The Thousands

Eddymion Island
N 44 11.556 W 76 14.473

Well, we're in the midst of the Canadian Thousand Islands. They are both more and less than we expected.

The beauty of the area is spectacular. The islands are so very cute. The water is clean and clear, thanks to zebra mussels. Navigation is a bit tough because there are numerous rocks just below the water and because buoys or other navigational aids are few and far between, and because we're beyond the limits of our GPS navigation data base chip. We've been keeping an eagle eye on the charts and taking bearing sights often to keep close track of where we are. The navigation is good practice
for Nick.

Nick wanted to find some deserted island where he could camp and have a fire on the shore and shoot fireworks. All perfectly normal desires for boys big and small. However, all the islands we've seen are either private and populated with cabins or Canadian National Parks. We did get to go ashore on Eddymion Island but no fire and no fireworks.

The island was very reminiscent of Sweden. The rocks are covered with lichen and moss. Logs of large fallen birch trees litter the forest floor here and there. The shorelines are mostly rocky and steep.

Anchoring is more of a problem than I expected. The waters tend to be too deep to anchor in right up to the cliffs on shore where it is suddenly too shallow. Places where the depth is 8 to 30 feet are very few. We found one such place and tried to anchor in 8 feet of water. However the bottom was covered with millfoil weed so thick that the anchor could never get a bite in the mud. We were contemplating anchoring Swedish style (drop a stern anchor 100 feet out and run the bow all the way
up to the cliff on the shore, then tie the bow to a tree. However, there are rocks just off the shore that prevent us from getting in close enough. Finally, we found a place to drop in 20 feet of water and the anchor found a bite there.

The sky was beautiful tonight after the sunset. We enjoyed it. Good thing because the forecast calls for the next 3 days to be rainy.