Sailing the Great Lakes: MacGregor Harbor to Kidd Bay

Sunday June 13 – Leaving MacGregor Harbor we had a hell of a time getting the anchor up. At first I thought it was caught on some sunken junk on the bottom. Worried I would have to dive down and investigate in 50°F water, but we tried having the manual windless winch it up hard and then slack off on the chain. After a couple cycles, the anchor came loose. Evidently, after the 30 knots of wind on Friday night and the constant ~ 15 knots Saturday, the anchor had buried itself very deeply into the sticky gray yucky mud. The chain and anchor were covered and it splashed all over the bow of the hull. But we had the mainsail up and motored out into Melville Bay without further mishap.

By 10am the sun had come out and the skies started to clear. The wind was light and primarily from the Northeast. We were hoping to sail, but that was not to happen. As we turned east to round Cape Croker the wind stayed on our nose no better than 35° to port. Likewise, as we rounded Cape Croker towards Colpoy’s Bay and the islands, the wind stayed forward. But it was a beautiful sunny day, and the water was pretty flat. We finally gave up and dropped the mainsail somewhere on the way to Hay Island.

We followed my route from Cape Croker to the east side of Hay Island, then through the gap between Hay and White Cloud Islands taking a southwest course. This brought us to the west side of White Cloud Island and exposed Kidd Bay. We motored in and anchored, trying to pick a spot that was appropriate yet did not interfere with the “cottages’” views (as recommended by the “PORTS Cruising Guide). By evening we pretty much realized that no one was out here. We saw some lights, but on examination with they were solar “garden” lights attached to porches and docks. We did anchor a little close to what looks like a grass airstrip. I sure would not want to land on that one! It has an up-hill slant and has multiple humps in it, but it is kept well mowed and has a windsock at the top end.

I am still concerned as to where we will be able to keep the boat while vacationing at Club Intrawest Blue Mountain. We called the there and asked for their assistance and recommendation, but the most we got was a suggestion that it would be best to stay at Thornbury. It is about 10 miles from Collingwood and maybe a little closer to Blue Mountain. Aaron will have to drive up and get us, or maybe we can get the Club to come and get us (doubtful). But our plan will be to be at Thornbury by Wednesday, June 30^th to make sure we have a spot.

We saw all this when we went for a dingy ride. We rode west of White Cloud Island then to the south until we could clearly see Griffith Island and then back along the shoreline. This was about 6:30pm and we were now the only boat in the area. We investigated the “government dock”, a crappy concrete structure that had the “ferry” tied up to it. The “ferry” consisted of maybe 30 foot long ramps made of wood and steel attached to a steel hull that were cranked up by a cable into the air at about 45° angle. The hull itself was essentially a rectangular block with a bow shaped front below the ramps, and with two outboard motors on a transom. I guess the vehicle sits on this flat surface and must be lashed down to the big rings on the sides of the hull. There are not gunnels or rail round the sides. Don’t know if I would take my car for a ride on it!

We saw a Great Blue Heron, some Teals, and some ducks I cannot identify (orange almost red bill, black head and white body) as we putted along the shore. The water is so clear that it is very hard to judge depth, so I did not go in more then 25 yards off the shore as the sandy and in some places rocky bottom seemed too close. We should bring our boat-hook to plum the depth as we get closer next time. Earlier in the day when the sun was overhead, we could see the shadow of the dingy on the bottom in 13ft of water, and clearly see objects and contours on the sand bottom: another major contrast with MacGregor Harbor. When we got back to the boat we followed our anchor-line to the chain and then found the anchor – nice to be able to see so far down so clearly. This water clearness is even more pronounced up in the North Channel where you can easily see down to a 30ft bottom. We took the time to stop at the bow of our boat and clean off the MacGregor Harbor mud that was splashed on it, then back on board for the night.

We had seasoned boneless pork chops, Spanish rice, and salad for dinner, eating at our cockpit table viewing the very flat water and enjoying the near dead calm. As the sun set, we put out two citronella candles and closed up all our cockpit canvas (open at the back), but the candles were no match for these bold bugs – a mix of muffle heads and mosquitoes, but I think things could be worse without them. As the clouds seemed to thicken, we decided it was not going to be a good star-gazing evening and went to bed.

Monday June 14 – Got up around 8:30am and made some coffee. It had rained lightly overnight and the wind had shifted to the West/Southwest, which made it a little bumpy, but nothing to take note of. At 11:30am we are back to pointing to the north/northeast and the clouds are broken with sunshine. However, we continue to have a forecast for some rain, but winds are to be light and variable (no specific direction). We plan to stay here at Kidd Bay for another day, and probably head for Wairton tomorrow for diesel and a pump-out. We are supposed to get 15 knots of wind from the Northeast, so we may be able to actually sail there! More later if there is anything else interesting…

The brand new bucket fell overboard and thankfully did not sink. I had to grab the proper gear to be legal in the dingy (and safe) and motor after the bright yellow plastic bucket that was quickly floating away with the help of the wind. Kathi wanted to swim after it, but I said absolutely not! The water was 55°F and swimming out 50 yards or more and back was an invitation for hypothermia. It was closer to 100 yards away when I finally got the outboard started and headed after it. Once I got back with the bucket, Kathi gave me my camera (my enV Touch cell phone) and I putted around taking a few photos. Kathi decided to scrub the transom and when I came back I scrubbed the diesel stains off around the exhaust port and some nasty stains on the side of the boat. Also went to the bow to scrub off that nasty MacGregor Harbor sticky mud.

Kathi made liverwurst, onion and mustard sandwiches (really a lot better than it sounds) and I plotted routes in Fugawi and added them to the Garmin GPSMap unit. Kathi had gone swimming up to the bow and back a couple times, and at lunch was complaining about being very cold. Thank God she did not swim for the bucket! Kathi is taking a nap to warm-up. I think she had the first stages of hypothermia and stayed in the water too long.

The sun is out and we have a 6 knot breeze from the North. It is about 5pm and I think I will go for a short nap too…

Read for awhile and got back up around 6:30pm. Pleasant evening: pretty calm, beautiful sunset with the moon crescent and Venus just above following the sun down, and no wind or rain overnight.

Tuesday June 15 – Kathi was up at 5:30am – “What the @#$% are you doing?” She came back to bed and we slept until 7:45am. It is partially cloudy this morning with sun peeking through often. I made bacon (turkey, Jimmy Dean – in his honor – he passed away yesterday or Sunday), and fake eggs with some taco cheese. We are getting ready to head out to Wairton before the rain and T-Storms come late this afternoon or early this evening.

Kathi read that Wairton has a spiral staircase up the escarpment to a burned out castle (Spirit Rock Conservation Area, once the grand estate of Alexander McNeill – built in 1881). There are places to get supplies very close to the marina, we need diesel and a pump-out (we have been at anchor for four days: two in MacGregor Harbor and two here at Kidd Bay – and are full of crap, but you already knew that).