Cove Island, July 2, 2016

We think something bad happened during fireworks last night. We enjoyed our progressive dinner last night as planned and were watching the fireworks from the cockpit of Brillig. They were great. Then there was an big explosion on the ground from the shooting area, and no more fireworks. There were no sirens or people running around that we could see. The fire boat came to the area after what seemed to be a long period of time. Perhaps we will find out what happened today. We hope no one was seriously hurt.

I have forgotten to mention something I learned about alcohol in Canada. Terry and Sue, the Orro's friends, explained how the excess import of beer works for them. He goes to the States and buys 5 cases of beer, 4 more than allowed. When he declares it, they raise the price he paid by an amount equivalent to the current exchange rate, and then tax him on the price he paid plus the exchange rate premium. Beer is so cheap for him to buy in the States, Terry said, even after paying the tax it is like getting 2 cases free as beer is so expensive in Canada.

We learned that the fireworks man was injured. He was lighting them off with a torch on a long pole. Apparently he lies down when he does it, so his face and head was injured.

We walked to Big Tub where Jane Zaharias has a cottage. Her uncle, Al Sprock, built it many years ago. It is in a great location. Check out the view.

The construction of the home has really interesting detail. Unfortunately it is hard to get a good picture of it because it is on a cliff and surrounded by vegetation. Following are a couple more pictures:

We visited the grocery after seeing the cottage and before shoving off for our first anchorage of the trip. After the water tanks were filled, we set sail for Cove Island. Peter and Marianna stayed in Tobermory today. We will meet them in James Bay tomorrow.

We left for Cove Island at noon, and were anchored at 12:45. The trip was 4.5 miles at an average speed of 6 knots. We were all alone once we entered the anchorage. Kerry stood on the bow to look for shoals and rocks as we slowly entered the channel. I remember this anchorage from the time we were here with Kip and Lew in 2007. It is beautiful.

The red arrow shows Annie's location at Cove Island.

I don't think the North Channel is charted as well as the Thousand Islands, and when we were here with Excalibur we hit a deadhead log while in the channel. So, this skipper will be on high alert as we navigate through the islands, and will keep my fingers crossed. I turned on a tracking feature in my chart plotter. It's like dropping bread crumbs on the way in. Since we successfully made it in, I will follow the same path out.

We enjoyed our first kayak ride today. It worked really well. Even in a relatively strong wind we were able to go up and down the anchorage. We were pleased with its performance, and will look forward to more voyages.

We enjoyed our cocktail sitting in the warm sun on the top of the v-berth. It is only in the 60's today, and the brisk wind makes it cold. We had smoked whitefish and crackers as appetizers. We love smoked fish, and this fish was really tasty.

I am surprised we are getting good phone and Verizon internet here. I even got a call from Rachael at Credit Card Services - don't worry - there is no problem with my account.