At dock in Gore Bay Marina after two days of wind and rain from the North East, Tuesday, July 24 dawned with a lovely sunrise and the promise of at least one day of decent weather. We had decided that this would be the start of a week at anchor in three coves in the Whaleback Channel north and west of the Benjamin Islands – enough of this marina stuff. (We weren’t going to aim for famous Benjamin Islands themselves, since their very fame has made them overpopulated by all kinds of boats, making it party central, and, besides, the holding is not very good either.)
We had as our destination Longpoint Cove on the north shore of the Channel, 25 miles North West of Gore Bay. In fact, this was to be the furthest north and west that we would be travelling on the whole cruise. Time was marching along, and we would turn East after this stop. It was Day 40, and we had travelled 600 miles so far.
We were provisioned up (including some fresh Whitefish from the fishing boat here) and filled with fresh water (160 gallons of it), so we emptied our holding tanks at the the marina fuel dock as soon as it opened, and headed off for this particular cove on the recommendation of Jim and Frances of Minnehaha. It was bound to have some boats anchored there, but rightfully so. The water was calm, the breeze was ever so light from South West, and the cruise was a delight: hard to imagine we were in the same body of water as over the last three days.
Three and a half hours later, we were anchored in 8 feet of water in the Cove, on the second try, with half a dozen or more assorted neighbours, mainly sail. We relaxed for the afternoon: a dinghy ride, swimming (cool), a nap, watching two kingfishers cavort around, and a beaver was spotted several times swimming calmly, leafy bough in mouth, to his large house, with its underwater entrance. And we cooked that Whitefish for dinner.
The night saw the wind pick up (of course) and the rain sweep in (also of course).
In between the thunder and the torrents of rain, we had a cosy day on board, as the boats swung round in a wind dance. (Long ago we had come to the conclusion that if you don’t like to read a lot, you’d never make a boater).
Given the fact that the wind was shifting for the better the next day, (but would then shift back to the North again after that!), we planned to up anchor first thing and head East for the 25 or so miles to Hotham Island.
We left before 8 am, and the trip was gorgeous again – even better than the one from Gore Bay, with deliciously smooth, oily water and a perfectly blue sky. We arrived before 11, and anchored on the second try (it was a bit weedy). A lovely big anchorage.
As well as its great protection from most winds, Hotham Island is known for a unique social tradition – a couple from Michigan, Norm and Elaine, who have boated for decades in the North Channel, bought a cottage here many years ago, and ever since have hosted 5 o’clock beverages and snacks on their dock, so all the crews meet each other while anchored there (and many return year after year). So, on Elaine’s personal invitation (which she delivered by kayak in the morning), we dinghied over at five with our wine and appetizers, and met them all. Charming. (And also very informative – everyone’s got the inside scoop on anchorages and weather and so on and so forth).
Among the people we meet are Bruce and Gabriella, who wrote for the Ports Ontario sailing guidebooks for thirty years, and Tim and Rhonda who, while living in Florida, keep their 1977 DeFever 34 trawler in Michigan so they can cruise the North Channel every year.
Evening came on, and we thought we’d seen a beautiful sunset…
….until we we looked again a little later, and then later still as it got better and better until…
The next day, Michel went kayaking with several girls from the other boats, we swam and read, and took the dinghy over to the other side of the bay to explore more anchorages, and Tim and Rhonda showed us their catch from the afternoon’s fishing expedition: two enormous (to us) Northern Pike.
5 pm saw the docks party again, and then our steak dinner. The next day we would move on to Eagle Island – only a short distance away and another recommendation from Jim and Frances – since the wind forecast had changed again, and the North wind would be giving way to the West, which would be good for the bay in which we want to anchor, since it is open to the North East.