Day 66 2nd year July 26. On to Collins Inlet. Miles 29. Total miles 3623

Drizzled on us as we weighed anchor, but then it stopped as we were traveling out of the harbor. Yeah!! We continued out into the Bad River channel and out into Georgian Bay.

We have a long run outside today, about 9.5 miles to get to Beaverstone Bay- thus we left early to get ahead of the weather and wind which will pick up this afternoon.

Our course took us 1.5 mile offshore past Fort Channel and Voyager Channel, where there is a large tract of Indian Reservation land. Then we passed The Chickens - a collection of over 300 islands and rocks just off shore. As it was cloudy my pictures did not turn out. Sorry!

We then turned north to enter the channel to Beaverstone Bay, past its low rock islands and then its forested islands and into the bay proper. And the sun came out so I have pictures!

We will travel Beaverstone Bay its entire length of 4 miles. The bay has about 25 islands in the middle of the bay and we skirt between the islands on the east side and the mainland as we travel north.

Here is the chart of Beaverstone Bay and the beginning of Collins Inlet.

As Beaverstone Bay ends, the navigational marks turn us into Collins Inlet which is a narrow rocky gorge with walls up to 30 feet tall and depths of 12-30 feet of water.

After 2.5 miles Collins Inlet opens up to Mill Lake, which we cross to reenter the continuation of Collins Inlet. On this portion of Collins Inlet the granite is more pink. Think the color is due to the pink gneiss in these rocks.

We also past a few hunting and fishing lodges along the channel.

And a few beavers lodges, but no beavers, yet. I have high hopes to find some!!

We anchored behind Key Hole Island just off the Collins Inlet with No Agenda, who traveled with us today.

After lunch, we launched the dinghy and joined Jody and Mike exploring the area. We climbed up several rocky areas and even conquered a mountain!?!

This was a view of Collins Inlet from one of the rock climbs.

Upon returning we shared some delicious appetizers with Jody and Mike aboard No Agenda.

Thanks for the great food and conversation and the free medical advice!!!

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Day 121-122. 2nd year. September 21-22. On to Chicago and returning to Hammond Harbor. Miles 26. Total miles 4116

Woke to prepare for a short trip to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor, Chicago. Will meet up with Bill’s cousins to take them on a boat ride down the Chicago River. As we leave Hammond, the Chicago skyline is very visible on the horizon on this hazy morning. The seas are calm and winds light as we traveled with only a few tugs as our company on Lake Michigan. The closer we get to Chicago, you could recognize some of the more unique skyscrapers along the skyline. We hooked up to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor with the help of Capt Val from her Harbor tender. Soon afterward, Bill’s cousin Mike and his wife Karen, and cousin Ron were ferried to the boat and we made ready to take the boat ride down the Chicago River. We left the harbor, past the lighthouse and turned north to get to the lock at the entrance to the Chicago River. Had to wait for a boat to lock through ahead of us, then we proceeded into the lock to lock down about 3-4 feet i...

Crustacean Travels

Search This Blog