Day 40 - Thu 7 Jul 2016
Anchored - Sandy Bay, ON (Georgian Bay)

[photo: you don't see too many shots of me, but here I am navigating the channels]

Last night it rained off and on, which was great for the region in need of the moisture. I had left the rear door open part way with the screen in place. In theory, a gentle rain should not come in with the canvas Bimini over the door, but the canvas needs to have waterproofing reapplied, it seems. There was a small puddle in the morning.

Diane got up well before me today and since it was very foggy and we were only planning to go a short distance (maybe 1.5 hours), there was no need to rush at all. We decided to defrost the refrigerator again because it needed it and it was a convenient place to do it. We have it down to a science now and it does not take much time or effort.

It was also a great day to have veggie omelets and home fries with onions. Even with small quantities, that is a very satisfying meal. The warm days we had been experiencing are over for a bit, it would seem. Forecasts indicate a storm with rain and gusty winds coming sometime mid to late Fri, so we plan to be somewhere protected for that and may need to stay two nights.

We cast off about 0930 and traveled slowly in almost complete solitude. While we still had decent cell coverage, I telephoned Mom to wish her a happy 89th birthday. I have been able to call almost every day so far, but sometimes I just get to leave a message when she is out of the apartment for some reason.

Unlike previous days, there was nothing challenging about the route. For safety and comfort, we were happy with the conditions, light wind and almost negligible wave action, but the lack of sunshine sure changed the overall appreciation of the terrain. It was just over an hour of travel when we reached Sandy Bay. There were one or two coves that could be anchorages, but considering a possible increase in wind, we decided to go all the way to the E end where we found a good bottom in just 7 feet of water.

The location was pretty enough, but nothing spectacular. The good things were that no one else was in sight and we had a lot of room to swing at anchor should the wind shift. After a lunch of salads, we read and played Mah Jongg for a while. In a different location on a better weather day, we might have dropped the dinghy for exploration, but at the time, we weren't sure that was that much interesting around and the overcast sky didn't put us in the mood.

It was a boring afternoon, in an enjoyable way, I guess. We took showers off the stern with no care for modesty this time. Supper was the flank steak I grilled yesterday, some baked (microwaved) potatoes, and fresh green beans. It was all great and there were no pots or pans to wash. We read for a while and then Diane said we really needed to get off the boat and do some exploring. By then, the sun had come out and it looked a lot more beautiful than earlier.

I lowered the dinghy and we set off about 1830. In the middle third of the wide bay, I got up on plane doing about 13 kts. Any time there was something interesting like a cove to explore, I slowed down to a walking pace so we had a chance to see any errant rocks before we hit them. The dinghy could take a light hit, but breaking a prop would be bad. I have a spare aboard Diva Di, but first we would have to row back to Diva Di.

We were gone only about an hour, but it was fun and something interesting to do. Almost everywhere that there was a large rock formation that sloped easily into the water, you can tell that people like to land their boats there. Most had rock fire rings, but we saw one sign posted that this was land belonging to the First Nation people and a land-use permit was required.

If the weather holds for the first half of the day, we are thinking of braving some tricky channels up to Obstacle Island where it should be rather isolated and protected for any weather.