Oh, Canada! How we love your pea meal bacon!

(For those of you who haven't discovered this already, you can make any photo larger by clicking on it. Enjoy!)

After a lazy day in harbor in DeTour on Monday, we decided to make a run for Thessalon, Ontario. It's only 22 miles, so we didn't hurry to leave, spending the morning at a local restaurant having breakfast and using the only wireless internet connection in town. Then, around 12:30, we cast off our lines and headed out into 15-20 knot winds from the northwest, perfect to push us along northeast past several small islands and across the line into Canada.

Surprisingly the waves were only about a foot high, quite tolerable to my inner ear. We hoisted the sail with a reef, as 20 knots is a bit much for full canvas. By 2 pm the winds had increased to a pretty steady 25, so we took in a second reef. Waves were beginning to build, but didn't get too uncomfortable, as we had some slight protection from the islands. And a loon landed on the water just off our starboard quarter to distract me from my discomfort. Things got worse, however, after we passed out of the lee of Serpent Island. By the end of the afternoon we were rolling in combers breaking on our port beam and the wind meter was reading over 30 at times. Yikes! We had a short respite as we passed east of Thessalon Island, and we both breathed a sigh of relief once we cleared Thessalon Point and headed for the harbor.

We got tied up just before a rain shower passed through, leaving behind a beautiful rainbow. Needless to say, we are glad to be here. Thessalon is not a metropolis by any stretch, but they do have a good grocery store, made even better by the fact that they sell pea meal bacon! We think this is what the people who invented "Canadian bacon" had in mind, but our U.S. version is a poor imitation. Pea meal bacon seems to be a North Channel delicacy, as we have been unable to find it in other parts of Canada. But we had to have some for our first breakfast after crossing the border.

Our next stop, when weather permits, will be Blind River. After that we will be within reach of the beautiful anchorages this area is known for. In the words of

Garrison Keillor, we're "happy to be here."