Brule Harbor/ Day 75/ August 15, 2013

Day 75, Thursday, August 15 pulled up anchor, the strong wind warning over, almost. Waves 2-4's to occas 6's but the thermometer says 61 degrees. It has been 48 degrees in the early mornings when we get up. So 61 looks good to us. Under way 7 hours, we arrive to Brule Harbor. We are anchoring close to mainland Canada, in Lake Superior Provincial park. Thank you Canada for making most of your beautiful Lake Superior coastline, park area, so it is still wild & rugged. Yes, I could become a tree hugger with a little encouragement!! 

Our view out of our back deck

We are anchored in a beautiful snug spot, which took some maneuvering to get secure. The water is pretty deep in here which makes it tougher. We are tied to shore & Garry has a stern anchor out, both to keep us from swinging. Garry is in the same cove but not close. We have a huge beaver dam in our area. Jacque made a nice meatloaf for dinner for us all, Thank you for feeding us, Jacque.

During dinner, a small sailboat sailed into our cove & proceeded to tie up very close to us. There were five 20 something's on board. Wouldn't you think they would like some privacy?  They got settled, ate a quick dinner, then they donned rain gear, it wasn't raining but it was cool out. All 5 of them hopped in their dinghy without lights & took off.We don't know where they went & it was after dusk.  There are no public places anywhere near, only the open waters of Lake Superior. We didn't hear them return but the dinghy was tied up in the morn when we awoke. Thank goodness! They left that afternoon.

Water clarity, can you believe it?

Friday, turned into one of the nicest weather days we've   experienced. We took off in our dinghies early while the Lake was calm & checked out the Pukaskwa pits, we had read about. They have been studied & researched. It is thought they are thousand of years old, but no one knows what they were used for. 

Garry in his hot tub Pukaskwa pit

   Of course there are theories. Garry's theory is that this one was a hot tub for their tired achy bodies after a long day of hunting & gathering. Hot rock therapy. We then checked out Old Woman's Bay.  The cliffs are high & majestic. We walked along a sand beach, found a spring fed small pretty inland lake off the sand beach & the guys had to skip some stones in the calm water. 

In the afternoon, it actually got up to the mid 70's. We kayaked our cove & around the near by islands. We walked around the rocks on Entrance Island. This is another beautiful, quiet spot. We heard loons last night but haven't seen any but we have watched Eagles soaring & one flying down to a beach to grab a fish. 

We were able to sit up on the bridge & read our books & I even went for a quick dip in the water behind the boat. 








We kayaked after dinner, the moon rose brightly @ about 3/4's full.

Everyone says HI, wish you were here!!

Otter Head/Waterfalls/lLighthouse & Fish.

Cascade Falls

On Monday August 12, we pulled anchor in the rain and cruised along the rugged eastern shoreline and the Provincial Pukaskwa Park.  We are anchored now in the Otter Head area, there are other boats in the anchorage but it's big enough for all of us. There is a lighthouse on a nearby island that we attempted to dinghy to the first day, but we aborted the mission due to rough seas. There is also a series of waterfalls we passed on our way into the cove that we hope to get to, with Cascade falls dropping right into Lake Superior. The falls are located in an open area without much protection & the wind is blowing towards them so we'll see. We are secure in a big cove with 2 sailboats & 1 Nordic tug; ConnieB (Bill & Connie from LaPeer, MI.)

Tuesday, made it in our dinghy's with rain gear & explored Otter Island lighthouse & grounds. the blueberries are ripe & we don't think there are any bears

Now do you believe we've had cold weather?

around so we picked a container full-yum. If there were bear, I wouldn't want to take their food away from them. Didn't see any caribou, which are the only inhabitants on the Lighthouse island.  Paddled up a stream in our cove & found the hidden unnamed waterfalls in our cove. We could hear the falls from our boats. The waterfall is very pretty & bigger than we expected. 

Garry had bought a Canadian fishing license so he was making good use of it.  He trolled along in our cove & was awarded by catching 3 northern pikes, releasing the 2 smaller ones   & giving the 32 " big boy to a sailboat anchored nearby. He didn't keep it for us, because Northern Pike are very hard to prepare & get the bones out.  We are picky you know. But Garry had fun catching them. 

It has been a bit windy & wavy, so we were not able to dinghy & hike the Cascade Falls. We actually have been weathered in an extra day here due to a strong wind warning, so it is Weds & we (Waterford & us) are all by ourselves in this big cove. Doug & I kayaked the perimeter of the cove & it is over 4 miles around. We went up a stream & saw evidence of Moose & a busy beaver but did not see either. We did see 2 Eagles soaring & perched among these high rock bluffs around us. 

On our weathered in day, Jacque & Garry hosted a Movie matinee. Doug read a Jack Reacher novel this trip written by Lee Childs & is hooked.  Jacque & Garry were already fans & have read many of lee Child's, Reacher series. They even had a Reacher movie in their library on the boat, so we watched the movie "One Shot"  with Tom Cruise portraying Reacher.  Even though Jacque & I agree that Tom Cruise was not the perfect pick for Jack, it was a good flick. We even had popcorn! We don't rough it.

Pulpwood Harbor, Northeast corner of the Great Lake Gitchee Gumee

Still recapping our anchorages while we were wifi free. 

Sunday point lighthouse

Sat morn, Aug 10 all three boats, (Raydiance too) pulled up anchor & headed out. The sun was out but it was cool, so what's new? We arrived @ Pulpwood harbor, near Hattie cove & the Pukaskwa park. The narrowest entry yet, but with 30 ft of water. I could have reached out & touched the cliffs almost. Nice anchorage, no other boats anchored. We took the dinghy over to the next cove, Hattie's Cove & there is actually a visitors center & campground. It's the mainland & the border of the Ontario provincial park; Pukaskwa which spans 726 square miles with a 37 mile coastal trail. There are no other roads that come down to the shoreline in this park. There are hikers & kayakers around the park. We actually registered here because the guy @ the Visitor's Center told Garry & Jacque they needed to, but when we went to the office, the girls working there didn't know what to do with us because no other anchored boats had ever registered, so they charged us a day hiking fee so we paid $9.00/couple.  The water keeps getting clearer. Doug & I kayaked around the coves & islands; we couldn't go out into Superior, because it was pretty rough. 

Doug's next life phase

That's a fungus, we think

We were hoping to dinghy to the White River this Sunday morning,August 11, but the lake has decided to kick up it's heels for a day. We certainly can't complain so far about that, so we enacted Plan B, when boating it's always good to have a Plan B.  So the four of us hiked 10.4 miles to the White River, to view & walk over the coolest suspension bridge over a gorge & raging river-totally amazing. Doug & I had been here in 1997 and the bridge had been pretty rugged open wood slats, which we walked over then.  That was before Doug fell out of the tree & no longer is excited about high moving things, like trees, roller coasters & suspension bridges.  Luckily, after 5+ miles of hiking we arrived and  were pleased to see a brand new, very well constructed bridge. Our hiking trail had some pretty rugged sections that reminded us of the forest in Lord of the Rings.  Today was sunny & warmer and we actually got (dare I say it), hot once on the hike. No wildlife spotted :(

"I'm not going over that falls!!"

Alizann surprised us & were anchored in the bay with us when we returned from hiking. It's always great to see them. Marty & Suzanne invited us for cocktails on Alizann & we caught up since seeing them @ Otter Cove. Cocktail hours are always so much fun; we have so much in common & we all have so much to share of our adventures.

Another mini Krogen Rendezvous!!

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