Exploring more of the Benjamins
We got some thunderstorms overnight. Thankfully Cory had seen the forecast before they went to bed and kindly had shut our hatches after we had gone to sleep. We were all up in the middle of then night to shut the windows when the storms came, but at least we didn’t have to go outside and deal with the hatches.
I woke up to my alarm at 6:30. I was surprised that Captain decided to get up with me. We took Kona for a walk on the dock and noticed that the fuel dock was empty (the marina doesn’t open until 8am) and there was little to no current at the docks. We decided to wake Cory, undock, head over to the fuel dock and be first and ready when everyone arrived in a few hours. That went really smoothly. I mentioned to Captain how much I really appreciated when “Little Current” is as advertised. I excepted Cory to go back to sleep but they suggested that since they were awake, they could run up to Tim Horton’s and get us our last fix for the year. There were no vetoes. I spent the time readying Ciara for the day and before we knew it, we had coffee, donuts, a clean waste tank and full fuel tanks. We were on our way by 8:30am.
It was a pretty calm morning, but we had enough wind to put the sails up on our way to the Benjamin’s. We had a good sail with intermediate motor sailing as all the little islands hide and play with the winds. We had gotten going early because there were expected winds to grow in the afternoon. I wanted to be in by noon. We set anchor around 11:30 and yes, the winds were picking up, so I was glad to be tucked away in one of our favorite spots.
Captain wanted to take the dinghy to explore the south side of the island, something we haven’t done by water before. The winds were coming from the west so going around the east side was calm and beautiful. We made it to the anchorage that we had hiked to about a month ago with our friends. There was one sailboat anchored there in the space that really only allowed for one boat. He kept to his fishing and we marveled at the towering granite that dominated over the anchorage. Probably the tightest, cliff surrounded anchorage I have ever seen. It was nice to see he wasn’t stern tied though, letting us know we could do it without that hassle as well. It was stunning and I think we may try it in the future.
We went just a bit further and found an equally beautiful anchorage that our friends on Take a Chance told us about. This one had a real sand beach and no one was there. We beached the dinghy and let Kona frolic while we explored the rocks for a while. I may have even skinny dipped, taking advantage of the soft sandy bottom and privacy of our little slice of heaven.
We attempted to go a little further to the last anchorage on the south side that we had hiked to last year. That one required us going through all these narrow passages with rocks everywhere. No issue with the small boat, but you would need to go around on a large boat. There was exposure to the west before we got there and the water was coming in with white caps. I wasn’t in the mood to get tossed around so we turned around and headed back the way we came with just a sighting of said anchorage.
When we got back Captain wanted to see if he could get the dinghy up on plane and dropped off Kona and I as he went to play. Captain ordered something new in Little Current. For seven years we have used an electric trolling motor on our dinghy exclusively. It served us well in the waters of Green Bay and Michigan. We loved it because it was quiet, light and cost us nothing in fuel. It also kept us from having gasoline aboard and we ran it on solar. Our first year in the North Channel in 2024 we found that we had pretty severe shore anxiety because our range was pretty limited and it also kept us from enjoying all the little places to explore, so in 2025 our friend Mike Cooney sold us his 5hp Honda engine when we got up here. We used it a few times and loved it, and brought it with us this year. We used the heck out of it this year and with all the exploring we did Captain realized that it was our gateway engine and he was ready to upgrade to a much larger engine. He called our buddy back home and ordered a 9.9hp that is going to be modified to basically put out 25hp. It should be ready for us when we get back. Captain is thrilled to think about us getting places up on plane and I’m excited not to be last place next year for the Poker Run.
When he returned from his ride, I got up to greet him and grab the painter line for him. I noticed a power boat that had been anchored way in front of us was now almost on top off us indicating their anchor was dragging in the increasing wind. An elderly couple was aboard and Captain went over to let them know. What followed was them trying to reset it as three captains came out on their dinghies to help while everyone else sat on their decks to watch. It is a hard moment for anyone really. No one is watching for sport, but for vested interest in their own boats and also vested interest to make sure they are secure. In the end, Ben from Temporary Freedom led them away from the main anchorage and helped them shore tie in a very secure and quiet spot. The husband never seemed to worried, but we were sure the wife was going to sleep much better.
I spent my afternoon reading with a short nap. Captain took Kona to shore with his chainsaw to play lumberjack. They had a grand time and Captain was gushing how much he appreciated his bonding time with Kona. He has really fallen for her as well.
We made fresh steaks that we had picked up in Little Current for dinner with mashed potatoes. It was delicious. As good as Freeze-Dried foods are there will be somethings it can never make so it was a treat. By the time dishes were done it was time for Kona’s last walk. Ben, Jodie, their daughter Avery and SIL Brett were headed to the rocks as we were leaving for the walk. They asked if we were going to watch the sunset and that seemed a nice way to finish our evening with Kona so we joined them. It was actually the first time I had seen them for the day and they asked if we remembered them. I didn’t. Not at a glance that was for sure. We had met them here last year and after chatting I recalled them as they live north of here on the Spanish River. I do remember being in awe of the life they described and it all came back. I never saw their boat or boat name last year and sadly we meet so many people. They understood, but this time I wrote down their names when they invited us over to hang out for a bit after sunset. The sunset was beautiful and the wind was pretty high coming from the west. Kona’s ears flew and looked like Yoda. I got a great video.
We showed up with some Freeze-Dried Ice Cream as a treat as they don’t drink and they surprised us with a bottle of maple syrup from their own sugar shack. Jodie pulled up a video on her phone of the local news that had come out a few years ago and filmed a segment on their property about their family tradition of tapping trees, collecting sap and all-night sap boils. It doesn’t get much more Canadian than that! They spend their summers hanging out here at the Benjamins as it is basically in their back yard, much like how we used to spend most of our summers hanging out in Egg Harbor or the State Park.
We bid them goodnight around 10 and came back to start a movie with Cory before calling it a night. We have about a four-hour sail tomorrow before our big moving days, so we went to bed before midnight.
