More Thessalon

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Stats:  Zip, We’re hunkered down.

Our decision to tie up to the town dock instead of anchoring out was a good plan.  It has been damp, windy, rainy and chilly.  The waves have been crashing over the little break wall around Thessalon bay.  It sure makes me appreciate my little, old electric heater!

Thessalon is a cute little town and a good place to be hunkered down.  They have everything we need: grocery, library, restaurant. etc. and all within a short walk. 

We tied up here with a few other boats, all folks that we met in Little Current.  We are in the habit of meeting for happy hour on one boat or another at about 5:00 each afternoon.  The first night we followed that up with dinner at a local restaurant.  The second night some went out to the local hall for an all-you-can-eat dinner.  Jeff and I decided to stay in for a spaghetti dinner.  Tonight the plan is to meet in the lovely little lounge at the marina for a pot-luck.  It’s fun!  Cruisers are very social.

Other than that, we've been getting chores done.  Jeff has installed an inverter and is installing a stereo upstairs as I type.  I’ve done five loads of laundry, re-provisioned the boat and cleaned out several cupboards.  In the evenings we play cards, or prop the laptop up on the coffee table between our feet and watch movies.  We’re getting a little shack-wacky maybe, waiting for the rain to stop, but that's the cruising life.  Sometimes you just have to wait it out.  (Yep, there goes Jeff again, doing one of his shack-wacky happy-dances across the salon).

We’re hoping for a break in the weather tomorrow.  Then watch out U.S. of A!  Here we come!   

pics to follow once my iPhone decides to wake up.

Thessalon town marina.  They have a very nice, fully equipped lounge area, free bikes to use, laundry room, etc. 
 The town has done a great job. 

Pot-luck up in the lounge with fellow boaters from Fairways, Eos, and Panda Bear.

Thessalon

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Stats: Turnbull Islands to Thessalon 9:30 – 3:00 37m (total: 251 nautical miles)

We had expected to spend a few days hunkered down in the Turnbulls as bad weather had been predicted.  But surprise!  We woke to find beautiful calm water and light winds.  Travel day!!

The anchor went up and once again, in my jammies, we picked our way out through the rocks and out into the open water. 

After a pleasant, uneventful cruise, with warm showers and chores completed underway, we pulled into the little town of Thessalon.  They are predicting rain and thundershowers for the next two days so a town stop will let us explore small town Ontario between the raindrops.  

We were able to arrange to meet with Jeff's sister in Thessalon, as she just happened to be passing through and the timing worked out perfectly!  Dale and her friend, Lyngie (that's what Dale calls her. It stands for Lynn "G",  to distinguish her from Jeff's other sister, Lynn "C") came on board and we enjoyed an hour or so of visiting, wine and cheese (thanks Dale!) before they carried on their road-trip to Thunder Bay.

And The Excitement Slows Up....

Wednesday, August 27

Stats:

Beardrop Bay to Turnbull Islands

After a bouncy night anchored in Beardrop Bay, with the wind howling directly towards us, we woke up to find it relatively calm.  A quick check on the weather told us that the afternoon would bring a high wind warning once again.  We decided to take a run for it and make our way a couple of hours down “the road”.

So at 7:00 a.m., in my jammies and without hardly any coffee in my system at all, Jeff pulled anchor while I steered around the rocks and out of Bear poop, er, Drop bay.  We became aware of an incessant barking up ahead around a corner.  This was very much a wilderness anchorage and we saw no boats ahead of us so it was puzzling.  Around a bend we came upon a canoe heading into the bay.  Buddy was paddling with his dog doing bark watch on the bow.  He shouted up to us that he was paddling across Canada and had started in B.C.  His canoe was covered in stickers, presumably from all the places he’s visited.  Over the woof, woof, we couldn’t make out which charity he was supporting, but if you’re out there, watch for him.  I can’t imagine where he was coming from, paddling into an anchorage at 7:00 a.m. from the blustery bay, but you sure have to give him credit.

We made it to the Turnbull Islands without incident, anchored and got the dinghy down for some exploring.  We bopped around in the dinghy, hiked around the islands and around the corner we found our friends from Odyssey and Rascal anchored there.  We taught them the card game we've been playing and enjoyed a pleasant evening in Gran Vida's salon, which was the roomiest boat.  Kip won but I came in second, so I am counting this as a win in our stats.  Lord knows I need it!

We've been having internet connection problems.  Following my lead no doubt, my old iPhone has decided to take it easy and only works sometimes, then goes to sleep.  It is our main source of internet for now.  Also, there is very little signal in these wilderness anchorages.  Once we get into the States, hopefully I'll hook-up with Verison and be back in business, so pics to follow.

And The Excitement Continues....

Sunday, August 24 & Monday, August 25 2014

We left Little Current shortly after noon and headed west.  We weren’t sure of our destination but had several ideas and were going to do some anchorage shopping.  We were listening to some VHF chatter from a boat that sounded like he might be having some trouble.  The coast guard issued a bulletin on his behalf:  power boat on the rocks just south/west of Crocker Island.  Hey! That’s where we were and sure enough, to our starboard, there he was -- banging around, hard up on a rock shelf. 

Jeff called in to the coast guard saying we had a visual on him and we made contact with the captain. Luckily, he wasn’t taking on water and everyone on board was fine.  There really wasn’t much we could do other than come in with a dingy to pick up passengers etc.  He was trying to contact a tug to come out and pull him off and tow him in.  We offered to stand-by. We'd never, of course, leave a fellow boater stranded there alone, bouncing around on the rocks.

He was having trouble getting a tow boat as the local guy was on vacation.  The afternoon was wearing on.  Eventually two guys in a dinghy (we later found out were from the vessel Current Sea) came out of the nearby anchorage and dingied up to the boat.  After a bit of assessment and dialogue we decided to attempt to pull him off.  We circled around to where there was some deep water behind him, attached a line from our bow to his stern, threw it into reverse and tried our best with our little 165 Perkins diesel engine.  We were getting very close to the rocks ourselves and Jeff had the guys in the dinghy push our back end off the rocks while we were on the throttle in reverse.  The wind was not helping, pushing us closer and closer to the rocks.  We began to make some progress and he started moving off the shelf only to become hooked again.  Harumph.

We finally went back to the drawing board and changed our pull direction.  After more assessment and discussion, we attached a line from our bow to the port corner of his stern, which allowed us to stay in deeper water and a little farther from those nasty rocks.  This angle was better and his boat shifted around clockwise with a groan and began to move.  A bit more throttle he was off!

We pulled him into deeper water, switched our lines around and towed him into safe anchorage.  Once he was safely anchored, we rafted off and enjoy a few drinks.  Ironically, once we got talking we found out that onboard were four students who had attended Nipissing University.  It turns out that some of them knew Jeff’s daughter (who is a recent graduate of Nipissing).  Another one of the students grew up beside Jeff’s brother’s house and knew Jeff’s brother’s kids.  Small world.

The tug from Gore Bay did eventually show up, taking a leave from their vacation to assist.  We can’t remember the name of the tow tug, but it began with a “B”  If anyone reading this knows the name if the tug, please comment and remind us.  We’d like to give a shout out to them.  They remind us of our friends the Cox’s from the tug Canadian Effort (705-527-2164 or VHF 16).  They work the Southern Georgian Bay area and are always there to assist and keep us all safe on the water. 

We anchored in a bay of Crocker Island and enjoyed a peaceful night (I finally won at cards!!) and a restful day of swimming, hiking, sunning, playing with ducks, socializing with other boaters and relaxing.  Jeff even saw bears on shore (but they disappeared before I saw them).

Tomorrow we’ll point our bow to the west and see where we end up.

First attempt at pulling the boat off the rocks.

The newly retired teacher will try to form a class anywhere she can!

The people you meet makes the trip.  Richie, Leo and Coco, from Alabama. 
 They were sailing on a 22 Catalina and got to shore all piled into this kayak.  
Good stories/good times.

Port of Little Current

Friday August 22 & Saturday August 23 2014

Port of Little Current

Stats: Picnic Island to the dock, 5 minutes.

Little Current is lucky for us.  Last summer we pulled in to find out that there was a Country Music Festival in town that evening.  This year, we pulled in to find out that there is a "two nights for the price of one" special on and a cruisers' pot-luck dinner.  Great!

So we’ve enjoyed two days at the Port of Little Current, shopping, socializing with other boaters, cycling, getting chores done etc.  It’s been lovely and finally sunny and warm.  Tomorrow we will continue our travels and start to make our way across the North Channel.

Overlooking the Port of Little Current

Getting ready to go up our neighbour's mast,  just for fun!
Something I've always wanted to do.

half way up...

Whoo-hoo!  Fun, but scary.
THANKS Kip.  Now I can check that one off the bucket list.
Although, I didn't think it was THAT funny when you rocked the boat while I was up there!

This HUGE (for Little Current) cruise ship pulled in early in the morning.
Jeff said it was LOUD  I slept right through it!