Day 51 - Mon 18 Jul 2016
Docked – Gore Bay, ON (North Channel)

[photo: some boats tie right to sheer rock faces instead of anchoring, but animals (like bears) now have better access to your boat]

We are now just a tad over 25% through the time we estimated for this year’s grand adventure. I am happy to report that we have spent only 76% of what I expected to spend so far. We are over budget on provisions and just under budget on fuel, but we have spent so much less in categories like entertainment, transportation, and eating in restaurants. Despite staying here two nights, we are still well under budget for marinas and paid moorings.

The blueberries we picked the other day made a delicious addition to our breakfast of pancakes, and then we got started with our tasks of the day. Diane made the trek to various stores in town and got everything she was looking for – yay! I washed the boat and did a thorough check of the generator.

Later, I made a plan for the next 6 days of travel and marked out the waypoints on the chartplotter. Weather will play a major role, as always, but things are looking good for the next for days or so. It was a relaxing day after all that, with a nap thrown in there somewhere. Things started to get busy about 1600 as I got the appetizer ready for the 1700 Happy Hour. About 1630, Deb and Percy from Debrachaun came over to check out our boat.

At 1700, we wandered over to for the evening’s party, but stopped at Nancy D, the large yacht we had partied with at Hotham. We said hello and goodbye and then enjoyed a fabulous gathering on Debrachaun. Joining us were Rob and Melissa from a gorgeous Tartan sailboat. We had a terrific time and then left about 1900. On the way back, we saw Nancy and Dan from Nancy D and invited them aboard for a really nice chat, including some personal challenges and how blessed we are to be able to do this.

When they left an hour later, we had a few nibbles of supper, read some more, and then called it a night. It was an unexpected two days in a marina, but in the end it was a great time. We continue to exclaim that the best thing about cruising is the people you meet and that remains true to this day.