The North Channel

August 11th. We left Little Current Monday morning—all of us scrambling for a “pump out” at the same time. There must have been 10 boats, all lined up, and waiting for only 2 attendants to get lines on, pump each one out, take money, and get lines off. What a zoo!! The staff should have known that after everyone being “socked in” for the weekend with 2 & ½ inches of rain in 24 hours, that at the first sign of good weather, everyone would be itching to get back on the water! Oh well.

So we all finally got serviced, and off we went—to The Benjamin’s—a funny name, but a beautiful spot. Pink granite cliffs and huge rocks surrounded us—patches of wild blueberries were everywhere too! We rafted with “Phantom”, “C-Life”, and “Wanderin L & M” in a quiet little cove—had it almost to ourselves for a while. But with the wind the way it was for that day--it was a popular anchorage—a few sailboats came in, and then our other friends came to join us. We were so happy to see them too—these were the boats that were at the other marina in Little Current: “Sunshine”, “Southern Comfort”, “Blue Max”, “Ithaca”, and “Golden Lily”. After an impromptu cocktail party on the bow of our boat, we all settled in for the night—or at least we thought we had—until Larry and Robert decided to go just behind our boats and build a campfire on the big rock. (A round rock pile had already been formed by former fire-builders!) Louis and Bruce couldn’t stand that the others were having all the fun, so they joined them too—what a cute sight that was, all four guys sitting around a campfire—what stories/lies must have been told!! Alas, no one, on any boat, had marshmallows!

Tuesday, August 12th. We awoke this morning with Bonnie bringing us homemade blueberry muffins!! What a treat for the four of us boats rafted together—and what a labor of love—the wild blueberries up here are plentiful, but tiny, tiny—you have to stoop and pick a lot to even get a cup full! It was a beautiful morning, and we all wanted to take it slowly. But while the weather was pretty, we needed to move westward—so off we went—landing in Bear Drop, John Island, in the early afternoon. We’re all hoping that late afternoon today or very early tomorrow morning, we’ll see a bear!! Don't think so though because there are five of us rafted together for this night—“Adagio” has joined us. Most all of us run our generators at night, so we'll be making too much noise for any wild animals to come near us for a drink of water. As I write this, Louis, Larry, and Robert have gone out on the dinghy scouting—for what I have no idea!! Bonnie and Bruce have also gone looking for more blueberries! (Pancakes tomorrow?) There is an inukshuk right behind us—overlooking and guarding our boats—someone else has decided to decorate this beautiful cove! This afternoon, we’re all purging our refrigerators—because you can’t bring fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats into the USA—we will all gather and eat tonight on “C-life”. Thanks Kay and Robert! Tonight is also the beginning of a 3 night meteor shower, and we’re all hoping the clouds will stay away—so we can see the shooting stars, we’re certainly not worried about any city lights up here getting in our way!