Sailing the Great Lakes: Killbear Marina to Hopewell Bay

Monday July 12 – We intended to get up early as we wanted to get moving to our next destination – Hopewell Bay. I got up around 8am and made coffee, had a granola bar, and a banana. I let Kathi sleep until 9am, but we need to get thing done and get going. Skies are currently overcast and starting at noon there is a chance of thunderstorms. We still need to take showers and Kathi needs breakfast.

We finally got our act together and left just before 11am. Prior to that we filled the water tanks, then went over to the gas dock and got a pump-out and topped off the diesel. It was overcast and it started to rain, but I had uploaded the route that I created on the laptop in Fugawi directly into the Garmin. It worked great: either Kathi was down below following our progress on the Garmin and calling out course adjustments and changes, or we reversed roles. Thank you God for GPS and autopilots. We arrived around 3pm.

We are anchored in the middle anchorage, which is not marked as an anchorage in the Ports book, but was recommended by Chris from CYC (Collingwood). As we approached Grave Island where we made the turn, you could see the first main anchorage and it already had a couple boats in it. Chris’ recommendation was a good one: the bottom is mud with some low weed growth into which our Bruce anchor easily buried itself, and the depth is a consistent 12ft until you are about 15ft to 20ft from shore. We could have anchored further into this little bay, but being our first time here I was cautious. The only down side is that the mouth of this little anchorage opens onto a view of a fairly large and new pair of cottages on Grave Island, but all the other cottages are hidden from view.

Shortly after our arrival, the clouds broke and the sun came out. We both had a nice swim, and that is when I investigated the bottom and shoreline with my goggles on. Later in the afternoon I took the dinghy for a ride and found that in the anchorage where we saw the other boats, there are a bunch of cottages. I also went around Nadeau Island (really a peninsula) and followed the Small Craft Route couple miles further. I am thinking they should change the name from the “30,000 Islands” to “30,000 Cottages!” It is sad in many ways that such a beautiful area like this is so over developed and getting worse, and where do they get the money to buy and build all this? Canadians, at least in this part of Ontario, seem much better off then Americans.

We made chicken chili using “chili fix-ins”, kidney beans, and pre-cooked and packaged chicken strips. I tried to stay in the cockpit, and even with the enclosure up and the mosquito coil burning, I could not handle the onslaught of mosquitoes. I went to bed and read, while Kathi stayed read at the dinning table and went out a couple times to view the stars – the Milky Way fascinates her.

Tuesday July 13 – Got up at 7:30am as usual, but decided to go back to bed and did fall back to sleep, and we both got up around 9am. Today I decided to have my “big breakfast”. I fired up the grill and cooked some peameal bacon, and toast, and then two fried eggs. Added some sharp white cheddar to the mix and boy was it good. Kathi had her usual cereal, and made coffee and poured orange juice. She also did have some peameal bacon too. We were off to a good start. Morning swim and wash, followed by lying in the sun for awhile – life is good.

I decided, in my effort to sleuth the hum in the cockpit RAM Mic, to remove the old Micorlogic antenna and its coax cable. The cable runs along the came conduit as the RAM Mic’s and I want to eliminate that as a possible source. The antenna base did have an electronics board that I found inside when I disassembled it – so I was hopeful. But after complete removal of the whole thing, no difference in the buzz transmitted when using the RAM Mic. Boo-hoo, I was disappointed. The next step is to pull the RAM Mic cable out of the conduit and run it directly to the VHF radio done in the cabin. That will lead to three (maybe more) possibilities: 1) the cable has a bad connection or short at one or more of the pins, 2) the RAM Mic itself has gone bad, or 3) the part of the VHF radio that interfaces with the RAM Mic has malfunctioned (but I sent in the radio to be checked out before we left and the report was that all was good). One step at a time…

Kathi wanted to go down to the Ojibway Lodge, which is about 4 miles away and a 1906 Hotel that has become a private club (but shoppers and new members are welcome!). Kathi had fallen asleep in the cockpit and I was concerned about the wind. Around 3pm I felt the wind had died enough for us to give it a try, so I got Kathi up and prepped the dinghy for the trip. It took is about 20 minutes to get down there. It was a zoo when we arrived: boats coming and going, young teens at the main dock – evidently there are youth camps of all kinds and we arrived just in time for the end of the day. We checked out the gift shop and then the hotel. It is well preserved and interesting. Back in the day when Pointe au Baril was a major cottage (still is) and vacation spot, an American built the hotel. Sometime in the 1960’s the hotel went out of business and the local cottagers bought the land and hotel and have maintained it as a private club ever since (of course, “shoppers and new members” are welcome!). We hit the grocery store too and bought a few items and two cokes. Back in the dinghy and back to the boat, but I did take Kathi on a tour of the other of the other bays, and we did see another US boat from Michigan.

Dinner was burgers and green beans, and then we sat in the cockpit to watch the sun go down and the stars come out. We watched as small power boats zipped up and down the channel, and did get to see a float plain flying low over the channel too. He got lower and circled around towards us and then off to the south of us. We think he landed in the big anchorage tat I took Kathi to earlier in the day.

After dark hoards of bugs attacked us! I had put on “Deep Woods Off” that contains DEET after dinner and it worked for awhile. I didn’t put up the mosquito netting because there was a good breeze and I had the bug spray on – Kathi had on a fleece jacket and pants. Unfortunately the breeze abated and the mosquito swarms intensified! They generally would not bite me, but there were hundreds swarming around me and getting more aggressive. I actively used my electro paddle, but I could not keep up. I had to make a hasty retreat into the cabin moving quickly to remove the screen and slide back the hatch and quickly reversing the process. I also had the mosquito coil smoking away, but these guys did not read the label and did not care. I had to change the batteries in the electro paddle and finish off any sneaky buggers who made it down below. The worst though is that while I am writing this, I have handled the mosquitoes, but there are these little fast movers that fly in your face, on your computer screen, into your keyboard, in your ears, and just generally “bug” you – they don’t really bite you, just annoy! This was the worst bug night yet!

Giving it up for tonight… We plan to head to Byng Inlet tomorrow, which is about a 30nm trip. The weather is supposed to be good. Kathi says “set the alarm and make me get up”… we will see… tomorrow is another day.