Leaving Vidal Bay for Drummond Island and DeTour VIllage.

The morning dawned clear but cool. Waz set the alarm for 6am, but we snuggled for about 20 mins, resisting the need to get up and get going. Neither of us had slept that well...were we cold? Who knows...the fan wasn't on last night and the water slap slapped against the side of the boat, making other-worldly sounds.

Waz washing the chain as we pull anchor, this morning. It was just 7.15am. We had a good breakfast before taking off, which always makes us feel better.

 The screens were still on the windows upstairs on the fly deck

 There wasn't a breeze, but the water was choppy and we rocked a bit.

There really wasn't any way to take adequate photos, today because the light was so horrid and bland and we were too far from land to show anything until we started coming into the little islands surrounding Drummond Island.

We had trouble raising Customs on the radio, so Waz called on the phone. We crossed over into the USA at around 10.42am, and got a reminder of this on the cell phone...T-Mobile told us they were still there! We had been without cell phones for exactly one month!
We were told, on the phone, that someone would be at the dock to receive us. Nobody was there when we arrived, but they came soon enough.

There was nothing written that we could find, to say where we should dock while we wait for Customs officers to talk to us at this US entry point. We sat in neutral for a good five mins before asking some folks in a small boat if they knew where to go? They were visitors, so didn't know!
In the meantime, I had gone out to lower the fenders and prepare the ropes. Waz finally raised the marina on the radio and a young man came out to receive our ropes...we needed the help coz the wind was taking the boat away from the dock. All tied up, we waited for Customs. Two of them appeared and because Waz had given all our info over the phone, they only had to check our passports and details. They didn't ask about any food products etc, so we were worrying for nothing! We get to eat our purchases for the rest of the week. yay! :)

You can see the little islands as you come into Drummond Island Dock. It was pretty and calm, which was nice, after the chop out in the bay.

We had spied a white buoy in the distance and wondered what it was...didn't look official, then we realized it was one of three that indicated a fishing line or net. Aieee....we took a sharp right turn and went wayyy out into the bay further. This kind of pissed us off, as we were hugging the coastline. People have to earn a living, so we don't really get mad at the fishermen and they had done everything legal...it just added to our time, that's all. We found a second set of three further out in the bay, also, and these were over the top of an underwater shoal.
We went around those too, and then made our way out of the chop into the islands to get to the dock.

Sitting on the outside dock, next to a gorgeous Marlowe Explorer...I have seen her before somewhere, but cant think where...the Hudson? She passed us!

 From whence they came...the customs officers. A woman and a man.

 Some kids were having a fishing day behind the boat. This young woman was so excited when she caught this fish. They released it back.

 We sat on the dock and ate lunch before dropping the lines and moving off. This truck was on a very low barge being pulled by a little launch type boat. Interesting! We slowed as we passed, not wanting to tip the truck into the water!

 The islands beckoned, but we had to be somewhere.

 This one was about our size!

 and beaches beyond our path did too...

 until we came out into the main shipping channel past DeTour Village, our next stop. We moved to port to accommodate this tanker, which was travelling at 11.2 knots (AIS is fantastic for this!) The car ferry on the left of the tanker also waited, then sped into the wharf to unload. We did a hard right turn behind the breakwater and into the marina. The staff didn't answer our call on the radio, at first, so here we were again, waiting for an answer to find out where to go.

 Two staff members took our lines as Waz backed her into the docking space. The wind was pushing us out, again! Not fun in this wind. The yellow flag is a quarantine flag. It was removed as soon as we were done tying up.

 As you can see, there are so few boats in the marina. Four others arrived after us, as we expected they might, as we arrive around 1.30pm.

 The water in these parts is gorgeous...you could be in the Bahamas (I havnt been! but guess this is what it is like, after hearing so many stories about it!)...white sandy bottoms make for lovely green water:)

We took the bikes off the back, after our cup of tea, and biked down the main road in search of whatever we could find. An Ice-cream, as luck would have it! It was 4pm, but this time and really a little too late in the day for such a HUGE ice-cream, but it was delicious. We stood in the restaurant  (very dimly lit) and perused the gossip magazines they had there for the taking.
We decided to look for a Fish and Chip joint to go out to dinner. Ask the locals usually works!

We came back to the boat and bloated, after the ice-cream, and Waz had a kind of nap...kind of, because I kept interrupting it to tell him what one of our friends was mailing us!:)

So, 6.30 comes around, and we don't see any sign of the rain that is forecast, so we put our shoes and sweaters on (it is 71F..back to F, again!) and WALK this time, onto the main street where we meet an older woman (local) who tells us where to get good food.
We had walked past the ice-cream place earlier and all the staff were sitting outside on the deck drinking and smoking, and it was rather off-putting, to say the least. We opted to move on.
The local lady gave us the history of the place we were headed for, which was fun, and we went in and sat down. Love it! Plastic table cloths...something our of a '50's diner! Seriously! We ordered the Fish and Chips basket which came with slaw. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't bad either.
The waitress told me I couldn't pay with my credit card...cash only! what? I gave her the last of my USA money, which was a dollar short of the bill. She put her hand in her apron and front the last dollar for me. How's that! We will go back tomorrow night for Meat Loaf, which looked fantastic. I owe her a tip!
We walked around  a few streets on the return trip, and enjoyed looking at people's gardens. After such a cold winter, folks have made a huge effort to inject some color into their lives and the gardens abound with Hollyhocks, Stocks, gorgeous lilies and plenty of cone flowers and Shasta daisies. So colorful. It gladdens the heart:)

It started to sprinkle when we were 1.4 mile from the  Marina, and we hot footed it back to the boat. It has been raining since, but not wind driven at this point.
Waz has been following the weather online, and it appears that the wind is up to 35kntos in Lake Superior. We are almost at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan. Superior isn't too far away tho!

We are booked into the marina for two nights with the possibility of a third or fourth, should the weather not clear, and especially the wind. We don't want to be in these parts when the wind is howling.
So, we are sitting here writing and mailing and about to go to bed...again. It comes around with great monotony, doesn't it?
More photos tomorrow, if the rain stops and we can get out on our bikes.

Just as an aside...I had fun looking at the old photos on the wall of the restaurant....of the ice laden ships in these parts, and the waves breaking over the ships on the channel...the ships stand 35 feet from the water, and the water is washing over the deck! aieee!! We wouldn't survive that kind of water!.
Ciao for now...we have secure internet, so Im off to see how little money we have in the bank:)
Ciao and sleep well.