Phil is busy doing up the dinner dishes and soon it will be time to lower the vinyl for the evening. We are under a thunderstorm watch, as is Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, etc. etc. Apparently there is a large front coming in from Minnesota and there may be storms, rain, hail, or whatever else the weather folk can think of. Or not.

In Spanish, Phil was up at 5 am checking the weather and the fog drove him back to bed until 6:30 when we checked again. It was starting to lift, there was no wind or waves, and the forecast had changed to good for the day, even though overcast. So we had a light breakfast with lots of coffee and were away just before 8.

Leaving Spanish via the marked channel, we headed out to the Whalesback Channel which runs between the mainland and Aird and John Islands on the south. There were a few floating branches, probably from the Saturday storms, but nothing to seriously impede the traversing. We met half a dozen sailboats heading into Spanish. There are lots of anchorages in this area and you can see boats tucked into corners at almost every turn. Just south of Spanish, before we went through the Little Detroit Passage, is Shoepack Bay. This has an area that is protected on all sides with good holds. Passing west through the Little Detroit passage there are anchorages on the west end of Green Island, between Green and Wilfrid and Laurier Islands. Mr. Bayfield, who had to name all these islands, must have been running out of names when he called two neighbouring islands Wilfrid and then Laurier!

Running the Whalesback Channel

To the west of the above islands, a long string of smaller islands sit just off Aird Island and anchorages can be found here for almost the entire length of this smaller unnamed channel.

We headed southwest from Spanish to Casey Shoal which put us on track for Berrypicker Island and the sets of markers through the west of the Whalesback Channel. This part of the channel is scattered with rocks, lurking and otherwise, and small islands, and care is needed not to miss any of the markers. At Turtle Rock, which is white and actually looks like a ship from afar, is the entrance to Beardrop, a very popular anchorage just on the north side of the channel. These are tucked in behind a long island - which is supposed to look like a whales back - and there were several sailboats just coming out as we went past.

The GPS track Phil made yesterday was great to follow as we headed due west to Turnbull Island. There are a couple of anchorages here but care must be taken on entry because of the rocks and the depths. There is a scattering of small islands between Turnbull and Sanford which is also used to anchor but we didn’t like the look of them, not much shelter except in one bay on the east side which had no shelter from the east. From Sanford, there is a little jog to the north of Gibson Island and then a straight run to Blind River.

We have a small propane tank for our BBQ and, after some research, found out that the Blind River Marina will take your tank to town and get it filled. We had stayed at this marina in 2003 and it is another fantastic place, with a small café in the marina, so we decided to go in for a refill and a second breakfast.

They ran the tank to town and came back and announced that they couldn’t fill it as it was already its full weight. This can’t be right as we have been using this same tank, without any refills, since last August. So that is all Aug/Sept and then all of this trip so far and we used it again for tonight. Anyhow, we will run ‘er till she is empty but just can’t imagine it still going. Maybe it’s an Eveready Bunny tank, just keeps going and going and going......

We had a nice breakfast at the marina and spent some time chatting with the manager who had been there when we were through in 2003. He had provided us with software charts when we had been unable to purchase them anywhere else. Really nice, modern marina and helpful people.

Leaving Blind River after about an hour’s break - and more coffee - keeping Patrick Point Bank to starboard, we passed a string of islands off the north shore called The French Islands. Bayfield named these islands after Governors and important people of early Canada: the easternmost island is the largest and they reduce in size as you move westward. The largest is Hennepin, then comes Tonty, then La Salle, Richelieu which is basically a rock with a tree on it, then Talon which is a rock without a tree and the last island is named Steeple Rock. This is nothing more than a small rock, just big enough to tear apart your hull, stuck off the end of Talon Island, and sticking about 6 inches above the waterline. Bayfield also had a wry sense of humour.

Find Steeple Rock

From this point we had a straight run into Thessalon of 32 kms. We passed East Grant, Middle Grant and West Grant. Some sailboats anchored there but very open to the west. You can see a scattering of rocks between West Grant and Bigsby Island, and then Thessalon point can be seen off in the distance.

When we text messaged son #1 yesterday that our next stop would be Thessalon, he answered back that it sounded like some place out of Star Trek and warned us not to go where no man has gone before.

I was unable to find out how Thessalon came by its name but suspect there may have been a Greek or biblical scholar somewhere around. The Indians called it Nayashewan or Long Point and it has a long sandy point out into the bay. The River Thessalon is quite narrow and runs right through the centre of town. [We had planned to dinghy up it this afternoon but we both fell asleep. These early mornings are getting to us old folk.] After landing and refuelling, at $1.21 per L, we moved over to a space for the night and plugged in the power and got ourselves settled in. We had done 99 kms in about 3 ½ hours. The sky was overcast the entire way so the sun wasn’t beating down on us but the humidity was high.

We went for a walk through the town, which has a main street, 1500 residents, most of whom were not around, 4 churches, an excellent grocery store, a liquor store, (the only 2 stores open on a Sunday), no Timmy’s for coffee, and a few odd shops. The town is suffering from the “Waiting for God” syndrome, mostly older folk living here, but there is a new medical centre, library with internet access, municipal sports arena, and the marina is also new and very nice.

The marina building entrance is a small lighthouse and the inside has washrooms, showers, on the ground floor and in the loft, there is a full kitchen and a sitting area complete with TV. The town is also very active in the winter with snowmobilers and the docks were busy today with half a dozen boaters like us in, and many local fishing boats tooting around. It is sad to see these towns struggling to survive but if they can bring in the sports’ enthusiasts, they may be on to something.

Thessalon MarinaThe marina is built behind the old freighter dock, which is still sometimes used to load lumber from the three working mills here. It makes a great breakwater in addition to the two breakwaters which are angled across the entrance.

We have two small boats as neighbours, both from Michigan, and we chatted with them for quite awhile about ports in Michigan. We are quickly learning that boating on Lake Michigan can be a challenge - we knew that but people seem to think we are close to nuts to want to actually there, as they all want to come here. There are very few anchorages and we will be dependant on marinas for our stay. Distances between ports and marinas are long and we will need to wait for good weather to attempt these distances. Lake Michigan gets a lot of storms - as I write, the sky is blackening as we await tonight’s storms - and we will be travelling down the lee shore, which means that we are at the end of the waves as they come across the lake from the west, unless we decide to go across to the western shore.

We have determined that we definitely want to see something of Drummond Island, Michigan, which is where my brother-in-law’s ancestors lived. It is also an important historical place in Canadian history, having been the only island in the Manitoulin Chain which now belongs to the US as a result of the treaty after the 1812 war. There are two marinas on this island, one on each side - north and south - and we will be going into Drummond Yacht Haven on the north side to clear customs and spend at least one night. Then we will probably move on to the other marina which is on the south side to see what is over there.

The next stop would be St. Ignace which we have been told is a good place to stay for a couple of nights. It is a historical town, with things to see and there is a ferry from there to Mackinac Island, which we plan on taking to see the island for a day. Although there is a marina on Mackinac, it is very difficult to get in there as there is a tremendous waiting list but apparently there is always room at St. Ignace.

We must, of course, traverse under the Straits of Mackinac bridge. This was the longest bridge until Confederation Bridge was built in PEI. Phil would also like to get to Beaver Island but we have been told that the trip over and the harbour can be quite bumpy depending on the wind so, again, we will be dependant on the weather.

And of course, if the weather and/or the distances become a problem, we will not even attempt these long distances but come back and do more towns and anchorages here in the North Channel and on Manitoulin Island itself. Weather alone will tell.

Location