After the high winds at Logan’s Bay on Clapperton Island, we left to to to Little Current so that we could get the water heater welded. We arrived in the morning and Dennis immediately tore the boat apart in order to get to the heater. Once he had it, we called the welder and a taxi, and he headed off the island – he went to Goat’s Island which is just across the bridge, and had the heater welded. He returned within the hour and proceeded to re-install it. Once he got everything in, he realized that there was a leak! So, he had to take everything back apart, call the welder (this time he asked if they could pick up the water heater) and then waited for it to be repaired.

Again, within the hour, it was repaired and then Dennis reinstalled it for the second time. This time it worked and then he spent the rest of the afternoon putting the boat back together. By 4:30, he was done and now we have extremely hot water! It must have been dribbling out for a while because I never had hot water in the aft bathroom, just lukewarm. So, hopefully it will stay welded until we get home.

We met a guy on a 64 foot sailboat who is a retired Hydro One worker from Kincardine (he knows Allan Cornthwaite) and had a tour of his boat. Pretty big! He also has a great Portuguese Water Dog named Josh (after Joshua Slocum). Check out this picture!

Josh waiting patiently for his walk

I was very impressed with the amount of space on the boat – he even had a bathtub! Here are some pictures of it and the owner.

The Epicurus

The owner of the Epicurus

Inside the main area

Onboard the Epicurus

After the tour and some supper, we were sitting on our boat and some town kids came down to the dock to go swimming. This is a bone of contention between the town and the boaters because the kids are very often loud and obnoxious and use a lot of very colourful language. One boater did speak to someone of authority and really complained, so the staff took the safety ladders away (so that if you fall into the water, you can swim over to a ladder to get back up). This did not deter the kids and I would imagine that there will be some letters written to the Town Council. However, taking the ladders away is not the solution – I would imagine there are some safety concerns!

In other marinas, people are not allowed to wander up and down the docks or swim – it is kind of like complete strangers wandering around in your yard, but in Little Current, the docks are in a very public area and people take advantage of this. If you are docked “on the wall”, then you become the tourist attraction and everyone wants to talk to you (which is fine for the first ten minutes, but it wears thin very quickly). If you are on the finger docks, then it is much better except for the kids who go swimming off the docks. Because the boaters pay for the dock slips (well, most people do but I noticed that some tie up for the day and use the showers as well as the electricity and then leave), they feel they have the right to privacy and should not be subjected to the swimming show which takes place several times a day. So, I am curious to know how this will be handled – we shall see!

We are heading back tomorrow and will probably spend the night in Covered Portage Cove. We have to be in Parry Sound for Thursday night – we are going to see Jimmy Flynn at the Stockey Centre. Should be fun!