We departed Meldrum Bay on the west coast of Manitoulin Island this morning very early (7:00 am). Weather forecast was good for us to make the 4-hour run to Drummond Island, Michigan. We were ok for the first 2 hours and then the seas were coming at us broadside. Not fun. We decided to make a detour for cover and landed on Cockburn Island in the tiny community of Tolsmaville.
There is only one permanent resident of Tolsmaville, despite there being 50 or so houses / cottages. Most inhabitants are summer residents (total of 7 present today). The one permanent resident is an employee of the municipal government.
Upon pulling into the harbour, a local met us to assist with our lines. Dave was very friendly and spent 30 minutes briefing us on the story of Tolsmaville and the locals (most of whom have left until hunting season). Shortly, another couple arrived at the dock (I guess we were an unusual arrival), and lots of conversation ensued. We were encouraged to wander through 'town' - abandoned Canada Post cottage, locked up United Church and an ancient school house.
Along this walk we noticed so many apple trees bent over with the weight of apples. With the permission of the locals, we brought back a huge bag of apples and proceeded to make a delicious apple crisp in the oven (we had power alongside the dock). We then discovered that they had a cell tower a short walk away so we were able to shoot off an email to family to let them know that we were ok. WiFi coverage and cell bars are hard to come by up north.
After getting connected and checking weather, we discovered that we had a unique window of opportunity to shoot across to Drummond Island before 2 days of bad weather swept in. We did so at 12:30 and bid a fond farewell to this unique little hamlet.
Our run across to Drummond Island was mostly uneventful, save for the last 20 minutes when we were tossed like a salad as we approached our final destination through Potagannissing Bay. Honestly this was a pretty scary episode PLUS our marina wasn't answering our calls to confirm our arrival. We even blasted our horn several time as we arrived on final approach - nothing. With the weather closing in on us and waves / spray hitting our fly-bridge windows, we decided to arrive regardless following the channel markers, and chose an available slip for the night. Of course, the marina had closed early for the day due to the weather.
This was also our first port of arrival in the US so we had to check in with US Customs. Once secure and safely tied along side, we went into the customs office. They were AMAZINGLY friendly and didn't even ask about the 'alcohol' aboard (my mega casks of wine). They only cared about the 1 illegal orange that I had declared and needed to be removed from our vessel.
We continue to be amazed by this adventure and where we find ourselves. As much as we 'plan' our course and our stops, inevitably we are drawn off course and meet people that brighten our day and see places that were never in our plans.
This is turning our to be just the adventure we had hoped for!
