Georgian Bay and the North Channel

On Tuesday, July 19^th, we entered Georgian Bay, located in the northeast corner of Lake Huron and such a large body of water that it’s sometimes referred to as the sixth Great Lake. We had heard such wonderful things about this leg of the Great Loop Cruise that we were eagerly anticipating this journey. However, unlike our route so far, where we had been following a specific course, now we were faced with so many choices of destinations, routes, anchorages, and marinas, that it was overwhelming.

But our first destination was an easy choice, since we had already decided to attend a Looper gathering hosted by Beacon Bay Marina in Penetanguishene (often referred to as Penetang). Taking advantage of a very reasonable weekly rate at the marina, we arrived a few days early, which gave us an address where mail could be forwarded, plus plenty of time to re-provision for the trip ahead, not to mention the opportunity to soak up the local atmosphere and sample the cuisine.

At the Looper event, local mariners shared their knowledge, providing helpful advice about must see destinations, protected anchorages, plus dangerous routes to avoid along the way, which made our stop at Penetang well worth the time and effort.

The mail forwarding idea, however, didn’t work out very well, at least in part because of a strike by Canadian postal employees, as well as the fact that it takes a whole week for mail from the U.S. to even reach Canada. As it turned out, we ended up leaving Penetang long before our mail package arrived at the marina, and now they are sending it to us via friends of ours who live in Michigan.

Armed with the information gained at the Looper gathering, we decided to cruise through the 30,000 Islands section of Georgian Bay along what is referred to as the small craft channel, a 165 mile trip from Port Severn to Killarney along a challenging, but beautiful, route that weaves in and out among small granite islands.

July 28^th, our day of departure from Penetang, dawned overcast with a forecast of showers later in the day, so we chose a protected anchorage at Indian Harbour, 23 miles along our planned route, to sit it out until the weather improved. This was a lovely spot, even in the rain, and before long we were joined by Joe and Pat aboard “Glory Days,” with whom we ended up traveling together as “buddy boats.”

By mid-morning the following day the rain had stopped, allowing us to move on. As we left the harbor, we spied a pile of rocks appearing like a sentinel who must have been guarding us throughout the night.

Then it was on to Fryingpan Island just in time for lunch at the famous (or infamous?) Henry’s Fish Restaurant, where we, along with our cruising companions, enjoyed free dockage while we ate a great meal.

By now we were three boats traveling together, having been joined by Brian and Jean aboard “Spirit of Whitbey.”

In this area there are virtually hundreds of channels and bays one can explore, so after lunch we chose a well marked alternate route for a side trip to Port Rawson Bay in search of an appealing anchorage for the night.

 Apparently, lots of other boaters, including many vacationing Canadians, had the same idea, because there were lots of boats anchored in Port Rawson Bay already. But, luckily, it was large enough to accommodate us as well.  After all three boats were securely anchored, we enjoyed happy hour together aboard “Glory Days” and then dinghied back to our respective vessels for the night, a ritual oft repeated throughout our journey.

For the next few days we continued our cruise in the 30,000 Islands area, carefully following the small craft channel, which at times was quite narrow.

As advised, we avoided the most dangerous passages, such as Hangdog Channel, where, after passing the Point Au Baril Lighthouse, we headed offshore into Georgian Bay, rejoining the small craft channel after safely passing Hangdog Reef.

We sometimes enjoyed the amenities offered by marinas along the way, including Big Sound Marina at Parry Sound and Killbear Marina, which featured a restaurant on site offering German cuisine.

We celebrated our 43^rd anniversary on August 3^rd, sipping martinis on our foredeck at Wright’s Marina in Byng Inlet.

Then it was on toward Killarney, which would mark the northern terminus of Georgian Bay. Once again we carefully observed all channel markers to avoid unexposed and unforgiving rocks lurking just below the water’s surface.

The marinas at Killarney are located along a channel connecting Georgian Bay with the North Channel, which would be our next destination.

After tying up, we noticed that the water color had now changed to turquoise, something we would have expected in the Bahamas, but not in the fresh water of the Great Lakes.

From the Sportsman’s Inn Marina at Killarney, everything of interest is along the waterfront within easy walking distance, including the most notable eatery, the ever popular Herbert Fisheries Fish and Chips, housed in a bus.

Although our intention had been to spend two days at Killarney before beginning our North Channel journey, we saw our favorable weather window narrowing and decided to just “go for it” while the nice weather conditions lasted.

Everywhere we had traveled so far, it seemed that folks were always telling us, “Just wait; the best is yet to come.” Well, as much as we had enjoyed each region we had sampled up to this point, we really think they were all right; what was to come next was, in our humble opinion, beyond comparison.

On Friday, August 5^th, we entered the North Channel headed for Baie Fine (pronounced “Bay Fin”), according to our cruising guide, “the closest thing to a fjord you will ever cruise in.” This ten mile long narrow bay is lined with magnificent quartz mountains, making cruising vessels appear like toy boats in a bathtub.

At the end of the bay, a narrow channel leads to “The Pool,” a popular anchorage, and our destination. Here we anchored, along with buddy boat “Glory Days,” in surprisingly warm water and enjoyed a swim, along with breathtakingly beautiful scenery. While we were in the water, a few little fish decided that Ken would make a nice meal, and they kept biting him. I guess I wasn’t as tasty.

The next day, after soaking up the natural beauty and taking appropriate photos in the early morning light, we reluctantly decided to pull up anchor and move on to our next stop at the Port of Little Current where we could tie up at the municipal dock and see what the weather decided to do.

However, pulling up anchor was not as easy as usual, due to a huge clump of weeds and mud which Ken had to clean off.

We made it safely to Little Current before the weather deteriorated too much and tied up safely at the town docks.

That night we ate dinner with Joe and Pat from “Glory Days” at the Anchor Inn, well known among cruisers for hosting The Little Current Cruisers Network, broadcasting everyday at 9:00 a.m. on VHF Channel 71, with marine weather forecast information, news highlights, plus call-in opportunities for fellow cruisers to report their current locations as well as cruising destinations.

The following day, with scattered showers in the forecast, we decided to take our chances and move on to Kagawong, about 15 miles away at the bottom of Mudge Bay, hoping the rain would hold off until after we arrived. Well, you guessed it; we got caught in a downpour just as we were entering the bay and had to hold offshore until we could see well enough to enter the marina.

There were two main attractions we hoped to visit while at Kagawong, and after the rain stopped and the weather cleared up in the afternoon, we managed both. First, we stopped at the Anglican Church at the town dock. It’s famous for its nautical décor, including the undamaged half of a sunken wooden powerboat that serves as the pulpit and the stained-glass windows echoing the nautical theme.

Next we hiked the nature trail along the Kagawong River to Bridal Veil Falls. Not only was the falls itself beautiful, but the trail was so reminiscent of those we have hiked and loved in the mountains of North Carolina that we began to feel nostalgic.

Luckily, the weather continued to improve, so the following morning we headed for our next destination, an anchorage at the Benjamin Islands, which are composed of pink granite, as opposed to the white quartz of the mountains to the north and the limestone of the lower, surrounding islands.

This proved to be a very popular spot, and we ended up sharing the anchorage with thirty five other boats, including eight other Looper boats. This resulted, of course, in an impromptu Looper Rendezvous, with happy hour on the rocks, so to speak. As usual, a good time was had by all.

One more anchorage opportunity called out to us before leaving the North Channel, so, on Tuesday morning, August 9^th, “Docker’s Inn,” Glory Days,” and “Dovekie,” (following us due to GPS difficulties), headed out once again on the small craft route, destination Beardrop Harbour, the northernmost destination along our planned route. There was a light breeze and calm water all the way, but clouds were gathering and the forecast was for deteriorating weather, so we were anxious to get safely and securely anchored in what we expected would be a protected harbor.

As the sun set that night, the wind was picking up, and we could see storms all around us, but we thought everyone was securely anchored, including “Glory Days” which was up wind from us.

Reality set in at 6:00 a.m. the following morning when we awoke with a start to find “Glory Days” snugged up against our bow, with Joe and Pat trying desperately to push off from us before any damage was done to either boat. The four of us together managed to do this, but that resulted in them dragging anchor on past us and toward the rocks behind us before they were able to get their engine started, the boat under control., and to re-anchor in another spot further away.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of the nightmare. What followed was an entire day of high winds during which several boats in Beardrop Harbour, including “Docker‘s Inn” and “Glory Days” (several more times), dragged anchor and struggled to maneuver into an appropriate spot to re-set their anchors, which was a daunting task in 40 mph winds. Night was rapidly approaching again (with the prospect of being adrift in the dark of night in a violent storm) when things finally calmed down enough for all of us to get settled in and anchored (hopefully securely!) once again. Not much sleep was had that night, but with the dawn came the realization that we had all survived, and no one had run aground on the rocks. Therefore, all was well with the world, as it had been prior to the worst episode of the cruise so far.

That is, all was well until we attempted to pull up anchor. We had tried so desperately to make sure that the anchor was securely set, that it was now really stuck in the hard clay. Finally, with the help of both engines moving the boat forward in various directions, the anchor broke free of the clay bottom, but what a mess this was to clean off when we reached Blind River Marina a couple of hours later.

What a relief it was to be tied up safe and sound at a marina when the sun set that night!

On Thursday, August 12^th, one week to the day after we had entered the North Channel, we crossed its northwestern end, arriving at Drummond Island Yacht Haven, where we cleared U.S. Customs and reflected on recent events before watching the sun set on U.S. waters for the first time in over six weeks.

So, how did we like our cruise through Canada, and especially the North Channel, you ask? As Charles Dickens would say, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”