August 4 – Saturday

We are legal once again, sitting at the dock in Bruce Mines, Canada. We awoke in our little cove this morning to total calm surrounded by mist. Got rather brisk last night. The sunrise was spectacular; I’ll try and send a picture. Words and pictures just don’t capture it though.

We will be doing a crew change in Bruce Mines. Pat and Kimberly are driving in tomorrow. Mark will drive their car to the Sudbury Airport and fly home…

Mark has agreed to write his departing addendum to the log. We had a very enjoyable time, as always.

Mark’s Addendum

Captain Paul professes not be much of a writer; I claim even less aptitude in that regard, but to help share the load of log writing on my last day on the lake, here we go.

Our dock is at the end of aptly-named Mark Street, in the little town of Bruce Mines. There are a couple of decent eateries, one grocery store, one library, and two mining museums, one of which we toured today, taking us into an old copper mine. According to our enthusiastic tour guide, the museum’s average attendance per day is 8 visitors, which may be why the other museum was closed today, its sign saying “Open Mon & Tues 10:00-4:30”.

So… I have a fair amount of time during this transition day to write down some thoughts about my one week on Albion with Paul. As I have with my other legs on Lakes Erie & Ontario I enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the whole sailing/traveling experience, and the company of my friend Cap’n Paul. Since I have not been keeping a log, I thought I’d just record some random thoughts and memories that stick in my mind.

Top Six memories of the Alpena to Bruce Mines leg of the Huron circumnavigation Odyssey

1. Adrenaline rush on Friday while retreating from the North Channel crossing, catching Paul in my lap during one wicked heel, and getting my feet wet hanging on to a lifeline on Albion’s leeward side during another dramatic heel while trying to get the Genny sail put away properly during a big gust.
2. Paul’s ineffective rain dance leaving Mackinac Island. The dried horse manure had to wait a while longer to depart.
3. The refreshing mid-cruise swim in Lake Huron, miles away from any land, on an uncharacteristically hot Monday.
4. Anchoring out in Jocko Bay and dining on a gourmet dinner of canned chicken-of-the-sea, canned veggies, and rice-a-roni (all in one pan) at the lakeside restaurant Chez Paul.
5. Being an illegal alien for 16 hours (I now feel a real bond and emotional connection with the Cuban boat people)
6. Paul’s love of life & learning and discussing all aspects of our world and society. When I’m sailing with him, no lack of information ever gets in the way of our coming up with a theory to explain how things work or why things are the way they are (or how we think they ought to be.).

To close, I’ll impart some dubiously beneficial information that can be viewed as a partial crew responsibility checklist. Perhaps it will be useful to his upcoming crews to know that they are responsible for:

1. Remembering to bring up the swing keel when coming into port, during a run, or when no sails are flying.
2. Retrieving Paul’s hat if it blows overboard. You have three minutes. You will be graded.
3. On even days, you are responsible for remembering the location of the Captain’s sunglasses. (hint: they are often on the bridge of his nose or around his neck).
4. Port departure checklist:
1. All fenders present and accounted for (not tied to a dock piling)
2. Dock lines tidied and stowed
3. Spider webs tied off properly