Grand Marais, Thompson Island and Walker Bay


Thursday - July 20th.  We were up early and had a nice cruise to Grand Marais.  The wind gods did not cooperate and thus we did not get to sail very much during the day.  We had happy hour on the boat and dinner at Voyager Brewing with good friends Joyce and Mark Nordby and met up with SV Still Life (Danny and Kari) who will be our sailing companions through the Canadian North Shore.



Friday - July 21st.  We left Grand Marais at the crack of dawn, saw a beautiful sunrise, and headed to Thompson Island, Canada.    We had great sailing winds for about 1 1/2 hours but then the wind shut down and back to motoring.  Since it was the weekend, Thompson Island was busy but the Canadian Boaters made room for us by allowing us to raft up to their boats.  Had an excellent sauna in the evening and cooled off in the 58-degree Lake Superior waters (burr😱).  The depth of the water just outside the island is 600+ feet so water really never warms up.  







Saturday - July 22nd.  We continued to enjoy our time at Thompson Island by hiking the island.  It is a challenge but the wonderful volunteers of Thompson Island have installed steps and ropes to assist.  The vistas from the island are breathtaking.  We enjoyed the company of many boaters around the campfire and again in the sauna.  





Sunday - July 23.  Off we go again from Thompson Island to Walker Bay which is between Edward Island and Porphyry Island.  We passed Thunder Cape and Sleeping Giant (Sleeping Giant (Ontario) - Wikipedia), Silver Islet (Silver Islet - Wikipedia), and the Porphyry Point Lighthouse.  The area's geology and history are amazing.  The Siler Islet mine which produced so much silver started on an island that was only 538 square feet! The pictures really do not do justice to the vistas.   Once we were anchored in a small remote bay, we launched the dinghy and toured the area before dinner.   Today we continue north off to Loon Harbor.  



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