Tuesday, July 18, 2017

As you can see...I think I figured out how to post pictures.....The first is of "Reef" who I got to dog sit in Meldrum, the 2nd is an example of WHY we come to the North Channel....every evening we are treated to a spectacular example of God's handiwork! and 3 is Cap't Bob, just in case you don't recognize him!!....we are going to put his hair in a pony tail when we see our kids next week!...admittedly it is not the greatest example of one, but he is proud non the less! (and to think I am a hairdresser!!)  We are both getting a kick our of our ability to grow our hair long!

We did get the dinghy arm fixed by "Norm"....THE man in Gore Bay....some refer to him as the "dock god!"  He can fix anything, that is WHY he doesn't answer his phone, he is too busy.... but he found us and found our problem.....as he laid way out over the edge of the roof and looked into the arm!..Now, as to not knock Capt Bob's abilities, it did take Norm considerable time to track the problem down and Bob had checked most of the same things, except for that hanging over the roof part.  "We" now know how that works.....not sure who will get to be the one to do the hanging over part to reset the breaker, if need be in the future!

So, now we are in Blind River...at the North side towards the west end of the channel.  We perhaps got a little over confident in our anchoring abilities and are very happy to be attached to a dock again, getting a good nights sleep.   After we left Gore Bay, after 4 days of crummy weather, but saw a great one woman "community play"....(very good, not the previous experience I have had with a one woman play, remember GA and Gini...how could we forget).....we then motored into Oak Bay....found an anchorage with about 7 other boats already there and a few more came after us...but after quite a windy night, we seemed to be the only one headed for the shore line!  At 6am we were up and running, away from the shore and rocks......we found another, better protected, anchorage and I went back to bed....Capt bob never took his eyes off the anchor until noon....then he spend that night sleeping in the helm to keep a better eye on it.  We do have alarms that go off in these cases, but it was faint and I was the only one who heard it....

We had another crummy weather day, but did manage to dinghy around Oak Bay and ran into (not really, just a matter of speaking) Barbara and Bill, who we had met and hung with on Mackinac Island.  Bill was attempting to fix his dinghy motor (its always something!)....don't know if he got it fixed or if they tried to find us, as we left the morning after Bob stayed up all night.....

We motored thru the Whalesback Channel, checked out a few anchorages, tried one and came up with a 20 foot log perfectly balanced on our anchor!....If I had stopped screaming and taken a picture, I could have shared that with you.....Bob and I wear headphones to speak to each other when one is one deck and other in pilot house....(they are called "marriage savers") and are designed so you don't have to scream at each other.....but in this instance, I WAS screaming into his ear piece....OMG...OMG!!!  Well, we left that anchorage, as remote as it was, (maybe that is why) and tried a few more that were FULL of boats....and the wind was picking up.   I suggested we head to a marina!....maybe the adventurous days of my youth are behind me, as I kind of  like the security of a dock....  We won't give up, just needed a good nights sleep....We plan to stay here a few nights...give Bob a chance to work on his LIST.....he is presently applying oil stain to places that need it...!  Me, I am drinking coffee and watching!   I love this life!

July 12, 2017

Presently we are in Gore Bay, in the North Channel of Lake Huron, Canada.   We left Rogers City on Sunday am, had a wonderful trip across Lake Huron and entered Canadian waters at Meldrum Bay....after checking thru customs, we are now good to go for a few weeks.....

Our first stop and anchoring attempt was Monday eve in Campbell Bay off Bayfield Sound.  The anchor went down and held us overnight, just like it is suppose to!!  Hooray!....Neither one of us slept soundly though....but by morning we were more secure in our anchoring skills...not bad for the first time!....We would like to say getting the new dinghy off the top of the boat with the swing lift went as smooth.  After the morning fog rolled out, we decided we would stay here and take a tour of the area in our dinghy that Bob had successfully loaded up on top before we left Rogers City.  (Let me add that he is not impressed with it just yet.  He thinks it is too small and too slow.....he is so used to getting in his Caribe and going 40 mph!!! that he had yet to learn to slow down.)  That also goes for his life as a boater....every day he undertakes a major project.  What about me?? I am happy just sitting around reading and making an occasional meal.  Well, back to the saga......Bob got the little dinghy half way off the top when the power wench stopped....just stopped....Not a good thing.  Now we have it leaning over the side of boat and it won't go up or down.  After several hours of trying to find the problem to no avail, we both used all our manpower (and one of us is not a man) to get the darn thing back in the cradle manually.  Well so much for that!.....we decided to go to Gore Bay and find someone who might have a clue as to how to fix it.  We arrived late afternoon and the attendant says "oh, getting in and out of the way of the incoming storm?".....we didn't know there was an incoming storm, so perhaps the Lord has his way of getting us out of danger as we would probably stayed anchored another night.    We did get some rain last eve, not anything serious and today is a dreary dismal day.  We do have the name of a "guy" that could fix our problem, IF he would only return our calls...might be here longer than we anticipated.  It is not a bad port to be stranded at....it has changed considerably since we were here 12 -14 years ago....very large and nice amenities...lots of eating and grocery options near by.   There are probably at least 6 other looper boats in here....I might have to walk the dock and get in on some "docktails with them".   We did  meet 2 other looper boats while in Rogers City.....one with a man doing it alone.  (he was heading into Lake Superior) and another couple close to our age who had just started from Bay City....they were heading north.

Another cute thing that happened while we were in Meldrum Bay.....a young gal, sailing alone (has been for 10 years) with a cute little white yip yap dog named Reef was docked beside us.  She was going to dinner and said he might bark, just ignore him....I said, no way....."bring him on our boat and I will dog sit".    How much fun was that!  just like grandkids, I spoiled him and fed him all kinds of stuff probably that his mama would not.....cheese and crackers, etc....and then he went home.  ALMOST makes me want to have a dog....but decided if I can get a gig dog sitting every once in a while, no need!!!  Once I can get this picture thing down, I will try to post more pics and talk less!  HA...would love to share the beauty of the countryside.....

4th of July......We are back in Rogers City after a long weekend on Mackinac Island.   Left here last Wednesday and had a great trip up.  Spent 4 nights on the Island, returning on Sunday.  It looked like a great day on the water until about 2 hours out of Rogers harbor when the winds changed and we spent that 2 hours in "the trough"....going up and down sideways!.....I thought I would "hurl" over the side, but did not.  We are back here while Bob goes downstate for business and to pick up our smaller dinghy that we purchased. 

  I am getting ahead of myself.....on the island we met another boat "looping"....same brand boat as ours, a few years older, so we had lots to compare, and Bill was full of knowledge, as they have been looping for 12 years now.....   Bill and Barbara soon became our new friends as we enjoyed a few "happy hours"...one celebrating Barbara's birthday.  That was after our "private" carriage ride arranged by Bill just for the occasion.  A great time was had by all.  The harbor was not as busy as we had expected, but still as rock and rolling as we remembered, by all the ferry traffic.  We indulged in all the island has to offer....fudge, t shirts, fish dinners etc....  Bob especially enjoyed a "Saunders" chocolate cake that he remembers from his hunting camp days.  I did get to sample ONE piece.  I do need to mention that we took a bike ride around the island....8 MILES!...so one of us wore off the one piece of chocolate cake.  Every day started off a little overcast and gloomy, but would eventually clear up and the sun would shine.....it was a great time. 

Top pic is of Grand Hotel, then one of Capt Bob at the helm, with the Island Ferry in back round.

So as mentioned we are now back in R.C......had a great 4th and celebrated Betty's Birthday (87TH!!) on LeReve with salmon dinner....decided to do it all out, instead of traditional hot dogs....after all, you are not 87 every day!

However, forgot to serve the corn on cob and the watermelon.....too much celebration?? Not really, just too much food.....we will have no problem taking care of that in the next few days.....

Once Bob is, once again, back from business....we will be heading to the North Channel for a few weeks before we meet up with our kids and grandkids in Drummond Island for a week for our traditional family get together.....Perhaps for this years group picture we should all wear PINK...in honor of our new grandchild that will make HER appearance in November (thanks to Molly and Aaron Branham).  We are delighted and above all, pray for a healthy child.  We are truly blessed.