Saturday, June 27
We awoke this morning to another beautiful morning. I finished writing yesterday’s blog entry and walked up the hill (why is that when we leave the boat it is always uphill?) to the Meldrum Bay Inn. I sat on their porch to use their Wi-Fi. I checked the weather and e-mails and did a blog entry. The nice owner of the inn came out and brought the banana bread I had order last night.
As I was headed up the hill a large 55’ cruiser came in and I helped them dock, they were just coming in to clear customs and then continue their journey. They had run all night from Detroit.
The plan for the day was to go to Little Current at the east end of the North Channel, about 60 miles. The very helpful manager of the marina came out to see use off. She indicated that now that they have a new breakwater in, they hope to rebuild the entire marina. They have lots of smaller floating docks but the facilities for larger boats could use an update.
We pulled out of Meldrum and headed east, our course for 30 miles was due east right on the 46 parallel. The North Channel is a beautiful body of water approximately 100 miles long by 20 at its widest. There are many islands and island groups with lots of good anchorages. Many boaters spent weeks moving from anchorage to anchorage with the occasional trip to town for supplies. Our plan is to spend our time in old canals so we motored on.
We had some of the banana bread for lunch, it was excellent. I just wish the calorie police had not vetoed buying one of the homemade pies the
Meldrum Bay Inn offered. All of their baked goods must be ordered the day before; they are custom baked to order.
We continued to enjoy the scenery of the nearby islands and the mountains on the mainland in the background. For most of the day we had the water to ourselves, there was the occasional other boat but generally a mile or two off. As we got close to Little Current the traffic got a little busier as it is the heart of the North Channel, which narrows to 800 feet wide. We were unable to raise anybody at the town dock on the radio but there were many empty slips so we just pulled in. It seems that it is the still the start of the season and the whole staff was in an all day first aid course. They were around later in the evening.
For years the town has offered transient dockage simply along (a third of a mile) sea wall. In the
last couple of years they have added five or six 
docks with slips at either end. The main street of
town is right along the water front. We stopped at a bank ATM to get some Canadian cash then headed up the hill four blocks to the grocery store for a few perishables. It was a long walk and when we got the groceries put away, the fish and chips stand just 50 yards from the boat look too inviting so we went over there for ice cream before dinner.
Little Current has more than a little current that flows through here. It is a funnel that connects the North Channel to Georgian Bay, both of which are part of Lake Huron. As the wind and weather move water around the lake the water flows through Little Current like an unpredictable tidal current. When we came in it was flowing east at two mph by evening it was going west at about the same. They have a buoy across from the town dock shaped like a boat that swings to show the direction of flow.
The bridge at Little Current is the only one to the mainland for all of Manitoulin Island. It was originally build as a railroad bridge in 1915. When the auto became popular, they were allowed to cross when there was no train, train traffic ended. It is only one lane wide so there are traffic
lights and traffic goes one way for a couple of minutes then the other. It opens for boat traffic once an hour.
It was another perfect day.
We awoke this morning to another beautiful morning. I finished writing yesterday’s blog entry and walked up the hill (why is that when we leave the boat it is always uphill?) to the Meldrum Bay Inn. I sat on their porch to use their Wi-Fi. I checked the weather and e-mails and did a blog entry. The nice owner of the inn came out and brought the banana bread I had order last night.
As I was headed up the hill a large 55’ cruiser came in and I helped them dock, they were just coming in to clear customs and then continue their journey. They had run all night from Detroit.
The plan for the day was to go to Little Current at the east end of the North Channel, about 60 miles. The very helpful manager of the marina came out to see use off. She indicated that now that they have a new breakwater in, they hope to rebuild the entire marina. They have lots of smaller floating docks but the facilities for larger boats could use an update.
We pulled out of Meldrum and headed east, our course for 30 miles was due east right on the 46 parallel. The North Channel is a beautiful body of water approximately 100 miles long by 20 at its widest. There are many islands and island groups with lots of good anchorages. Many boaters spent weeks moving from anchorage to anchorage with the occasional trip to town for supplies. Our plan is to spend our time in old canals so we motored on.
We had some of the banana bread for lunch, it was excellent. I just wish the calorie police had not vetoed buying one of the homemade pies the
Meldrum Bay Inn offered. All of their baked goods must be ordered the day before; they are custom baked to order.We continued to enjoy the scenery of the nearby islands and the mountains on the mainland in the background. For most of the day we had the water to ourselves, there was the occasional other boat but generally a mile or two off. As we got close to Little Current the traffic got a little busier as it is the heart of the North Channel, which narrows to 800 feet wide. We were unable to raise anybody at the town dock on the radio but there were many empty slips so we just pulled in. It seems that it is the still the start of the season and the whole staff was in an all day first aid course. They were around later in the evening.
For years the town has offered transient dockage simply along (a third of a mile) sea wall. In the
last couple of years they have added five or six 
docks with slips at either end. The main street of
town is right along the water front. We stopped at a bank ATM to get some Canadian cash then headed up the hill four blocks to the grocery store for a few perishables. It was a long walk and when we got the groceries put away, the fish and chips stand just 50 yards from the boat look too inviting so we went over there for ice cream before dinner.Little Current has more than a little current that flows through here. It is a funnel that connects the North Channel to Georgian Bay, both of which are part of Lake Huron. As the wind and weather move water around the lake the water flows through Little Current like an unpredictable tidal current. When we came in it was flowing east at two mph by evening it was going west at about the same. They have a buoy across from the town dock shaped like a boat that swings to show the direction of flow.
The bridge at Little Current is the only one to the mainland for all of Manitoulin Island. It was originally build as a railroad bridge in 1915. When the auto became popular, they were allowed to cross when there was no train, train traffic ended. It is only one lane wide so there are traffic
lights and traffic goes one way for a couple of minutes then the other. It opens for boat traffic once an hour.It was another perfect day.
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