Kathryn’s Voyage Blog

Publish Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Location: South Benjamin Island, North Channel, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 46° 05.111′ N  82° 15.079′ W

This is a long blog, so for those who like the “Reader’s Digest” version here’s the summary:
1. The North Channel, located in the Canadian part of northeastern Lake Huron, offers spectacular wilderness cruising.
2. The weather continues to be cool, cloudy, and breezy, with scattered showers, which can make one’s mood gray after awhile.
3. Those things that are most frustrating at the time, often turn out to be the accomplishments you are most proud of.
4. Don’t complain about your job on the boat unless you are capable and willing to do the other person’s job.
5. Cruising can be a little bit like golf.

Details
For those who like more detail, here’s a chronicle of the day’s events along with some new insights gained along the way.

1. North Channel
We arrived in Meldrum Bay at the western edge of the North Channel two days ago, after about a 10-hour gray, windy, but fortunately following-seas cruise from Mackinac Island. We checked into Canadian Customs via phone and were officially set to begin our two-and-a-half months of cruising in Canada. The following day we cruised and anchored overnight in Beardrop Harbour. Today we moved to the Benjamin Islands where we are “tied to the rocks”.

The scenery here is spectacular — almost unreal and/or surreal in its natural beauty. Every sense is engaged in helping your body and mind drink in this wonder:
– The smell is clean and earthy.
– Your eyes rest easy on the shores lined with lush forests and jagged rocks.
– The cool wind on your face and exposed skin remind you you’re in the northern latitudes.
– There is a cacophony of bird-songs intertwined with the lapping water upon and the shore.
– And, the water in both the lake and the rain is cold, fresh, and clean upon your lips.

Hundreds (probably thousands) of islands of various sizes jut out of the clear, cold fresh water; with forest thick with pine trees giving the islands height, while wildflowers, low brush, and moss taking care of the lower elevations. We must have said to each other more than a dozen times in these last two days, “This just doesn’t look real. It looks like a constructed movie set, or how Disney might portray something.”

2. Weather

The weather has been less than ideal since we started cruising just over 8 months ago. It has predominantly been windy and cool, with gray skies added more regularly in the past two months. The Bahamas experienced the coldest, windiest winter in 40 years when we were there; and now we have had record low temperatures in northern Lake Huron, with mostly cloudy skies, wind, and daily showers. There is nothing we can do about it, so we try and roll with it, but I must admit every once in awhile it makes us blue. On the bright side, it keeps the bugs down and makes for great sleeping weather.

This morning we awoke yet again to gray skies. The weather forecast calling for 70% chance of rain every day this week, except for Thursday. Winds will be a steady 15 to 20 knots out of the west and northwest, with higher gusts in squalls. Seas are 2 to 4 feet. Needless to say, we are disappointed. We have heard such great things about these cruising grounds. The great swimming and the clear water where you can see clearly to the bottom in 40 feet of water. Of course, you need sun to warm the water, and also light it, so you can see into it. Nothing we can do about it, so we decide to use the day to a cruise to a new anchorage.

3. New Anchoring Accomplishment

Dave’s blog, “Mediterranean Mooring to a Granite Island,” gives the details of a new style of mooring we tried today. Here’s a bit more background. One of the coolest things about our trip is the community of wonderful people who have joined us via our website. From time to time we meet these new friends in person. Often times they have wonderful local knowledge to share about special places, anchorages etc.

We met just such a couple when were on Harsens Island (actually we met while pumping out at the Algonac Harbor Yacht Club). They have spent many a summer cruising in the North Channel, and told us about a special cove in which to anchor in the Benjamin Island group. When we arrived this afternoon it was just as they had described it, and it was available. The key is to drop your anchor off the bow, back in, and secure your stern to the trees on shore. We’ve done something similar before, and will probably do it a lot more in the future. Now’s as good a time as any to get some experience — after all that’s what this first year of cruising is all about.

The two things that made this maneuver tricky today were the rain and the granite walls — talk about slippery. As I’m schlepping up the side of this granite hill with 135 feet of soaking wet line, in my soaking wet clothes, several things were going through my mind:
1. Whose idea was this anyway? (Answer: Unfortuantely mine!)
2. Be careful!!! You think things are crummy now, think how much worse they’ll be with a broken leg.
3. Why is it I can tie a bowline knot no problem 100 times on the boat, by once I’m on an island and need to extend our line quickly because Dave is trying to holding the boat in a precarious position, I can not get it to work?

After almost two hours spent securing the boat, we were pleased with the result. Needless to say, we are staying tomorrow after all that work. We learned a ton in the process, which is always great, particularly when there is no damage to the boat or any persons aboard. 🙂 Often the harder you work for something, the more you appreciate it.

4. Don’t Complain
One thing I wasn’t thinking as I was climbing up the hill with all that line was “Why isn’t Dave out here doing this versus staying all dry and comfy on the boat.” The answer to that one is easy: He would happily be doing it if I felt comfortable enough to handle the boat in close quarter situations with granite boulders, with lines hanging in the water and rain coming down. No thank you! At least not yet. He by far had the tougher job; and one that required skill, finesse, and infinite patience as I tried to get that stupid bowline tied. 😉

For any of you who are thinking of doing extended cruising, an important key to success is to work together as a team. You’ve got to believe in one another and know that each of you is trying your best even when things aren’t going so smoothly. Stay cool. Stay focused. Get the job done. Take time to celebrate your accomplishment, and then go to work on how to do it better the next time.

5. Cruising can be a bit like golf.

You can play 17 lousy holes of golf, but then you get that one perfect shot where everything comes together, and the joy and exhilaration you feel will keep you coming back. Cruising can be the same way. You can have days on end of lousy weather, and then for a few minutes the clouds break and the sun come out, lighting up everything around you. That’s how our day ended. Nestled into a quiet cove here on South Benjamin, the pink granite surrounding out boat burst into a flame of color when the sun peeked out just before sunset. We were all giddy with excitement about where we are; what we are doing; what we accomplished today; and what tomorrow might hold.

I love cruising!