We decided to take a day off and hang around in the marina. Really nice marina, but isolated, there is nothing nearby. After arriving, fuelling up, and getting set in our slip, we went for a swim in their pool, and then I walked around in their chandlery for a bit.
The next morning we took our time getting up, and then set off to the grocery store to get some provisions. For the next week or two we will not be able to do a lot of shopping, so needed to make sure we had what we would need in terms of food. As mentioned above, the marina was isolated, it was a 2 km walk each way to the grocery store. For this trek, we brought our cart with us. Many boaters use carts or wagons to haul things on foot. We did some searching around before we left Ottawa and found a nice one at LeeValley. Light and small. Louise also decided to try out her walking sticks, actually ski poles with rubber tips. She found it made the walk much more comfortable, as it kept her back straight while she walked.
After getting back to the boat, I caught up with some chores. I sealed the Starlink wire and transom plate from the davit install properly. I had been using duct tape for a temporary fix, which helped us blend in with the yachtie types, but was not a long-term solution. I also changed the fuel filter on the generator for the first time. This has been on my list for quite a while, but keeps getting superseded by other priorities. Although simple, this was one of those jobs I wanted to do with mechanic help nearby, in case I ran into problems priming the system. All went well, and now that I know how to do it, will be able to do so without hanging around places with mechanics.
We then conducted an audit of our inventory. We had created an XL spreadsheet listing the stuff we had stored, how much was there and where it was located. All our stuff is in plastic bins located in various places around the boat, however when we did the original inventory, some things got mixed up and we could not find them.
By doing the audit we were able to sort out our missing stuff (one or two things are still missing - they are on the boat but we don't know where) and now our inventory is more or less accurate.
Had various leftovers for supper.
Time to plan for the next couple of days. I broke out the charts to help do this, and of course Eevee had to help.
The next morning we treated ourselves to bacon & eggs for breakfast instead of our quick oatmeal and fruit, then set about getting the boat ready to move. We had checked for possible anchorages the night before, so all we needed to do was confirm the wind and weather forecasts, and we were good to go. Started out pretty smooth coming out of Midland, but once we exited the bay we were exposed to the big water and things got more nautical.
Cruise ship docked at Midland.
We were going through about 2 foot waves, pretty much nose-on, and were starting to slam into them a bit. I reduced speed to a more comfortable ride, but Eevee was not happy at all. She meowed a lot, and then went and hid in the spare room. Sometime during the trip she puked on the carpet (of course) near our bed. I know because I stepped in it later - barefoot - squishy between the toes.
Eevee decided to be co-pilot coming out of Midland, but once the ride got rougher she took a break.
Once we got closer to Beausoleil island, the waves eased out and we were back on a smooth ride. We went all the way to Chimney bay, then swung around looking for a place to stop. We finally decided to stop at McCabe rock.
The docks were only about 30 feet long, so we had to spring our stern out. Some boaters who were already on the island came out to help, and kept us from hitting our nose on the T-dock (too hard). We visited with them for a bit, then went upstairs to the flybridge and both of us crashed. We slept for quite a bit, then made some hamburgers for supper. Louise used some leftover bacon (I know, how do we have leftover bacon?) and so we had bacon cheeseburgers. Yum. It really cooled off in the evening, and we were both in hoodies by the time supper rolled
Next morning we were up early as usual, but had to suffer with no coffee! OMG! When you are on the docks here, there is a rule that you cannot use generators before 8 am, so we were kind of strung out on caffeine withdrawal until 8. We survived, and cranked up the genny to make coffee and breakfast. After we ate, we secured up and got underway. Again, the people on the docks came out to give us a hand. Very nice.
The forecast for that day was for west winds, so we were expecting to get rocked at one point, but this would only be for a short time.
We set off on the small craft route past Honey harbour and headed north towards our target for the day, Indian harbour. The first 2 hours of the trip were pretty easy, as the small craft channel is fairly protected here. However, we eventually came out from behind the islands, and got hit with some 2 foot waves on the big water. During the first part of the drive, we were on the flybridge to catch the view, but the wind was pretty cold so I decided to drive from the lower helm. Louise had her hoodie on, so decided to stay on the flybridge.
Unfortunately, we were headed north through a narrow area, with waves coming from the west. I zig-zagged as best I could to avoid getting hit beam-on, but we rolled pretty good a few times. Louise was pretty uncomfortable up top, and texted me asking me to heave-to so she could come down (I think we need some kind of intercom). Eevee was pretty freaked out and yowled a few times. Louise kept her company to clam her down. To add to the fun, this was the first day of the Maple Leaf Rendezvous, so we were being passed by huge motor yachts (50 + feet) plowing massive wakes. The wakes were way worse than the waves from Georgian bay! One looper boat (Act III) called us channel 16 to arrange a slow pass - thank you.
We made it into Indian Harbour and found that there were only 2 boats anchored there. We set our anchor and were done travelling for the day.
Louise went swimming, while I set up the dingy to take it for a test drive. Louise spent quite a while in the water, and went all around the boat with a microfibre cloth cleaning the waterline.
After a bit of messing around with the davits, we figured out how to use the davits to lower the motor onto the dingy. Once we were rigged up, I checked to make sure there was gas in the tank. Yup, there is gas. And off we went to try out our dingy and motor for the first time. What could possibly go wrong?
We drove for about 300 meters before we decided we would need a bigger motor. The 3.5 hp is light, and so easy to handle, but it was very slow. We had a good laugh over how fast we both decided we would need a bigger motor. Anyways, we went off around the island behind us to see how things worked. All was going great, we only almost grounded out once. The rocks here are incredible, you have to constantly check the water for depth changes.
Lots of Inukshuks everywhere.
The shoreline is very distinctive. Rocks, then growing stuff. Lots of cliffs and boulders left over from the glaciers.
Once we got back in sight of the mothership, I opened up the throttle to max, and we roared along at trolling speed, almost making a wake, at which point the motor stopped. I checked the tank - out of gas. I guess I should have measured how much gas was in the tank, there was gas in there, but just enough to cover the bottom of the tank when we left.
I broke out the oars and started rowing. Meanwhile a guy from one of the other boats got in his dingy and offered to tow us. We told him we were OK as the distance was not large, and so I rowed and he motored slowly beside us as we chatted.
Back on the boat I noticed a fitting on the davits was loose, so fixed this, and checked over the rest of the system to make sure all was good.
We hung out on the flybridge and read, enjoying the day. Louise found the wind a bit too cool for swimming in the evening. Had a bit of an issue with the anchor light, but found the issue quickly - just a bit of corrosion, and we turned in for the night. Its amazing how things suddenly stop working due to electrical connection issues. You need to use every system on a fairly regular basis to make sure it stays working. Normally, I try to run everything on the boat at least once a month whether we need it or not to make sure all is OK, but think I will now increase this frequency to every couple of weeks.
The next morning was a bit windier, you could hear the wind howling and waves slamming on the other side of the island we were anchored behind. GPS showed we were right were we should be so that’s good, no anchor drag over the night. We were swinging a bit more than the previous day as the wind was more westerly and stronger, and we were feeling more of it. One really nice thing about being at anchor is that we can run our generator any time we want. Sparked it up as soon as we got out of bed around 5:30 and enjoyed coffee while we watched the sun come up.
We enjoyed the morning, then moved the boat a little. We were in a well-protected spot from east winds, and had no issues that day or night, even though the offshore winds were heavy. However, the forecast had the winds shifting to north-east in the middle of the night, so we moved away from shore a bit to give us plenty of swing room when the winds clocked that evening.
In the early morning there was a fleet of bass boats that ripped through, must be a fishing tournament based south of us. The fishermen race to get to their secret spot, then race back to get their catch weighed. We saw the fleet twice, early morning and then about 3:30 in the afternoon it picked up again going the other direction. A few big boats early in the morning, I guess late arrivals for the Maple Leaf Rendezvous.
Spent most of the day relaxing on the flybridge. This anchorage reminded me a lot of Upper Duck Island. It is in a wide and protected part of the small craft channel, and so there has been a steady stream of boats and wakes all day. No issues for us since we are on anchor, and I actually like a bit of wake when anchored. I guess it just brings back lots of memories of anchoring on the Ottawa river with friends from RYC.
Around 4 the winds really picked up and swung to the north. A few of the other boats in the anchorage pulled up anchor and moved to more protected locations. We toughed it out, and the winds subsided after dinner. Our anchor was well-set, and we did not move at all. Nice having a big Mantus anchor and heavy chain.
The next morning the winds were now from the north-east, and all the boats in the anchorage had swung. Glad we had moved the previous day, as we would have been up against the rocks otherwise.
This shows our track from the chartplotter. The loop at the bottom is approximately where our anchor was set the first night - winds from the bottom. The blob just above that is our track for the first day and night, as we wet back about 80 feet from our anchor spot. In the morning of the second day, we pulled up our anchor and set it in the space in the middle of all the blobs. The blobs at the top show our track for the second day. You can see the blobs track clockwise, as the winds shifted clockwise. Had we not moved, we would have been in shallow water the second morning. When we are anchor, I keep the chartplotter on and tracking, this way we have an easy way to monitor how well the anchor is working. Blobs are good, loops are bad. We also set an audible alarm that warns us if we stray outside a certain radius from the anchor, valuable to warn you in the middle of the night if something lets go.
We took our time in the morning, as the plan was to try to get a dock on Frying Pan island for the night. Boats normally leave docks in the morning, and so turnaround time is usually around 10 or 11. By leaving at about 9, we felt we should get there with the best chance of getting a dock space.
Had to pull on the anchor for a bit, and it came up covered with clay. Hosed it off, and off we went. It was a very different travel day for us. The water was flat and calm, and we cruised along mostly by ourselves. We got to Henry's around 11, and there were only 2 boats on the dock. We called on the radio to get a slip for the night, and the dock guy came out and set us up at the very front of the dock (near the shore) so he could maximize his space on the dock. By the time we were set up and plugged in the docks were full of boats! The restaurant was opening soon and everyone was coming in for lunch. We paid for our slip, and got some ice cream. The boats going by make lots of wakes, very few boats slow down. Reminds me of a sunny Saturday at RYC. Tomorrow the plan is to head to Parry Sound.
