Day 320, "on the loop", 8/25/2023

Saturday (8/19) - Started the day with Cruisers.net broadcast. Roy does a great job providing weather updates and other local news before opening the mic (radio) for questions. When closing the broadcast out, he ask for a roll call (it's really cool to hear the boaters names, their location and where they are headed).

Stayed the night at Benjamin Island, a fairly busy cove with several boaters (some loopers and local Canadian boaters). We met fellow looper, Thistle, and Canadian sail boater(s), Outer Banks, they joined us for Rocktails, it was a blast.

Evening views while at the ski slop!

Earlier in the day, we explored and hiked to the top of the rock formation called ski slope (a name given to this area because it looks like a ski mountain). There is so much moss growth on the rocks, it felt like plush carpet under our feet (during our walk). Observed several small creatures: ants, small birds and several ants. We even saw a wasp like creature capture a small caterpillar. At first we thought it was a stick; but, after a closer look it was confirmed to be a caterpillar being carried off for who knows what!

Here are some pictures from the Benjamin anchorage. Side note: I did not wear the life jacket on the hike. I wear it so much, I forget I had it on - lol.

Cheers! The looper toast: There are good ships and there are wood ships and ships that sail the seas But the best ships are friendships... May they always be.

Sunday (8/20) - Took the open water route from Benjamin Island to Bear Drop Harbor, it was a nice ride. More rocks, who knew rocks could be so pretty! Guess when water surrounds something, it makes it beautiful. Arrived around lunch time, took naps and then a dinghy ride to explore. We didn't hike on this day, it was chilly and there were reports of bears on this island.

Pictures below: While out for a dinghy ride, met up with Two Harbors (Debbie & Tom)

Some pictures from our day of exploring:

Monday (8/21) - Our time here in Canada is coming to an end. Canada's beauty is unbelievable AND amazing! While in Blind River we were told we MUST try a restaurant called "Seventeen," which is a "must stop" for tourist (based on conversations with other loopers).

Seventeen (the restaurant) was not a disappointment. The food was great AND the prices were the best we have seen in a while. The place was recommended by a fellow looper. It is a total, hole in the wall sort of place. If you see it from the outside, you would think... No Way.. But we all agreed the food was good. Got 4.5 rating on yelp!

We are up north, I believe this is the furtherest North Joel has been, I know this is the most north point for me! A few pictures from our time at Blind River:

We rode our bikes around the town of Blind River. There was not much to see in town; however, the area around the marina was so pretty - check out all the colors.

The marina at Blind River had a crab apple tree on the property. We were told they were safe for eating, so I had to try them!

Reminds me of the green crab apples we had back home in Georgia (ours were green vs. red - if I remember correctly).

They were sour, making one plenty for me!

Spotted 3 river otters at the marina.

They were extremely playful. We watched them for a good 15+ minutes. We've seen River Otters while on the loop; however, they tend to be off in the distance. These ones were so close we could actually hear them crunching on their food. Side note: I posted a few videos of the river otters on Facebook if you are interested in seeing more shots of these guys. They were entertaining and weren't camera shy at all!

During our bike ride, found an ice-cream truck.

I had lavender lemonade, it was yummy! Joel had chocolate chip mint.

LG2, Port-A-Gees & Two Harbors decided to anchor one more night before hitting the rough Michigan waters! Two harbors plans to hang in Michigan for a while so we said our farewells and hope to see them in Chicago.

Arabella and Summer Place (us) decided to stay at Detour marina for a couple of nights (where we will check in with Customs to enter the US) to wait out storms that are in the forecast.

& Jonathan is off to school, 1st day of 2nd year of college (UARK).

He moved in last week, and prepared his room for the year ahead. Shout out to Katie Gegg for making room and taking a few of his large items to his UARK apartment (Thank you!)

Tuesday (8/22) - On Tuesday, we arrived back in the USA! We said good-bye to Canada. We will more than likely not travel the Rideau, Trent-Severn and Georgian Bay as a whole; however, I hope to visit this Georgian Bay area again one day.

I have to say the Canadians were so happy to have tourists, whether it was fellow loopers, store owners or local residents they loved hearing from us and how much we enjoyed our time here.

If you ever get to Canada, check out some of these things:

Butter Tarts (not from the grocery store; get from a bakery)
The BREAD (also from bakeries)
Bobby Orr Museum (Parry Sound)
Montreal (Old Town)

Boaters should check out the following areas / anchorages if / when in the area:

Parry Sound
Manitoulin Island
South Benjamin Island
Beausoleil Island
Bad River

Locks that stand out (to us), were scary in the moment but so cool to say we DID IT (check out links is you are interested to learn more)!

* This flight of locks took about 2 hours to complete (and we did it on one of the hottest days of our travels). Joel said he felt like a zoo animal because people line up alone the locks walls and watch the show! We didn't have any mishaps - thank Goodness!

A few other places we enjoyed during our time in Canada: Valley Field, Ottawa, Fenelon, Orillia and most of the locks along the Trent-Severn.

The Canadian Loopers we traveled with made us feel even more special when they came to visit us at stops near their locations. Aquaholics (John & Graeme), Breakaway (Danielle & Alain), Donna Lynn; now Panacea (Patti & Corbin) and Yachts of Fun (Sharon & Jeff).

Mid afternoon, we arrived in DeTour Michigan, checked in with Customs (making it legal for us to be back in the states). This is a cute little village with a lot of boat traffic and tourist during the summer season. With school starting back, summer coming to a close, the town is fairly empty. Several of us loopers, went to dinner at a local pizza place called Dinghy's. I think we overloaded their small restaurant as they only had 1 cook and 1 wait staff; but, they did a great job of taking care of us!

Wednesday & Thursday (8/23- 8/24) We stayed in Detour, MI to wait out some weather. On Wednesday, it rained and rained, there was thunder and a little lighting too! We were near a large sail boat and the winds passing through sounded eerie.

Rainy days allow for inside boat chores, fridge defrosting and just lazy time.

On Thursday, we woke up to a hazy day and after checking weather reports and decided we should stay put another day. The weather here in Detour looked good; however, the weather for Mackinaw called for thunder storms around 1pm. We don't mind wind and small waves; however, cautious when it comes to storms! Having the extra day allowed us to do some exploring. We stumbled upon Botanical Garden (more less a memorial garden); but, beautiful regardless.

Botanical Garden:

& Found time for one last dinner at the local watering hole :-) and ice cream from Dollar General. In these lake towns we find that the local Dollar Generals have more food than some of the town stores.

2nd picture: Joel & Karen left the group, wanted no part of our Dollar General shopping spree!

Below: Looper, Unsubscribed (from TX - Dennis & Phyllis) approaching DeTour Marina

Below: DeTour Marina fuel dock and one of the Custom Check In Points:

Friday (8/25) - When leaving DeTour we spotted a rock quarry that produces Dolomite. Arrived in Mackinaw City, MI shortly after lunch. Got settled and then toured around the town. Nice little lake town, met some other loopers and local boaters. Will share more next week on Mackinaw City and Mackinaw Island.

Random Information & Other Stuff:

Pudding Stone:

Puddingstone is the unofficial name given to quartz conglomerate. This stone ranges from small pebbles to huge boulders and has been found throughout the world. You may never have heard the name puddingstone, but it is very likely you have seen at least one. This is especially true if you spend much time near flowing streams, especially in lower Canada and the upper Michigan areas. The Great Lakes region is very popular for hunting this unusual stone. If you interested in learning more about these rare stones, check it out here:

https://rockseeker.com/puddingstones/

Sand Crane: The area around the eyes are a bold "red" color.

The Sandhill Crane is one of the world's few crane species that is not currently threatened. Although most of the subspecies' populations are increasing, the Mississippi and Cuban birds are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

These “habituated” cranes may approach people closely and even grab food out of a person's hand. In rare instances, cranes have been reported pecking people. Cranes also have been known to damage window screens and do other property damage. More on the Sand-crane here:

https://www.haehnlesanctuary.org/crane-facts

Dolomite Plant:

Dolomite (also known as dolomite rock, dolostone or dolomitic rock) is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. It occurs widely, often in association with limestone and evaporites, though it is less abundant than limestone and rare in Cenozoic rock beds (beds less than about 66 million years in age). The first geologist to distinguish dolomite rock from limestone was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778. (also known as dolomite rock, dolostone or dolomitic rock) is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral-dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. It occurs widely, often in association with limestone and evaporites, though it is less abundant than limestone and rare in Cenozoic rock beds (beds less than about 66 million years in age). The first geologist to distinguish dolomite rock from limestone was Blesser Hacquet in 1778.