Just like cooling a cup of tea, when the wind blows over a long distance it pushes water in one direction or another. This movement of water has some interesting effects. Of particular note today is what happens in Little Current when the wind piles water up and pushes it through the narrow channel separating Manitoulin Island and the mainland.
When we were here in 2019, we had stopped to provision and had to wait for a few days for the weather to calm down. Here is a video of the “little” current at the town docks. It started up overnight and required a journey outside, in the rain to adjust lines. Two notable things: we meet Geoff and Ruth on S/V GeRu, and, we now know when you should have snubbers on dock lines.
Fortunately, we were stern into our slip so were able to power off the dock fairly easily. S/V GeRu was bow in and told us later they ended up sideways across the finger pier.
We also realized the significance of the channel buoy near the harbour. It is shaped like a sail boat. It indicates which way the current is flowing as the current reverse with wind direction. The take away is: always berth stern in at the Little Current Municipal Docks.
Seiche
Storms can profoundly affect the Great Lakes, sloshing water from one end of a lake’s basin to other, sometimes in a matter of hours. The reversing current in Little Current is one symptom. Storm surges and seiches in the Great Lakes can also change lake levels dramatically during storms. They can arise suddenly and unexpectedly. While most are not dangerous, some have been deadly. Here is one example of depth changes seen in Honey Harbour.
Moon Dance IV 