July 27: Parry Sound to Katsilano
Sunrise in Parry Sound Marina. After provisioning in Parry Sound, we left on a beautiful, sunny and calm day. Our destination today is Katsilano which looks to be a quiet anchorage. Our route took us through the Canoe Channel which is very picturesque but very shallow and rocky as well as requiring many very sharp 90 degree turns-sort of like hairpin turns on the water!
The Canoe Channel-lots of rocks. Some charted some not, vigilance required! (photo courtesy of Glory Days)
Pointe Au Baril Lighthouse
After an uneventful trip, we arrived in Katsilano Bay to anchor for the night.
July 28: Katsilano to Byng Inlet: We left the next day for Byng Inlet and arrived in Wrights Marina after noon. Time to do some laundry-we have two types of clothes on the board: clean and dirty.
July 29: Onward to the Busterds: Today, we left the small craft channel and headed out into Georgian Bay proper for the Busterds Island. We arrived there in the early afternoon to find only one boat there. It is a relatively small bay so we anchored with both a bow and a stern anchor-the first time for us on this trip. It is more work but it will give us a more peaceful night's sleep as we will not swing as much.
The view from our boat of the anchorage at the Busterds. No that is not a spelling mistake-it is the Busterds with a "u" not an "a".
July 30: To Killarney
Leaving the Busterds for Killanery-the hills in the distance looked like they were covered in snow.
After yet another uneventful night-always a good thing when at anchor-we went through the process of raising both anchors and departed for Killarney. We stayed at the Sportsman's Marina which was full of party goers so we were serenaded into the night...fortunately there was a lot of Motown music so we did not mind too much.
After a great fish and chip dinner at the local restaurant, we walked around the town and took a few photos. We liked this old stone church.
July 31: Baie Fine: After our hectic town marina, we were ready for some peace and quiet so headed off to Baie Fine today. The scenery today reminded us of traveling through fjords: high granite cliffs with clear blue water.
Entering Baie Fine
Campers on one of the many rocky outcrops in Baie Fine. Now that is roughing it.
A cottage in Baie Fine
Our anchorage in Baie Fine-beautiful spot!
August 1: To the North Channel and Bell Cove: There are so many islands and anchorages to explore, one really needs 3 months just in Georgian Bay. Unfortunately, we had to leave Baie Fine and head for Little Current and the North Channel.
Leaving Baie Fine-it certainly lived up to its name.
After leaving Baie Fine, we entered another narrow channel en route to Little Current. Parts of the channel were really shallow!
To enter Little Current, we had to wait for the swing bridge to open. It is supposed to open on the hour for 15 minutes. However, the operator seems to have a lot of leeway in interpreting the openings. We arrived at the bridge with minutes to spare but he closed the bridge on us before the 15 minutes were up. So we had to hang around in a relatively small area for over an hour to wait for the next bridge opening. No easy task in a boat where there is considerable current. Finally we made it through and timed the bridge opening: just 6 minutes! We motored through Little Current which should be called Big Current for the amount of current that follows through the place. Someone had a sense of humor, I suppose.
We decided not to stay in Little Current and instead headed to an anchorage at Bell Cove.
Bell Cove
August 2: The Benjamins and Crocker Island: After a somewhat rolling night at Bell Cove, we headed further up the North Channel to the Benjamin Islands and anchored in Crocker Bay.
Crocker Bay had a sandy beach that his majesty enjoyed as most of our anchorages have been close to rocky outcrops.
August 3: Gore Bay: Time to make the transit back to the USA. We crossed from the North side of the North Channel to the south side and to Gore Bay.
Gore Bay has a new marina. Facilities were great-laundry time again.
August 4: Meldrum Bay: This is our last stop in Canada. It is also our anniversary for being on the trip for two months. To celebrate that we are still married and enjoying ourselves, we went out to the only restaurant in Meldrum and had an excellent fish dinner.
Meldrum Bay Inn
Sunrise in Meldrum Bay.
August 5-7: Back to the USA: We left Meldrum for Drummond Bay which is our first stop back into the USA. Once we cross into US waters, we lowered the Canadian flag and raised the yellow quarantine one which we keep hoisted until we clear US Customs. We arrived around noon, docked and were checked out by US Customs within the hour-so time to raise our big American flag.
We had planned to spend two nights at Drummond before departing for Mackinac Island but bad weather on Sunday, August 7 kept us there for another day. Oh well, time to read some books and wait out the rain and thunderstorms. We have had incredible weather to date and this is the first time that we have not been able to leave as planned.
Drummond Harbor Marina
His Majesty enjoying a day off from all the hard work entailed with supervising the two legged ones.
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