We motored all day and into the night before the wind changed direction and we were able to put up a sail. The weather changed; getting cool and rainy and the wind and waves picked up considerably. As we topped the north end of the lake we were joined by a very tired great blue heron about 40 miles off shore. With another 40 miles to go he hung on for dear life and did not leave us until we anchored just off Steevens Island (west of Manitoulin Island). We spent a very comfortable night at anchor tucked away behind and between the islands and awoke to another beautiful sunny day.
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| Great Blue Heron catching a ride on Quantum Joy |
Thursday we picked up anchor and headed west. We had a nice sailing wind and Al put up the spinnaker. The wind started to build a little and we were moving along quite nicely when a 20 knot gust between the islands blew out the spinnaker. Al quickly hauled it in but it was ripped from the top of the sail all the way down the luft and the leech edges to the foot of the sail. The sewing machine we purchased for sail repairs will get a workout with this job.
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| Al inspecting damage to the spinnaker |
We stopped at Detour village for groceries (a.k.a beer) before heading to the anchorage at Harbour Island. The next day we had wind; however, since we were in winding channels on our way to Sault Ste. Marie we also had the motor running. In places, the channel was narrow with shallow spots on either side so when we met or were overtaken by large freighters we stayed tight to the right. After a final stop for fuel on the US side we pulled into Roberta Bondar marina for the night, We phoned Canada customs to check in, ordered a pizza, did some laundry then planned some land-based activities for the next day.
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| Arrival at Sault Ste. Marie |