Early Thursday morning we backed ourselves off of Steamboat Beach and started looking for a new area to explore. We checked out the very end of Seymour arm but decided that the water was too low to try beaching at Silver Beach. We retraced our steps South so that we wouldn't have as far to travel when it was time to head home the next day.
Heather did an amazing job on our meal and it was nice to just shift into neutral and drift as we enjoyed our food.
We had ducks following us the entire day. The kids swore that one of them was "Duchess" who had paddled up to our boat the previous evening for the pieces of bread that they threw to her.
Later in the day, the wind picked up and the waves got choppy. We found a place to beach at Hungry Cove, however Heather had to keep the engine on and wheel turned in order to hold the boat on the shore long enough for me to secure the mooring lines. The water was not great for swimming and the beach was gravel rather than sand. After looking at the map for a while, I realized that there might be places within Mara Lake itself where we could beach. I radioed to base and they recommended Turtle Bay. I quickly pulled up the stakes and soon we were pulling away.
After getting permission to enter the channel, we navigated between the sand bars and under the traffic overpass and train bridge. As luck would have it, a passenger train crossed the bridge just as we were under it. It was exciting for the kids who were on the roof of the boat, very close to the bottom of the bridge. For taller boats, that section of track, actually swivels open like a gate; hence the reason why getting permission from the base and bridge control is so important. This video, taken when we left the channel on our first day, shows the bridge.
Mara lake was calm and quiet, at least it was before the kids showed up with their dance party. There was no one else on the lake and we had our pick of spots along Turtle Bay. By this time, our duck entourage had grown to 6 birds which made fishing a little difficult.
After a healthy supper of nachos and pop, we played games until it was dark enough to sit in the hot tub under the stars. Unfortunately, someone had decided to pump some lake water into the hot tub to bring the level up, but then forgot to flip the switch to the off position. When we went upstairs, instead of being greeted by steaming hot water we found the tub full to the top with... warm water. Just as they do each time I mess up, everyone was very forgiving of me.
After a half hour, it was time for hot chocolate and then bed.
- C
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