Pulled the anchor and were underway by 7:15 this morning. Just outside of The Pool, in a more open area of Baie Fine, Ben recalibrated the compass (in picture below, the boat is pointed straight up and down, instead of following the route in the direction we are actually faced) and still managed to catch up to and pass 2 sailboats from our anchorage last night. We saw one group of the canoe kids from yesterday as they were packing up their campsite. Got a, "Nice boat, eh?" from one of them as we slowed down to ask them if anyone left a Lady Ram hoodie at the trailhead. (A couple in a tender came by our anchorage yesterday asking if anyone on our boat was missing it. We figured it must've been from the kids.)
On The Grasshoppers' list and my list of things to do was to listen to Roy Eaton's 9 am Little Current Cruisers Net broadcast on VHF radio channel 71. Every morning, in July and August, Roy Eaton hosts a little radio show for boaters in the area on channel 71, but you can also tune in on Zoom. He covers weather, news, sports, does a roll call of boats in the area, and allows people to call in and get questions answered in real time. I heard a quick reminder broadcast of it at 8:58, so we all sat down in the cabin to listen. Ben tried calling in to be announced, but Roy announced us as Barbara Ann (which is ironic because we have another Endeavour boat in our group with that exact name, who we saw in the Long Island Sound in 2021). I guess the connection wasn't clear, so I decided to email him for tomorrow's announcement/roll call of boats in the area. He and I emailed a bit back and forth, so I knew we couldn't miss tomorrows broadcast. I set an alarm in my phone!
It was a cloudy and rainy day- the first since the Grasshoppers have been with us. We crossed over to Manitoulin Island and stopped at Little Current town dock (no landing fee and helpful dockhands!) I was worried that we'd have to fight a big current going through, but the current was with us and, thankfully, didn't cause any problems. (I had a hard time finding charts about the currents here and in the Saint Lawrence. Our internet was spotty and it seemed like there weren't a lot of sites that Google picked up on with the search.) The swing bridge just before Little Current was tall enough that we didn't have to wait for it, so that was a plus, too.
Everyone got raincoats on and we set off for the Grasshoppers' first Tim Horton's experience. Luke was very excited about this. Coffees, donuts, and sandwiches were purchased and everyone connected to the free wifi for the first time in a while to continue Duolingo streaks, Wordle, do the Connections, get more books or holds on Libby, and post some updates on Instagram.
We passed by a pizza dispenser kiosk that we wanted to try, but didn't pass by on the walk back. It was across the street and everyone pictured it to be like an ATM, but one that shells out pizzas instead of cash. It looked cool.
Ben went to buy a propane tank and then was going to meet us back at the boat. The LCBOs are still on strike, but we passed by Manitoulin Brewery, so Keith got a 6-pack from there. (A pineapple sour was our fave of his purchases.)
We walked to the grocery store and Keith decided to walk back to the boat, so Lori, the kids, and I got a few things off our list. While we were inside, one of the kids commented about how hard it was raining. When we looked out, it looked like a whiteout! Keith definitely was stuck walking back in it. We found out it was remnants of Hurricane Beryl, which surprised us all that it made it this far north.
We got back to the boat and it was mostly dry again, but still overcast. Got on the boat and had a short 90 minute cruise to Kagawong. While we were planning our next stops, Kagawong was a take it or leave it if we needed to get back to the US a day earlier due to weather. Since it all looked good, timing-wise, we decided to book a slip in the marina in Kagawong.
Keith hadn't seen the Barbie movie yet, so the 8 of us watched that while Ben brought us safely to our next dock. It was still rainy and cloudy, and there wasn't much to see along the way, otherwise we'd have been in the cockpit or on the deck of the boat admiring the scenery.
Approaching the marina, we saw a very steep road with a big red building in the clearing. It was cool to be able to see the road leading up the hill. Usually we just see buildings covered by trees up the hillsides.
Jim, the nicest guy, helped us tie up at the Austin H. Hunt Marina and told us where to go in town, when they closed for the day, and how to get to the trailhead for Bridal Veil Falls. Around the town, there are a bunch of cement spools from when there was a pulp and paper mill here. Jim told us there are a bunch spread around the town for a fun look and find activity to see how many we can find. He also suggested getting food by the waterfall at The Kag- a food truck type restaurant. We paid him and saw there was ice cream, postcards, and live bait in the marina shop. We told the kids if there were minimal complaints about pictures, we would buy them ice cream and bait when we got back. It was 3:45 when we left. They close at 8 PM, so we knew we had to be back by then.
Our first stop was the Manitoulin Chocolate Works for some chocolates and to try a soda that was made in Avril Lavigne's hometown. There were so many chocolate options in such a small space, but no one had trouble finding something they wanted to try! Both families got an assorted box of chocolates where they got to select which ones went in the box, and my default in a chocolate shop is always toffee. Moose and Roo really wanted a bag of chocolates that looked like rocks. We met up outside and thats when Ben showed us his maple hard candy. Lori wanted to try it, and liked it, so she went back in and bought 12 more- 1 for everyone and a few to spare. We popped one in our mouths and then we set off for the Old Mill Heritage Museum down the street.
In the museum, we learned about Laurine and Daniel Dodge who got injured from dynamite exploding on their honeymoon and then Laurine had to boat her husband of 13 days back with a tourniquet, but he fell off the boat and died while trying to communicate with Laurine while she was at the helm. Before the got married, they signed a prenup saying she would get $250,000 but wound up with 2.5 million dollars. We concluded that, based on the way it was presented to us, Laurine may have intended to do this... but we are not sure. What do you think?
It was interesting to see so many pictures and events involving the Carters who lived here on this island. Ben is part French Canadian, so we wondered if this group of Carters is actually related to us. Specifically, I wondered if the Cartermaran would be a hit to the locals.
We walked to the trailhead along the river. Everything is so lush and green. Several signs were posted warning of Poison Ivy. It's hard for the kids to recognize it, so we just tell them to stay on the path and not to let their arms, legs, fingers, toes touch anything green. Along the path, there were lots of fairy houses that Roo had fun with. A cute service bridge provided an excellent family photo opportunity. I took the Grasshoppers' pictures, Lori took ours.
At the falls, there were people swimming and it was a cute little pond area. I was bummed we didn't bring or wear our swimsuits, but since we had such a wet and rainy day, we didn't think about hetting in at all. A few people were in the water and it looked refreshing. A family pointed out an eastern gartersnake and Moose watched them try to pick it up... commenting that they stupidly were digging in the poison ivy to do so. The Grasshoppers walked behind the waterfall, but we didn't go because the trail looked too slick and slanty for our kids and my anxiety.
We walked up the steps to the parking lot and road, crossed the road, and explored a little souvenir shop. Bear, Sasha, Lori, and I all liked and bought the same zip-up hoodie. Bear and Lori picked the same color. Sasha and I picked the same color. Keith got a hat. Moose picked out a hockey hand-held water game tablet for himself and his bestie.
We decided to buy a snack to hold us over for our walk back to the boat where we'd make Mac and Cheese that the kids picked out from the store in Little Current. We got a meatball sub and a medium poutine. The Grasshoppers got the same plus a philly cheesesteak sub, and a burger. It took a while to make our order, so we called mom and dad to catch up since it had been a while since we had good service.
Once the food came out, we were SO glad we didn't all order something. The sub was ginormous. All 5 of us ate and filled up on both things. This poutine had the best gravy so far! (Still have Harold's Fisheries as the best cheese curds.) Lori told the cook how all 9 of us thought the meatball sub was delicious, the best we've ever had (even being italians!) and another customer said how he regrets his purchase after hearing that, so he went back after eating his burger to get the meatball sub!
The Grasshoppers debated buying another meatball sub to eat on the way back, but didn't and we walked back to the boat, passing by The Carter House, a bed and breakfast and the Billings Township Fire Department on a street named Carter Crescent.
We walked down the steep hill we saw as we were coming in on the boat. The red building at the top was the fire station. Sasha saw a sign that said White Pines Walk and wanted to go that way, so she, Lori, Luke, and Bear went that way, while the rest of us continued along the road, in hopes of getting back to the marina by 8 for ice cream, a postcard, and worms.
Jim told us about a boat full of 13-18 year old kids learning to sail who were coming in for the night. We watched as their boat came in and we ate our ice cream. The kids started to fish. Luke and Roo, individually, caught their first fish! Moose caught (and released) a grand total of 27 fish at this marina tonight.
Everyone except Ben and Moose went to check out the church, recommended by Jim, that is right next to the marina. (We had a "you had to be there" story at the door of the church that I'll include in the comments, for the sake of us remembering it, but you can skip it!) The pulpit of the church is the bow of a boat where 4 lives were tragically lost in the North Channel in the 1960s. Sasha and Bear pieced together information based on the newspaper article and books in the pews of the church to figure out what happened.
Roo and I mailed the postcard across the street from the church and walked back in time to see the kids on the sailboat coming in. They did a great job and it was fun to watch them figuring out what to do, communicating with each other, and executing their plans. All Grasshoppers and Carters were on the dock watching them as they arrived, although some were preoccupied with fishing. We chatted with them for a bit and got flyers and said it would be cool to send Luke and our kids together on that trip in a future summer.
I promised Roo a trip to the park, so we headed there with Bear and Sasha once the sailboat kids finished up on the dock. It was 9:30 at night, but of course, the sun had just set, so we had a small window of time before it got too dark. A local man started mowing his lawn as we passed by at 9:30! Eventually everyone except Ben came over to the park and got to play for just a little bit. The mosquitos came out in full force and cut our time and the park a little shorter than we would've liked.
We walked back to the boat together and had our Garden Time before saying goodnight. (So many roses from today. We all love this little town and the places and people in it!)
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