South Benjamin

Another good easterly breeze when I woke this morning so I up anchored and set off from the Benjamin's without any engine. I always like doing that and the same with anchoring without any engine and for that matter, sailing as much as I can without using the yanmar diesel. Well I made good progress of about 15 Nm but the wind died around noon (again!) There was no suitable anchorage near me so I just headed for the nearest cove on the south side of John Island. Boy was that ever a mistake. The wind is blowing from the SW instead of the forcasted north and this Bay I am in is exposed to the SW so my boat is doing some serious rocking and rolling. I could move around to another cove but I'm hoping that the wind will diminish after sunset. The other reason that I don't like this cove is because there is a house with a family on a vacation here and they probably don't like having boats anchoring in front of them.

I did my usual nap, swim, shower and boat chores this afternoon before fixing rice, beans and vegetables along with a good movie.

Little Current

The forcasted weather was for light winds but when I woke there was a good easterly breeze so I quickly got myself organized, ran up to the store and picked up a couple of bags of ice. Good sailing until lunch time which put me in the Benjamin islands. On the way though my telltale at the top of the mast was not working.

So some explaination here. The telltale is the arrow at the top of the mast that tells you which direction the wind is coming from. I got my binoculars out and to my dismay...... Cobwebs!  Spiders! My worse nightmare had come true.  Ok, from now on no more nicey nicey with my 8 legged friends. This is war. I tried going in circles and speeding up without any luck. It was still stuck. I don't like climbing up the mast anyway but when I am sailing, it is even worse. Nothing to it though but to go aloft. This is the second time I have had to climb up the mast while I have been sailing so at least I knew what I was in for.

I think that the problem may have come about from the fact that I have such a good anchor light so tonight I plan on raising my Luci light up the mast instead.

Snug harbor

I'm playing catch up here because I have had no internet at the last two anchorages. Night before last was the pool at Baie Fine and last night was snug harbor.
I caught a rare easterly breeze this morning to head west back to Little Current where I will be staying overnight and catching yet another breeze in the morning to push me back towards Michigan.
BTW i have it on good authority that all the rocks here might look like granite, but in fact they are hardened sandstone or quartzite.

The Pool

I don't have any cell coverage at the Pool anchorage but I'm out on a hike overlooking the harbor and I have a connection here so I am updating my blog while I am able to.

I walked to Topaz Lake along with a lot of people who like to jump off the cliffs to go swimming.

Baie Fine

Had a great sail again downwind to Baie Fine from Little Current. It is going to be tough sailing back against the prevailing wind to where I started. This morning i attended the regular 9am north Channel net hosted by Roy and Annie.

It is very popular among all the cruisers here and they had 124 boats call in this morning.

Little Current

It took four hours to get here and it was all motoring unfortunately because there was no wind. A cruise ship was in town so it was a little bit busier than usual but it left late afternoon and the town resumed it's quiet self.

I dumped off my trash and did laundry followed by a visit to the store for veggies. Tomorrow I will visit the store again before leaving, to buy items for the fridge like salads, yogurt and the all important coffee creamer. I have been drinking black coffee over the last few days but it just doesn't cut it. I'm a creature of habit, what can I say. I know that half the world drinks instant coffee but it just seems like my day starts out better with my  french press Joe.

Fox harbor

I lucked out with a great anchorage tonight here in Fox North. This spot is the primo site for the North Channel with excellent protection and gorgeous scenery. Went for a long hike and row in my dinghy and even though the high was just 79 degrees, a swim followed by my favorite beverage was very welcome.

After being on the hook for 12 days, it is time to get back to civilization to get some fresh vegetables and fruit, dump off my garbage and do my laundry so tomorrow I will stop off at a town near here called Little Current.