Corker Island, Ontario

We left our magical anchorage at Baie Fine at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 23 bound for the Benjamin Islands.  On our way we made a stop at one of the North Channel’s main towns called Little Current.  They had good fuel prices so we topped off our tanks and walked across the street to have lunch at the Anchor Inn.  Little Current is a cute little town (population 1,500) and the biggest one on Manitoulin Island which forms the southern boundary of the North Channel.  The town obviously caters to boaters with a long town dock and many services available. The Main Street is only one block from the docks so everything is within easy walking distance of the harbor.  After lunch we stopped for the obligatory ice cream cone and then walked about a half mile to the local grocery store to pick up some odds and ends.

From there, with the helpful assistance of the dockhands, we took off for the Benjamins.  After reviewing several potential anchorages, we chose one at Crocker Island which was next to the Benjamins group.  The charts showed that it had a cove that provided the best protection from southerly winds. When we arrived in that lovely cove we couldn’t believe that we were the only boat there and remained so for the entire night!

Jonny cooked a fantastic dinner of NY strip steak with sautéed mushrooms, onions and peppers and swiss chard accompanied by an excellent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a very special dinner in an absolutely pristine setting.

Our anchorage was so pleasant that we decided to stay a second day.  We woke up on Friday morning and each went for an extended paddle.  Then we packed a picnic lunch and set off on the dinghy to explore the Benjamin Islands.  We rode over to beautiful, rocky South Benjamin Island where we found a deep cove (with a sailboat anchored and elaborately tied to the nearby rocky boulders).  We tied the dinghy to a tree and climbed the boulders to get a 360 degree view of the island group.  Spectacular!  We ate our picnic lunch on a large flat rock bed and basked in the sunny day. 

Leaving our picnic spot, we dinghied a little more around the islands seeking and finding the bright metal rings that are anchored into rocks here and there providing boaters with the ability to tie up to shore.

When we returned to our private cove, we were disappointed to find our anchorage “invaded” by four other boats.  We should have expected as much because the weekend had arrived!

The only small downer was that Lynn had awakened that morning with a very swollen and itchy eye.  Thinking it was just a bug bite, she didn’t give it too much thought except that as the day wore on it got worse and was spreading to the other eye.  On Friday morning she called our friend who is an ophthalmologist who thought as we did that it was an allergic reaction and she advised Lynn to take an antihistamine.  

When we returned from the dinghy ride, Lynn took it easy applying ice packs to both eyes and Jonny paddled over to Crocker Island to see if he could find some blueberries which are supposed to be in abundance around here.  He returned empty-handed.  Apparently blueberry season had passed.  That evening, Lynn made a yummy chicken curry and we made it an early night.