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Month: August 2018

4 Days in Charlevoix

4 Days in Charlevoix

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Stats for August 20, 2018

Origin:  Harbor Springs

Destination:  Charlevoix Marina

Distance:  18 miles

Speed:  8.4 mph

Time on the Move:  2 hours and 9 minutes

Goofballs!

We headed to Charlevoix to take cover from some windy and wavy weather headed our way on Tuesday.  Actually, the next 10 days or so looked kind of iffy, so we knew we were going to have to play it day by day.  That is one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to adjust to while living on a boat so far:  not being in total control of WHEN we go somewhere or WHERE we go.  I’m a planner by nature, so it is hard for me to not have a set plan and know where I will be tomorrow and next week and next month.  When the weather is iffy we are checking weather apps every hour or two and constantly adjusting our “plan.”  We’ve heard Lake Michigan can be especially temperamental this time of year, when summer turns to fall, so we are practicing patience and learning to choose comfortable weather days for travel.

We got to pass through our first drawbridge entering Charlevoix.
All the kids came up to the flybridge to watch us pass through the bridge.

I have to say, if you have to get stuck somewhere for a few days, Charlevoix is a great place to be!  My cousin Kim has been trying to get Mike and I to Charlevoix for a few years, and now I can see why.  There were so many things going on around town–I’m mostly interested in cheap or free things to do that would interest kids, and I felt like I hit the jackpot!  First of all, there was a Rainbow Trout pond at the end of our dock that kept the kids entertained every time we got on or off the boat.  And those poor things, of course Toby couldn’t just WATCH or FEED them, he also had to try to TOUCH and CATCH them.  After we got tied up and checked in, we went walking around town and made notes about cute stores, fun restaurants, and even a movie theater close by to keep us busy.  Plus, the Steins and Wilsons were also taking cover from weather in Charlevoix, so that was an added bonus!

We were lucky enough to have several visitors come to Charlevoix.  On our first night, Bill Baughman and his wife, June, family friends of Kelly’s, came by.  They live about 20 minutes from the marina and wanted to welcome us to town, check out the boat, and hear about our trip so far.  It was great to catch up with them, but of course the kids were apparently needy for attention, so they were acting like animals.  That happens sometimes….and usually when we have company, lol.  Mike’s parents, Larry and Cheryl, came to visit another day.  We haven’t seen them since right before we left home in July, so it was great to see Grandma and Grandpa!  We chatted on the boat and then took the kids to the playground to burn off some energy before heading to dinner at Lake Charlevoix Brewing Company.  After watching the Beaver Island ferry come in, Grandma and Grandpa got ready to head home.  The kids were disappointed that they weren’t staying overnight, but I think we might be able to convince them to stay on the boat next time they come visit.  Mike also had a friend he plays soccer with at home, Phil, stop by and say hi.  Phil happened to be in the area and read we were, too, so he came looking for us.  Thank you so much to everyone who visited!  It is great to see familiar faces and share a little bit of our looper-lifestyle with you!!

Walking to the playground with Grandma and Grandpa!!

Waiting for the ferry to come in after dinner.  AKA run, scream, and climb like crazy animals in the park.

From the moment we first tied up in Charlevoix I was amazed at how many Great Loop flags were in our marina (of course they are all smart and were hiding from the same weather we were, lol!).  I’m pretty sure there were 13 or so looper boats, so of course “docktails” was in order.  I think I went over this before when we had “rocktails,” but think *happy hour* on the dock or on rocks.  In this case, it was quite windy and blustery, so we moved it into the marina’s boater lounge.  It was great to visit with people from all over the country (even Australia!) all traveling the Great Loop.  We all come from slightly different backgrounds, have slightly different boats, and slightly different interests, but when it comes down to it, we all have the same interest in experiencing this amazing adventure.  It was hard to move past the first few people I met, because I wanted to hear more about their adventures and their successes and struggles, and likewise, they wanted to hear about ours.  I didn’t have time to get all the way around the room, but it sounds like docktails are a common occurance when loopers gather, so I’m already looking forward to the next one.

Lots of Looper flags on these docks!!

After docktails we wanted to walk out to the water to see if the waves were really as bad as they were forecasted to be.  Out in Lake Michigan by Charlevoix they were predicted to be 6 feet and further out in the lake they were expecting 9 footers.  As soon as we neared the river coming in to Charlevoix it was clear that there was some wicked weather.  We saw 3 foot waves coming down the channel which would be absolutely no fun to navigate while waiting for the bridge.  Watching the waves pound the shoreline, we were reminded of the amazing power of the water and how very small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things.  We were very thankful that we were tied up in the marina where we could barely feel any movement on the boat.  And we were also very thankful for a playground on the beach for the kids to burn off some of their energy.

This is what one of our weather resources looks like. We rely on this page to tell us wave height and direction at different times. LIFESAVER!! What did the pirates do before passage weather?!
Waves crashing down the channel.

Thankful for fun with friends!! Not so thankful for sand everywhere back on the boat!!

 

One windy afternoon we went to see “Christopher Robin” at the movie theater with the Wilsons.  It is the story of Pooh Bear’s friend and how his life changes as he grows up.  It had a great INNTW theme,  and I may have even teared up several times thinking about the magic of childhood and how fleeting those precious years are.  It made me extremely happy that we are on this trip together as a family while our children still think we’re amazing and magical, as well (usually, at least).

Hanging with Mia after our movie!

Another morning (the days that we were there all run together) the kids developed quite an entrepreneurial spirit.  Hayley asked if she could go to the end of the dock to sell rocks (yes….rocks) and some other toys she is apparently ready to part with.  I wasn’t sure she was going to be very successful, but she was pretty determined, so I let her have a go at it.  About half an hour later, some nice ladies came by our boat from Hayley’s stand.  They wanted to hear about our boat adventure and they told Mike that Hayley said she was trying to earn some gas money.  I’m pretty sure that was just a joke, but I decided I better go sit a little closer, just in case she was telling tall tales.  The boys decided to come with me and try selling lemonade.  As soon as those red solo cups showed up at the table, the kids had a line-up waiting to get some lemonade.  It was so cute to see how they handled it all.  Toby was in charge of greeting people and asking if they would like some lemonade.  Colin was in charge of sharing details, collecting money, and pouring lemonade.  Hayley would then ask if they were interested in purchasing anything from her “Lemonade Shop” which really meant rocks and knick-knack toys.  I was very impressed by how outgoing they were and how well they did explaining our boat adventure.  They handed out some boat cards to people who were interested in following our adventure, and I got lots of kudos for undertaking this journey.  It always amazes me how supportive and encouraging everyone is about our adventure.  People always seem to ask about school right away, but they quickly agree that the experiences our kids are having are priceless.  Many people add that they wish they would have had the guts or foresight to take their own families on a trip like this when their kids were young.  Older people, especially, seem to think this out-of-the-box way of life with the whole family is amazing.  Unless….maybe everyone is just lying to us and you all actually think we’re crazy and horrible parents, lol.  I thought we would experience a few more challenging personalities along the way, but I appreciate everyone showing us your supportive side!!

Look at that wild bunch!! <3 Who could say no to lemonade?!

 

One last big adventure was our walk to see the mushroom/hobbit houses.  There is a whole block right by the marina that was built or remodeled by Earl Young in the mid 1900’s.  He wanted the houses to look like they just popped right out of the ground, and I’d say he did a pretty good job.  They say he didn’t have formal plans drawn up for these houses, but instead he drew sketches in the dirt at the site.  I thought the houses were beautiful and mystical, but I’m not sure I’d want strangers walking by my house taking pictures all the time.

This one has windows from a Polish castle. Beautiful details!

I love that there is a gnome hidden on the roof of this one!

The rest of our time in Charlevoix was spent taking bike rides, eating ice cream, visiting the library (mostly to keep the kids busy while we used wifi), shopping at the farmer’s market, going to a concert in the park, and taking care of boat/life chores.  It was a great 4 days, but we were getting restless to move on, so as soon as the smallest weather window appeared, we took it.  Probably should have waited another day in hindsight, but more about that in the next blog.  Thanks for following along and reading about our adventures!!

We spent some time at the beautiful library taking care of some online chores/business for mom and dad and playing/exploring for the kids.
This library was so much fun for the kids–lots of areas for imagination!!

 

Here the kids are “driving a boat” with lots of buttons for them to push. Not much of a stretch of the imagination there! There was even a book sale upstairs where we stocked up on some new goodies!
Enjoying ice cream AND live music at the same time!! 
This guy played a mean harmonica and had a whole belt full of them!!
I scream, you scream!
Concert in the park, which also happened to be like a concert on the sundeck. This marina is in an awesome location!!
Toby gets lots of questions about his mohawk these days!! Most recently he has a bandaid stuck to the side of his head that he won’t pull off, so he really looks like a wild man!  He eats up the attention!
We rocked out to some good tunes. Rock Lobsta!!
Watching a magic trick at the farmer’s market. This kid was pretty good!
Learning about wool, yarn, and turning one into the other. I can’t tell you much about it, but this lady was great!
Hayley found a clown. I found crepes. It was a good trip!
Toby helped me figure out what day it was….
Boat chores…Mike is always cramming his body into some tight compartment to fix something. This happened to be the horn. All set with a nice new LOUD double trumpet.
A beautiful sunrise view from our sundeck.

 

1 Night in Harbor Springs

1 Night in Harbor Springs

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Stats for August 19, 2018

Origin:  Mackinaw City Marina

Destination:  Harbor Springs Anchorage

Distance:  53.7 miles

Speed:  8.8 mph

Time on the Move:  6 hours and 12 minutes

After we said goodbye to our cousins and Grandma Hays, we set our sights on the next adventure.  Passing underneath the Mackinaw Bridge was next on the list for the day.  The Mighty Mac is a 5 mile long suspension bridge separating the upper peninsula and lower peninsula of Michigan that was finished in 1957.  It is HUGE!!  I am not a big fan of heights and even going underneath the bridge was a little creepy to me (but then I’m also afraid of big boats, so go figure…).  One cool fact is that the body of water east of the bridge is Lake Huron and west of the bridge is Lake Michigan.  There are no other physical boundaries separating the lakes, just the bridge that crosses about 200 feet above the water–seems like it’s actually the same lake to me?!

The water was calm and flat for our trip, so it was easy to sit back and enjoy the view.  As we got close, there was a big RV crossing the bridge (in the pic above) and I waved out our front window, and sure enough, the passenger waved right back!  I wish it could have been the Hayses on their way back to Minnesota I was waving to, but they crossed the bridge about a half hour before we went underneath.

After we passed the bridge we finalized our destination for the day.  We were hoping to head to Beaver Island but there was some bad weather predicted on Tuesday, so we figured we should get to a place where we could hunker down and be safe if the weather actually kicked up.  We didn’t want to leave just one short day for Beaver Island, so we bypassed it and headed south to Harbor Springs.

One of Colin’s new favorite pastimes.

The 4 of us (before Toby was born) visited Harbor Springs about 5 summers ago with the extended Addis family, great family friends of Kelly’s.  So we had some familiarity with the town and the area, but then again, everything is different by water.  The ride was fairly uneventful, though it was quite scenic passing by beaches (SANDY BEACHES!!  Not rocks!!) and beautiful cottages mansions along the water.  As we pulled in to Little Traverse Bay the amount of boat traffic increased significantly and Mike and I struggled to find our anchorage with all the people on the water.  We ended up pulling right next to the City Beach in a good spot.

There she goes!

Hayley was off to shore in her kayak before we knew it.  The boys were exhausted from days spent playing with cousins, so one was sleeping and one was too crabby to play.  Mike worked on fixing our anchor light that gave out about a week ago, and sure enough, he had it fixed before too long.  Working up on top of the sundeck inspired him to jump off of our hard top for a little swim (about a 15+ foot jump!).  After a bit, the wind shifted and we ended up moving out a bit further into the bay for some more space.  It was a quiet night as we were all exhausted from cousin camp!

The next morning we went exploring in Harbor Springs.  A playground on the beach, cookies, painted rocks everywhere, and walking around all the beautiful houses and flowers.  It is truly a beautiful town, but there is only so much to do if you don’t want to buy anything and you don’t want to eat anything.  We made reservations in Charlevoix for that afternoon, and went back to the boat to finish up some chores.  Hayley and Toby swam off the swim platform, and we headed out.  Thanks for a cozy night and beautiful flowers, Harbor Springs!!  Thanks for following, everyone!!

Heading in to town on the dinghy.
Ready to explore on scooters. Check out all those dinghies!!
We loved Tom’s Mom’s Cookies! I mean, look at those smiles!! You can tell they’re asking for SOMETHING!! 😉
Painted rocks everywhere!!

Colin’s was a big ear!

The flowers were beautiful all around town!
4 Nights at Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City

4 Nights at Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City

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Stats for August 15, 2018

Origin:  St Ignace Harbor

Destination:  Mackinac Island Marina

Distance:  6.1 miles

Speed:  7.9 mph

Time on the Move:  46 minutes

 

Mackinac Island and Cousin Camp, here we come!!  Ever since my brother, Brad, and his wife, Nancy, started having sweet babies in Minnesota, and Mike and I started having kiddos in Michigan, it was one of my parents’ goals to get us together regularly so the grandbabies would all know each other.  We call our 2 or 3 visits a year “Cousin Camp” and it is definitely a highlight of being a Hays or Herbon kid.  Cousin Camp usually involves lots of swimming, adventuring, beach time, boat rides, ice cream, play time, and movie nights–pretty much everything that is awesome about being a kid (or being an adult, really).  This year’s Cousin Camp had to be carefully planned out to fit into the INNTW timeline and also work for everyone else involved.  Mackinac Island seemed to be a logical choice and it turned out to be the perfect spot for our kids to play and explore together.

INNTW arrived on the island just a short bit before Grandma Hays showed up.  The kids were so excited to see Grandma.  One of the first things Tobin told her was that Hayley is 7 now, and he is 4 1/2, and it’s true, they both have had birthdays or half-birthdays since they’ve seen her.   That kid cracks me up.  Colin enjoyed challenging her in chess on his new magnetic chess board (essential if you’re playing chess on a boat!).

These kids sure love their Grandma!!

After visiting and catching up with Grandma, we left her to relax and unwind peacefully, and we took off on a bike ride around the island.  The kids did great (with Toby in the bike trailer) except for a quick minute when Tobin nearly got run down and squashed flat by a speeding biker, but luckily, he avoided that fate by milliseconds.

Climbing 207 steps up Arch Rock

Did you know Native Americans believed that Arch Rock was the gateway to the spirit world? Awesome!

We picked up Grandma and had ice cream for dinner, followed by tag and playing in the park.  You just can’t beat a day like that.  Unless….you have a Grandma babysitter on board and you get to go out for dinner and drinks w/the hubby!  Thanks, Grandma!!

Get us to the ice cream!!

 

The next morning the kids were BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS wondering when their cousins were going to show up.  Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long because they came over on one of the first ferry rides of the day and Cousin Camp had officially started!!  We relaxed on the boat and the kids made a huge mess getting out every single toy played with all their toys for a while.  We decided to ride around the island and check out all the sights.  It is just such a beautiful ride, it is hard to take it all in.

 

We had a tandem bike, a tagalong, a bike trailer, and 4 regular bikes in this caravan. WATCH OUT!!
Swim break!

 

After our 8.2 mile ride, we weren’t sure whether to go out to eat or head back to the putting greens we saw right next to the water.  Somehow food always wins out.  We even snuck in some fudge taste testing while we waited for our table.

We also snuck in some souvenir shopping…

The girls don’t LOOK thrilled here, but they I’m pretty sure they were just taking it all in.  We had a great meal at the Pink Pony and got to hear some great live music.  We also got to smell Bounce or Downy the whole time because we were right next to the laundry room….but there could be worse things I suppose.

After dinner we let the kids run wild on the putting greens and catch a million frogs.  I’m sure the people having dinner here were thrilled with us.

 

What a fun first day of Cousin Camp!!  The Hayses went back on the ferry and we went to bed exhausted but ready for another full day of fun tomorrow!

On day #2 we started off with a sweltering trip up to the Fort.  It was a looooong hot walk uphill.  And did I mention it was hot?  My family was taking pictures of me because I was sweating so much.  It was hot.  But they had cannons and rifles, so it was a trade off, ya know?

Hayley was chosen to be the “finger patch” girl. She had to wear a finger of a glove and cover the hole while they prepared the cannon. That part was okay, but she didn’t know what to think when they asked her if she’d ever been shot out of a cannon before. Luckily, she was spared.
The kids checked out the old-fashioned schoolhouse.  They were BEGGING to go to school…
Our Christmas card photo is checked off the list…

We played some old-fashioned games in the yard.

There is so much history at the fort–we got to learn about the weapons they used, watched a few reenactments, searched to see if any of our ancestors were ever stationed at the Fort, and saw lots of cool, old artifacts. After lots of exploring we were ready to move on.  Lunch was in order, so we grilled at the marina while the kids played on the hill and founds lots of frogs (of course!)

 

Mike’s Uncle Jerry and Aunt Julie Kraft arrived on the island to get ready for a wedding, and they stopped by to visit and check out INNTW.  Thank you for the visit, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Julie!!  Afterwards we were hot, so we went biking in search of a place to swim and cool off.

We found a perfect spot where we could see the Mackinaw Bridge and watch the ferries cruise past.  The kids loved swimming, examining the rocks, and building their own miniature Fort Mackinac.  As we were swimming I saw this guy walking down the boardwalk, and even from afar, I was sure that it was my old friend Justin Jeannot from high school.  He lives in Colorado now, but I knew his family was in town for a wedding, so we took a chance and all started calling his name.  He tried hard to ignore us, but eventually turned around to see who in the world kept calling his name.  It was great to see him and meet his wife, Jenny, and son, Jameson (while in our swim suits, no less!!).  What a small world!!

After a refreshing swim we needed some refreshing ice cream (pretty much for dinner–again!!).  On our way we ran into Justin’s brother, Brandon, and his wife, Cody, and their 2 children.  It was great to see friends from so long ago!!

At this point, Svea had already decided what pajamas of Hayley’s she was wearing that night, so the decision was final that the Hayses were staying overnight on INNTW!!  The kids got jammies & comfy’s on and got tucked in with popcorn, apples, and a movie.  Having your cousins visit is SO MUCH FUN!!

They really are having fun…maybe the flash was just bright?!

 

The adults had our own fun on the sundeck, and Justin and Jenny even came over to catch up a bit more.  This was just the warm up for the Hayses and Herbons who closed down the Horn Bar after a night of wicked dancing and 80’s music and scarfed down a pizza around 2:30am.  Hey–fun is what Cousin Camp is all about!!  And we had Grandma in town to stay with the kiddies!!

The next morning came early.  We had a morning of chores and fun in preparation for leaving Mackinac Island and heading for the Hayses’ campground.

I love that the kids woke up and instantly got out the books!

We snuck in another bike ride and some souvenir shopping before it was time to go.

Toby was on his own bike today which called for lots of rest breaks for him and Daddy.
He got to help make his own skull t-shirt. The guy at the shop could tell Toby is the coolest kid between the haircut and the graphic choice. 😉

 

Stats for August 18, 2018

Origin:  Mackinac Island Marina

Destination:  Mackinaw

Distance:  7.7 miles

Speed:  9.7 mph (we had to speed up and maneuver a bit to avoid wicked wakes from all those ferries!)

Time on the Move:  48 minutes

Soon enough, it was time to head out.  Grandma Hays, Brad, and Nancy all took shuttles back to Mackinaw City.  The Herbons, Jack, and Svea rode on INNTW to a spot right next to the Hayses’ campsite at Mackinaw Mill Campground.  It was awesome because we were SO CLOSE to their campsite that the kids got to play in the water and explore the Hays camper.  We had a nice afternoon of visiting, complete with pizza for dinner and s’mores over the bonfire for dessert!

The kids thought it was super fun to have cousins on board!

The boys always put Jack in the middle so both Colin and Tobin can be next to him. <3?”
The kids kayaked to shore from the boat.

We were close enough to shore that it was easy to keep an eye on INNTW…and that Mighty Mac!

These girlies had so much fun together!

Mike has been ordering BUNCHES of stuff from Amazon and sending it to my mom to bring with her when she came here.  It was not so much fun getting it to the dinghy and into the boat, but it was lots of fun opening everything!!

 

Back to the bon fire fun!!

We had to burn every bit of paper we could find to keep the fire going long enough for us to watch the fireworks in St. Ignace.

It was a fun night, but of course we stayed too long.  Which meant we were dealing with all kinds of meltdowns by the time we dinghied back to the boat and got the kids tucked in.  We had a rough night with boat chop slapping against the hull.  It wasn’t windy and it wasn’t wavy, but it was LOUD which made it a little unnerving.  I was awake from 1-5ish listening to the waves and peeking out the window to make sure we weren’t moving.  This was our view when we woke up.  Looks innocent enough, but we lost an oar and a bumper off our dinghy over night and one of the two ties used to secure it came loose.  We now have greater respect for actual “anchorages” and not just “anchoring” anywhere.

 

For our last adventure of Cousin Camp, we went out to breakfast.  The kids had fun sitting at their own table, and the adults had fun actually being able to talk since the kids were at their own table.  We started planning the next Cousin Camp and retelling the stories from this one.  I love this tradition!!

The Hayses and their rig!
You know they’re sad it’s over when they actually stand nicely and squint into the sun for a picture!
Until next time, cousins!! <3

 

Thanks for reading this super long post.  After 4 days with so many people we love there was a lot to share!!  On to the next adventure…

1 Night in St. Ignace

1 Night in St. Ignace

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Stats for August 14, 2018

Origin:  Lime Island State Rec Area

Destination:  St Ignace Harbor

Distance:  49.8 miles

Speed:  9.0 mph

Time on the Move:  5 hours and 33 minutes

 

We have had our sights set on making it to Mackinac Island on 8/15 since before we ever started our journey in order to meet my brother, Brad, and his family from Minneapolis.  Over the last few days, our goal has been to get progressively closer so that we wouldn’t have far to travel in case rough weather popped up.  Today feels like the last long run of this leg of our journey before we are **so close** to our destination and deadline.

The day started out calm and smooth and we enjoyed the views cutting around Drummond Island.  It is kind of difficult to see here, but there appears to be a house that is the front of a freighter or very large ship.  Maybe you know more about this house, but we were amazed by it, appearing to just come right out of the trees.  I think I could live there.  <3

 

As we got into the open water, it was a bit choppier, but the waves were coming right at our bow, so the ride wasn’t too bad.  We saw about a dozen boats or so along the way which kept things interesting.  The closer we got to St. Ignace, the more the wind picked up.  Our friends, The Steins, arrived just before us and let us know that it was quite windy for docking at St. Ignace that day.  Luckily they were there, along with a dock hand, to catch our lines and help reel us in.

The Mighty Mac through the haze.
INNTW all tied up tight in her slip.

 

St. Ignace proved to be such a cute town with a boardwalk along the water and heading out on the pier.  The kids loved the splash pad and the playground.  We all loved watching the ferries run back and forth to Mackinac constantly.  The highlights were probably half-off pizza night, live music everywhere, and haircuts for the boys from “Captain’s Cuts.”

Hay girl in front of Mackinac Island!
This was bliss.
Check out the size of that rudder!
Captain Cuts is at it again!! Thanks for the back-to-school cuts, Daddy!

We’re coming for ya tomorrow, Mackinac Island!!  Arrrrrgh!!!

Complete with high heels!! <3

Thanks for reading along!!

1 Day on Lime Island–Back in the USA!

1 Day on Lime Island–Back in the USA!

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Stats for August 13, 2018

Origin:  Blind River Marina

Destination:  Lime Island State Recreation Area, USA

Distance:  53.9 miles

Speed:  8.8 mph

Time on the Move:  6 hours and 8 minutes

 

After cutting yesterday’s trip short to get potato chips, we knew had to get a move on today.  We were up and at ’em early and on the water around 8am.

This view is not too shabby for eating breakfast cereal!!

We were on the water for quite a while today but it seemed to go by quickly.  Reading, dressing up, eating, looking for boats, Kelly running up and down the stairs a million times….these are the things that keep us busy underway…

A little lesson on doing the Floss…
Our resident nurse, studying up on the items in one of our 937459845 first aid kits.
Not too shabby of a view for some Canadian potato chip taste testing.

To see our Canadian potato chip taste testing video click here!!  YAY potato chips!!

Finally we reached Lime Island, and lucky for us, we had a lime on board for our “we made it” cocktails.  We used a new app to essentially video chat with a border patrol agent to get cleared back in to the US.  She said we could not bring any limes in from Canada, so we were forced to eat it up anyway.  🙂

Lime Island is right on the St. Mary’s River which is the main river headed up to Sault Ste Marie and the locks, so we had a lot of freighter traffic passing by. Great entertainment!!

After hearing that we were cleared back in to the US and that we were back in Michigan, Tobin wanted to know if our boat trip was over since we were back home.  I tried to explain that we still have a year to go, but how in the world does that make any sense when you’re 4?!

Lime Island used to be a coal refueling dock for ships coming up and down the river, but it also has a very interesting and varied history involving limestone kilns, families working and living on the island, a former schoolhouse, a 30 room hotel, bunker tanks holding oil to refuel ships, and a ship catching on fire and running aground which has now turned in to part of the breakwall that we tied up to.  We went through the Lime Island Historical Museum which is in a Victorian house that was pushed across the ice in 1911 and still remains standing there today.  Hayley was in history-buff heaven!!

Here is INNTW, tied up to the breakwall that was formed after a ship caught fire and ran aground 1907.  It provided great protection from the wake of the freighters.
Here’s that same INNTW closer up–do you think we have enough toys?!!?  Mike calls this his garage.  😉

After exploring the museum and learning about the history of the island, we went on a hike where we acquired 6 teeny tiny toads.  They provided good entertainment for the kids and distraction from hiking through the woods.  Thank you, toads!!

We ended up exploring this rocky beach with lots of broken glass pieces. There was a lot of garbage that had washed ashore, but I was amazed by how much glass there was. Colin is holding his tiny frogs in his little shirt pouch, just like a kangaroo!!

 

After dinner we chatted with another boat that was using the dock at Lime Island as an overnight stopping spot as well.  It is so great to meet different people on this journey and hear their stories.  Quite often they have something in common with the INNTW theme, and this family was no different.

Hayley’s doing some math work while I watch freighters pass by. Such a neat spot!!

We enjoyed watching these two freighters cross paths right in front of us with the sun setting behind them.

Here you can see the two about to cross paths.

We were just settling down after taking those pictures when Mike noticed something in the water that he thought looked like a German Shepard.  I assured him it had to be a bird, but after watching it a bit longer we realized a deer was just about to our side of the island after crossing the 3 mile wide river.  Of course we all ran out there to see it and we may have scared it away.  It wouldn’t have been able to climb up the seawall where we were, anyway, so we hope he was just moving up river to an easier landing spot.

Can you see the speck of deer here?

After the highs and lows of seeing a deer swimming across the river and then fearing we may have scared it away to a horrible fate, we were greeted with another surprise.  This cruise ship, The Pearl Mist, was cruising up the river.  Thanks to Google we are able to search all the boat names we see and learn more about them.  The Pearl Mist was on an 11 day cruise from Toronto to Chicago and ended up docking with us in Mackinac Island, as well.  I was amazed the sides and decks weren’t higher to account for wind and waves.

 

 

With all this excitement, it’s no wonder we couldn’t get the kids in bed!!  😉  After the Pearl Mist passed us by, things settled down for the night.

Thanks for reading along!!

1 Night in Blind River Marina

1 Night in Blind River Marina

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Stats for August 12, 2018

Origin:  Beardrop Harbor Anchorage

Destination:  Blind River Marina

Distance:  17.2 miles

Speed:  8.4 mph

Time on the Move:  2 hours and 2 minutes

 

We rushed out of Beardrop because the weather was great for traveling and we have a hard deadline of arriving in Mackinac Island on 8/15 for cousin camp.  We didn’t really want to leave, but we haven’t wanted to leave most places we’ve stayed.  The weather was right, so off we went.  The interesting thing about today is that we weren’t really sure where we were going.  We had about 5 possibilities mapped out, but we just couldn’t decide so we figured we would just pick one along the way.  All 5 were in the same general area and they were all about 40+ miles away, as we were hoping to put some miles behind us.  Sure enough, just when we get in the groove, moving along, Mike says “let’s stop and buy some potato chips.”  I couldn’t believe he said that ridiculousness, but he has this crazy idea he needs chips for and apparently he likes to practice docking.  I would rather keep moving and avoid the stress of docking, but I quickly lost that battle.  It’s funny how just when you think you have a *plan* you end up on a completely different path.

So we ended up docked at Blind River about 4 pm on Sunday.  The friendly dockhands were worried the grocery store might already be closed, but we hoped for the best and hightailed it to find some chips in town about 20 minutes away.  Sure enough, the grocery store was open until 5 and the beer store was open until 6, so we had plenty of time for a quick ice cream stop before we began our chores.

This was a long walk through lots of busy-ness. We felt like we were back in civilization from being in the middle of nowhere.

Now, our plan is to pick up some quick provisions and be on our way quick as quick can be.  However, ice cream always fits into our schedule.  Ice cream turns to grocery shopping, which turns to fried chicken for dinner.  We still had to make it to the beer store before 6 and we did pass a few playgrounds on the way.  We quickly realized our “quick stop” was becoming quite lengthy and that our shopping habits were healthier than our muscles that needed to carry all of this stuff back to the boat.

To make a long story short, we ended up stopping by the playground for a bit and hauling way too many groceries all around Blind River.  With every car or truck that drove by I would secretly wish they would stop and give us a ride back to the boat.  Surely people could see we had bought way too many potato chips and beer, right?!  Just about 5 minutes from the marina some very nice ladies stopped and offered us a ride.  I was kind of shy about accepting but Mike said he had just silently said a prayer hoping someone would stop, so he figured he couldn’t turn them down.  The kids and I finished the scoot back to the marina empty handed while Mike lived a life of luxury getting a ride to the marina.  THANK YOU for the ride ladies, and I sure do hope you’re following.  🙂  What nice people there are in Blind River!

We enjoyed a delicious fried chicken dinner on the boat, put away the groceries and the chips, and got ready for bed (after another frog catching session–of course.  This kid is a maniac!)  Mike tried fishing and I read on the sundeck.  There were lots of people coming back to the marina on a Sunday night after enjoying their boats for the weekend.  I’m sure most of them were getting ready to head back to “normal life” the next day with jobs and houses and day care and such.  It was a great feeling to know we would be off on another adventure the next day and not heading in to work at all.  Every day is a lot of work on the boat, but it sure is a lot of fun!!  Thanks for reading about our spontaneous stop for chips that lead to another night in a marina!

I sure wish sunset pictures did any justice to what it actually looked like! This sunset what a huge glowing orange ball in a hazy purple sky. Beautiful.
1 Night in Beardrop Harbor

1 Night in Beardrop Harbor

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Stats for August 11, 2018

Origin: Benjamin Islands Anchorage

Destination: Beardrop Harbor Anchorage

Distance:  23.8 miles

Speed:  8.3 mph

Time on the Move:  2 hours and 52 minutes

It is time to move west and we’ve heard about an anchorage called Beardrop Harbor from a few different people, so we decided to check it out.  It was set to be a pretty good ride with light winds and small chop coming right at our bow. That’s pretty much what we got the whole time. The winds picked up a bit along our way, but we cut through a channel into more protected waters for a smoother ride.

The boys played some go fish. I love when they play games nicely together, though it doesn’t usually last very long.
Mike spent some time digging around in the engine room–always something to figure out down here!

Pulling in to Beardrop we noticed some hidden rocks that were marked in person with floating plastic milk jugs, but they were not marked on our charts. That made us a little uneasy moving forward, but there were about 6 other boats in a relatively large space, so plenty of room to maneuver around and anchor. After we were set, we hunkered down and enjoyed some quiet reading/relaxing time.

I love quiet time!! And relaxing on this sundeck!
We usually have dinner on the sundeck to take in the beautiful scenery.

The wind died down after dinner so we went dinghy exploring across the channel in John Harbor. This was another anchorage that was recommended to us and it was equally beautiful. By now the water was calm like glass and the sun was low in the sky. It was a gorgeous night to go out for a ride. We enjoyed looking for animals and found some beavers that escaped long before we could get close. There was even more room in this harbor and we enjoyed the beautiful trees and reflections on the water.

The kids love reaching over the side to feel the water.
Smooth like glass!

On the way back into Beardrop we decided to take the back entrance into the anchorage. This path is charted at about 10 feet deep, but we hit a rock about 18″ down. Hayley was sitting in the front and she said “BIG ROCK! BIG ROCK!” As soon as I saw it I told Mike “Quick, move your guy!” What I meant was for Mike to unlock the motor so that it would instantly raise if we hit anything. I’m not sure if it was my cryptic, panicked directions for what he should do, or the fact that it took about 3 seconds total from sighting of rock to hitting of rock, but we didn’t get the “guy” up fast enough and we had a little scrape. We were going slow enough that there wasn’t any danger and no damage, except to our feelings of preparedness and confidence in our reaction times. The bottom here was mostly mucky and it kind of looked like a shallow swamp. Who knows where in the world that giant rock came from?! So, Mike let the kids row a bit through the swampy areas. They loved competing to see who could make their oars go faster and we really just turned in circles. I was creeped out that we were sitting ducks for some hungry bear or millions of mosquitoes. Eventually the rowing got old and we started the motor up again to head to INNTW.  Always an adventure around here!!

Rowing sounds easier than it is!

Another beautiful sunset!

The next day it was a great day for exploring, so we headed out on the paddleboards and kayaks. Mike and Toby went looking for beavers again. The big kids and I found some giant rocks to climb around on. It is fun watching them chart a path to get us to the top of the mountain. The views from way up there were amazing and the water was so calm. We saw several other kayaks and dinghys out exploring and the kids pretended they were pirates trying to fend off invaders, but overall, this anchorage was much more quiet and peaceful than the Benjamins. We swam in the water right off of the boat before we packed up the toys again. Hayley is interested in learning to dive, so I showed her some tricks to try to get her comfortable putting her head in first but that didn’t work out.  She sure jumps in like a champ, though! Toby also jumped in and swam around several times. Mike swam and got the toys tucked away so we could get started to our next destination. We weren’t exactly sure where we were headed for the day, but we wanted to take advantage of good weather to keep moving west. Exploring Beardrop Harbor was fun, but it was time to leave.

Toby has become quite the independent paddler!
Those beavers certainly are busy!!

Thanks for following along!!

Quick stop in Mudge Bay and 2 days in The Benjamins

Quick stop in Mudge Bay and 2 days in The Benjamins

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Stats for August 9, 2018

Origin:  Little Current Town Docks

Detour:  Kagawong Marina in Mudge Bay

Destination:  South Benjamin Island Anchorage

Distance:  31.9 miles

Speed:  8.4 mph

Time on the Move:  3 hours and 47 minutes

 

While it was great to be in a marina for a few nights, we were ready to get back on the water and see some new things.  We’ve been hearing about a path in Kagawong that leads to a waterfall where you can even go swimming.  This sounded like a perfect adventure for our crew, so we wanted to do our best to squeeze it in.  We also wanted to hook back up with our kid boat looper friends, so we had to do some fancy scheduling to make it work.

We left Little Current early in the morning to head about 2 hours west to Mudge Bay so we could hike to see Bridal Veil Falls.  The skies were overcast for our trip and it was a bit chilly, but it was a great ride with a sweatshirt on, cuddled under a blanket.  We remembered that there is a Cruisers Net broadcast out of Little Current every morning at 9 am where you can hear news, weather, and other local info, as well as boat check-ins from around the Georgian Bay/North Channel area.  We turned it on and listened to info about the fires in the area, a missing boat the Coast Guard was looking for, and then came the boat check in.  Hayley did a great job calling in and announcing that INNTW was on it’s way to Mudge Bay.  Aunt Marti–you would have loved it!

On our way to Bridal Veil Falls.

Soon enough we pulled up to the marina in Kagawong and they were nice enough to let us tie up for a few hours so we could do the hike.  The sun came out and we had a nice walk on the path to the falls.  It was right along a river with several other smaller waterfalls along the way.  It was a nice, easy walk compared to the last few hikes we’ve been on and I was appreciative of that!  We passed a stone maze, giant chess board and tree maze along the way.  Some of the boardwalk was painted with ideas of gross motor activities for you to do in that section of the path ie:  twirl, hop, skip, stomp & roar, etc.  It was a fun walk!

When we got close to the falls you could hear the water crashing over the edge.  The kids were so excited and Colin and Hayley walked right in and even went behind the falls.  I just wanted to put my stuff down so I could start taking pictures of them and swim.  Hayley loved swimming under the strong waterfall area with her goggles on.  Toby did a great job swimming, too, but he was a bit more interested in the people who were catching crayfish and minnows in the pond area.  Colin did a mix of swimming, catching creatures, and exploring.  I was impressed that the kids were so interested in swimming because the water was quite powerful and the breeze and spray close up was intense.  What a cool experience for them!

Colin and Hayley went behind the falls as soon as we arrived.
Creature catcher at work.
Teamwork!
Hayley and I swam right up under the falls. It was pretty strong and windy right there!!
We walked around behind the falls and the power of the water was overwhelming!

 

After going behind the falls, Toby wanted to give swimming a try. He did great, though he seemed more thrown off by the slippery, uneven rocks at the bottom than by the water pouring down.

 

On the hike back we hunted for frogs, saw a few garter snakes, and had a quick stop at the playground.  When we got back to the boat we had ice cream at the marina and then we were on our way again.  This time we had about an hour and a half of cruising to get to our destination in the Benjamin Islands.

Creature catching on the way back to the boat.

In all my research about the Georgian Bay and North Channel, the Bustard Islands and Benjamin Islands kept coming up over and over again as favorites for anchoring.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to get to the Bustards due to the wildfires, so we were anxious to get to the Benjamins and our friends were anchored there, so that was an added bonus.

Mike and I were amazed at the scenery as we cruised north and the kids were amazed by some movie they were watching down below.  On these short trips, the kids haven’t been coming up top to take in the islands much (unless I make them), but we figure that being wowed by nature kind of comes with age.  We also enjoy the peace and quiet and we need to concentrate on our path to avoid hitting 2383097392 rocks everywhere, so it works out just fine.

Beautiful weather!

Upon arrival in our chosen anchorage in between South and North Benjamin Islands, we found that there were tons of people already anchored there, which doesn’t make for fun anchoring.  Throw in a dash of wind and friends you would *prefer* to be near, and it can be a bit overwhelming.  As our friend says “sometimes you watch the show, and sometimes you are the show.”  So true.  Luckily, we weren’t too much of a show, but we did have to attempt 2 locations before we found a good spot with enough swing room to feel comfortable.  Unfortunately we weren’t too close to our friends, but the kids instantly wanted to paddle over to go play.  The anchorage was surrounded by big, smooth, sloping rocks, many without trees.  It was beautiful, but honestly we’re getting pretty spoiled with beautiful anchorages.  After a few hours of swimming, rock climbing, paddling, and nail painting, it was time to take the kids home for dinner and some uno before bed.

Watching to make sure Hayley made it to her destination safely.
Uno before bed!
Another gorgeous sunset!

That night was somewhat stressful with many boats in the harbor and some wind blowing us around a bit.  Every time I wake up at anchor I look outside and wonder what direction we’re facing and where the closest big rocks are.  The stars here are amazing, so that is a good part about waking up worrying if our anchor is moving.

The next day was filled with water fun, creature catching (more frogs for Colin and Tobin!!), rock climbing, and friends.  The anchorage cleared out a bit and it was small enough and open enough that I felt comfortable letting the kids paddle around and explore the water and on the rocks as long as they stuck with a buddy and wore their life jackets.  It was great fun for them and awesome to see their creativity and games they came up with.  Some of the girls created a whole “house” on one island and the boys dubbed another island “Frog Island” because…you guessed it…lots of frogs to be caught and tormented.

We paddled over to the rocks to go exploring and we were amazed by the scenery on the other side–many more rocky islands and beautiful, calm water!  This place is magical!

 

Watch out, frogs!! Here he comes!!
Feeling lucky!
Kids off exploring! It’s not a quiet anchorage when we’re around!!
What an amazing place to have lunch–on the bow of the boat!
I think I could get used to this! Uno for an after lunch sun break.
The boys went on a fishing adventure. No fish, but one frog!! And one container of worms dumped in the bottom of the dinghy! 🙁

In the evening we all gathered on one of the big rocks to do some planning about what the next day would bring and to catch up on the day’s fun.  Another boat in the anchorage brought their 9 year old son over to play with all the kids and it was great to get to know them.  Erin and Tim were lots of fun to talk to and swap parenting/boating/life stories with.  After a while, we moved the whole gang over to another island for “rocktails” which basically means happy hour on a rock.  Everyone brought snacks and drinks–who needs dinner after rocktails?!  😉  I brought chips, cookies, and twizzlers, so you all know how hard I worked preparing our snacks.  The Herbons topped off our evening with a climb up the LOOOOONG sloping rock at one end of the anchorage to see the view from the top.

Hiking up the long, steady slope! Whew!
It was a looooong hill!!
INNTW in the background. Toby is such a mess after running and climbing all day!! He insists on wearing a shirt when he swims and the kids found old burnt logs and smeared them all over their faces…some Lord of the Flies stuff going on here. Just had to explain why he is such a mess.
The Benjamin Islands are a must stop in the North Channel!!
The kids are all such a mess in this picture–more dirty faces and crying/happy/crazy from exhaustion. Mama says “bedtime!!!”
I just can’t resist a sunset picture!!

The next morning we waited out a short rainstorm and then went back to Frog Island for some more visiting with the neighbor boats and more kid fun before we all packed up and headed off in our own direction.  Our other kid boat looper friends were headed to a marina and starting their trek to Mackinac Island, and our new friends were headed east, back the way we had come.  INNTW decided to take a recommendation we’ve heard from several people and head to a new anchorage for more exploring.

We loved the Benjamins and I honestly wish we would have done more exploring around some of the other islands, but we just don’t have enough time to do it all here.  Plus the kids had such a perfect set-up in this anchorage, it was hard to leave.  Next time we will have to come back and do a month or so just in the North Channel.  Thanks for following and I’ll keep updating as I’m able to with service!!

2 Days in Little Current

2 Days in Little Current

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Stats for August 7, 2018

Origin: Marianne Cove Anchorage in Baie Fine

Destination: Little Current

Distance:  16.4 miles

Speed:  7.7 mph

Time on the Move:  2 hours 7 minutes

 

We left Marianne Cove after putting away ALL the boat toys (we’ve heard we win the award for most water toys out when we anchor–I’m not surprised!) and having lunch. We were going to make the short run to Little Current that afternoon to get hooked up at a marina and relax a little. The trip to Little Current was beautiful. It is the same everywhere we go around here, little tree covered islands all over and huge rocks jutting out of the blue water just every where you look. It makes me not want to go down below or take care of chores underway because the scenery is so beautiful. Plus, we’ve only been doing short trips, so it doesn’t get boring underway which is great.

We passed this lighthouse on Strawberry Island.

One exciting thing about heading to Little Current is that we had to time our arrival just right to pass through a swing bridge that was built there in 1913, providing the only road to Manitoulin Island still to this day. (That fact is crazy to me!). So we passed under the Blue Water Bridge, but we haven’t had to go under or pass through any others yet on our trip. It is ironic because the bridge was a big event for all of us because it is new, but on some stretches of our journey we will deal with bridges all the time and they will become normal or annoying I imagine. But today it was nothing but exciting. We hit the bridge in perfect timing for the 3:00 opening. The bridge swiveled to the side, and we passed right through with about 10 other boats. It wasn’t all that special, but the novelty of it was great.

Approaching the swing bridge. The kids were out here for approximately 2.6 seconds  and then went right back down below to watch their movie.  (That’s why no life jackets–I swear, they usually wear them ALWAYS!!)

This bridge opens for 15 minutes as the top of every hour, 24 hours a day.

 

After we tied up, I heard that the laundry mat was open 24 hours a day and I was thrilled. After anchoring for a week and dealing with wet swimming towels and wet rain towels and clothing, we had some major laundry to take care of. Mike got a marina cart and we loaded up 6 loads of laundry to work on.

Off to tackle some laundry!!

We enjoyed dinner right across the street (with free wifi!!) from the laundry mat while our clothes were being taken care of. Then later I went and folded everything while Mike grocery shopped. Sure enough, we met up at just the right time on our way back to the boat–me pushing the laundry cart and him pushing the grocery cart. Imagining what we must have looked like had us cracking up. Honestly, the marina is pretty large in this town and it is well-known provisioning spot, so I’m guessing they are pretty used to this sight around here.

The excitement over provisions cracks me up, here. <3 Just livin life (with INNTW in the background, of course).

That night we were treated to clean sheets, delicious cookies from the grocery store, and a gorgeous sunset over the harbor that seemed to last for hours and hours.

The next morning we planned to take care of some chores you can only accomplish with wifi, including purchasing massive amounts of Amazon goodies as well as new phones and accessories and shipping them all to my mom who we’ll see next week. I took the kids to the playground (where they met a new friend–hi, Elizabeth!!) while Mike did the ordering (and we also met some very helpful people at the coffee shop who shared lots of info about the North Channel). Our ultimate plan was to move on and hook up with our friends in another marina about 20 miles away, but the wind picked up throughout the morning and it didn’t look like a great day to travel. Plus, the lure of a good strong dock and temperamental wifi were pretty strong, so we decided to stay put another day.

This gave us a chance to check out the swing bridge up close. We walked across the bridge just for fun (made me want to hyperventilate) and to say we’ve done it and watched it spin from a special spot along the water (complete with a water snake sighting). After that we had ice cream, bought a couple of forgotten groceries, hit up the LCBO (beer and liquor store), did some window shopping, took care of random boat chores, checked boat school off the list, and posted a few blogs to round out the evening.

A little silent reading…
A lesson in writing and friendship…

 

As we looked at our plan for the next day, we realized we’re starting to feel crunched on time to hit our goal of making it to Mackinac on 8/15 to meet my brother, Brad, and his family. Mike came up with a great solution, and we went to bed knowing we would have a packed day the next day complete with a mid-day field trip. Thanks for following along and reading about our adventures!!  🙂

2 Days in Baie Fine

2 Days in Baie Fine

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Stats for whatever day this is…

(I looked it up…this was actually from 8/5/2018)

Origin: Beaverstone Bay Anchorage

Destination: Marianne Cove Anchorage in Baie Fine

Distance:  36.8 miles

Speed:  8.7

Time on the Move: 4 hours 13 minutes

 

Windy dawn in Beaverstone Bay.

 

We were up and at em early in Beaverstone Bay because the wind sounded like a plane was about to land on our boat and the waves were slapping against the hull, making you wonder if you’re taking on water or what the heck is going on out there. That might be a little dramatic, but it was windy. PLUS, we had a weird day ahead of us—some inside route, some outside route, and some unknown.  We weren’t sure what to expect (especially with the wind/waves), so we tackled the unknown early.

Our plan was to meet up with our kid boat looper friends (“Have Another Day” and “La Cigale”) again in a cove in Baie Fine, which is a long lake/channel/inlet that gets rave reviews for beauty and a specific, well-known hike. Our trip went well—beautiful scenery, some rocking on the outside portion, but not as bad because the waves were hitting us on the front corner and not directly on the side. We even snuck in a quick water fill-up/grocery/cinnamon bun run in Killarney which made me feel like we were winning already by 9am.

 

Coming up Baie Fine was an interesting experience because it was quite a wide bay, yet the channel that you follow is all the way to one side, bringing you right up next to the rocks.  AGAIN!  Boaters around here are so used to just driving right next to huge rocks and it goes against everything I am comfortable with in boating.  Rocks are bad so stay away.  Here the mindset is “well, the rocks go straight down anyway, so just drive so close to them that you can reach out your window and touch them, but you’ll still be in 60 feet of water.”  Canadians!  😉

Getting set at anchor was only mildly amusing.  We ended up tying our stern line off a tree behind us (growing out of the rocks!).  Many people here quickly take a line over to shore on their dinghy immediately after dropping anchor and make it look so easy.  We first
threw the extra anchor out the back to make sure we didn’t swing, then later Mike pulled it up while on the paddleboard and paddled it to shore, wrapped the line around a tree and left the anchor attached.  The good news was, it was all set by the time our friends arrived, so it looked like we were pros.

The kids had a great time jumping off the back of the boats, painting nails, kayaking the 10 feet to the rocky shore right behind us, exploring land, playing uno, and swimming, swimming, swimming.  Some neighbors came over to chat and told us about all the bear sightings and attacks due to starvation because of the dried up blueberry crop.  Meanwhile, our kids were being sent to shore as bait in hopes that we could finally see one.  No luck.  (Actually, they are so loud when they’re playing or when Tobin is screaming at everyone that there were probably no bears for miles!!)

That evening a storm came on fast and strong and broke the stern line of one of the boats we were rafted with (tied up to).  The storm lead to a tense hour of watching the rock walls out our windows, hoping we weren’t getting blown into them.  The captains all communicated via VHF in case we decided we had to move our floatilla in tandem, and I carried tupperware around and tried to catch the leaks before they soaked our rugs again.  No luck.

***I have no pictures of this whole afternoon…having too much fun swimming and chatting, I guess!!  Imagine that!***

 

The next morning we took a 7 mile dinghy ride from our anchorage to the far end of Baie Fine where there is a great hike up to Topaz Lake.

 

Thanks for the coffee cup, Roncelli!
Our view heading to the end of Baie Fine–this was a 7 mile dinghy ride that took us just about 45 minutes each way.

The rain from the night before had the ground a little wet and muddy, but that didn’t slow down our kiddos!  They hiked right up the dry creek bed and scrambled over rocks like champs.

When we got to the top, Topaz Lake was stunning and calm and pristine on the overcast day.  It didn’t take the kids long to jump right in and liven that lake up.  Actually, Topaz Lake is called a “dead lake” because there are no fish, creatures, or plants that live in it (apparently) because it is all quartz at the bottom.  The water was very clear and slightly greenish.  We all swam except Toby who didn’t have his life jacket (mom fail), but he rock hopped and sat on some of the shallow areas along the shore.

This is like “Where’s Waldo?” but it’s actually “Where’s Colin?” These kids have gotten a little *ahem* comfortable with climbing and he was waaaay up there before I knew it!!

 

On the dinghy ride back to our boat, we passed by a group of 10 boys or so who were doing some rustic camping right along the channel.  They were on day 8 of 11 and were happy to answer our questions about provisioning, dealing with wildlife, etc.  The boys all thought our “loop plan” was so cool when they heard about it and they really made our kids feel like they are lucky to be on this adventure.  We were inspired by their adventures in nature, so it was great that they were so excited about ours, as well.  That is our main goal in sharing our journey, to inspire others to start their own adventures now and not to wait.  🙂

Later that afternoon we got caught in another rainstorm as we were out kayaking and meeting new boat friends.  Of course, the boat windows were wide open, so the carpet was wet yet again.  Seems we just can’t win on that one.  Hayley tells us to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” which is great advice, but apparently we’re slow learners.

This is what boat school looks like on rainy days.
This kid loves his schoolwork!  “Sure I’ll write some story problems connecting multiplication and division!”

The next day we were ready to leave the anchorage and anxious to get to a marina after 7 nights on the hook.  First, however, we were interested in a hike we heard about from our new friends on the boat “Mighty Wench”.  This hike started from the other end of our anchorage and went straight up to the top of the “hill” behind us.

First we had to kayak over to the trail.

It turned out to be quite a hike, first walking under giant spruce and cedar trees and then climbing straight up rocks and rocks and rocks, all the while looking for the next orange markers to lead the way.

Little brothers are the BEST!!  Also, we carry “swords” every where we go now…just in case.  It must be a pirate thing.

The kids loved looking for the markers to lead us in the right direction, but at times they were tough to see.  It was like a real-life scavenger hunt!

See the orange arrow spray painted on the rock?
The sword, at times, becomes a drum stick. Sometimes ya just gotta dance in the forest!

Eventually we made it to the top of the hill and the view was amazing!  We could see a good ways out into the Bay, much of Baie Fine, and even beyond into McGregor Bay.  The whole hike was at the edge of my comfort zone with the kids because of the steep climbing and the peaks at the top were definitely steep.  After rock hopping and exploring at the top a bit, I was anxious to head down and get going, but WHAT A VIEW!  The kids usually do great on hikes and loved the adventure of searching for the next markers on this one, so I’d say hiking is one of our favorite outdoor activities.

Baie Fine is along the bottom and McGregor bay is at the top. The middle section of land is the South La Cloche Mountains.
Framer!!

Did I forget to mention that these kids can catch frogs and toads every single place we ever go?! They’ve got an amazing eye (except Colin, who apparently keeps his closed!).
The cottage in the background sits right along the edge of this protected anchorage. Such a cool spot, but no one appeared to be home while we were there.

Just a quick kayak back to the boat and we were off on the next adventure.  What a morning!!  Thanks for following and for having amazing patience waiting for new posts to come out!!  We’ll be out of the boondocks soon! (Unfortunately!)  😉