July 2023 - Blessings Flow

July 28, 2023November 2, 2023

Baie Fine to Snug Harbour – North Channel part 3

After leaving our prime Little Current location of the closest dock to the swing bridge, we cast off our lines to go through the bridge at the top of the hour and head to Baie Fine. There were four boats going our direction, but there were probably a dozen or more boats lined up to come into Little Current.

Baie Fine was a 25 mile jaunt from Little Current. The last 9 miles are fjord-like, according to what we read.

The waterway was fairly narrow, compared to the rest of the cruising, and had some tricky navigation around rocks in the lake.

July 28, 2023November 2, 2023

Little Current – North Channel Part 2

From Hotham Island, the next logical place to visit is the Benjamin Islands. They are a unique circle formation of islands. I’m told the circle is because there was a dome formed in ancient times that has been worn down over the ages.

But, logical or not, the wind was not right for anchoring there, so we cruised in amongst them, took some pictures, and headed out for Little Current.

July 27, 2023November 2, 2023

The North Channel (Part One)

We spent a little over a week exploring several anchorages and a town in the North Channel.

After our first anchorage in Long Point Cove, we continued to hop to the anchorages recommended by Fred, a former Looper who generously spent an hour with us in Sault Ste Marie going over recommendations.

From Long Point Cove to Beardrop Harbour to Hotham Island to The Benjamins to Little Current to Baie Fine to Covered Portage Cove to Snug Harbour

July 14, 2023November 2, 2023

We made it to the North Channel!

One longish trip from Hilton Beach Marina to Blind River Marina and then one very short trip on into the islands of the North Channel.

Blind River Marine Park, Blind River, Ontario Canada

On the advice of Fred, a gold looper and frequent North Channel cruiser we met in Sault Ste Marie, we picked Long Point Cove as our first anchorage.

July 12, 2023November 2, 2023

SSM to Hilton Beach, ON

You never know…

You never know what you are going to see on the water.

Before leaving Sault Ste Marie, we carefully review the Marine Traffic App to see if there were any big ships heading up or down the channel we would be on. Nothing. Yay! That is really good luck.

We were not a mile down the river when…it looked like a ship was coming toward us. What? How did we miss that? We checked the app again. Still nothing, but it was definitely a ship and it was coming towards us.

July 12, 2023November 2, 2023

Our Week in Sault Ste Marie

We spent a week in Sault Ste Marie (on both sides of the border). Four days were driving days, as in road trip, and three were to wait out some weather.

4th of July in George Kemp Marina, SSM, Michigan

What took us 14 days in the boat took us 8 hours, including potty stops, in the car!

July 8, 2023November 2, 2023

Out of Lake Superior

We made it off Lake Superior! Here’s a description of the last few days.

From Houghton, Michigan, where we stayed 3 nights to wait out weather, we travelled 52.5 miles to a small harbor of refuge called Big Bay. We encountered our first bigger waves on this segment. The NOAA forecasts called for calm to 1 foot waves, but we are sure they were 2 foot (maybe plus) and hitting the boat from a less than ideal angle. Happily, that only lasted a couple of hours before we turned a corner and the wind died down. It was nice the rest of the way to Big Bay.