GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: FOUR DAYS AT OJIBWAY BAY

DAYS 49, FRI. 50, SAT 51, SUN 52, MON.
WEATHER HAZY, HOT, HUMID, T-STORMS COLD, CALM, WIND

Mon., we are still at Ojibway Bay on Beausoleil Island in Ontario CA. We planned on staying 2 days, but our travel companions wanted to anchor out at Warren I around the eastern shore of the island and we were feeling lazy and tired and decided to stay and meet up with them on Sun. On Sun, another boat came in and said there was no room at the anchorage, Frying Pan Harbor, so we stayed over until Mon. On Mon, we awoke to rain with later clearing and decided to go to Beacon Bay Marina where we have reservations for Tues. and Wed for a Looper get together. Jean and Brian texted that they were hiking over to see us so we stayed and that is why we are still here. Tomorrow, we leave for sure. In any case thing haven’t been dull I spite of the fact that we are on an island that is a National Park with the only amenities being 2 out houses, hers & his.

Sat. we dinghy over to the South Bay Cove Marina for lunch. As nice as the Canadians are, put them in a small boat and all the rules go out the door. We are 4 in an 11’ inflatable and boats ranging in size from 16’ bass boats to 35’ express cruisers are zooming all around us. Even in “No Wake” zones they don’t slow down! I can’t believe we aren’t swamped as we take several wakes over the bow. We finally get to the marina and have a great lunch at a very upscale restaurant in a very beautiful Yacht Club in the middle of nowhere. After lunch and a laundry stop, we endure the 1+ hr. dinghy ride back to Ojibway bay and the security of our boats.

Sun. we and Jean Orr go for a short hike then look forward to an uneventful rest. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has other plans. When we get back from the hike Pat decides to make use of the ladies outhouse. As she is exiting a black bear is walking by, no more than 10’ away. Needless to say she is startled, (as is the bear) and does the only thing she can do, she SCREAMS, then shuts herself into the outhouse. Had this happened 10 mins. earlier we would have encountered this bear on the hiking trail. Fortunately, this bear is more startled than Pat and keeps on going, probably more frightened than Pat. One of our friends grabs his camera and takes the attached picture, proof positive, that this is not B.S. (Bear Sh..). After all the excitement and the numerous retelling of the bear story we decide to dinghy over to see Honey Harbor. One of our new friends, Carol, concerned we might get lost, also decides to go to Honey harbor on the pretense that she needed to buy something. She refused to go with us, instead taking her own dinghy and showing us the way, than giving us a guided tour of the tiny town and leading us back. What a wonderful person!

TUES. 02:00 AM

Sound asleep and Pat wakes up with a start. The CO detector is beeping! Well, we know there is no CO because nothing is running, but I do know the alarms will beep when the house batteries get low. So I get up and switch to the other house battery and the alarm goes off. Thank goodness, back to sleep. 04:00 AM the alarm goes off again! This means the other battery is low and we will not be able to start the engine until the batteries are recharged. The reason that batteries are low is that we couldn’t run the generator last night because the intake was plugged with weeds. Last night I cleaned the sea strainer and that didn’t solve the problem, so I thought when we get to the marina in Penetang I would clean the thru hull, I didn’t anticipate the batteries running low. So, this morning at 07:00 I remove the hose, open the seacock, and nothing comes thru. After a few mins. poking with a coat hanger the water come gushing in, I reconnect everything, start the genset, and AMEN! Now we can recharge the batteries and be on the way.