there was a local couple, newly married, from wealthy families, who owned this boat. They and some friends, a couple and their two children, went out in Mudge Bay in the big wooden boat. A terrible storm came up quickly and the strong winds prevented them from getting to safety. They thought the boat would be strong enough to withstand the storm, but it was tossed against the rocks and began to break apart. They tied themselves together and spent many long hours in the cold raging water, during which time, tragically, the children, their mother and the new husband all died. The remaining husband and the remaining wife cut the lines, holding them to their loved ones, in an effort to save themselves. They were finally rescued and survived. The boat was later found almost intact. The bow of the boat was placed in the church to use as the pulpit, reminding people of the power of the sea and in memory of the ones whose lives were lost. About 4:00, “Double SS” and “Harmony” left Kagawong. Barbara and Ken decided to spend the night there. We went to the Benjamin Islands and anchored in a cove on South Benjamin. We were anchored and rafted by 6:00pm. It was a beautiful place for a romantic dinner and a spectacular (yet again) sunset. Even the ducks were eager for dinner and they certainly weren't shy---check out where without invitation they sought to have their dinner. Ellen, however wasn't inclined to get that started as a habit. Phil and Ellen graced everyone in the cove with their conch shell serenade at sunset. BENJAMIN ISLAND TO BEAR DROP LAKE – AUG 21 On Thursday, Woody, Ellen, Phil and I got in our dinghy and went to shore to climb the pink granite hill. The island is mostly granite with a little soil for vegetation and trees to grow. There were a lot of trees, but we saw many that had been blown over. Their root structure is so shallow that a strong wind can blow over a tall tree, leaving an eight or ten foot expanse of root and soil visible from the underneath. We got to the top and could see the water on the other side. Solid Granite Hiking back to anchorage where "Barbara" has arrived Tree roots separated from granite by wind While we were on the top, “Barbara” cruised into the cove. We climbed back down, dinghied over and visited with Barbara and Ken. They planned to spend a night or two there and slowly make their way back to the States, staying in other anchorages on the way. Our plan was to get to Bear Drop Lake and then on Friday go to Drummond Island, where we would check in with Customs. So, once again, with regret, we said good-bye. We explored the cove in our dinghy before we went back to the boat. We saw a mink at the water’s edge while we were in the dinghy. I think it was as surprised to see us as we were to see it! We traveled at 7 ½ miles per hour and in an hour and a half passed another anchorage, Oak Bay, where we had considered going before we decided on South Benjamin Island. We were in McBean Channel. Two hours later we reached Little Detroit, a narrow entrance into Whaleback Channel. It felt like a deserted wilderness. We saw two cottages and three boats all day long. This area is mostly Indian Reservation and heavily forested big islands, small islands and a lot of huge rocks. We got to our anchorage in Bear Drop Lake about 5:30. And, guess what, it was another beautiful anchorage with turquoise, smooth water, beautiful trees and shore line with hills all around the lake. There were several other boats in the anchorage. We had dinner on “Double SS” and played “Kings in Corners”. It was fun. Phil and Ellen blew their conch shells at sunset. BEAR DROP COVE TO DRUMMOND ISLAND – AUG 22 On a cloudy morning that was only supposed to get worse, we left at 9:25. It was the middle of nowhere, it seemed, few signs of life, a lot of open water and while we made progress, it was a long day with rain beginning to pour before we got into the channel that led to the marina. We could not see the buoys and had to radio the marina twice to get directions. To make matters even more stressful, we had been using Canadian electronic charts to navigate by while we were in Canada, which worked very well. They stopped exactly at the border, which meant that we had no electronic chart showing depths, channels or markers…We relied on our GPS, depth sounder, radar and paper charts, which sounds like a lot, but when you usually use electronic charts, it was tough! We finally arrived at 5:30 pm. Two Customs officials came to the boat and sat on the back deck to fill out forms. They wanted to see our passports, the boat documentation, asked our home phone number and sold us a $27.00 permit required to re-enter the USA by boat. The whole process was over in ten minutes. After we were checked in, we rented the marina “courtesy” car and the four of us, Woody, Ellen, Phil and I went to a lovely restaurant near the water for dinner. On the way to the restaurant, we saw a doe and her fawn. A young male deer appeared out the woods and the doe chased him away. She was more concerned about him than she was the clicking of our cameras as we attempted to take pictures. The restaurant was in a resort area, had beautiful flowers, good wine and delicious food and what just what we all needed after a very long day on the water. Dinner at Drummund Island As soon as we got back to the boat, Ellen and Phil blew their conch shells, even though it was a litt Saturday morning, we said good-bye to Woody and Ellen. We did not want to leave that day because of the weather forecast, but they decided they needed to push on toward Chicago. It is so easy to travel with them. We knew we would really miss them. "Bye Woody and Ellen, we'll miss you and the the M/V Double SS" Phil and I went to the laundry room early in the day to do the washing and got “rained in” the laundry room while it stormed and rained for three hours. We spent the rest of the day working on the log and in the engine room, and then took the boat to the fuel dock for fuel. After getting back in the slip, we decided to go back to the same restaurant for dinner. We rented the “courtesy” car again and journeyed back to the restaurant. We were a little earlier that evening and the doe and the fawn were not in sight. |
Little Current to Drummond Island
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