Day 54 - Turnbull to Government Bay
Captain and I were up at 6am to walk Kona and much to my surprise when we returned to wake the kids they all got up quickly to help with dis-embarkment chores. We are getting better at securing the dinghy motor and Bert is enjoying doing the anchor rode pre-pull. Dani has been throwing buckets of water in the cockpit to rid it of extra sand and the gross over grown mayflies.
We had calm seas and no wind along with a pretty dense fog. Captain turned on the radar for the first time this year so he could “see” any boat traffic in the area. I grabbed a blanket and sat on deck with Captain and read and kept him company for a good portion of the day. After leaving the Turnbull Islands the North Channel starts to widen considerably. I am already sad to not be cruising close to shore and enjoying all the sights. The vastness of the open water leads to a different mind set of the journey which is the travel and not the sights.
We had an eta of 3pm in Whiskey Bay, right on the border of the United States. I suggested that since we had good weather, we could head into US waters today and get our check in with customs done today and have one less thing to worry about tomorrow. We agreed and after looking at anchorages nearby we went in another direction and decided to push an additional 4 hours to a favorite anchorage of ours in Les Cheneaux Islands. We had stopped here last year and knew it to be very well protected with a great beach and fire pit.
Around 1:30pm we crossed into US waters. I took down our curtesy Canadian flag and rehung our yellow quarantine flag until we could clear customs. I was sad to take down the flag, I have enjoyed Canada and her people so much. I look forward to flying it higher next time as we rig our boat this winter.
Captain was able to check in with the mobile app and in about 5 minutes a customs official video called him. With everyone on deck with their passport in hand he took one look at us all and said “welcome back.”
Soon as we came around Drummond Island the waters returned to the crystal turquoise waters we love about this area and the fog for the day lifted. We passed through De Tour Passage with no issues and were glad to see that the open water of Lake Huron was going to treat us well. It doesn’t take long to get comfortable to the calm waters of the North Channel.
We rolled into Government Bay around 7pm. We saw a familiar boat, Merging Waters, already anchored so Captain decided to go over and say hi before we dropped our hook for the night. Cory and I were up at the bow ready to do our work and waved as we approached. I had noticed that Captain was coming in pretty hot for his fly by but I didn’t expect what he did next. As he approached Merging Waters he came about and shoved the boat into reverse basically parallel parking Ciara stern to stern with them and coming to a complete stop as if there was a dock there to stop us. It was such a move out of the movie Captain Ron that all of us (Captain, myself and John on Merging Waters) said in unison “I’ll guess I’ll have a Margarita!” What fun! IU continue to be impressed with Captains skills, that was cool.
Once are anchor was set we took Kona to shore as she was crossing her legs to go potty after 12 hours. The beach here is a real beach! Super sandy, nice and shallow water for a long time. There were lots of local smaller boats around and everyone enjoying their Friday evenings.
Cory had prepared freeze dried Salisbury Steaks and they were ready for us when we returned. After dinner we forced everyone to shore for a fire since the kids haven’t been off the boat in two days now. Dani, Bert and I stayed behind to do dishes and play Last Post/Taps while Captain, Cory and Kona went to shore to cut wood and play fetch. After I had played Cory came back to get us all.
Merging Waters joined us ashore for the fire while the kids made smores and Kona rotated between playing fetch in the water and exfoliating herself by rolling in the sand.
We stayed at the campfire until 11pm and it was nearing midnight before I called it a night. Since we pushed harder today, we have a shorter day tomorrow. Still 9 hours, but better then the 12-13 it would have been. Weather looks calm for another motor sail and I am looking forward to Beaver Island greatly. I think it is for the shower that is calling me….or the raspberry dole whip. The world may never know :D
