Love Canada, But

. . . Ready to Be Back in the U.S.A.

Please don’t misunderstand. Canada is a wonderful country. Its people are spectacular. It’s just not home. Neither is Michigan, but it’s in our home country.  Internet, phones and bank cards work there.

We can get our mail there and pay bills. Who would think we’d be this happy to pay bills?!

Ice Road Truckers is No Joke

After a stop in Midland to have our masts raised, Aurora (in photo) and Carina hit the road again, in a manner of speaking. The mural showing the history of Midland on the grain elevators is the largest historical outdoor mural in North America.

Canadian waters do freeze in the winter -- even big Georgian Bay freezes.  A biker who gave us directions when we were in Midland said it snowed four feet every winter, the bay freezes several feet thick and people love it. He couldn’t imagine living elsewhere. We’ve got to admit that it’s really beautiful and a sailing paradise for the few months that it’s thawed.

In fact, we’re afraid we may see the bay freeze this week. The Georgian Bay winds and unseasonably cool temperatures make this area, well, cold. . . cold enough to get Mr. Heater out.

Carina’s sails were out one beautiful balmy 60-degree day on Georgian Bay.









Most Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S. border, leaving a lot of Canada farther north. The Ice Road Truckers serve those far north people.

30,000 Islands, 1 Million Rocks

 A typical rock island is in front of a Georgian Bay range light.

For the past few days, we’ve traveled through the 30,000 Islands section of Georgian Bay.  For every rock island above the water, there are about 10 or more beneath. Some charts show that many underwater rocks are named. We've seen Jane Rock, for instance. There’s no Kent Rock so far.

The islands are part of the Precambrian Shield, some of the oldest rocks on earth.  All are carved or marked some way by the glaciers that covered this area during the Ice Age.

Since entering Georgian Bay, we’ve noticed stacked-stone men on many points. Called inuksuk, these particular sculptures are a recent addition to the landscape, not a prehistoric remnant. They are interesting, nonetheless. Their history is with native Inuits in Canada who used them are markers in their travels. Inuksuks are increasingly becoming a national symbol of Canada. 

As remote as these rock islands are, many have one or more cottages built on them. Sometimes they are more than cottages and are actually full-sized homes that people live in three months of the year. Maybe.

The islands are often stark and windswept. Although many cottages have electricity, most islands can be reached only by boat.

The Pointe au Baril Station is a picturesque, historical lighthouse midway up Georgian Bay. It’s located near Hangdog Reef and Shoals. We’re used to reefs being coral and shoals being silted areas. At Hangdog, the reef is rock above the surface, and the shoals are rocks below the surface.

A Loopy Coincidence

We continue to travel with Cindy and Mike on Aurora (center), now joined by close friends that they met early on the Loop, Eddy and Linda on Spiritus (right), a Grand Banks trawler. 

In one of those odd Great Loop coincidences, Aurora, Spiritus and Carina all started to cross the Gulf on the same day in November. We didn’t meet them until we ran into each other in Canada. Aurora and Carina both left from C-Quarters Marina to do the crossing, although we’d not met when there. After hours in the Gulf, the seas that day were a little too much for Aurora, a 22-foot Hunter, so Mike and Cindy ducked into Steinhatchee, Florida, and later hopscotched down the Florida coast.

Carina and Spiritus made the crossing, both going to Tarpon Springs, and docked two spaces away from each other. A giant trawler was between us at the dock. Although we waved and said, “hi,” we never really met.


Eddy (center) clowns around with Kent (left) and Mike (right) while exploring Horsley Island.

Raindrops glitter on the water in the Golden Sword Island anchorage while Eddy and Mike rush to close Spiritus up.

Now our paths have crossed again. Oddly enough, all three boats will end our Loops very near each other. In fact, Carina and Spiritus will cross our wakes at the exact same place -- just south of Pickwick Dam. It’s odd because we’re all from different parts of the country -- Aurora from the Minneapolis area, Spiritus from Navarre, Florida, and Carina from Chattanooga and yet we all started our odyssey near each other.

Thoughts about crossing our wake are premature, though. First, we have to get out of Canada before it freezes.

For once, the old sailors' saying was wrong. Red skies at night brought gray skies, 

dropping temperatures, and high winds the next day.