Hi All,

We set out from Bayfield with a nice breeze from the SW at about 8 knots. For a little while it felt like it would be a repeat of the previous day with lighter and lighter wind and the motor on, but it freshened up and we were eventually doing sixes and sevens on a reach just aft of the beam. Once again we headed offshore to get away from the rocks. This is a difficult coastline.

Our first thought was to head for the Bustards, but the approaches didn't seem obvious and I noticed a recommendation from Scott on Brine Hog for Bad River. Getting into Bad River bay was interesting, but it was well marked and charted, although tight with lots of waves crashing on rocks around the entry. Once in, we picked our spot and set our anchor as best we could manage.

It must have been good enough. Shortly after we arrived a squall came through, thunder and lightning and gusts over 35 according to the instruments. We held fine, but there was some serious excitement just a little to the south of us. A couple of big sailboats were rafted on a single anchor, with nobody on board when the squall hit. They started dragging towards the rocks and this big power boat, when suddenly this inflatable comes roaring across the bay and a couple of guys get on board and start driving the boats forward. No disaster as far as I could see, but lots of excitement. I ran our engine through the storm because we did not have a lot of room to drag into so I wanted to be able to react quickly. Turned out not to be a problem, and I'll bet that anchor is going to take a lot of work to pull back up.

We got up late this morning after enjoying the restful sound of rain on the cabintop most of the night. We listened to the weather and decided that beating into 20 knots NW didn't sound like fun, so we will go to Killarney tomorrow.

I cut and installed new battens while Louise did the dishes. Perhaps after lunch we will explore a little in the dinghy.

Still having fun,

Rick



PS I have combined these trip reports into a web version,
for those who are really keen to read the installments again, or for
those I forgot to add to the list until more recently. The
address is:

http://me.queensu.ca/people/sellens/personal/dragonGB/

It may not be completely up to date.