Saturday, July 15, 2023 Amedroz Island

Lots of clouds and no sun when I got up today. I was up early enough to see this flock of black birds going boat to boat cleaning off tasty bugs. That's obviously the group that was on Annie yesterday morning. They do good work. Today's forecast is for clouds and scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and hail are possible. Hmm.

I checked our water and saw that we used 20 gallons yesterday which is quite a lot so I refilled the tanks. Must have been the preparation and cleanup from last nights big dinner. Here is what the Little Current Swing Bridge looked like on a gloomy morning as I filled the tanks.

Kerry has been taking a series of photos out of our porthole windows in the V-berth. I remember the Kincardine lighthouse, the Grand Banks trawler, etc. Here is what it looks like docked next to a big 46, powerboat. Not her best work!

Tim from Kracken the Wine, the boat we met at Beaver Island, invited me down to his boat for a lesson in how to use Donald as a real anchor duck. He was on the far end of the harbor from us. I was to supply the duck. You get a lot of interesting comments from people when you are carrying a big yellow plastic duck down the boardwalk.  Wally wanted to know if he was well behaved. I said "Yes, as long as he gets his morning walk!" I did get a great lesson from Tim. I also saw Randy from Heart Tug and met Lee the owner of a Nordic Tug 37, Encore. New Song, the American Tug 39' was there too, so it was like a mini Trawler Fest. Randy explained that the purpose of an anchor marker is not only to mark the anchor but to provide a trip line in case the anchor gets stuck on something on the bottom. The skippers were very impressed with how I made Donald into an anchor duck. I had once thought about making and selling them. I did sell one on EBay.

We met Peter and Marianna at the Anchor Inn for breakfast. On the way we stopped at a little farmers market and bought some apricot pepper jelly. We had a taste and it is good. Kerry and I always share the restaurants "big farmer" breakfast, with three meats, three eggs, toast, potatoes, etc. Walking back through the market we saw Roy Eaton selling cinnamon rolls for some charity so we purchased two. He said he appreciated the boater community support.

We left Little Current at noon and were anchored in Amedoz Island at 1:45. It was a 12 mile trip. We passed up the premier spot in a little cove and anchored a little further out where Peter can be near us and away from most other boats. That way he can run his generator as much as needed without fearing he is bothering anyone. Still, it's quite nice where we are. 

The Orros arrived about 3:15. We were invited to Voyager for drinks and dinner. We loafed all afternoon while we watched them clean and prepare for company. They used Voyager's fly bridge to entertain for the first time. It is very nice up there. Lots of space and ventilation and a great place to observe Annie at anchor.

Marianna served her spicy Spanish tuna fish which I really like on a toasted English muffin and had a very nice cabbage salad. She had a bakery treat from the Anchor Inn and liquors for dessert. Peter and I benefit from the efforts our mates make for us. No complaints here!

We don't have any firm plans for the immediate future. The winds are forecast to be strong from the west on Monday so we will need to decide if we should stay here or move before the blow starts. Marianna was able to get us into Gore Bay for Gore Bay Days which start next Friday. We'll be ready for a town by then. We always look forward to our annual visit to Gore Bay. There is a nice hardware store there where I should be able to buy the things I need to make Donald a real anchor duck. One problem though is that protective mother, Kerry, does not want Donald out there all alone, and fears someone might run over him.