Little Current, Hotham, Benjamins and Gore Bay – Aug. 27

There is a good reason Little Current has its name; actually I think it is an understatement. It should be Major Current. This narrow passage serves as a bottle neck between the North Channel and Georgian Bay. With winds forecast to increase, we moored behind the Reinkens on an inside wall. Being with folks who have local knowledge paid off for us. When reservations were made, Barb asked that we be put on the wall rather than in a slip at a dock. This ties the boats away from the fast moving water that squeezes through the narrow channel. We talked to some loopers who came in later and who were put in an outside slip; they rocked and rolled when the wind kicked up. One family even had to abandon ship after getting seasick at the dock.

Little Current lighthouse

Little Current is on Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world. Manitoulin helps define the North Channel from Lake Huron. The north side of the island where we are cruising is pocked with deep protected bays and dotted with islands.

The blue dot marks Gore Bay where we sit now waiting out several high wind days. The large body of water below Manitoulin is Lake Huron and the white line shows the boundary between the US AND Canada.

During our 2 day layover in Little Current, we stopped in at the Anchor Inn to witness the 9am Cruisers Net broadcast on VHF Channel 78. Every morning in July and August, Roy Eaton sits at his microphone and keeps the cruising community informed on things from weather, current events and where help can be found if needed. Cruisers call in to announce where they are and where they are heading. We joined the Reinkens and about 10 other boaters to watch and listen to Roy and to provide applause when appropriate. As in most of the small towns we’ve stopped at, WiFi here is crap. The local library is typically the only place to get decent WiFi and that’s where Tim and I spent most of one afternoon.

After a challenging time getting off the wall in Little Current, we followed the Reinkens to one of their favorite anchorages, Hotham Island. Hotham provides not only a well protected place to drop an anchor, it is also the summer cottage of a wonderful couple who frequently invite cruisers to their deck for afternoon cocktails. Elaine paddled out accompanied by nephew, William, to invite us up. We had a wonderful visit with this gracious couple who love to share their patch of paradise with fellow boaters.

Once again, high winds were forecast to come our way. Most of the loopers we were in contact with made the decision to take this short window and run the remaining length of the North Channel to De Tour Village and the US. The Reinkens decided to do the same. They had an appointment in Cheboygan to have some A/C work done and needed to close the gap between us and Michigan. Tim and I choose to use the last couple days of good weather to visit the Benjamin Islands before we too sought shelter.

The Benjamins is a group of islands that lie in a circular patten. The Benjamins are thought to be a billion years old uplifting of the Earth’s core. Over time wind, rain and water smoothed to pink granite into smooth, rounded rock. This is truly one of Earth’s beauties.

We’ve been told that this area is usually bustling with boaters. The beauty here is evident. Luckily with the weather approaching, there weren’t as many boats here as we anticipated and I would have loved to stay longer. But like them, the strong winds dictated that we move on. Sitting on a rocking boat at anchor for 3 – 4 days on end didn’t sound like a lot of fun and our holding tank wouldn’t have allowed it. Time to seek a marina. We chose to go to Gore Bay. We’d been told it has a nice town with grocery, pumpout, WiFi and hiking. You’ll hear about that in the next post.