Hope Island, Georgian Bay

The first thing we did on Tuesday, August 7 was to take turns with the paddle board.  After breakfast, we took  Zendo from our anchorage off of Discovery  Village to the town dock of Penetanguishene.  The locals shorten it to Penetang which is a lot easier to pronounce!  The name is obviously an Indian name and it means  “land of the white rolling sands”.  The name is quite descriptive of the undeveloped areas we’ve seen here and we were sure that it all must have been quite pristine. 

The town’s history is a reflection of three cultures  -  Native American (Heron), French, and English which gives it a uniqueness and something of which that the residents are quite proud. The waterfront is very impressive and it obviously caters to a boating crowd.  There were probably 120 boat slips at the town marina and there were other large marinas nearby.

The friendly woman at the nearby visitors bureau pointed us to the short walk into town where we saw that extensive infrastructure work was underway including new sewers and sidewalks all along the main drag.  The town looks to be well kept and attractive overall.

We visited the local Catholic church, an impressive edifice towering over the town.

We also saw evidence of the local sporting culture!

Our favorite part of the town was a lovely park that extended from the church to the waterfront.  It was beautifully landscaped and had about a dozen statues, all by the same sculptor, commemorating important figures in the history of Penetang - many of them associated with the church and the town’s multi-cultural roots  The town also had two reconstructed historic villages that we didn’t have time to visit.

From there we traveled on a beautiful, but slightly overcast, day to a group of three islands owned by the Beausoleil, a native American group.  We cruised through them to select our anchorage for the evening.  We were eager to stay nearby because the waters were reported to be Caribbean crystal clear and they really were!   

We found a great anchorage by Hope Island and ventured out in the dinghy to the nearby beach. 

 It  was a perfect combination of sand and rocks and we strolled along the beach for about a mile before returning to Zendo.

That evening we relaxed, ate leftovers and just communed with nature. There was not a building in sight in this tranquil setting. This was a perfect introduction to our highly anticipated trip to Georgian Bay!