Stats for 7/24/2018

Origin:  Kincardine, Ontario

Destination:  Tobermory, Ontario

Statue Miles:  77

Average Speed:  10.8 mph

Time on the Move:  7 1/2 hours

 

After a beautiful evening in Kincardine it was kind of hard to move on the next morning.  Actually, it was only a beautiful 20 minutes while the bagpiper was out, but other than that it was pouring rain, so I guess it wasn’t all that beautiful.  Also, part of the reason it was rough to move on was because we had a long way to go and the radar showed TONS of green (rain) and WAY TOO MUCH orange and red (storms).  We went back and forth for a while about if we should attempt it.   (We actually went so far as to looking up what to do if you’re caught in a thunderstorm on your boat, and can you believe they actually said to drive with a wooden spoon and put your other hand in your pocket in case of a lightening strike?!  That seemed crazy to me, but I guess the fact I was even searching that is kind of crazy too!  😉 )

Part of the push to move on was that if we didn’t go today, the weather was going to get nasty for at least a few more days and we really didn’t want to be stuck a few more days.  So we looked at the radar a while longer and decided that if we were strategic with our speed and distance from shore we probably would miss the storms, so we decided to go for it.  (Spoiler alert:  it was a great decision because we had beautiful weather the whole way!!)

 

We spent most of our run about 10-17 miles offshore, so there wasn’t much to look at.  We passed 5 boats the whole time (maybe?) and kept a close eye on our buddy boat, La Ciegal, who started off about 2 miles behind us but ended up passing us a few miles before Tobermory.  Toby and I played war (which he is GREAT at by the way–perfect 4 year old game for understanding greater than and less than), Mike and I made an awesome video, we also had a push up contest that pretty much ended in a tie.  I did some cleaning, the kids played dress up, watched a movie, and did some chores around the boat.  It was a beautiful day on Lake Huron. (I LOVE when I can say that LOL).

 

 

As we got closer to Tobermory, the landscape changed to be very rocky with lots of islands jutting out of the water (almost looks surreal because I’m not used to seeing big rocky islands).  There are beautiful Spruce trees everywhere and the water is amazingly clear!  Looking down, we could pretty clearly see the granite boulders at the bottom of the lake that were about 30 feet down.

 

 

The harbor is very busy because there are a lot of sightseeing boats that moor here (which are very big) and also a lot of recreational boats (big and medium).  For some reason the harbor was so full on a Tuesday that there weren’t any spots left for us, so we ended up having to raft off of a sightseeing boat that they only use on the weekends.  It sounded like a pain at first, but it’s actually pretty cool (at least I thought it was until I saw all the gigantic spiders moving from the old sightseeing boat over to my boat looking for new victims…).  The view from our sundeck is absolutely beautiful with a quaint yet busy “downtown” area filled with shops and restaurants surrounding the harbor.  The waterway is not big but it is bustling with sightseeing boats, recreational boats coming and going, and kayakers exploring in their rentals.  As soon as we were tied up, we cracked our celebratory “we made it” beer and Mike turned to me and said “in case I haven’t told you yet, I already love this trip!”  <3

We had hamburgers (thanks, Tammy!!) and hot dogs for dinner and then went exploring.  It was a busy night with ice cream, laundry, playground, walk to the end of the dock, pass by quite a few restaurants with cute themes that make me want to eat at all of them…  At the end of the dock we were admiring the fog (smoke?  There are lots of wildfires burning elsewhere in the Georgian Bay and sometimes we get a whiff of smoke…) that had rolled in and we were shocked to see a family of river otters spying on us.  As soon as our kids saw them they all shrieked and ran over to where the otters were.  The kids and otters played hide and seek for a bit with lots of attempts to get pictures and video of their tricks.  Eventually we saw the otters swimming away (to go find dinner, we guessed), but it was a great surprise.  So we rock hopped back to our boat and got ready for bed.

 

 

Wednesday was Hayley’s 7th birthday so she was the BIRTHDAY QUEEN for the day and got to do all the planning and choosing for the day.  We started off having breakfast with our friends The Wilson’s at “The Princess Hotel” because Hay said she is the birthday princess.  <3  Then we explored the awesome visitor center (centre?) and learned all about the Fathom Five Park including ecology and history of the area, local shipwrecks, and more.  It was a great stop!!

 

 

Next up, we were ready to get out in our dinghy and explore the area, especially because this is our ONLY day so far with no rain and more rain is forecasted tomorrow.  We were encouraged to explore some of the surrounding tourist attractions on our own since we have access to the dinghy, so we had a list of several options.  We started off heading to Big Tub Harbor (right nearby) to see some shipwrecks that are extremely easy to see in this clear water.  I’m not sure how close to the top these guys sit, but it sure seemed like we could reach out and touch them.

 

Next we thought we’d head towards The Grotto that everyone talks  about and see how the ride was along the shore in the open water.  It is pretty windy and choppy in this area usually and today was no different.  The Grotto is a cool underwater cave, but it is 10 miles away and that just wasn’t happening in that kind of chop.  At about mile 2 we found a cool anchorage and beach area to explore and then we headed back to Little Tub Harbor.

 

When we arrived, the ferry that runs to Manitoulin Island was just approaching so the birthday girl chose to dock the dinghy and have a slushy while we watched the excitement.  When we were first pulling in this harbor yesterday we were sure convinced that this was a cruise ship!!  It is HUGE!!  It runs back and forth all day on it’s 1 hour, 45 minute run taking people and vehicles of all sorts back and forth.  It is so interesting to watch the front of the ferry lift up and that is how the vehicles drive off and on the ferry.  We saw everything from bicycles to tour buses drive off–probably close to 200 vehicles!  Then it loaded back up again and started pulling away before the front hatch was even closed.  Mike said it looks like a transformer.  It definitely looks huge!

 

 

We had an awesome birthday dinner on the sundeck.  Pancakes with sprinkles or blueberries.  Doesn’t get much better than that when you’re 7.

After phone calls with the grandmas and some quick kayaking in the harbor we headed off to finish the night with some shopping and ice cream.  The kids loved the “book” store which actually had equal amounts of books and trinkets.  Colin was thrilled to get a new book and told me he wished that Mike and I actually owned the store.  Hayley bought candy because Hayley loves candy.  And Toby picked out silly putty, though he is disappointed now because it isn’t slime.

On Thursday we started off the day with boat chores including laundry, grocery shopping, and fixing our kitchen table/bed that we already broke.  The forecast for today was for rain the whole early part of the day, but it surprised us and was a beautiful day until about 9 pm.

 

We didn’t quite know what to do with the unexpected sunny day.  We ended up going for a walk along the other side of the harbor and found ourselves in the middle of a puppet show.  Ironically enough, Toby wore his turtle shell and ended up being the turtle character in the play.  Colin was a buffalo and Hayley was the bear.

 

 

 

After their amazing performance we tested out the brewery and had another gorgeous dinner on the sundeck.

 

After dinner Colin and Mike took a paddleboard and kayak to explore another shipwreck.  Somehow I guess Mike also worked in some cliff jumping into the bay.  Always up for an adventure!!

Toby, Hayley, and I went adventuring and found our friends at the playground.  It was a perfect end to the day!

Tomorrow we will move on north and attempt to anchor in a protected bay. We are ready to get off the grid a bit more, but this town is absolutely beautiful!  We probably won’t have good connectivity for a week or so, but I’ll update when we do!  Thanks for following!!