Little Current July 9, 2016

The sound of the wind increasing woke me up pretty early. I laid in bed until about 6:30, then was up and at 'em. First a shower, then a pot of coffee. Then I signed on to my blog to see what I wrote last night before bed - this skipper may have sipped on one glass too many of Marianna's orange liquor.

Now it was 7:30. We planned to attend the Cruiser's Net program live on the second floor of the Anchor Inn, leaving about 8:40. I figured I had time to clean the holding tank float. Boy was I wrong! It turned out to be a big job. Not the cleaning itself but getting the cap off. Dick and Mark at Parker Marine did some holding tank repairs last winter, and in the process it appears that they siliconed the cap on. They apparently did not realize that I have to open it several times on a voyage to get the floats cleaned and working.

It would not budge. I keep a wooden rod and a hammer on board to gently tap the cap and twist it into opening. No way that little dowel rod was going to work. I finally found a large 2 x 4 behind the ice cream store which I hoped would be more persuasive. But I ran out of time and went to the Cruiser's Net program.

The program starts with Roy Eaton giving a news roundup from Canada and the US, and the weather forecast. Then listening boats call in with their name and location. Roy tries to arrange assistance to anyone needing it. 75 boats called in this morning.

Back at Annie, I continued to bang on the holding tank monitor cap with the hammer and 2 x 4 and anything else I thought might work. The cap is under the engine so it is only possible to get one hand on it at a time because of the tight space. Neighboring boaters questioned Kerry, who feared the worst, about the project. Finally, after at least 1 1/2 hours of banging and twisting, it surrendered and opened. It took just minutes to clean and reinstall the cap. Now the holding tank monitor is giving correct readings. The 2 x 4 went back to its original location and my dowel is ready for action when needed again.,

 Persuasive 2 x 4 with little dowel rod at its base.

The girls went shopping while Peter and I got the bikes out to go to the hardware store, which has moved from downtown. Peter was surprised to find a flat tire on his bike, so he rode our second bike to the store. I found some big plastic clothes pins. We needed some really strong ones to hold Kerry's sun blocking sarongs from blowing down in the winds. Marianna is allergic to the sun and when we invite her to the upper deck we have had trouble keeping out the sun, which is why we use the sarongs. We should be fine now.

We had planned to anchor out tonight, but the wind was blowing 20 knots with higher gusts when it was time to decide if we should leave. It was an unanimous vote to stay another night. We really had some wind, waves and currents blowing through here. The current in Little Current can be from 0 to 6 knots and also reverses direction. Really crazy at times. Boaters beware!

Annie is on the end of the far dock.

The Orro's are coming to Annie for taco salads tonight. Home made margaritas are on the menus too. Yum!

Some people have asked where we are exactly. We are on Manitoulin island at the small dot on the following map. Great place to be - in the summer!

We found this interesting plaque while taking a stroll to get our 10,000 steps last night.