Day 9: Gore Bay Marina

First sight of the Gore Bay Marina, at the southwest end of Gore Bay

After a great night anchoring on Croker Island, the weather/wind report was looking a little rough, so we decided to spend a few days at the Gore Bay Marina. We had heard good things about Gore Bay from a few boating friends, so we were eager to relax and explore this little town on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Plus, we were pretty much out of food again, so we were looking forward to going out for a nice dinner and stocking up!

At dock in the Gore Bay Marina

We called in to the Gore Bay Marina and were quickly directed to a slip to tie up for a couple days. We were excited to find out that the weekend we were there was their Harbor Days Festival, so there was live music, cardboard boat and dinghy races, food & events taking place right across from our boat! Ben got us a few sandwiches and chips from the Lion's Club at the Festival, and after lunch I finished my book on the bow while Ben hibernated in the air conditioning.

Beach on Gore Bay, looking out into the North Channel

A little later on we walked over to the beach and searched for fossils. The water was beautiful and crystal clear. And we found some pretty cool fossils!

A happy Dana with some fossils

We decided to go out for dinner, and chose a little pizza place on the bay. They had outside seating on the patio, live music, great pizza and local wine... a perfect choice for a vacation dinner!

At dinner we talked about the challenges of our trip so far, and whether we wanted to press on farther east. (farther away from the US, and from our truck/trailer, and safety!) After much debating and sadness, followed by relief, we decided to make the run back to the US in the morning and spend the next few days in Michigan's UP.  We settled on Drummond Island for our first stop in Michigan, since they had a US Customs office at the marina. So on to Michigan!