7/29/18 Sunday: We left Killarney about 8:30 in the morning, and headed west. Ahhh – the water was calm, the wind was calm, and it was a nice day! Because we need to have Rick and Rocky in Little Current by tomorrow, we skipped past a couple of highly recommended anchorage spots. We had really hoped to go there while they were with us, but the wind just did not cooperate with that plan. So, we’ll skip them for now, and head to Little Current, which is only about 24 miles from Killarney. Adios, you crazy channel! It was a very quiet morning in Killarney.
OK, so the water was not splat flat, but it just had a bit of ripple here coming into the channel as we left. It really was a nice day. This was a lighthouse along the way.
As we motored along, we heard an announcement on the VHF that the Cruiser’s Net radio program would be starting at 9:00 on VHF 71, so we tuned in. A man named Roy is the moderator, and he shares weather, world news, local news, and serves as a message and relay center for boaters. This is helpful since there are several areas where there is no cell service. Then he opens it up for boaters to share their location, and then for questions. We called in our location, and then we also called during Q&A and asked for the air clearance for the swing bridge at Little Current. Some sources said it was 18’, some said 14’. It was likely not 18’, because the water level is high this year. We need 16’. We got the answer that it is currently 14’, but consider it 13’, so we need the bridge opened. It was nice to be able to ask a question and get an answer that fast! The Cruiser’s Net program was fun to listen to, and fun to hear where boats are. I think out of the 30 or so boats that called in their location, we only recognized one. Even some junior cruisers (kids cruising with their families) got to call in their location. I thought that was great – that these kids are learning how to communicate with the VHF. And Roy was a really friendly and gracious radio host. We had to go fast for a little while to make up some time. The swing bridge at Little Current only opens on the hour. It is a one-way vehicle traffic bridge, and the only access to Manitoulin Island, which is pretty large. It will only hold cars back for a maximum of 15 minutes. Gladys told us that we were going to get there at 11:15 at our current speed, so we needed to make up 15 minutes. It is really nice to have a route plan that gives us that data! We picked up our speed and got there right on time, and only had to wait a few minutes.
The bridge opened, and my goodness, there was a LOT of current coming at us. Under one part, it looked like river rapids. Captain had to juice up our speed a bit over our ‘no-wake speed’ to get through against the current.
We called the marina, got our slip assignment, and finally figured out where we were supposed to go. The municipal marina stretches for quite a ways along the town wall. All tucked into our spot, we went and registered and then went for an unplanned walk. Rocky & I thought it was a good idea to go find the location where they would catch the bus tomorrow morning. Rick said he was pretty sure where it was and we didn’t need to walk that far. We urged him that it wasn’t that far and we should go scope it out.
Along the walk, we saw this “birdcage lighthouse”. This is a reconstruction of this type of lighthouse, originally built in 1866. It was one of six in Canada. They were small and easy to maintain.
Then we found ICE CREAM! This part of Ontario has Farquhar brand, and it was tasty!
We found the hotel where the bus would pick Rick & Rocky up. It’s a good thing we went up there. Rick asked if this is where the bus stopped and where they should wait for it. He mentioned that the buses come at a couple different times, like 10:15 and 11:00 – that there were actually four buses. I don’t remember seeing that when I looked, so I asked specifically what time the bus to Sudbury comes tomorrow morning. There is one morning bus to Sudbury at 10:30am, then one night bus to Sudbury at 11:00pm. OH? Rick missed that little ‘pm’ part. They checked their tickets, and they had tickets for the 11:00pm one. Whoops! Oh dear. When we got back to the boat, he called them and got the tickets switched to the morning bus. Whew! Rocky was glad we took the walk to figure it out. 😳.
Back at the boat, we were toasty warm and put on our swimsuits in the heat.
The marina gave us a wrist band for Island Girl, to show that she paid.
We had a yummy spaghetti, bread and salad “last supper” with our buddies 😩 and ate up on the fly bridge while watching the sunset. It was such a nice evening! Rick made some really delicious spaghetti sauce.
Oh jeeze. And then there was the attack of the killer straw. Yes -really. We had just been talking about how Seattle was banning straws (plastic straws and all plastic utensils at restaurants & coffee shops). That city likes to control or tax everything. Anyway, after dinner we were playing cribbage – girls against boys. Rick got up to get something, and when he came back to the table, he caught his foot on Rocky’s chair, lost his balance, and fell toward me onto the couch, into the spot where he had been sitting. I had my drink cup sitting there on the table – the same kind that Rocky lost overboard, with the hard plastic straw. It went flying into my lap. He sat up, and we asked if he was OK. Yep – just tripped over the chair, and he apologized for knocking my drink into my lap. (I was glad it had a lid.). Except there was blood running out of his face! When he fell, the side of his face, right at his sideburn, was peeled open from the straw! No – I am not kidding! It was like the straw just scooped out a chunk of skin that was still hanging there. Gross, I know! He was leaking blood down into his beard, and after he assured us that he was fine, we all could not stop laughing about how dangerous straws are! He said it didn’t really hurt much – just a flesh wound. We got out one of several First Aid kits that came with the boat when we bought it (formerly owned by a doctor), and got him all gooped up with triple antibiotic ointment and a bandaid. Oh my. How many people really get bloodied up by a straw?! So y’all be careful out there! These cups are dangerous! Use them responsibly, but don’t tell Seattle, or they’ll ban them.
***************************************************
7/30/18 Monday – today we said good-bye to our buddies. We borrowed a dock cart from the marina, and walked up to the hotel where the bus would pick them up at 10:30 … A.M. right?
With big hugs, we sent them on their way – a bus ride to Sudbury, an overnight stay in a hotel, a taxi ride to the airport tomorrow morning, a flight to Toronto, then another flight to Vancouver BC, followed by a couple hour car ride home to LaConner, WA. It was a long route home after a very fun couple of weeks up here in the Canadian wilderness! They were great to have on board with us. They are experienced boaters and were great crew, and we really enjoyed them. It was especially helpful to have them on board after I hurt my ankle and knee! I do hope Rocky’s ear and throat get better!
On our walk back to the marina, dragging along our empty dock cart, we saw this little dive shack. It looked like something we would see in the Bahamas, not Canada!
In the afternoon, we found our way back up to the highway where there were two grocery stores. We really wanted to find a hardware store that had spider killer, but no luck. We have had so many spiders! Every day there are more and new webs all over the boat. GRRR! 😠 We did pick up a few groceries at Valu-Mart and Foodland, but no spider killer.
In the evening, we ate at the Anchor Inn. This place has been here since 1888. In the second floor window, there is a sign for “Little Current Cruiser’s Net”. This is where Roy broadcasts his radio program each morning in July and August.
Also on our walk, I found the local historic church for today’s blog – The Little Current United Church. A Methodist church was originally constructed on this site in 1881, out of limestone quarried nearby. It burned in 1907 and was quickly rebuilt. In 1917 the congregations of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches joined together as the Union Church and after a further union across Canada in 1925; became the United Church.
Back to the boat, we were all alone. It was kind of strange. Back to just the two of us. It was fun having guests, that’s for sure. The only downside was that we had a schedule and a date to get them to a place that they could get to Sudbury for their flight. With all the wind that we’ve been having, it limited where we could go and when we were willing to travel. We couldn’t do some of the anchorages that we wanted to do, and we stayed in several places longer than we planned while we waited on weather. And then there are the forest fires that closed some areas. So we didn’t get to do ALL the fun places that I had planned while they were with us, but no matter where we are with those two, we always seem to have a great time.