It was a beautiful night out on Whitefish Point. We woke to questionable weather, and looked like drizzle, but the forecast looked like 1 ft waves and no wind, so we decided to head back to Sault Ste Marie. Its a short crossing, so hoped we could make it without incident. Here is the breakwater coming out of the harbor.

When we got out onto Lake Superior, it was amazing and calm again. It's super weird that the water can be SO big, and yet SO calm.

In our cruising, which didn't get any prettier than this, we were overtaken by a big freighter. Seems crazy that they move so fast, but they sure do. We were going 10 kts, and he was doing 13 kts, so passed us right up. Took him a few minutes to do it, but....

In the middle of the bay is an island called Il Parisienne. I Googled it, and it said it is largely uninhabited, except for the lighthouse at the end. A big chunk of it is also for sale. They only want like a quarter of a million for the hundreds of acres, which is a deal, but not sure if it would turn out to be a great deal or not. Here is the island from Google, because with the fog, I couldn't get a picture.

That is Il Parisienne in the background, but wanted to show you these crazy birds. This is 200+ ft of water, some places 400-500...... and only in this one little spot were all of these birds just sitting there. Made me think there is something there ..... like a sandbar, or a rock, but it didn't show up on the maps. Anyway..... creepy.

When we got a bit closer in around the bend, and got onto the St Mary's River again, we had to make the decision to go to the left, and through the Canadian Canal Lock, or to the right, and through the big Soo Lock on the US side. The Soo Lock is massive, and busy with giant freighters. They mean business. The Canadian side smiles, and chats, and its a really pleasant day. It didn't take much thinking to make the decision. Heck yeah, we want to go through the big lock! I radioed the lock and asked permission to lock through. He suggested we use the Canadian side. I asked again to please lock through. He said OK, but it's gonna be a while. There are a couple of freighters coming through that have priority. We agreed to that, and just waited patiently. For an half hour ..... then an hour ...... then an hour and a half ...... then 2 hours. It was starting to feel like a bad idea, then the giant freighter we had been waiting on came around the corner. We glimpsed him far away, as he rounded the bend from Lake Superior, .... this picture is an hour and a half later. He was moving so slowly his movement wasn't perceptible to the naked eye. If you looked away for 10 minutes and looked back, you would say 'yeah, I guess he's moving.' Since I had the time to do so, I Googled the boat. The James R Barker. It's an American bulk carrier that operates on the Great Lakes. She is 1,004 ft long, 50 ft high, and 105 ft wide. As an FYI, the largest side of the lock is 110 ft wide, 50 ft deep, and 1,200 ft long. She barely fits. We were waiting patiently, but not holding in one place, because the Lockmaster wouldn't allow us to tie up, or even stand on the edge with a rope. That's reserved for big ships. I don't think he liked us there.

The blue dot is where we were sitting. He made is leave that spot, because we were in the way. Honestly, we are in the way wherever we go around here, because these big ships are just so big. We thought that we would be locking through with either this big ship, or the big one in front of us that is 'only' 800 ft long. The lock on this side is only 1,000 ft long, so we would fit, but they won't put us in the lock with them. I get it. If they move we are crushed.

Here is the James R Barker getting closer. He is a total weight of 100,000 TONS. He is moving so slowly because it must be nearly impossible to stop this behemoth. He scraped alongside the lock the entire way into the lock. Here is a funny thing that I didn't even think of. As he was going in the lock, just to the left of us (go back to the picture), I forgot to consider where the water he is displacing is going. Hahahaha.... it is like being in the rapids! Water was swirling everywhere around us, George was struggling to keep the boat from slamming the wall, or being sucked towards the freighter. It was challening to say the least, until he got nearly all the way into the lock. When the doors closed on him, the opened the lock doors for the 4 smaller boats to lock through. 3 other boats (one barge and 2 tour boats) had been waiting with us the last hour or so, so we all went through at the same time.

Here is the James R Barker getting closer

Now he is entering the lock. The deck would hold 3 football fields and have room leftover for a concession stand. Holy cow this was a big boat.

Now he is in, and the gate is closed. I get why they made us wait ...... because of the tremendous 'wash' from his ship.

I stood out on the deck, like I normally would, as we enter the lock. I typically stand with a rope in my hand to secure the bow. This time I realized there is nothing to secure to. I get it.... the boat boats would just rip off anything hanging in the lock..... but how do I secure? The lock hands threw me down a long rope to hang on to for the trip down, so yay. As we traveled into position, I looked up and saw this viewing area. I told George to bring the 'A' game, cuz we have an audience! The lock was quick and efficient, and we were in, secured, and out before the James R Barker was even halfway out of the lock. Heck, we were tied in the marina before they were all the way out. Crazy how slow they move.

We weren't able to get out same slip, but its all good. Some Looper friends had ours now and we had people to visit with! Irish Hurricane had gone out to Whitefish Point the same time we were there, and were now in this same marina.

We decided to go for a walk and see the town museum. It was a pretty fair museum of the area, which is a remarkably historic area. Back in the 1700s this area was booming, with fur traders and fishermen. It is the oldest established town in all of Ontario, and Ontarios is old. Maybe not as old as Quebec, but maybe it is. Not sure.

Here is the front of the museum. It is the old Post Office. Worth a picture I thought....

I left this picture big so you can zoom in on it. These are some of the ads from days gone by... lol.. Bottled tapeworms ..... more easily digestible methamphetamines.... inhaling creosote to cure asthma. wow.

We grabbed a Canadian version of an Uber (called URide) and went to the grocery store. They dropped us off at the hardware store, and we walked in front of this McDonalds, but I had to take a picture of the flowers. They are like this everywhere. Not sure of who does the flowers, or what the budget is, but it must be massive.

Here is our home, in front of Montana's Grill, .... where we have eaten several times.

Thought I'd include a picture of a regular goose. Tomorrow they will become Canadian Geese again, because we won't be in Canada (heavy sigh......)

Here we are at the boardwalk, one last time before we leave in the morning.

Buh bye Canada..... it was sure fun - eh?!