Yesterday we pulled into Little Current and docked downtown to get supplies and explore the town. After an early visit and dinner with high school friend Susan McIlquham and her family, we headed off to find our anchorage for the night, just outside of town. As we were approaching our chosen site (in 12' of water with no warning markings on our charts), the boat 'hit' something. Not good. We only draft 3'8" so this was a surprise. We proceeded to anchor for the night and Eric took a late swim to inspect the damage below. Both props sustained minor damage, but enough that we couldn't continue without addressing the problem. We played Yahtzee and cards to take our minds off the issue and turned in for the night. We had a plan.
Early this morning, Eric called Boyle's Marina back in Little Current. We were in luck. They could take us right away. By 9:00 we were at the marina, out of the water in a sling. The ever-prepared Eric, had two extra props aboard (an easy swap out for the damaged ones), however, we also sustained a small scraping on the keel which needed to be sanded down and repaired. This meant leaving us overnight on land so that the repair has some time to dry. We are still aboard for the night and expect to launch tomorrow first thing to continue our journey.
On the positive side:
1. If we're going to have any issues on this trip, this was a minor one to encounter.
2. We were very close to a large marina that could accommodate hauling us out (many can only handle smaller vessels).
3. We have shore power for tonight which means access to stove & oven (menu is Danish carbonetha, scalloped potatoes, home made buns with sweet butter, beets and strawberry/rhubarb pie for dessert.
Oh, and we're celebrating surviving our first 'adventure' with a mini bottle of champagne, Tunnock's caramel wafer and red licorice for later tonight. Sometimes it's the small things that make the big things ok.
