We apologized last time for our delayed post so I guess we are super sorry this time. After we parked the boat for the winter we moved on to other priorities like traveling to India for a wedding but are now back to thinking about sailing:)
Baie Fine – the Pool (9.9.19-9.10.19) Making our way for an hour up the long narrow fjord to the Pool at Baie Fine was nerve racking due to the shallow depths and our 7 foot draft. Partly thanks to the high water levels this year, we made it without any “bumps”:) Normally this anchorage would be full of boats, but we are doing this very late in the season and there was just one other boat with us. We dinghied to shore to hike up to famous Topaz Lake. We missed the lake trail turn off and hiked quite a bit longer than we needed to, but eventually ended up at Topaz Lake. We have actually been having land navigation issues! It’s a good thing our water navigation is better than our land navigation. Anyway, we got there, and the clear lake with its mirrored surface and tree-lined shore just begged us to skinny dip! The weather started to turn and although we were out of cell service, per the VHF radio we knew that a thunderstorm and high winds were forecasted for the next day. We decided to hunker down in this protected anchorage and wait out the storm. Not sure if it was a super protected anchorage or the “storm” missed us but our anchorage was beautiful and glass calm! The day wasn’t a loss though. Linda read an entire book and Bob used our industrial Sailrite sewing machine to sew a proper harness for the dinghy engine to hoist it onto the boat. Linda spotted two black bears on shore and they captivated us for 30-40 minutes.
Motoring up the fjord to the “Pool”
An abandoned 4 wheeler on the trail to Topaz Lake 
Lovely Topaz Lake
Bob’s personality 🙂 
Linda’s personality 🙂
Our “stormy” anchorage – If you look close you can see the bear in the middle of the picture near the water
Little Current (9.11.19) Little Current is the largest city on Manitoulin island which is the largest freshwater island in the world. We caught the noon swing bridge opening and headed to a slip on the public docks that we shared with the Victory cruise ship. Lunch was burgers and poutine from a food truck. We had not tried poutine before, but what’s not to love? — French fries, gravy and cheese curds! Dinner was at the Split Rail Brewery and Bob recommends the Split Rail beer. The next morning we met several friendly locals who helped us determine our next destinations given the stormy weather. The best laid plans must be changed if Mother Nature has other ideas.
The swing bridge entrance to Little Current 
The Victory cruises the Great Lakes
Kagawong (9.12.19) Kagawong was not on our original plan, but we are glad we made the stop for the short hike to Bridal Veil Falls. We particularly enjoyed watching the salmon try to make their way up the river to the falls.
Bridal Veil Falls 
The salmon run up the river
Croker Island (9.13.19) Our anchorage was well protected but a bit tight. After taking a nap we discovered a new neighbor in the anchorage we thought was tight for just us. We kept a close eye on our new neighbor who ended up moving as the wind picked up.
A sporty sail to Croker Island 
Enjoying the journey
Our new neighbor decided to move after the wind picked up
Turnbull Island (9.14.19) Wow, what a ride. We waited until about 14:00 to make our way to Turnbull Island so the winds would be down by the time we got to the anchorage. We pounded our way for 4 hours into 25-30 knot winds and 4+ foot seas. We learned that these conditions are about the most we want to motor into. We also learned everywhere the boat leaks in heavy seas.
The view from the cockpit as we bash into the waves 
We love how Navionics guides us through the islands
Harbor Island (9.15.19) Today we got up early and headed to Detour Village to pick up Ron and Jan (Bob’s brother and sister-in-law) – our first overnight guests!
Dead Boy’s Cove (9.16.19) No wind so we motored to Hilton Beach to check into Canada. Not much happening in Hilton Beach in fact the local store only had two loaves of bread. As we motored to Picture Island’s Dead Boy’s cove we hit our first milestone (1,000 nautical miles) The water couldn’t be more calm as we took a 61.5 degree bath and watched the sunset.
1,000 NM :)! 
The well stocked store 
Our first stern tie 
61.5 degree bath 
Sunset at Dead Boy’s cove
East Grant (9.17.19) At East Grant we had our first campfire happy hour. Conveniently we found a place that had two beach chairs and a fire pit ready for use.
Morning dew on the endless spider webs 
Bob’s brother hard at work 
Lakeside fire pit 
Happy Hour 🙂
Putting Tiger Lily to bed for the winter – (9.18.19 – 9.21.19) After dropping off Linda and Jan at Detour Village, Bob and Ron began the journey down to Bay City to tuck in Tiger Lily for the winter. On the trip south we stopped at Whitney Bay, Presque Isle and Tawas Bay. There was a lot of motoring and we got yelled at by the Coast Guard for talking too long to a boat that called us but other than that not much happened. The folks at Pier 7 in Bay City have been great and Tiger Lily is in good hands. Bob has been working to maintain the deck and unfortunately we didn’t get the cover on before the first snow:(
Filling in missing deck caulking 
Before After 
Hopefully this is the last winter she sees snow
Local Stories: we spoke to a couple in a coffee shop who had been coming to the North Channel. They told us the story of the island that her father had claimed back in the 1950s. Literally back then all you had to do was put a stake in the island and go pay some taxes. Then you had a certain amount of time in which to build a cottage. Her father, her brother and her brother’s best friend (who is now her husband!) went to the island with all their building supplies on heavily laden metal boats. They build the cottage in two weeks. Campbells McGregor Bay.
SV Tiger Lily 
Bill and I have enjoyed your sailing adventures, even though we have not taken the time to respond. We took “Vela” out early September in order to head west to Yellowstone NP before snow. However, it snowed after only a four day visit which prompted us to head further west to visit Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia NP, and four more national parks. We returned to MI in time for Thanksgiving, and the holiday season. I am XC skiing every day, Bill has built another dinghy with better oar locks! We are headed to Mexico mid-Feb for a couple of months. We look forward to summer sailing season, and hopefully seeing you again!
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Judy, it’s great to hear from you. It sounds like you guys have done and will be doing some wonderful traveling. Yosemite is one of my favorite places on the earth. Our paths probably wont cross in 2020 since we will be taking the boat to the east coast starting in May but maybe when we are back in northern MI for the summer of 2021:)
Bob
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Some very interesting weather you experienced!
Lovely pictures – especially the blacked out ones!
Linda
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We so thoroughly enjoy & appreciate your posts. Vicarious living altho we’ve been to the North Channel &Baie Fine via chartered trawler – less worry about unyielding objects in the water. We hiked to the lake &discovered two families (adults & children) swimming in the buff. We did not participate. Please do keep us up to date on your adventures. The ice has to melt eventually. Glen & Greeta
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Good to hear from you guys. We are starting to get excited to get back on the water so we can post more on our blog:). We have made a few tweaks to the format and will be getting rid of the ads soon so hopefully it will be even better in the future.
Take Care, Bob
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