Thessalon, Ontario

Sunday, August 2

Today I watched a flock of baby ducks having their breakfast. “Over here!” one would shout and they all raced across the water to the spot, ducked their heads, and came back up quickly, probably with a tiny fish or a bug to eat. There were at least three dozen, like ducklings at recess suddenly let out to play, with their moms casually watching nearby,

The pine trees are suddenly and completely gone. It’s flat and wide open with short deciduous trees and open spaces. The marina must have been a bay at one time. They built a breakwater for better protection and later must have built docks for boats. It’s the most spacious marina we have ever seen, with just a few enormous slips in a very big bay.

Thessalon had their annual Heritage Day parade and celebration yesterday afternoon on the main street. We docked just as the parade began, and heard it from our boat. Lots of bagpipes! Later we walked two blocks into town and joined the throng, looking at booths and and watching lumberjacks trying to chop down trees so they would land on the bullseye. Another lumberjack used a chainsaw to carve a bear, and another was carving a bench with enormous fish for the arms and back. At one stand they were selling hotdogs, and at the municipal building they were selling pie and ice cream, but the lines were very long so we kept going.

It turned cold yesterday and we needed the winter comforter on the bed again, but neither of us was willing to get up to get it. The chill stayed with me all day until we returned from the festival and I finished the laundry. Then I went to bed under several layers to thaw out. It might have been a bug making me so cold, but in any case, last night we slept under the comforter and today I’m feeling a lot better.

We have encountered many levels of expertise in deckhands - those young people who come out to take the lines and tie off the boat as we come into the dock. In some cases, it’s as though they were given no instructions. The best were at Little Current. They took the lines, wrapped them halfway around the cleats on the dock, kept us close to the dock but not touching, and tied us off quickly when we reached the right spot. Here in Thessalon, we tossed the lines to the kids, but they just held on to them, letting the boat drift in and out as the wind and current demanded. The important thing is to TIE OFF THE BOAT as quickly as you can, especially in a strong current or high wind! They need to use the mechanics of the lines and cleats to do the work; hands are not strong enough to control a 16 ton boat if it wants to take off. It’s easy to adjust the lines afterwards, and Brian does them over every time anyway. We’ve realized that in these situations, we have to be more assertive, telling them what to do, instead of relying on their experience, or lack of it.

This morning we’re waiting out a rainstorm in Thessalon. The large nearby solar panels rotate to face the sun, but right now they cannot find it. The thermometer says it’s 65°, but it feels much colder. We’re wearing sweaters and I’m wearing the sox Nan knitted for me for my birthday. When the water under the boat is this cold, the engine cools faster so there’s no hot water in the morning, but there’s always plenty when we stop.

The couple on the boat next to us is from Texas - Georgetown, San Antonio and UT. They keep their large power boat on Georgian Bay and spend the summers here. Yesterday they did what we plan to do soon - enter Lake Superior, touch the water, then turn around and go back out. This is my side-trip; Brian’s is a trip on the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. I am also curious to see both Sault Sainte Maries, and am looking forward to returning to the U.S.