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.