Sinclair to Wawa, Ontario - July 15-19

We reached Sinclair by one pm and instantly were blown away by its beauty.  We are surrounded on three sides by cliffs and woods and on the fourth side is a series of rock islands colored in shades of greys, whites, purples, oranges, and yellows.

We put out 100 ft. of chain along with the snubber after making sure the anchor was set.  The clouds have gotten a little thicker and darker but still there are patches of dark blue sky.  No weather alerts and the winds are as predicted (10-15 mph) so we should be ok. 

A quick lunch of homemade tomato soup and toasted cheddar cheese sandwich followed and it was followed with a nap for Rusty and Gigi.  I should nap too. Maybe when I am on Medicare I will feel it is ok.

Although the wind was very light overnight we kept getting hit on the beam by faint swells.  Both of us finally got to sleep when about 1 am the anchor alarm went off.  It was a false alarm.  It was well over 3 hours before we could fall asleep again. 

No cellular or wifi.

July 16 – we went ashore in the morning to hike to the Ojibwe pictographs but dogs were not allowed on the trail so we dinghied around the corner and looked at them by water.  The pictographs were faded and really required the help of a park ranger to decipher.

Our run today was supposed to be to Indian Harbor, only three hours.  All was calm when fairly quickly a line of disturbance appeared on the water, just as the clouds moved away from us.  The winds picked up and the water turned from near glass to ripples and then small waves and white caps.  We decided to head for a closer anchorage and just as we pulled in to Garantua Harbor the winds subsided. 

We had a tasty trout dinner thanks to Rusty’s fishing efforts.  Stew was cooking in the crockpot all day so dinner is made for tomorrow night as well. 

No cellular or wifi

July 17 - It was 37 degrees this morning.  I woke up to the generator running and the heat turned on.  My man!

Environmental Canada had technical difficulties with their VHF weather broadcast this morning.  Fortunately we are writing down the extended weather reports so we knew that we were headed for calm skies for the next few days.  There were no clouds in the skies and the wind was negligible. 

We could have reach Wawa but decided to spend one more night at anchorage.  Brule Harbor is written up as the prettiest anchorage between Sault Ste Marie and Wawa, with warnings that swinging room was tight so perhaps a stern anchor would be necessary.  The book (Bonnie Dahl’s Superior Way) was right on the money.   

By 3:30 we had two anchors out and Rusty and Gigi were exploring in the dinghy while I read outside on the aft deck in the prettiest anchorage so far.   

We are surrounded by Christmas trees standing tall on the rocky and hilly shore.  It feels like they have extended their arms in a wide circle and we are in the middle.

No cellular or wifi

July 18 – 19 The run to Buck’s Marina in Wawa, Ontario was only 1.5 hours.  Brad Buck, the owner invited us to join him, his wife and son to a local diner for lunch.  They couldn’t have been kinder.  Later that day Doris took me grocery shopping.  The town is about 5 miles away; the call on demand bus operates only during the week and finishes by 3 pm on Friday, so the offer of a lift there and back was much appreciated.

We will stay two nights to get ready for the next leg culminating in either Marathon or Rossport.  Our batteries are topped up again, water tanks are full, other tank is empty, and clothes will be laundered today.

There was unsecured wifi here but I was knocked off so needed to use the Rogers stick.  Excellent signal.