Back to Civilization: We have Wifi & cellular service/Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Hello again!! We are currently docked back @ the Soo, on the Michigan side of St. Mary's River, where we stayed on our way up to the locks.  I am going to recap our trip so the blog will be back tracking. 

Continued from last blog; August 8/9th.

While the small, small town of Rossport didn't have real bathrooms, it did have 2 gift shops. We bought a mug & small vase @ the pottery shop a mile from the dock. 

Friday morning August 9, Day 69, we had to wait till the dock guy opened up @ Rossport so Garry could top off his water tank. So I took advantage of being awake & published another blog, that's why the last 2 blogs were posted a couple of hours apart. In the morning, while waiting, it began to rain, so @ 9:15 when we left, we donned our rain gear & headed out from Rossport. We had 2-3 foot waves & our stabilizers worked well. We haven't gotten to test them out too much so far this trip. 

We continued along the north shore to a group of islands called the Slates. Scientists believe these islands resulted from the impact of a huge 19 mile sized asteroid or meteor a billion years ago. Now the largest herd of Caribou on the lake reside on these islands. We anchored in pike's bay @ the end of McGreevy Harbor. We had to navigate around an island through quite a narrow, shallow opening with rock shoals on both sides. Waterford was in the lead today, so Captain Garry with lookout Jacque successfully executed the course without incident.  

Waterford & Raydiance anchored in the Slates

Raydiance welcomed us. They were anchored all alone in this pretty bay & we barged in, sorry!! Tom was even nice enough to let us know where a deadhead lay just 2 feet under the surface in the middle of the harbor.  He also chauffeured Garry to tie lines to land for both Waterford & Day Dreams. Thank you, Tom. We have met the greatest people on our journey. First time we've tied to shore on this whole trip, when we've anchored up till now we just used one anchor & swung. 

Caribou grazing

We kayaked around the area, surrounded by beautiful rock cliffs & beaches. Tom & Linda invited the 4 of us for cocktails on Raydiance. As part of the party, we took our dinghies to a meadow close by, where Linda had heard the Caribou graze. We were able to watch a female Caribou lazily munch on the green grass. 

Waterford & Day Dreams anchored in Pikes Bay in the Slate Islands

The North Shore of Lake Superior; cold & beautiful/ Woodbine Harbor/Battle Island Lighthouse

Lamb Lighthouse

Wednesday, August 7th the fog was gone so we pulled up anchor and headed to yet another beautiful spot called Woodbine Harbor where we again anchored.  We now have traveled 1,269 nautical miles. We continue to have good water, not a mill pond but comfortable.  The weather is sunny with deep blue skies but cool as usual.



As we rounded the islands, toward Woodbine, we spotted Eagles in 2 different locations.  One was perched on a sheer rust colored rock cliff on Birch Island and the other on a dead tree that was still standing.

Eagle perched (he's that white dot)

There were no other boats anchored in this harbor, it was pretty & peaceful.  We kayaked to some cool caves and found the eagles nest.  That is one smart eagle, he or she made their nest high up in a huge hole in a rock face of a cliff.  Talk about safe and all weather protected.  We heard loons flying over us, they sing a different song when they are flying, than when they are on the water.  The evening was lovely, it actually was warmer today and we enjoyed dinner on the back deck and then sat out & took in the beauty of the woods, rocks and hills.  It was so calm & quiet, we could hear our own hearts beating.

eagles nest on left & caves 

Eagles safe haven

Battle Island Lighthouse

Thursday morning, August 8th, we pulled up anchor and cruised a couple of miles to Battle Island Lighthouse.  We anchored in the small bay & Waterford rafted off us.

 We all kayaked in and walked to the unmanned lighthouse.  We could walk all around the grounds but not into the structure.

We then left there and a few miles later landed in Rossport @ a dock. I can't call it a Marina, there is just one pier and a small office without a bathroom. We are tied to the fuel dock and staying here tonight, it fits both of us.  They do not have fuel so it's ok that we are docked here. We met 2 super nice couples who lent us their van to drive to the next town called Schreiber that had a grocery store & a Napa auto parts store where Garry bought a fishing license.  Thank you so much, Tom & Shelley from Minnesota.

This will be my last blog probably for 14 days, so don't worry, we are fine.  We will be cruising the rest of Lake Superior's North shore, then the East shoreline and then back to the Soo.  Talk to you then! Love & kisses

Out on Anchor; July 31-August 6, 2013/Thunder Bay, Loon Harbor & Otter Cove

Today is Thursday, August 8 & we are in the small town (pop 100) of Rossport, Ontario for the night to get fresh water & pump out, luckily we don't need fuel, because they don't have a license and they have portajohns, that's it!  Needless to say, we leave in the morning, but we do have a slow, slow wifi. I will back track from where we've been since last blog. Thanks for your patience.  

Continuing to back track; 

Left Isle Royale Weds morn, July 31st, later than planned due to fog this morning. You just never know when it will appear. Yesterday was sunny with very low humidity. We left @ 8:30. Air temp 54 & water temp 43. 

Trow Bridge lighthouse built in 1910, 25 foot tall on top of the Island, still has its Fresnel lens.

Cruising along a spectacular group of islands, cliffs, lots of different elevations. 

     Pie Island light elevation 1460

Pie Island Lighthouse, elevat 1460

Getting closer to Thunder Bay, air temp up to 73, water temp 56-yahoo, maybe summer will stay this time. Our cruise to Thunder Bay was awesome. 

Arrived @ Thunder Bay around 2:00. The dock hands; Kevin & Brendan were really nice & helpful. The pump out was the coolest yet. It had an elbow for attaching the hose & it flushed automatically in the same hose. The Harbor Master, Kevin even picked us up from the grocery store, the next day.  I spent the most I have ever spent @ a grocery store & didn't even fill my refrigerator. It is definitely more expensive for goods in Canada. 

We docked along a wall on pier 3. The Marina is very spread out. The office & comfort station was a long walk. The wifi was acting up-aghhh! They had a nice laundry set up, just had to pay the harbor master $4.00/ load, so I just had him charge my card $20 and I did 5 loads, I didn't have to scrounge up $20 in Canadian quarters. Alizann met up with us here. They squeezed into a 60(no Doug, not a 100) foot space on the wall & did an excellent job. Everyone was so nice. Offering us rides, asking if we needed anything. Always impressed with those Canadians. 

Alizann invited us over to their boat for cocktails & we accepted. We were there catching up for hours, then we walked into town across a pedestrian bridge & enjoyed dinner @ the Prospector. 

Thursday, August 1, we were there to do chores, grocery, liquor & laundry stores, so we could be out @ anchor for the next month. Waterford hosted Docktails for the 6 of us, then in between the rain drops we walked up to a restaurant very close to the Marina, called Bight, dinner was very good, but their corkage fee was a tad overpriced; $20/bottle. 

Porphyry Point Lighthouse est 1873 on Edward Island, Ontario

Left Thunder Bay on Friday August 2, morning, good water, partly sunny, great 6 hour cruise. 

Sleeping giant island, 1800 elevation.

                                                      Arrived @ Loon Harbor around 2:00 PM, we anchored in a well protected spot. We are all alone today. We put the kayak down & went exploring. Lots of green & rock cliffs-gorgeous. This area of islands is just called the North Shore, I think they should have a more creative name that captures their beauty. 

We are as far north as Vancouver in relation to lat/long.  We enjoyed dinner on Waterford, Jacque made yummy comfort food: beef stew & muffins. The wind picked up some & it's quite cool. Some stars are out. The landscape is rolling mountains of various elevations with a mix of tall straight pine, cedar & aspen. Smells are fresh, clean & refreshing. 

Sat morning, August 3, we slept in, overcast day with some wind. Kayaked 4 miles, returned to boat, ate lunch,napped then took the dinghy along w/ Garry & Jacque in their dinghy & went exploring. We found a sauna that Bonnie Dahl had written about. Very interesting. The skies cleared after a quick rain so we were able to have our campfire & s'mores. During the day, the same 2 sailboats (USA) that crowded us in Isle Royale, entered our harbor & crowded Waterford this time. It's frustrating because there is so much water & snug spots that we would not have to be near another boat, yet they choose to anchor irresponsibly close. It is like close talkers who get into your personal space. 

Sunday morning, August 4, beautiful sunny day-yahoo, already 65 degrees @ 10:00 AM, which feels warmer due to the wonderful sun!! We pulled up anchor to cruise a short distance to Otter Cove. 

Arrived Otter Cove, had to be look out on bow coming thru the narrow channel but it was worth it. Raydiance was anchored in the east cove & he called us on the radio & welcomed us & informed us that there was good water in the west cove but there was a sailboat anchored there, but lucky enough the sailboat was just leaving. We were leading today so we moved in, close to the end & the stream which leads to Cascade waterfalls. Then Waterford followed us in & stayed closer to the mouth. Keeping a respectful distance b/t the 2 of us. 

We put the kayak down & Waterford got their dinghy down & we went up the stream following Tom & Linda from Raydiance who had headed that way while we were anchoring. We beached our crafts & followed the path & sound of the waterfall. The waterfall was raging & high. We have pics of it when we were here in 2001 & there was hardly any water going over it then. The path took us higher & then to a lake. It was pretty rough terrain, but we made it and it was worth it. 

We invited Tom & Linda (Raydiance) to join us for cocktails on Day Dreams. They are in process of traveling the Great Loop but have taken a detour to cruise Lake Superior (great idea). They have many good stories of their grand adventure. It was a pleasure to meet them. They hail from Missouri. 

Monday morn, august 5, Raydiance headed out & we were all alone.  It was an overcast day, so Doug was completing some chores & I was listening to music from my hard drive that my good friend Barb had given me. My vantage point was looking up the stream from where I sat. I kept an eye out & I was well rewarded with a Moose spotting. I quietly yelled to Doug then we attempted to get Waterford's attention, luckily they had their marine radio on. We got in our kayak, Garry & Jacque rowed in their dinghy & we stealthily moved closer to the moose. We were able to get some nice pics. 

The other great highlight of the day was Garry fishing & catching 2 nice fish; a big rainbow trout & a smaller but decent sized Lake Trout. He released the lake trout.  We had purchased a Cutco fish filet knife for Garry for his birthday, which is August 6, (tomorrow) & we told him if he caught a fish he would receive his gift early, well he had one day to go, but he did it. Jacque & Garry shared their fish with us; nothing like fresh fresh fish for dinner-yum!

Tuesday August 6th-Happy Birthday Garry!! And we are fogged in. The plan was to leave and head to Woodbine Channel, 27 miles away. We kept changing our minds all morning and just as we were out on the bow to pull up anchor a trawler pulls by Garry close enough to talk & they said it was still very foggy out, so we stayed put & that rude trawler actually squeezed in between us.  Not only can I see what they are wearing, I can see their facial expressions. There were no other boats in the whole cove, yet he chose to crowd us. I guess we are in the minority, wanting a bit of privacy & safe distance. 

Alizann in Otter Cove

Alizann pulled in during the afternoon, they had a short ride from Loon Harbor in the fog. Glad to see them. Invited them over to have a birthday cocktail party for Garry. 

It was cool most of the day, then it rained. We had put the kayak up cuz we thought we were leaving, so we didn't bring it or the dinghy down. Everyone came to us. Alizann didn't stay for dinner, but we enjoyed running into them & hope to again.  (No, we do not think you are stalking us, lol) We grilled lamb chops & Jacque made delicious strawberry shortcake. The fog rolled back in for the evening. 

 We do not have a good cell phone signal, which I paid extra so I could talk in Canada, but just know that I am thinking of all of you & miss you.

Belated Happy Birthday wishes to nephew John & my friends Doris & Melinda.

Happy Birthday today to Craig, sending you a hug & kiss!!

Early Birthday wishes to my friends Karen & Linda!

 We are truly enjoying our Adventure! 

Isle Royale-lots of Loons & no Moose

Right now, Thursday; August 1st, we are in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  This may be my last blog for almost a month. We leave tomorrow for anchoring along the North & East coast of Lake Superior, where there is not any big Marina's.  We may have spotty cell service but no Wifi.  

Back tracking to catch up:

Left Grand Marais on Sunday morning, July 21 @ 7:15 AM. Jacque & Garry saw us off. Hugs all around. We wish them a safe & comforting journey. They plan to be gone for a week, visiting & helping Garry's Mom. Super calm today with blue sky & sun!

Rock of Ages Lighthouse

Air temp 49, water temp 38. The big lake Gitchee Gumee is being kind to us another day. Clear skies, can see 25 miles and super calm water but cool. We r in the pilot house again. We have only had 2 bridge days this whole trip so far. 

We arrived @ Isle Royale & entered Washington Channel to Windigo Harbor. A Ranger named Steve Martin helped us in, (already a family thing, one of Doug’s bro is Steve Martin). There are 2 boats @ the dock, one is a Bertram, park boat. The other a visitor from Red Rock Ontario. We registered for 8 days for a total cost of $64.00, $4.00/person/day.  That charge is for just being on the Island, whether docking or anchoring. The lodge/office has 2 big framed pictures of Doug's maternal great grandparents O'Neil & grandma Blanche. We told them Doug was related & they were excited & wanted to know more. Doug's grandma Blanche was the first white woman born on Isle Royale, back in 1890.  His Great Grandfather was a copper miner there for 2 years. This is a Doug Martin's family tour.

We put our kayak together on the nice big wide dock. The dock is where a couple of ferries come in at different times. There is the ranger station, bathrooms, pay showers, laundry & a small store. A fuel with pump-out dock is also nearby. There is a camp area w/ lean to's close & quite a few trails that leave from here. There is not much room on the big dock for transient boats. 

After we looked around, got the kayak up on the bridge, we left & anchored behind Beaver Island. We could see the Windigo dock, but not any detail from our anchorage but it has good holding & is nicely protected. We kayaked after dinner back to the bathrooms & saw a loon. Have been hearing them & our up north bird since arriving.

The moon was almost full, it had warmed up once we arrived, up to 70, but the evening was quite cool. We sat out & watched the sun set & the moon rise. Then we went in & played sequence. Doug beat me 2 games. 

Rained during the nite. Slept in. Had big breakfast, showered & kayaked over 2 dock & hiked for 5 miles. Saw a loon right near shore, big & beautiful.  There is a nesting loon nearby. Saw a scrawny fox, squirrels, butterflies, one turning into a butterfly. Doug saw an otter yesterday.  The thimbleberries are getting closer, the flower petals have fallen off & I saw some starting a pink tinge. We sampled another type of berry.  This island does not have any poison weeds or berries, that's nice to know. Our hike was fun, we were high enough @ one point to have a view of a small river & a distant view of superior. There are many species of trees & plants. We saw a moose print in the mud. 

We kayaked home & had a leisurely cocktail hour on the bow, where the sun was. Had a great dinner of lamb chops & sweet potato.  After dinner we watched the full moon rise, mosquitoes were pretty bad, Doug got his net out, it worked great. Played Rummikube, Doug won.

covered by thimbleberry bushes

ripening thimbleberries

Hiked 6.5 miles to another lookout area. Forest was beautiful.  We kayaked 2 miles. Total hike & kayak @ Windigo was 11.5 miles hiked & 6 miles kayaked. 

ripe thimbleberries-yum

Mama with her leg out to baby

 

Weds morn 44 degrees out but sunny. Pulled anchor @ 7:30, headed to a different spot on Isle Royale. Cruised 4 hours along the northwest shoreline. 

We entered Mc Cargo cove, a bit tricky. We are by ourselves except for mom dad & baby loons. Hiked 2.5 miles to mining pits. Total of 14 miles in 3 days.  There are a lot of hiking trails from this spot. 

Minong mine pit

Thursday, we started out by dinghy, we hoped to go to Lane Cove & Belle Isle but it was too rough on Superior plus the fog was moving in. We explored the channel & Birch island & lake. A loon came very close & then began to sing/laugh/cry. Not sure which. Later we were entertained by 4 loons hanging out together, Doug thought it was boys night out. We were out a couple of hours. It is cool and over cast. The rest of the day & evening we stayed in the boat. 

Fri. Still cool & overcast. Actually used our indoor shower. We are running the generator 2.5 hours in morn & 2.5 hours in evening. Doug has resorted to sleeping in pj's. & me too. We hiked 6.5 miles today around Chickenbone Lake. Watched movie, Moby Dick with William Hurt, weird movie.

Sat. See some blue sky today & even a little sun. 57 degrees. We kayaked the channel & Birch lake. 4 miles. No moose but Doug saw 3 huge dark fish along the bottom in about 4-5 feet water. About 4 feet long. Prob pike or sturgeon & no he didn't have his fishing pole with him. He has casted some from the boat using a lure. Watched Tinker, Taylor Soldier, Spy movie. British spy movie, took lots of concentration. 

Sunday, rained all nite & is still raining @ noon. 50 degrees.  We feel very lucky to be warm & comfortable in our super boat. We have things to do & plenty to eat. Today definitely  called for grilled cheese & tomato soup for lunch. It did stop raining mid afternoon so we put the kayak & dinghy away in prep for moving tomorrow. Just at sunset, the skies cleared & we had a beautiful pink sky. The stars came out & it was sooo calm. Doug thinks this is the most protected calm anchorage we have ever been in. Every day we were visited by Mom & Dad & baby loon. We heard the song of the loon echoing up & down the channel even through the night. Spoke by Sat phone (Garry gave it to us, so we could communicate & hook back up), Mille, Garry's Mom had quite a substantial stroke with her right side & speech affected. She is now stable & currently in the hospital rehab for intensive therapy. Garry & Jacque were able to take care of details & feel good about where she is. They arrived back to Grand Marais today & plan on heading to Isle Royale in the AM. 

Monday morning, pulled up anchor @ 7:30, 42 degrees air, brrr. Sun & clear blue skies & calm waters. We will meet up with Waterford back in Washington Harbor, Windigo dock area @ the Beaver Island anchorage, where we started out last week. We have been conserving water in order to see if we will be able to make it through the North & East shore for possibly 25 days. We are averaging 13-15 gallons of use per day. We hold 300 gallons. Hopefully as it warms up, we will be able to use the lake water for bathing some, use more paper products, so less dish washing & we will buy some 5 gallon water jugs for drinking. That should do it. We have been @ anchor 8 nights so far. We will anchor 2 more nights, then head to Thunder Bay, Ontario for water, supplies & do laundry. 

We pulled up to the fuel dock for a pump out, even thou we called ahead, no one was there to meet us. We did a great job of docking ourselves. We anchored back behind Beaver Island (still haven't seen a beaver here).. We are by ourselves till Waterford gets here this afternoon. The sun is heavenly. We layed up on the bridge & read. Waterford arrived, got their dinghy down, came over & picked us up & we went to the Rancher Station so they could register. $4.00/day/person. Some campers had spotted a moose in the stream. 

Hopefully, not the only Moose we see

Tuesday, we kayaked 6 miles to the wreck of the America ship that ran from Duluth to Isle Royale to Thunder Bay in the early 1900's. More about that when I have a good connection. Got to 60 today.

Hiked 4 miles (total 24 miles @ Isle Royale) (15 miles kayaked total) along the shore, into the forest & to a lookout of a small pond & long stream, we were hoping to see a moose in the stream, but to no avail. We did find some ripe thimbleberries, so Garry & Jacque were able to sample the real thing. I'm sure they were tired of me raving about them. We each found a handful of ripe ones, there is a ton to ripen yet. Someone spotted a moose with twin calves last evening, not far from our boats, but we didn't see them-Drat!

Just missed seeing the Mama Moose & twins

Isle Royale

Wednesday, we pulled up anchor & headed to Thunder Bay to reprovision, do laundry and get ready to be out for possibly 25 days without wifi, marina or civilization.  So if you don't see an updated blog, not to worry. Please don't give up on us, I will catch up when we hit the Soo Locks & civilization.  

Love & miss you!  Doug & Jan