Day 51 - Retracing our steps home
I really like this anchorage. There are a lot of boats here, but nothing compared to Benjamins. I can see the shadow of our radar mast on the rocks only 20 feet away. I love being tucked up so closely to shore even if eerily close to our neighbors at the same time. I was afraid of this when we planned this summer. That “four weeks” in the North Channel really meant “two.” As much as I would like to stay we need to keep moving west. We don’t need to move far today so we let ourselves have a relaxed morning. I enjoyed my me time for a few hours before Captain and I took Kona to a new landing spot to explore while she did her business. We met two sisters on shore enjoying a morning cigarette and learned they lived on Manitoulin Island full time and were enjoying a long weekend on their parent’s boat in our anchorage. They were super cool and sell merchandise celebrating the island. Captain found a very nice necklace abandoned on a tree. We think it is made of petrified wood and other stones. There is no way to report lost and found, but I am on multiple tourist pages so if anyone ever says they are missing something that matches it’s description I would be happy to ship it to them. Until then, I added it to my collection of “pixie dusts” and will enjoy it for many years. Yes, Disney has gotten to me a little and any little extra to any part of life is seen as a “pixie dust.”
We finally dropped our stern line and weighed anchor around noon. We got brave and followed our navigation apps through a cut between North and South Benjamin. From above the surface, it is a very narrow cut, but the charts say the depth is fine. It was fun to pass buy and see the rocks just dive into the depth just below our keel.
Captain and I enjoyed a perfect day up on deck enjoying the Whalesback Channel retracing our steps from a few weeks before. The kids did their thing of sleeping down below. We chatted a lot about next summer and our aging kids. There is a transition that isn’t often talked about, not just with teenagers aging out, but with parents dealing with the break up of not being the center of theirs and what is means for us. We talked about the book I’m reading of other women We talked about Ciara improvements or what a year long live aboard boat for us would look like.
The winds were very shifty inside all the islands that the frustration to sail or motor gave way to the later. As we approached our destination, we were getting some swells as the fetch between the mainland and Manitoulin Island had become wider with less islands to protect us. It was a relief to feel the calm waters behind the Turnbull’s. Since we have now been here a few times we had no issues finding our way in. There were a few boats here but we went past them and tucked behind a small island that would give us some more protection against the forecasted winds.
We made tacos for Taco Tuesday and chatted with some motor boaters who came by to say hi. Cory and Bert took turns on the dinghy trying to get it on plane. Even Captain adjusted the pitch on the prop and was able to make it happen. Captain and Cory spent some time MacGyvering a cradle to lift the new motor on and off Ciara.
Since all the boats in the anchorage tonight had American flags on their sterns, I played Taps at 8:58:30 and then Last Post right at 9.
Captain, seeing my obvious frustration growing with five grown people on a boat took me for a sunset dinghy ride. On of my jobs as 1st mate is navigation. I’m starting to learn there is a fine line between 1st mate and overruling admiral. We need to be back in home port in a certain time frame. There is on coming weather they may or may not happen. The kids are kids and wavier between totally disengaged to the most amazing crew and I’m just a typical female of emotions, mom guilt and wanting everyone to have the best and safe time. Captain always seems to see me in this and validate that if I didn’t feel these things then we would all find ourselves on a rock somewhere three weeks behind schedule. We decided to get up early and push to the border anchorage of Whiskey Bay tomorrow to try and wait out the worst of the weather later tomorrow and through Thursday. So, we came back to the boat and had a lovely evening with the kids before we said our good nights and start our longer voyages tomorrow. But, oh how I wish this wasn’t goodbye.
