Around 4pm the sun starting peaking through the clouds. Ruth and I rated this our 3rd favorite stop on the North Channel. Number 1 was the Pool (moose, hiking, Lake Topaz), number 2 was the rocky beauty of the Benjamin Islands (we'll return to test the other anchorages there).

7/27/05 - We were awoken around 3am by strong winds whistling overhead. Beardrop provided good protection and we were snuggly anchored. Still, the strength of the wind was not forecasted and unsettling. Falling back to sleep we were again awoken at dawn by loon calls. By 8 our anchor was stowed and we were headed for Vidal, and anchorage not in our guide.

In spite of small craft wind warnings we had another great sail - sunny, reaching in 10-15 knot winds. By 12:30 we were anchored behind a low treed island. The island is shale and looks like a flat slate roof. How trees grew here I'll never figure out. This anchorage is more like Fort Coker than anywhere else we've been. Low shoreline, treed (evergreens), sand bottom and no houses.

I rowed the dinghy over to the beach and spent a couple of hours gluing the bladder back in place under the floorboards. Towing has been hard on the bladder anchors as they were poorly designed to start with.

The wind switched to the SW (not per forecast) so we moved mid afternoon into a deep V shaped cove. We anchored and went exploring - discovering our "million dollar" beach. The sand was soft as powder and the warm water gradually deepened as you waded offshore. We voted this the best beach encountered.

All day we were serenaded by loons. What a treat!

7/28/05 - We started to Drummond Island with a planned stop at Cockburn Island, site of an "abandoned" village. The 10-15 knot winds were 20-25, gusting to 30. We tore our second reef out of the main. We got into Cockburn as the sky turned black.

Helped other boats dodging the T-storms that came into the harbor. The last boat in was a beautiful wooden gaff rigged sloop crewed by a couple in their early 90's. Watching them come in was like a page from the past. She was at the wheel in her little yellow slicker and hat and he was forward sounding with a lead-line calling the depth in marks. They anchored until the storm passed, then headed out on their way.

Left about 4pm for Drummond. Wind on nose, motored. Anchored by Little Harbor Island - Quarantine flags. Bradd & Maeve rowed over to deliver an international care package of 2 cans of Pepsi and a quarter bottle of rum as we had gone dry. We saw four deer that night, the first that we'd seen on land our entire trip. A loon called hauntingly as we turned out the lights and hit the berth.

7/29/05 - Sampatecho led the way to Mackinac Island. Barry re-sewed the sun cover on the leach of the genoa and touched up a couple of panel seams that had worn. We anchored out in the harbor and called for slips, being put on standby for the following day. Ariel (Miles and Laureen) had arrived that morning and got a slip. We got together that evening on AA to introduce our Canadian friends. Fortunately the winds were light that night as the anchorage is basically a smooth rock bottom.

7/30/05 - I got up early and dropped the main so I could sew the torn 2nd reef block back on the sail. While I was at it I restitched the other 3 reef blocks and a couple of batten pockets. Maintenance is a big part of cruising!

About noon we were assigned slips and went to the Island for an afternoon of cycling and exploring with Maeve, Laureen, Bradd and Miles. It was a perfect day to be the tourist. We ran into the crew from Unity (Wave Pointe friends) on the dock. That evening Maeve hosted a farewell spaghetti dinner for the 3 couples on Sampatecho. It was hard to think about heading different directions - we'd really enjoyed their company!!!

7/31/05 - It's really time to say goodbye. Bradd came over to see Buddy, (his new girlfriend) to ruffle his head and play "hang four" to let him/her down easy. Then we pushed off for Lake Michigan with Ariel while Sampatecho headed south on Lake Huron.

We hit heavy winds on the nose and the seas continued to build so we decided to turn around and visit Hessel, north of Mackinac Island. Hessel, a village of about 2,000, turned out to be a nice place to spend the night.  Buddy, being used to his routine with Bradd and Maeve, called Hola, Hola many times looking for them on their nightly visit.  He also said Echo (their daughter's name).  We sure miss our buddies from Sampatecho but they say don't cry because it's over, smile that it happened. ( We'll keep in touch)

8/1/05 - Ariel and Another Adventure left Hessel at 7:30am in thick fog. Visibility was about 1/8 mile so we navigated via radar. By 9:30 the sun started to burn through as we passed Mackinac Island. The wind was light and dead aft so we're motoring.  During our trip to Petoskey, Buddy let himself out of his cage and enjoyed a little freedom and chewing.  He must've been looking for Sampatecho during his jailbreak. Luckily, we busted him in time before any major damage was done.  He was discovered sitting happily on top of his cage with a smug look on his face.  Hafta watch out for this in the future!

Our passage under the Mackinac Straits bridge marked our closing of the loop. We'd visited this area last year before starting our journey. It's a bittersweet time for Ruth and I. We're completing the journey we embarked on last fall though we didn't spend any time in the Caribbean as planned. We learned we like the cruising life-style and have a lot of planning to do. We look forward to seeing our Wisconsin Buddies again (wish we could have taken them all with us) while at the same time we miss the new friends we've made along the way.

Our immediate plans are to sail down the west coast of Michigan state, crossing to return to Door County in late August or early September. So, the next Loop page will start with our Michigan wanderings.

Storm approaches Cockburn Island

Ninety-one year old sounding into the harbor

Snug in Beardrop Harbor

Beardrop Harbor

Back in the USA, Harbor Island

Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island