We left on the morning of the 13th. The weather again was cooperating with us.  The lake was calm and not a boat in sight. We did have a OMG moment. I pointed out a rock below the surface; I knew it was there because the water swirled over it. This rock was not marked on the GPS. We were not near it but it is in such a place that a boat could hit it.

We wound our way through Hogs and Sows and entered Benjamin Island. I was so surprised that there were so few boats. The weather was warm and the island provides a great playing ground. It is protected from winds coming from many directions, has places to explore on foot and dinghy and it is perfect for boat campling that we have seen through Cananda. By that I mean that groups gather on the large boulders and sit there watching the sun set, build campfires and cook or just hang. The boats there were doing some of that, but there were so few boats. Of course, this makes it the ideal anchorage for us.

Once again, Kelley found the perfect spot. We were tucked in, in fact, we were almost in the same spot as we had been last year, last year in the rain!

We took dingy rides over to Coaker Island and also around the Benjamins. The granite here is pink. It is stunning.

In Croaker Island Cove there were 2 boats that had the cutest anchor markers. Ours is a white float; oneof theirs was a frog floating on an inner tube and the other was an alligator with a woman in its mouth.

I want the frog. So darling. In fact, Kelley and I are surprised that more boats up here do not use anchor markers. The boats here, particularly the sailboats, anchor very closely to one another, and us. Having a marker lets others know where your anchor is…with any luck when the other boat approaches, your boat is not near your anchor. (In Wittings Cove, a sailboat came in very close to us, but we thought it would be alright. Then at dinner they pulled in their line and went very far up to their anchor. Not much line out. After dinner they were close to hitting us. We had 50 feet of chain out based on the depth of our spot; this gentleman got angry that he had to move. I might also say, that there wasn’t any wind at this point and we were sitting almost on top of our anchor).

We once again stayed because of a storm passing through.

I don’t know if this cove has a name, on my charts I can’t find one. It is tucked back behind Navy Rock and Long Point. The Wittings had told us that it was one of their favorite places to go; we had to try it out and we were not disappointed! When we came in there were 3 sailboats there. Plenty of room. Kelley selected a great spot and we settled in.

The next day, Saturday, many boats arrived and the spot became noisy. With the weather being so beautiful people were kayaking, riding in their dinghies, visiting. It was a hub of activity.

Kelley and I took many rides. One was to a small island to see how high we could climb. Some people found blueberries, but, alas, we did not. Another ride we took was down a shallow channel that came out to the main channel. There were water lilies there. I am always surprised by that. I think that the north would be too cold for them to make it through the winter. Another ride was out the channel and then down the main one to Bear Drop Harbour.

This was a 2 mile trip. (Note to self: ask Kelley where he wants to go when he offers an outing). We had spent a few days in Bear Drop last year and had enjoyed it. In the small cove where we were there were 14 boats. In Bear Drop Harbour, which is much larger and as protected, there were 13 boats. It was so peaceful and quiet. Every boat had its spot and did not worry about the boat next to it.

Another Ocean Alexander came in; same model as ours but older and smaller. Of course we each had to visit the other and check out the boats comparing them. This couple is from Michigan and quite nice. They had just gotten their boat, Escape, and were really enjoying it.

We had planned to leave on Monday, but there was storm that was to come. We did get rain but not much wind. We were definitely ready to leave after spending so much time in Witting Cove.