June 30, 1997 - Leg One Comes To An End

As I write this update the Mississagi Strait is off our starboard beam and we are 6 miles from Meldrum Bay, Ontario. This will complete the first, and the most hectic, leg of our trip to the North Channel. Up to now, remember we are still 6 miles out, the trip has been great. Mother Nature has been good to us and has already given us more sailing on this trip than we had during the entire voyage of 1996!

We actually left for this trip 4 days later than last year but we have made up the time and will be arriving in Meldrum Bay on 30^th , which we did last time. The weather has been great, very warm in fact. I remember last years pictures with the ear muffs, stocking caps, gloves, and parkas. I've already gotten a mid-summer tan and Robin is wearing all the items mentioned above less frequently!

We did have a bit of excitement our second night out. The boat was anchored in a nice little cove just outside of Arcadia, Michigan. Everything was perfect until we noticed that the sky over Lake Michigan was looking pretty dark! We turned on our radio and found out that a line of severe storms were coming across the lake from Wisconsin. By the time we heard this the storm was on us with winds blowing 60 miles per hour. As luck would have it, we had anchored in a very weedy area and the anchor broke loose. It was great fun trying to reset the anchor in the driving rain and strong wind. This was no short blow, the wind continued to howl the entire night. Needless to say we didn't get a lot of sleep!

When we arrive in Meldrum Bay we will check in with Canadian Customs and then head for the general store (the only store in town) to get milk, eggs, and meat. Of course Meldrum Bay is the home of the "Pie Lady", so we'll have to stop by her truck parked by the docks and pickup some goodies.

Tomorrow morning we'll head for the Whalesback Channel, which is on the north side of the North Channel, and start our island hoping. We will have enough provisions to stay in the wilderness for two or three weeks. Our next stop for provisioning will be Gore Bay and we'll mail our second installment of this letter.