Latitude: 45 degrees 53.880 N Longitude: 80 degrees 54.132 W

Greetings from the Bustard Islands! We have only a very weak cell signal, that requires standing outside on a certain spot on the deck and waiting while the data dribbles in, so this will be posted later. Note about the photos: They are compressed because otherwise it's taking way too long to upload them.

We are just over one week in to our trip and already had one mini-disaster and two white-knuckle (for me) sails. But overall things are going great!

We started with a few days of boat chores at Heartbeat's home berth in Sound Boat Works. I am the helper and Andy's doing all the clever engineering. The most satisfying moment was when we plugged in the solar panels for the first time and checked the power output on a Bluetooth-connected app on Andy's phone. We're making power! 125 Watts on that sunny morning. This is a big deal because it lets us run the fridge all the time. Last year we only turned it on when the motor was running so as not to drain the battery. Now we can have all sorts of food stay fresh without worrying. We've got milk, eggs, veggies, cheese and meat, and chilled beer for Andy.

Picture: 125 watts of power

Living at the dock is fun in itself. Sitting in the cockpit we have a gorgeous view of Parry Sound with the town in the distance and its high railroad trestle crossing the mouth of the Seguin River. Trains pass through day and night. It's a busy harbor: float planes, the regal white Island Queen cruise ship waiting patiently at her berth at the town dock, and sail and power boats coming and going. (And jet skis, boo.) Next berth over lives Boomer and another dog whose name I forget, and when they are in residence we have to make sure not to leave our shoes on the dock because Boomer will take them.

Picture: Boaters seem to like puns - Mast Transit docked at Sound Boat Works guest dock

Anyway, after a final grocery run for provisions we are ready to go. Hearing that we were going out for a month, the staff at the dockyard said they had a pool going as to how soon we would be back. Unfortunately this joke would later prove to be prophetic ... On the way out we stopped at the town dock to fill the water tanks with drinking water. We should have enough to last the trip.

Picture: filling the water tank at the town dock

Day 1: We got to Kilcoursie Bay the first night, in Killbear Provincial Park.

Picture: Andy sitting on crooked pine tree at Killbear

Day 2: We sailed out of Parry Sound (the body of water) and up Shawanaga Inlet. The wind was getting strong enough that I was nervous, although Andy was not. I'm still not quite used to the boat heeling over. In any case Andy was adjusting the foresail when bam! it exploded (his words) and tore along a seam. The jib sheets were flapping in the wind like snakes and the torn sail streamed out behind us like some sort of battle flag. It was chaotic and discouraging and loud in the wind. Andy steered towards a nearby anchorage at Josephine Rocks and we got the anchor down and took a deep breath. What to do? The sail was now useless. We had one other foresail aboard which was for light winds only, and a high-wind sail located uselessly a 5 hour drive away at home in Ottawa.

Picture: torn sail

Day 3: After a good night's sleep Andy concluded we could not continue our cruise without the other sail. So we had to turn around and go back to Parry Sound. It was so frustrating to go backwards, but it was the best available option.

Day 4: Andy does a heroic drive back to Ottawa, picks up the sail, drops off the torn sail for repairs, and returns to Parry Sound in time for dinner - a total of 9 hours driving. I had a very pleasant day - went for a run along the waterfront trail then walked in to town to buy granola, books at a fun used book store called Bearly Used Books, a better sun hat, and more strawberries.

Day 5: Departure #2! We anchor at Bateau Island.

Day 6: We pass the spot we'd reached before, and anchored in a lovely bay just past the picturesque Pointe au Baril lighthouse.

Picture: pine tree on rock near Pte au Baril

Day 7: Today we sailed from Pointe au Baril to the Bustard Islands. We knew this would be a long day, 8 hours, in the open waters of Georgian Bay rather than in the channels and inlets we'd been in. The winds were heavier than expected and the waves and swell were making me seasick, yuck. The missing torn foresail is a versatile multi-purpose sail that can be used in all but very light or very high winds. Without it we have to guess which of the other sails to use, and if you guess wrong or the winds change, you have to swap the sails while under way. This is a nerve-wracking operation! I'm at the helm and Andy is on the fore deck fiddling with knots and tools to detach the sail, then stuff the unwanted sail in through the forward hatch where it lands on (or rather, completely fills up) our sleeping berth, then lug the new sail aft and attach it then hoist it. This takes a good 20 minutes and all the while we are bouncing up and down and Andy's getting well splashed by waves breaking over the bow. Finally we had the right sail on and started making way. In a couple of hours my seasickness passed, hurrah, and I actually enjoyed the remainder of the sail to the Bustards.

Day 8: Down day! Pancakes for breakfast. We explored the delightful channels of the Bustards in the rowboat, with a packed lunch. We went ashore and hiked and swam and dried off on the rocks. When you sit in one place you notice a lot around you - we saw a long-winged insect trapped in a spider's web fluttering frantically trying to get loose. The spider crawled over and proceeded to wrap the bug in silk until it stopped twitching. We also watched a big minnow dart back and forth in the shadows of a rock protecting its eggs from dozens of smaller minnows that kept flitting in and out.

Picture: Andy putting maple syrup on pancakes

Tomorrow we continue to head towards the fabled North Channel that is our destination for this trip. It should take two more days to get there.

I'm reading a sci-fi/fantasy book called The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms that my sister-in-law Susan told me about. In this world, gods mix with mortals. The gods are all-powerful yet they are (for reasons yet unknown to me) enslaved by the mortals and must do what the humans tell them to. If I had a god at my disposal I would definitely order them to control the winds. I want 8-10 knots over the beam and it should stop altogether after we anchor so that I don't have to listen to the wind in the rigging as I fall asleep.

Love to all, Danielle