On this map I think you can see Lake Erie at the bottom, then the Detroit River leading into Lake Saint Clair, the St. Clair River leading into Lake Huron and the towns we’ve been to on the eastern shore. Then up at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula is our destination, Tobermory.
Tuesday was a much better day to travel so we left Port Elgin at 6:15am – early for us. It was in the mid-50s with northerly winds so we were quite bundled up for July, especially Ginger!
We had to motor-sail most of the way as our destination was too close to the direction of the wind to sail alone (no, that never happens!) It was 63 nautical miles or 72 statute miles to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, the strip of land that separates Lake Huron from Georgian Bay (see above map). The Door County Peninsula in Wisconsin is actually Lake Michigan’s counterpart of the Bruce Peninsula. They were both formed from the same Niagara Escarpment. There are two natural harbors near Tobermory: Little Tub and Big Tub. This light marks Big Tub Harbor.
Tobermory means “Well of the Virgin Mary” in Gaelic, tobar moiré. The town of 1,200 residents is known as the diving capital of Canada. Some seasons, 8,000 divers may travel here to explore the many shipwrecks and dive sites that range from 20 ft. to 230 ft. Some of the charter dive boats are converted commercial fishing boats. Glass-bottomed boats like this one leave from here to travel to Fathom Five National Marine Park. This is the area where we planned to anchor but found it’s now restricted. Also the 325 ft. car ferry, Chi-Cheemaun (meaning big canoe) travels between here and Manitoulin Island.
We got a slip at the Tobermory Marina in Little Tub Harbor where we took on 66.3 liters of diesel at $1.20/liter (1 gal. is 3.8 liters). Fish and chips is big here so we had whitefish at The Shipwreck where we could eat outside. On the bill there are 3 separate taxes listed: GST (goods and services tax), Food Tax and Liquor Tax. I guess that’s how they pay for their “free” healthcare. I thought these flowers at a gift shop were so pretty and different that I had to include them.
The next day we had a brisk sail the 18 nautical miles to Winfield Basin. This is the only chance we had to anchor out since Erie, PA. We averaged about 7 knots with sails reefed. There were six other boats here for the night. One sailboat from Canada had the Looper burgee too; they plan to start the Loop in September of 2010. Paul suggested he have the mast shipped and he said they were planning on it. The wind really piped up during the night but it was well protected from all directions as you can see on this picture of the narrow opening to the basin.
We had another day of sailing on Thursday. First the wind was at our back then across our beam. It was a pleasant 23-mile ride to McGregor Harbor off Melville Sound, near Lion Head, Ontario. The bluffs we saw along the way reminded us of the Hudson River Valley north of NYC.
We had the whole anchorage to ourselves, except for cottages along the shore. We were entertained by watching a loon dive for his dinner (we found out they can stay submerged 45 seconds) and listening to the Brewers on satellite radio. No wifi or tv reception here.
Friday morning we sailed and motor-sailed to a marina in Owen Sound, further south in Georgian Bay, and that's where we are right now. Nothing eventful about the trip here, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
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