While in the NC and GB it was foggy, drizzling and cold. It was beautiful as expected and a very short season. They don't really open up until July 1. All the docks were empty.
Upon entering Canada we discovered our GPS is only for the US, so we were navigating the old-fashioned way by dividers, parallels and the eye ball. We had a couple of scary moments: the first as we were going into a secluded (they are all secluded) island anchorage and this captain had the wrong two smaller islands (used for navigational aids) confused. Between the two of us, we figured it out before running aground. We gingerly turned around and went out the way we came in and proceeded with the correct path in. There are rocks everywhere and it was not well marked.
Did we mention there was a lot of fog while we were there? Another day we were headed for the "pool" (which is at the end of Bay Finn's 10 mile length) and before arriving at the challenging part, the bay itself, out of the fog pops a 100 foot rock shoal! BTW, all the shallow stuff up there is rock, so it is important to try to avoid hitting. We then navigated into the "pool", with the captain standing on the foredeck looking for rocks while the first mate steered us through. Happy to say we got out of the NC and GB with out touching.
Ate dinner at the Killarney Mountain Lodge which reminded the captain of the old Bay Shore Inn... some of you remember.
We really liked Killarney on the north side of the Bay and Tobermory on the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. We docked right downtown Tobermore with the grocery store for the town right across the parking lot from us. A very pretty town and area. This was the first real grocery store for us since Traverse Bay Michigan two plus weeks ago. BIG DAY! And right outside our door!
The forecast for our trip yesterday was to have 2 meter waves going to 1 meter in the morning and winds in the 18-20 knots range. So we got up early and left at 6:50 for the 67 NM trip. All was as forecasted
except the waves stayed with us most of the day.The first mate noticed the bilge pump going off in 15 minute intervals so she checked the bilge and we were taking back on the water the pump was pumping out. A new source... this time from the bow. We checked all the thru hull seacocks up there and no leakage, so the first mate assisted the bilge pump for hours in getting the water out. While this was happening, the captain had his hands full steering with 6 footers coming off our aft quarter and HD reefed down with the self tacking jib flying us along at 8 and 9 kts. At lunch time...here comes the smell of fresh baked bread, which the first mate had made for her belabored captain while feeling a little queasy due to the rough ride. We saw land around 2:00pm and docked in Kincardine at 6pm. By this time the winds had gone away completely and the waves were gentle 1 to 2 foot rollers. Good news... once at dock the incoming water stopped so we could get a much needed rest for the crew.
Investigated the source of our water this morning and found that the anchor locker (which was in the water quite often with the wave action) is not totally water tight from the main ship. It is designed to discharge any incoming water through scuppers in the bow. Looking this morning, these worked, but not enough to keep HD dry. We will add this to the list for our upcoming stop at the Tartan factory in two weeks.
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