North Channel part 2- July 31 - August 3, 2006

July 31, Monday
Pulled anchor and headed for Killarney in grey, hazy skies. Weather said it was supposed to clear up and be nice but we ended up with fog first and then rain/thunderstorms all at the same time (That's not supposed to happen right?) We ended up having to queue the foghorn at Killarney to help us locate the entrance channel. We stayed at the Sportman's Inn Marina for the night. (Very expensive at $81.69) They reallypacked them in there (2 and sometimes 3 boats on each side of the dock). We met Joe and Jadzia from "Solo Passage"and Jim & Michelle from a powerboat (I can't remember the name) on our dock and we all had dinner together at the Sportsman's Inn. Very nice time...

August 1, 2006 Tuesday
Woke up to sunny skies and decided to take advantage of the good weather to head for Tobermory. Winds were out of the W at 15 - 25 knots and we put up the main and genoa. The winds picked up more and the waves started to build so we reefed the main. No sooner had we done that, the winds died down to 10 - 15 and changed direction from the SW (right where we were heading of course). We shook the reef out of the main and continued on our way. We started to get ugly skies towards evening and discussed the possibility of just keeping on going towards Port Elgin but decided to anchor in Big Tub Harbor in Tobermory. There were 2 other sailboats anchored in there and we met Rick from "Sweet Dreams" and had him over for dinner. His wife Irene had gone back home and he was waiting for crew to come to hlep him move his boat back to the Detroit area. Very nice man and we enjoyed his company.

August 2, 2006 Wednesday
During the night (about 2:30am) a severe thunderstorm past overhead. Winds were about 30 knots and lots of lightning and thunder came with the rain. We put on our rain gear and just in case the anchor gave, Mark started the engine to help keep us headed into the winds. Rick gave us weather updates over the VHF from his radar and we watched the storm on ours as well. We made it back to bed around 4am. Later in the morning when we got up, the forecast was for more rain and thunderstorms all day. We talked with Rick and planned dinner with him again for that evening (weather permitting). Mark baked bread onboard and it was great! We dinghyed into town for a few supplies and came right back as we were worried about the weather. Our dinner with Rick went well and we had an opportunity to tal with Charlie from Big Marina (very nice and knowledgeable man).

August 3, 2006 Thursday
We pulled anchor at 9:30am and went over to the marina for fuel and pump out. Left and headed for the long haul down the lake (Huron) to Port Huron and to check back into the United States with US customs. We motored some but were able to put out the spinaker. We came across a dinghy half filled with water. We did a search for other debri and persons in the water and thankfully found none. Continued on into the night...