Apres Wedding, Back in Thunder Bay, 2015

We have been off the boat for awhile. Returned home for Mom's Birthday Dinner, and Michael and Leslie's Wedding. A 10 day whirlwind. And so much fun. We broke the trip up into 2 manageable driving days each way. There sure is some beautiful scenery when travelling by car also. It rivals the water scenery. We always like to take some day trips when travelling by boat, where we rent a car and travel around on the shoreline. Everything always looks so different from the shore side of things.

Jim and Linda had rented a car while we were away and took a car trip also. While we still had our rental car we decided to take the local Thunder Bay tourist trip. What a busy day we had.

First we wanted to go see what the Ouimet Canyon was all about. Had seen the signs and it was time to go for a visit. It was well worth the trip. A mile walk in on a well maintained path and bridge. The canyon is 1000 feet below the viewing platform. It is one of those times where you cautiously approach the railing to peak over. What a view. The floor of the canyon has flora and fauna only found 1000 kilometres to the north. A very unique eco system for this area. Along the wall is an unusual rock formation called the Indian Head, because that is exactly what it looks like. Of course there is a delightful Indian love story that explains how this came to be.


 Then we were off to the local fish hatchery (for lack of a better word.) Our tour guide Laykn was very well informed and explained everything so well. They raise lake trout, splake, brook/speckled trout, etc. They have huge metal trays where they raise the wee ones for a year before introducing them into the northern lake systems. We were surprised to learn that lake trout are 9 years old before they begin to reproduce; so they introduced the splake to the lakes to take the pressure off the premature fishing of trout. They also had several tanks of more mature trout that would be 9 years old and ready to reproduce. They are about 22 pounds by this stage. They use these fish for 3 seasons and then they are released into the lakes.


 In all it was a one hour tour. Very Well done.


Now it was getting on to about 3 pm, and we were starving. Stopped at a Flying J for fuel for the car, and refuelled the travellers at the restaurant. 3 Pickerel Dinners and 1 Liver and Onions. All very good and as lunch was so late in the day, we decided on the larger meals and then Linda and I would not need to cook dinner tonight. We decided that dinner would be wine and snacks.

We returned back up the road to visit the world's largest Amethyst Mine. We were travelling on the private road into the mine, which was quite rough gravel and it became very steep. The signs along the road said to use low gear. Jim and Peter got to be the "good samaritans" for the day. A family travelling from Toronto to Victoria, B.C. with an overloaded trailer full of grandpa's woodworking tools was in trouble. Due to the steepness of the hill, and the overweight trailer putting weight on the back of the vehicle, his SUV did not have enough weight on the front of the vehicle. The man had been sitting there for half an hour and obviously did not know what to do in the situation. Peter got into the vehicle, and Jim guided him so that Peter was able to back the trailer and vehicle down the incline onto a flat area. We gave the man a ride up to the mine area where he was able to join his family who had walked the last mile or two to the mine.

There were some beautiful pieces of amethyst. Some of them were so huge. Peter got some smaller polished pieces. They explained that it took 3 weeks to polish them. The day was wearing on, so we did not take the 10 minute tour.










On the way back to the boats we stopped off at the Terry Fox Park that overlooks Lake Superior. The last time we were here it had been on the opposite side of the highway. They moved it and created a truly outstanding park and small interpretive centre.










The adventures were not to be over. We were treated to the local sailboat race night and the spinnaker run was coming right towards our boats so we were able to get some good pictures of the boats. I am hoping to get these pictures to the local club so they can distribute them. It is always so rare to get pictures of your own boat.







And just when you we thought we were going to rest for awhile before snack time, this most unusual boat was coming into our marina area. We never did get the story behind what this was all about, but it was worth the photo opportunity. This morning they lifted the boat out of the water and put it on a dolly/trailer and took it away. Perhaps we will never know what this boat and crew were all about. They certainly handled it masterfully. They obviously were well trained.

It looks like the weather is going to hold us here for awhile. High winds and high seas are expected until Friday or Saturday. Friday looks like it could be a possibility, with Saturday looking even better. The plan is  to make the 30 mile trip over to Isle Royale, and clear US customs. Then proceed on to the Keweenaw Penninsula.

So this morning we went to the grocery store and LCBO to reprovision the boat. Decided we no longer needed the rental car so Peter returned it. There are lots of boat projects to be done; now I will wait for the motivation and energy to do them. Hmmm, to read my book or do some work. Procrastination Rules....... there is always tomorrow for the work.

And on to Thunder Bay

Once again, we have been several days without wifi or phone coverage. It has been spotty. By the time you get into the nice and comfortable anchorage, the high  rock walls prevent service. The view however is outstanding.

It is hard to conceive of all of these miles and miles of untouched and pristine wilderness. You can try to  appreciate what the early explorers had to endure to  open up and work within our country. ROCKS, HILLS, and TREES, everywhere. Oh and did I mention the bugs; deer flies, horse flies,  and mosquitoes abound. They love us. We are fresh food. We learned the hard way early in the trip to shut your doors early in the evening, and/or get the Off Mosquito equipment running early in the evening and place at the doorways. (I made new screens for the doors and still have to get the new domes attached)

We are still looking for that elusive moose, deer, caribou, beaver, otter, etc that the guide book is telling us we will see. I am afraid that if we have not seen it along the eastern shore or north shore by now we may not see them at all. This part of the trip is the less often taken route apparently. It is the more remote area. I don't think we have seen 5 boats travelling in this area. I definitely would not travel Lake Superior without a buddy boat.

The guide books had cautioned that access to diesel fuel was limited on this route. Diesel fuel was even more limited as some government department went around and closed down a number of diesel locations in the north and eastern shore areas.  We keep close records on our fuel consumption and have a good idea when we require more. By Rossport our tank was reading 3/4's, and due to the shape of the tank, it means we have about 1/2 a tank remaining. The Rossport marina staff arranged for a diesel fuel truck to come down to the dock and fill both boats.

Rossport Marina is a very small marina. The dock accommodated our two boats but there was not much left for other boats on the face dock. The marina is run by the community by volunteers. They could not have been more helpful. They met our every need and were asking if there was anything else they could do for us. ( Dinner at the Serendipity Gardens Restaurant, fresh trout.)Now Red Rock Marina was another story.

Peter replacing dinghy tow line. We had cut the dinghy free  at Red Rock.

We had been looking forward to Red Rock from everything we had been reading in the guide books. 10 transient slips. Linda called and was told that they could not take us. We were "leap Frogging" Allen's vehicle from Rossport to Red Rock. Imagine our surprise to see a marina that was almost empty. Three finger docks extending out into the marina pool. Two of the fingers had short docks that were too small for our boats, the third finger with larger docks was over half full. The T-head of the one dock that would have accommodated us was for "transient emergency boaters", the fuel dock would have taken both boats, and a floating dock ahead of the fuel dock would have taken at least one boat and the second boat could have rafted. We were still told that they could not accommodate us.

The entire Red Rock facility is beautiful, the marina is well done, a new multi million dollar building with interpretive centre, restaurant, washrooms, and showers. And in true government style they have spent a huge amount of money to build a wonderful facility and then in the end it eluded them to properly staff the  location. Here we arrive, and are turned away. The reality is the staff is not properly trained. We had to talk to them by phone, not the VHF radio, as the staff had not taken the radio course. Unbelievable!

Red Rock ...... shame on you; Rossport......... kudos to you, excellent service. (And with volunteer staff)

After spending two days of travelling in dense fog it was nice to to get some travelling in sunshine. The weather has been disappointing. The night temperatures are dipping to single digits or very low double digits, sometimes you don't want to get out of your nice warm bed. Even the daytime temperatures are the low to mid 20C. And then any wind coming across the cold Lake Superior waters makes for uncomfortable travelling. We are so glad to have the flybridge enclosure to zip up. Often we have worn jackets in the flybridge. I would not have been a very good explorer, we would still be living somewhere on the east coast if it had been left up to me.

Jim, Linda and Melanie enroute to falls.

We have had two beautiful travel days. We left Rossport and travelled towards Red Rock and anchored in a secluded bay just beyond Red Rock. From Red Rock we made our way towards Thunder Bay and anchored in a delightful bay ...... Otter Cove (not to be confused with the previous Otter Head area) In the late afternoon the two dinghies went on an adventure fishing and searching for the waterfall. Two loon came to visit our bay and serenaded us.

The following morning Peter took me to see the waterfalls. He enticed me with "they are worth the trip" And the falls lived up to their description. There have been quite a few waterfalls to see along the way.

The falls.

The view forward.

We were fortunate to have a great travel day with lots of sunshine and low winds and low waves as we made our final leg of the trip to Thunder Bay. This leg has a lot of open water and it would have been nasty in high winds and wave activity as we rounded the Black Bay peninsula and the Sibley Peninsula.

The Sleeping Giant, Thunder Bay headland.

The Sleeping Giant headland as you approach Thunder Bay can be seen from miles away. Thunder Bay has a huge marina complex to welcome the weary boater. First they have a huge breakaway with 4 different entrances. The second entrance in the breakaway leads us to the transient dock portion of the marina. And they had room for us. Just enough room for two boats our size. They had measured off 100' of dock, no problem. Jim got in first and got tied up and was ready to help us. Left about 60' of space for us, right? While our boat is only 43', ....... by the time you add a 3' bow pulpit and another 2' for swim platform it needs more like 48'. And the same holds true for Jim's boat. It was tight quarters for sure, and Peter did a great job of getting our boat in, and Jim and Allen did a great job of catching our lines, guiding us and getting us secured. Good thing the wind was not too strong, and what we had was  coming from behind us.

Heather Trottier told us not to miss this restaurant.

Once settled, we were off in search of a renowned local Finnish restaurant "Hoito". We learned that in 2 years, the restaurant will have been open for 100 years. We had the best dinner ....... Perogy  soup, and liver and onions. Out of the 9 of us, 4 chose the Liver and Onions. Apparently they also have some very good pancakes ...... we will need to return for breakfast someday.

Jim and Linda have made reservations here for 5 days, and we have reserved for 2 weeks. We will rent a car on Saturday to return home for our oldest son, Michael's, wedding on July 25th. We will return to the boat and continue our circumnavigation of Lake Superior.

Peter, enroute to the falls. 

The Thunder Bay Waterfront is truly wonderful and well planned. There is a skateboarding park, a large bandstand. We were fortunate that they had an outdoor concert. There are at least 3 separate docking areas for recreational boaters, and then what looks like 2 dock areas for commercial ships.

Today, we woke to a dark sky and light rain. Perhaps a good day to read.........

Selfie, returning from the falls. OK, it's early morning, it had been windy. Bad hair day! Ok, Ok.

We just heard a rumble in the harbour, and hence why this is called Thunder Bay. What a phenomena.

P.S. Finally able to download my photos from the camera.

Sault Ste Marie to Rossport, 4 days, About 230 miles

We have been fortunate to have VHF radio coverage for the weather reports, phone service is spotty, and internet/wifi coverage was non existent. This is the north east shore of Lake Superior. A remote and mostly untouched part of Ontario. The scenery has been outstanding, when we could see it. The last 2 days have been very, very foggy. But I digress .....

We left Sault Set Marie on Wed after the strong winds of Tuesday. We had a great day to be on the water, sunny with light winds and we took advantage of it and travelled for 11 hours and covered 80 miles. We had a bit of a late start as we had to wait for the lock to open at 9 am. We were thru the lock by 9.30 so we didn't anchor until after 8 pm. at Gargantua Harbour.

Our friend Brian Handy is friends with the Snowbirds and apparently one of them was in Sault Ste Marie on his way to Thunder Bay. Brian tried to arrange for a flyby. Unfortunately the pilot did not get his message until her had arrived in Thunder Bay, but said it  was too bad because it would have only have added 10 minutes to his flight. It sure made for some excitement on our two boats as we watched for him. It is good to have such thoughtful friends. Perhaps another time Brian. Perhaps, it is not a good idea for a pilot to text and fly anyway.

Gargantua Bay has a 100' plus boat wreck that we almost got up close and personal with as we tried to approach and tie beside Symmetry. Peter and I saw and recognized the boiler stack at about the same time and he backed us off very gently. At one point we were directly over the wreck and could see it very clearly. The wreck sits in about 7 feet of water and we only need 3.5 feet so we were in good shape. The boiler stack sticks out of the water by 3 or 4 inches and that would not have been good.  We made a different approach and tied up without any problems. Gargantua was a nice secluded, and protected bay.

There were some kayakers camping along the beach as we came in, and Linda thought she heard a bear banger after dark in the evening. We were thinking that perhaps they had a visitor.

Thursday we planned to have a shorter day and progress on to Otter Head, 7 hours and 56 miles (estimate) If anything Thursday was an even better boating day than Wed. The Lake was more settled and it was a delight to cruise up the shoreline.

Now Friday was an entirely different story. The day started out with sunshine and light winds and we were making good time up the shore, and then the fog rolled in from in front of Symmetry and she disappeared, and then the fog overtook us from the front and side as well. We knew we were the only 2 boats on the Lake at that time, we have not seen another boat since the Soo. We continued on for awhile in the fog, but decided to get off the lake at Heron Bay. We had been travelling for 5.5 hours and estimate 40 miles. As we approached land the fog seemed to lift a little, but by the time we got to tie up with Jim and Linda the fog had blown in off the lake. We were glad to be safely anchored in a little cove.

Now again on Saturday we started out in overcast conditions at about 7 am. The plan was to make our way to Rossport about 50 to 60 miles away, where they are supposed to have diesel fuel. We were only out for about half an hour when the fog rolled in over us. Thank goodness for Chart Plotters with GPS. We were travelling in wide open areas so we proceeded along to Rossport. Rossport reported that they had dockage for us, and no fog. They said once we got in by the islands there would be no fog, so we proceeded. Fog is so dis-orienting. You have to steer by your instruments and trust that they are right. The fog was really just dense over the water. As we approached land you could see the higher elevations but nothing near the waterline. We had a 6.5 hour day on the water, with about 5 hours of the day in dense fog.

The Rossport Marina staff couldn't be more helpful. While they don't have fuel at the dock anymore, they will drive you to the nearest service station to fill up gerry cans. They even have 7 gerry cans they will provide. The nearest grocery store is 15 miles away at Schreiber and they will take us there also.  While Rossport is a very small northern community; there are two very good restaurants, The Rossport Inn and Serendipity.

The marina manager said that the fuel tanks on shore at the marina are to be replaced later this year, and that Parks Canada will take over the marina. They expect to have fuel next year.

Wile standing on the dock getting oriented a freight train went by. A very long freight train. It seems wherever we travel we are always close to the railways. I guess waterways and railways are very closely planned to be very accessible. Probably very necessary in days gone by.

Jim and Linda have made arrangements to have their son Allen and Melanie and family join them here at Rossport. Linda has made reservations at the Serendipity Restaurant for 9. Allen, Melanie and family will join us for the next week of cruising. Now that we are up in the more northern area of the lake there are more islands, anchorages and areas to explore.

Don't fret if we don't blog on a regular basis. There just isn't as much wifi/internet service on the water and surrounding islands in Lake Superior. We will blog when we have service available.

Sault Ste Marie, Day 3

Sault Ste Marie has a lot to offer the transient boater. On Day 3 we walked to City Hall and two more museums. We had been told that City Hall had nautical charts and we wanted to see if they had any charts that we were missing. It turned out that we had everything we needed. The Richardson's Charts, the Bonnie Dahl Cruise Guide, and the Ports book for the Great Lakes will cover us for cruising Lake Superior.

We were off to the Museum that is housed in the old Post Office building on Queen St. Here there are 3 floors of memories and information on the Soo. Very well done and very complete.  Then we were off to see the Hermitanger Stone House and the Clergue Block House. Both men had a significant influence on the Soo, 70 years apart. Clergue was an industrialist who began many businesses in the area, but unfortunately he went bankrupt and all the businesses failed. While he was a great visionary of his time, he needed someone to come along behind him and fill in the details. Both men ended up returning to Montreal.

By the time we finished with the Block House Jim said "he thought he had heard and read enough about the fur trade to last awhile."

On our return walk to the boat we stopped at Time Horton's for a late lunch (3pm). The winds had been building throughout the day and were quite brisk by 3 pm, so we decided to pay for another night at the marina.

We got together for snacks and a glass of wine around 7 pm. No one was really hungry after such a late lunch. The wind was still blowing quite strong. There was a free concert in the huge tent area beside the marina, so we decided to go and see the musician. The songs would carry on the wind towards the boat. They often have nightly music in the tent, and this gentleman (unfortunately I don't know his name) was particularly good.  We found a protected corner to shelter from the wind and we stayed to the end of his show.

We returned to Symmetry and reviewed the weather for the next few days. It looks like Wed. will be a good day to set out for Lake Superior. The next 3 to 4 days are looking pretty good. We have several long days of travel before we get into the more populated and protected areas of the northern shore. I'm not sure you can really say that about the north shore as there will still be long stretches without much available, but lets say more than along the eastern shore. The eastern shore has long distances with little to no anchorages or marinas or diesel. Not that diesel will be a problem for us, as the trawlers carry a lot. Not like a sailboat.

Jim and Linda's son Allen and family will be joining them around the 10th or 11th and they would like to be in the Marathon area by that time.

We have heard about how beautiful the eastern and northern shoreline is and we look forward to experiencing it first hand.

Sault Ste Marie

Well this is Tuesday and it seems like so much has happened since Saturday and our trip from Blind River to Sault Set Marie. We had a perfect day for the trip, 9 hours, 75 miles. Arrived about 4.30 pm. Linda and I decided that it would be a good evening to eat out. We got settled and dressed for dinner. There was a chinese food restaurant next door to the marina with a patio. A glass of wine, and dinner on the patio as the sun slowly moved towards the  waterline.

And how fortunate we were. It was July 4th and the American side of the St. Mary's River celebrate with a fireworks display. Our boats were transom out so we had a perfect view of all of the fireworks. The air temperature was cooling rapidly so Linda and I decided that we would change into our fleecy PJ's for the fireworks. We were warm and comfortable. Other partying boaters gave me a second look as I walked to Jim and Linda's boat. Guess they had never thought of having a Pajama Party aboard their boats.

It doesn't get dark enough for fireworks until about 10:15 pm. And what a view we had. The fireworks display was outstanding. Three different times we thought they were doing the finale, only to start again.

Sunday morning we joined Jim and Linda for Church at the local Baptist Church. The congregation could not have been more welcoming. We followed this up with lunch at Time Horton's. Then we were off to the Bushplane Museum. They had two video demonstrations; one was about bush pilots, and the second was about bush planes and fire fighting in 3-D. We walked the main street and found ourselves back at a mall near the marina and found the Laura Secord ice cream store.

Dinner  aboard Symmetry. Linda prepared a scrumptious pork roast and salad and  I added the baked potatoes and veggies.

Monday we walked towards the lock and welcome centre. We wanted to find out about possible anchorages along the east side of Lake Superior. The first part of it is a very long run, but we think we know how to break it up a bit and want to confirm with locals. The young lads operating the lock were not very helpful, however the girl and boy at the welcome centre were more helpful. Lake Superior water level is 18 inches above chart datum, which means we can get into some anchorages that were otherwise sketchy. We would like to go thru the locks and find a nearby anchorage for overnight and then get an early start to make our way up the eastern shore. A couple of long days of travel will put us into an area of the lake with more anchorage options and marinas. Gross Cap is the closest option, with Batchewana Bay as a more protected area but a little further out.

We could hear the rapids from the lock and decided to go in search. A bridge led us over the water onto an island the Batchewana First Nations Indian Reserve. They had good , well maintained walking paths, about 2.3 miles of trails around the island. They had a number of platforms built just off the trail as viewing areas. There certainly is a lot of water  that passes thru here.

We were also considering the purchase of a satellite phone, but after much walking around and talking to different communication companies, Linda phone a company and the gentleman said we would not need one. He said that between our VHF radio, and  our cell phones weather reports would be readily available. Apparently they have installed many more cell phone towers along the eastern shore with the last 2 being installed in Thunder Bay right now.

Walked to Joe's outdoor adventure store and bought bear spray.

Walked back to the boat and arranged for the marina courtesy car to take us to the Cambrian Mall to grocery shop at Rome's, while the men got their Canadian Tire fix. Both boats now have a full set of current flares. We definitely getting our steps in these days. Well over 12,000 steps today.

Put the groceries away, and relax on the aft deck for a bit. We have earned it. However, Linda had decided that she wanted to do some laundry before dinner. They joined us aboard Deja Vu for dinner. Store bought roasted chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, veggies, salad and fresh fruit and yogurt with a granola topping.

We have had a very busy few days here. Sault Ste. Marie is a great place to visit, and there are still another 2 museums I would like to visit another time.

The weather this morning is overcast and cloudy. It rained last night and not sure if it is over yet. Moderate high wind warning for today subsiding tonight, then light winds for Wed, Thurs and Fri. Looks like our  travel opportunity is arriving right on time.

I almost forgot to mention the huge lake freighters that come and go thru the American locks. What a sight. There are 3 locks on the American side for the commercial traffic. The Canadian locks are more for the recreational traffic.  When the Canadian locks were first built after the War of 1812, they were the largest in the world at that time. And the first hydro electric lock.

Blind River

The day started overcast and cool. We have been waking to single digit numbers. When is summer going to begin. Long sleeve tops, pants, socks, sweaters and jackets when we are outside the boat.

Good morning to go for a restaurant breakfast. Found a restaurant about a 1 mile walk from the boat up on the highway just passed the main street.

Peter and Jim had been to the local logging museum the previous afternoon and wanted to show us the old hair machine. Another 1 mile walk out the highway. This old machine had a chair and a whole bunch of wires that hung above, the hair would be rolled onto the ends of these wires and then they would throw a switch to heat the rollers. Looked more like a machine to electrocute someone. Lorna (Peter's Mom) said she remembered doing this.  Then there was also an old X-ray machine with some huge dials. The entire area of the museum for medical, dental care and hair could have been misunderstood for a room of torture. Surely the cure was worse than the medical problem.

The rest of the museum was dedicated more to the logging in the area. Blind River was recognized as the largest logging area in North America I believe is what I read. They had a lengthy video of what a loggers life was like. It was a tough trade and not sure the pay was all that great. They were paid 6 to 30 cents per hour. Worked all day. Only Sundays off. Had to live in camps, and had to pay for their board and Doctor. There was a payroll book on display, outlining each logger. There was not a Webb or a Murray among them.

The video showed the loggers cutting the trees, and then cutting into 16 foot sections, and then the horse teams dragging the logs to the rivers edge. All during the winter months. They had roads that they would clear, then pour water on them to ice them so that it was easier for the horses to drag these huge sleigh loads of logs. For a hill area, they would have a breaking machine at the top, but it still was quite dangerous and horses would have to run to try to keep out of the way of the sleigh that was speeding down the hill. I don't think they could say that no horses were hurt.

Come spring they would let the logs out into the river and float the logs down the river to the Blind River Mill. (About 30 some miles down the river from Camp 41) This looked very dangerous. They would have to try and free the logs from the shoreline, or when they got caught on the rocks. If the logs were too tightly jammed they would dynamite them free.

Where now there is a marina, there once was the mill pond, that would have been full of logs. The big black smokestack still remains. The mill was the first time machinery would handle the logs. Big saws were used to cut the logs, another machine would move huge piles of the planking around in the yard for drying and then onto the railway cars that would then distribute them.

Now we had a couple mile walk back to the boats. We broke the walk up with a stop at Tim Horton's. It apparently is one of the busiest anywhere. Sometimes the traffic will get backed up on the highway waiting to get in, and then they call the police to come and direct traffic. Crazy! The lineup never subsided while we were there, and the parking lot was full, and every table was occupied. Only in Canada you say!

It was getting a little late in the day to head out, so we signed on for another night. The afternoon was filled by doing laundry. Peter got the boat fuelled. Dinner aboard Symmetry. Linda had made "Shrimp Brown" Mmmmmmm, good. Always a favourite.  I brought broccoli and cauliflower, pickled cabbage salad from previous night, and some Tim bits for dessert. We sure don't go hungry. We are all hoping that the walk will offset the meal calories. That is always a battle. Not sure that we are successful every day.

Being as the boats were each on the T-head of different docks, it was decided that we would talk on VHF Channel 8 at 8 a.m. the next morning and decide what we were going to do.

The morning has started out good. Sunshine, no wind, air temperature double digit (12). A great morning to do some boating. We got away shortly after the 8 a.m. call, and are on our way towards Sault Set Marie, that would be about a 75 mile run. There are a number of places we could stop or anchor out if we decide to make a change of plan, but the Soo is our current destination.

Little Current, Canada Day and Blind River

We decided to stay over another day in Little Current to celebrate Canada Day. We woke up to a cold windy and overcast day.

Mid morning we all went for a walk along the main street. It had been closed off and had vendors all along each side of the street. All your typical fare, with the exception of one true artisan who made the most unusual jewellery boxes. They were like a puzzle with a wooden key as part of the design. They would look like an Inukshuk, two hearts entwined, two love birds, etc. Most of them had at least 3 parts that would come apart before revealing the lined jewellery area. Very creative and talented.

I found the tiniest quilt shop and gave in and purchased some more fabric for another quilt. The quilt fairy made me do it. I was out of control. But I have learned from experience that if you see something that you like, you had better buy it; because you will never see it again. And that's my story and I am sticking to it.

Just after lunch they had a guitar entertainer in the small park area right beside the boats. We joined the crowd that was accumulating and sat and were entertained for quite awhile.

There was a little pixy of a girl dressed in a fairy like dress that would swoop around the area on her bicycle. And I tried to get a good picture of her but it was near impossible. By the time I would get the camera ready she was gone.

We had leftovers for dinner aboard Deja Vu. Told Jim and Linda that fried potatoes was not the norm for when we had guests aboard but they needed to get used. Linda being ever so kind, said that she thought we had moved on from "guests" and were getting really close to "family".

This morning we were away in really good time; 8:15 am and on our way into the North channel. Another Bright sunny day with what were to be 10 k of wind from the SW. We had to make the decision of whether to go to Gore Bay for lunch, or make our way to Blind River. Today was such a good travel day, the decision was made to go to Blind River. Tomorrow is expected to have higher winds so today was the day to cross the North Channel. An uneventful crossing. Arrived Blind River 2.15pm, 6 hours and 47 miles.

A sailboat has tied up near us and they have travelled on all of the Great Lakes and said that Lake Superior is their favourite. I think they said they have been on Superior 6 times. We hope to spend some time with them and get some information on what to see and do. And places not to be missed.

Peter and Jim are going for a bike ride. The boat to myself for awhile. Hmmmm. What to do?