Georgian Bay and the North Channel

Along the North Channel - beautiful!



Killarney ONT



Fish and Chips at the School Bus!



One of our anchorages - nice!






Lighthouse guiding us along the way



Georgian Bay - just beautiful



Narrow passage



Starting the Northwest Passage



Houses on islands after islands!



Getting pretty narrow!



Beautiful scenery!



Yea!  We made it!



Marking the way



We had a wonderful anchorage just outside Midland. In the morning we went into the town and tied up at the town docks. We needed to go to West Marine and Wal-Mart. Mike needed to get something for the depth finder and we needed a new camera. Yes, that's right – just before we got to the Big Chute our camera shot craps. After a laundry cycle, coffee spill and several drops, it finally quit working. It did hang in there longer than we would have ever thought. Luckily, we could take pictures of the Big Chute with our phones. Yea! Anyway, we took the bikes into town to Wal-Mart and West Marine. It was pretty much uphill all the way. I thought I was going to die! Should have had my Wheaties for breakfast instead of Cheerios! We did finally make it back. Of course, it was fun coming back – downhill all the way! Wheeee! We bought a new Fuji camera. Now we have to learn to operate it.
We fueled up at the Marina and headed out on the next stretch of the Bay. They call this the land of 30,000 islands. It is beautiful. However, the book says that if there are 30,000 islands showing there are at least 100,000 lurking below. We need to go slow. The water is crystal clear. We passed hundreds of channels and bays. If we only had the time, we would stop at all of them. However, we need to keep moving. All the guides say that we need to be off Lake Michigan by the first week of September. We fell behind due to our stay in Buckhorn. Oh well.
We passed Frying Pan Island. We had planned to stop there and check out Henry's Fish Restaurant. However, it wasn't the right time of day for us, so we kept plugging on. There were several boats there enjoying their meals, I'm sure!
We also by-passed Parry Sound. We didn't really need to get provisions so we headed on to Hale Bay. Hale Bay is on Sandy Island and we anchored between Ross Point and Allen Island. It is very well protected. There we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a peaceful night. The islands are full of blueberries. We've been told that they also have bear. Maybe we'll see one tonight. HA! So far there are two things in Canada that we were hoping to see - that's a bear and a Royal Canadian Mountie! Neither one so far!
The next day we left Hale Bay about 8:00 a.m. We would rejoin the channel just west of Rose Island. The weather wasn't looking so good. It looked rainy and gray. We also had decided to tow the dinghy rather than put it up on top with the davit. BIG MISTAKE! We didn't get very far before the cable broke and the dinghy was being left floating behind. Luckily it made a loud noise when the cable broke so we noticed it. Back around we went. We tied it with one of the lines and we were off again only to make a wrong turn off the rhum line and head out to big water. It was raining – we were towing the dingy – we were not happy. We decided to turn around and wait out the rain for a while. It didn't last too long and we were on our way again. However, we decided to stop to load the dinghy on top. This wasn't so smart either. We were trying to load the dinghy in a light rain with strong wind – and 2 ½ and 3 foot waves and they were building! Finally we got it done and we were on our way again. Now it had been well over an hour since we first started out and we could still see where we had spent the night! We hadn't traveled far. We traveled a while and then heard on the VHF that there were squall warnings out for Lake Huron and parts of Georgian Bay. We kept on; there was no really good place to stop.
Finally things cleared up and it became a beautiful day. We saw lots of spectacular sights. We by-passed Canoe Channel – not recommended for 40' boats and over. We did adventure through Hangdog Channel. It was pretty edgy getting in but once we were in, it was fine as long as you went slow. The same about Rogers Gut and Cunningham Channel. We just had to go slow.
After one heck of a morning, it turned out to be a good day. We anchored at Dead Island. It was peaceful and beautiful. Also, this island was full of blueberries. And bears? We'll see…….
It was a great anchorage at Dead Island but the next morning looked rather stormy – again! It wasn't raining – so we decided to head out. Just as we did, it started to rain so we came back for a while. As we finally got started and began to enter the Northwest Passage, it began to get a little windier. Of course, when we had passed Bad River (our last good spot to hold up) it got worse. Before we knew it – we were in 5-6 foot waves! We had to do about 20 miles of this. We were in water open to Lake Huron and the wind was fierce. There were water spout watches again – but only on Lake Huron. Yeah right! The waves tossed us around like a bathtub toy. Actually NautiNell did fine – the boat always can take more than the crew! It seemed like forever before we got to the other end of the Passage. Finally we were at the Collins Inlet and Mill Lake. This was nice. We had time to relax and regroup. The furniture was all scattered around along with pictures off the walls. The freezer had emptied itself on the galley floor. Nothing was damaged and we were fine. That's just part of the adventure. However, if we had realized it was going to be that bad, we would have waited it out. We should have paid more attention to the marine weather on the VHF.
When we reached Flat Rock (mile 60), we had completed the inside passage and had to make a short four mile run across the top of Georgian Bay to Killarney. It was still windy but the water was just choppy. Not nearly what we had been through earlier. Everything is relative, huh! We made the run unscathed and entered Killarney Bay. We had been told we had a spot at Sportsman's Inn. When we got there though, we had to idle in the bay for at least 20 minutes while they made room. Come to find out, one of their fingers had broken earlier and they weren't sure to trust the others! The wind was blowing again like crazy! They finally found a place for us to go. We moved in and tied up with the help of the dock hands. Safe and secure for the night. That's nice! We would be starting the North Channel in the morning. BTW – the wind blew all night long!
The next morning was sunny but still windy. Since we were waiting out the wind for a while, we were able to check out the Red School Bus for fish and chips. This is a well-known stop for fish and chips. We were glad we didn't miss it. It's fresh (just caught) fish served out of an old school bus. It was cool! The only thing on the menu was fish and chips (fries). We ate ours at one of the picnic tables provided. Cool!
After getting more fuel, we finally left the marina around 12:30 p.m. We went by way of Lansdowne Channel. You could see where they are busy mining the limestone in the area. This is causing a stir with some of the locals. At the end of the channel, there were actual mountains in the background. It was really pretty. I know I keep saying everything was really pretty or beautiful – but it was! It's just hard to imagine this - but it just keeps getting prettier!
It was really cold and windy. We past several good spots to hold up but the water was really just choppy and not bad enough for us to stop. Now that we're "seasoned" boaters! LOL!
Once we reached the Little Current the wind died down some. There is a Railroad Swing Bridge there that opens on the hour and is open for 15 minutes. We were surprised! We made it there about 3 minutes till the hour. They opened up and we went through. There was a big time current there around the bridge. We really had to be careful.
We then headed north up the Waubuno Channel and on toward the Benjamin Islands. There were way too many waves. We decided to stop at a good anchorage and spend the night. We had learned our lesson! We anchored at the Amendroz Island with several sailboats just a few miles from the Benjamins. We really had wanted to anchor there, but the waves were just too much. This turned out to be a great anchorage.
The next morning was gorgeous! AND NOT WINDY! We boated to the Benjamin Islands and saw just how breathtaking they are. We took several pictures. There were several boats there anchored. It looked like some of them were there for the weekend. This was a great place and we hated to have to leave. BUT – we must move on.
We have friends meeting us at the end of the North Channel at Detour Village. We are so excited that Dick and Debbie are coming! We can hardly wait! This will be our first guests on NautiNell. It's going to be a blast!
So upward and onward! We took the outside passage (open water again) and had no problems at all. We just put her in gear and off we went. The passage was really non-eventful for a change. The scenery was still beautiful but we weren't weaving in and out of the small islands like before.
We finally decided to stop and make it a shorter day than the last few. We anchored at Robinson's Point. It's a nice anchorage and it looks like we are pretty well protected if the wind picks up again. We'll see!
To be continued……….
Till next time!
Admiral "C"