Benjamin Islands

Leaving Killarney .....again....the words used to describe the awesome views, sky, trees , water....you just cannot capture it in words or photos for that matter....and another lighthouse.....The ferry takes a truck across to another island.....hard to imagine in our world that everything here is done by boat ........water all around................Here we are going thru the Narrows.....nine miles long and goes back to The Pool....it is described as a highlight of the North Channel of Lake Huron......remote.....brisk and windy weather....and you are totally back to nature.....................

The photos we have seen of this area in the winter....show ice, snow and more ice.....we have been told that many of the people stay year round............lakes are 2' thick ice

Those pretty rocks peek out at us along the way...........with no channel markers we just use our eyes, GPS, and hopefully follow another boat....ha

A popular area for locals and visitors....we pass another boat................

Off our bow.....glistening waters and rocky mountains in the background..................

More rocks....the color doesn't really show well in these photos...............

We pulled into Little Current for lunch on our way to The Benjamin Islands......just a cute little town.....with their very own light house...........

They open the bridge every hour....we were early so we waited patiently for 45 minutes....kind of.....as Jerry kept her in the middle of the channel.............Entering Little Current.....we understood the name of the town......it should have been named big current............

Everything you need....we had lunch at a little sandwich shop and went thru a few stores....Jerry needed another chart.....I am going to wall paper the bath in these charts when we are done....it will be the most expensive decor in the house....anyway and I checked out the art shops....mostly American Indian pottery and art here.....

Nestle's ice cream cart........................what a great summer job......

It seems every town has its share of bars.....a must here I am sure in the winter months.........
Soup and sandwich was great here...........

After lunch at Little Current.....we headed toward the Benjamin Islands...to anchor for the night....we have not done much "on the hook but thought this would be a great opportunity. There were about a dozen other boats in the cove.....very protected....as we listened to them on the radio planning their menu for dinner.......each would prepare one item and they would dinghy over to one boat for their feast. Food and friends always a good combination

Back on track to the anchorage.....it was going well until we decided to scout around on the dinghy...............
Jerry always tries to include me in the photo he is taking of the boat or the mountain or the water or whatever......in case you are wondering why so many photos of me?????

Quite...quite.....you can only hear the lapping of the water on the hull of the boat and the wind rustling thru the trees...................you would think we would relax.....but...............

We just need photos..........clear water.....and one of the ladies sails her little boat back and forth across the cove.......she was there on her big sailboat. We think many people stay a while....seeing the laundry hung out to dry off the boats....and the fire wood stacked on the large flat rock for the evening fire..................

We just wanted to explore and see what we might get into............

Getting too close once.......the engine on the dinghy almost got hung on the rocks....so off again we go.....................

Spotting the rock .....Jerry said what a great photo that would make......he could not believe it when I said..."take me over captain"....................

The water was really cold .......the rock is really large.....

So as I sat here thinking and looking about.........it dawned on me.......You have to go live someone else's life to appreciate and understand your own.....We have lived the life of boaters the last months.....have met many different people........people who live in extreme climates, have different modes of transportation, very broad range of economic conditions.............even met many doing the same trip as we are.....but at the end of the day....it is family and our loved ones that keep us where we live.......without the roots of family and friends..........we would never go back home.

He even came back to get me off the rock.....