July 26-28, 2017 Amendroz to Hotham Island, North Channel

On July 26 (off Amendroz Island – or Amedroz, depending on which chart you look at) it continued to pour most of the day. By 5pm it got down to a drizzle so we invited our neighbors over for cocktail hour. Never a dull moment with sailors, there’s about 400 years of stories going around our back deck. I often think about that silly Girl Scout song – “make new friends but keep the old….”

July 27 – blue skies again. We headed south to check out the small community of Kagawong on Manitoulin Island.

St. John the Evangelist is noted for its nautical theme.

Loved the power boat bow for a pulpit and the anchor hanging over head.

And nautical stained glass windows.

Bob stayed behind with the boats while we explored the town and nearby hiking trail.

Random art work.

We hiked through a “Spirit” trail with lots of signage. This was one of many thought provoking signs.

Came out at Bridal Veil Falls. The Falls are down to a trickle because most of the water from Kagawong Lake is diverted through a small hydroelectric power plant – which provides electricity for the town.

This service station is like a mini mall – groceries, hardware, clothing, souvenirs, beer and wine among other things.

Random statues on the way back to the boat. No signage to say who sculpted them or their meaning. There was also a chocolate factory in town which had pretty yummy treats.

We moved on to Clapperton Island about 5 miles north for the night. In the bay was a small island with abandoned buildings from a former resort.

After taking this picture from the boat with my good camera I launched the paddle board to have a closer look.

I was about 20 feet off the shore when this black bear jumped out of the brush. I almost fell over! He started to enter the water and I wondered if I could paddle faster than he could swim. This picture is very blurry because I took it with my cell phone while paddling away. He very quickly lost interest in me and went back to foraging in the brush. By the time I returned in the dinghy with my good camera, he was nowhere to be found.

Later that night we were treated to this stunning sunset. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight…

On July 28, a mother loon and her still fuzzy babies floated by. Dad was off fishing.

Of course as soon as mom turned her head away, the kids started acting up.

Saw this squadron of cormorants on our way to the next anchorage.

Heading over to Hotham Island with the La Cloche mountains in the background.

The bay behind Hotham Island was narrow but long – about 4 miles long with all kinds of nooks and crannies for anchoring.

We anchored off Oak Point which had a narrow channel way leading to an inner lake. With the water being up so high this year we could have actually taken Islandia into the lake.

But we took the paddle board and dinghies instead. This is Hal and Terri trying to get photos of dragon flies. The deer flies were pretty intense so I didn’t last long here.