Day 24 - 7/19/24
Hotham island is beautiful. We are surrounded by nature with towering mini mountains in the background. But it is a bit too remote for a dog and kids finding it very hard to find a place to go ashore. We decided to pick up the hook and head just a little south the what many consider this most popular anchorage in the North Channel.
As we pulled our anchor a small boat from one of the private homes came over at full speed. Norm and his wife are rather well known in these parts (one reason we came here) as being very hospitable retired sailors. He didn’t come out the day before and while a little disappointed we knew that you can’t count on that sort of thing. Now here he was speeding up and saying “I’m so sorry to see you leaving so soon!” He said his family was in town so they don’t host on those evenings (totally fair) but they really enjoyed my Last Post and had been admiring our boat all day. We mentioned we were headed out mostly because we couldn’t find a good place to take Kona and he pleaded with us to return on our way back and to use his dock and trails. We hope to take him up on the offer. Really nice guy and we are eager to hear his salty tails and regale ours.
As soon as we cleared the narrows of Hotham island we hoisted sailed for a very sporty 1 hour sail to the Benjamin’s. Again the scenery going by was close and magnificent.
The Benjamin islands are what is on the cover of just about any North Channel guide. The rocks here are pink granite, whereas to the south is limestone and the north white quartz. Rising out of the water into dramatic landscapes. Many anchorage spots are to be found here but the main one can hold to 50 boats and that is where we were headed.
There were about 15 boats when we arrived and we had no issues finding a place to drop the hook.
I was immediately drawn to a flat rock rising out of the sea that gently climbs about 200 feet up the island. We quickly made some left over breakfast and then all went ashore for some much needed land time! The kids had a blast. They love exploring and scrambling around. Even though there are people here it isn’t like the place is crowded. We walked the entire time without anyone else on the island. Kona is living her best dog life for sure.
After we reached the peak of the solid slab we continued on bush whacking up the island to see the other side. That’s when we discovered the excessive amount of low bush blueberries. (And tons of huge spiders) Cory was hooked and couldn’t stop stuffing their face. The darker the berry the more it tasted like candy.
Determined to come back with a bag to harvest more for breakfast we made our way back to the boat. Two sail boats close to shore saw us eyeing up on of the many fire pits and hollered over that if we collected wood we could join them for smores. Of course we were already on it. Richard took the kids over to a far shore and felled trees and loaded them on the dinghy much to the delight of all the boaters in the area watching such a debacle
We stoped by to officially meet them once we were done. Two boats of families (with kids!) who meet at this very anchorage over 30 years ago! They have been coming here ever since among many other places. They were eager to come see our boat and we told them to stop by later, which they did.
Finally back on board we set up the swing to jump into the water as well as my reading chair that we hang from the jib hallard. There wasn’t too much time for R&R between the socializing and swimming.
We ran back into a couple we actually know from McFarland’s sailing club. We had seen them in St. Ignace. They are moving their boat to Lake Superior and relocating north for a new job. They are taking the entire summer to get there and taking the North Channel as a detour. It’s neat to see the little sailing community as you are out and about. Seems like 6 degrees of always knowing someone and running into them again….somewhere.
After dinner it was campfire time. Richard actually brought his electric bass (and amp!) and the other boaters we had chatted with earlier in the day jammed out all night at the campfire. He had a blast, not having played with anyone in 25 years. They gave me my 3 minutes to do my trumpet calls at 9pm. I hiked to the top of the island and treated all. It was pretty special to see the sun light up Ciara’s mast golden yellow as I played.
The collection of kids, who had gone back to shore alone earlier to collect blueberries where now determined to have what the called “the little fire.” A small fire they tended to on their own jist 50 feet away from the main fire. Only small sticks. They asked for flashlights to go forging for more fuel and I watched them make memories I had hoped for them.
This place gets better and better. So happy here that we will stay two nights. There is still hiking to explore. But our main water tanks were empty at the end of the day. We have an additional 12 gallons which will last us nearly two days so we will head to Little Current on Sunday for more water and pump out. That will make us completely self sufficient for over a week. With the solar and extra batteries we have rigged up we have managed to go this entire trip without once having to turn the engine on to generate power. We charge the boat house bank (which is 90% or freezer) and all our electronics for free. We have only used about 22 gallons of diesel since we left on June 26.
