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.

Baie Fine, Ontario

Our long awaited trip to the Georgian Bay came to an end on Wednesday, August 22 as we left Killarney (population 600!) to begin our passage through the North Channel.

It is a long strip of water that runs for 70 miles east-west from Killarney to Thessalon, Ontario.  The channel’s waters are relatively quiet because Manitoulin Island protects the northern coast of Ontario from the wilder waters of Lake Huron.  The North Channel has some of the oldest rocks  in the world with many of them over 3 billion years old!  It is far less developed than Georgian Bay with fewer and smaller villages and only occasional cottages scattered here and there.  We made a leisurely departure from Killarney Mountain Marina because we had a relatively short cruise to the amazing Baie Fine.  The day was quite cool in the low 70’s and windy but we spent most of the cruise on an inside passage.  

We crossed Fraser Bay to get to the long narrow passageway that led to an outstandingly beautiful cove.  The passage was narrow and lined with white quartz cliffs and fir trees on both sides.  It is reported to be the closest thing to a fjord in North America.  It was so dramatic that Lynn spent much of the seven mile passage standing on the bow soaking in the incredible scenery. 

When we arrived at the “pool” (the end of the passageway leads to a cove), we found six boats already anchored there.  Some were tied up to trees and we decided to go in as far as we could and set the anchor.  The fellow in the sailboat closest to us dinghied over to advise us to tie up our stern to a tree which we gladly did. 

Then we took the dinghy to a small dock that led to trails in the surrounding parkland.  We hiked to a famous watering hole on Topaz Lake.  It was stunningly dramatic - a small lake with turquoise water surrounded by huge rocky outcroppings and forested shores.  If it was just a little warmer, we would have gone swimming in the crystal clear waters.  A few people were hanging out on rocks and a couple of young men were jumping into the water from high cliffs on the nearby shore.  We stayed for awhile enjoying the outstanding scenery - one of the prettiest places we’ve been on this whole trip!

We then hiked to another lake, Artists Lake - also pretty but filled with marsh weeds and nowhere near as nice as Topaz. 

Back at Zendo, three folks who we met at the lake responded to our invitation to come by and see Zendo as they were interested in buying a trawler.  Two of them were from Deerfield Beach, FL and the others on the boat were from the Midwest and had sailed these waters before.  We had a nice visit and later on just relaxed in the quiet of this anchorage and basked in the beauty of a magnificent sunset. 

Killarney, Ontario

We woke up by 5:30 on Tuesday, August 21 so we could leave early due to the weather forecast.  We wanted to make it to either an anchorage or all the way to Killarney if we could.  That way we would be in a good place when the higher winds that were forecasted for the following day occur.  It turned out that our night on anchor was very calm. We climbed onto the dinghy to to untie the two lines that secured us to the shore and pulled anchor by 6:45.

We headed across Lake Huron and had a very bouncy ride for the first hour until we could make a turn and have the waves on our quarter.  During this rough passage, the table in the saloon toppled over even though it was secured by bungee cords and the oven door flew open and all the pans tumbled out.  (We hadn’t secured things as well as we should have). Georgio was very uncomfortable and had two accidents probably because it was too rough for him to make it to the litter box in time.  Lynn held him closely during much of this passage. 

Finally, after about two hours we entered the inside passage of Beaverstone Bay and a most beautiful portion of our journey.  There was negligible boat traffic and very few cottages lining these shores.  We passed a couple of lovely anchorages we could have chosen to stay at but we pushed on. 

We cruised on to Killarney which meant crossing one more short section of open water which we did in 30 minutes without any trauma.  We arrived at Killarney Mountain Marina by noon. This was a very attractive resort-style marina that looked a little like a mini Montebello but we actually liked it better - it was more casual and laid back.

We walked around the grounds and into the the tiny town of Killarney where we stopped at a fish and chips joint for lunch.  We sat out on a picnic table overlooking another marina and as we were finishing it started to sprinkle.

Upon returning to Zendo, Lynn walked up to the local laundromat to wash the towel that Georgio peed on.  There was a free laundry at the marina but only one washer and three people were already lined up to use it. It was a very rainy afternoon.

We had originally made dinner reservation at the marina’s restaurant but we didn’t care for its ambiance so we cancelled and Lynn made a delicious dinner of sausage and peppers with the unique lamb-rosemary sausage Jonny had purchased at the butcher in Toronto.  Jonny did some more trip planning and after dinner we walked up to the marina’s attractive cocktail lounge to hear a singer who has a big following in this part of Canada. He was actually very entertaining singing mostly songs made popular by Canadians.  It was definitely a fun evening.  The lounge was designed around a huge central open fireplace but it was prohibited from being used because of the forest fires that have hit this part of the country this summer.  Fortunately for us they have abated enough so we are not prevented from seeing areas we had planned to visit.

Pearl Island, Ontario

We left our lovely anchorage at Snug Harbor at 9 a.m. on Monday, August 20 so we could get in a full day of travel. We had a great day of cruising. One of the highlights was going through Hang Dog Channel.  The marina manager from Bay Port had discouraged (particularly large boat) cruisers from taking that route because it is so narrow and there are so many rocks and sharp turns.  Of course, that was an invitation to Jonny so we took that route and we’re glad we did!  It was quite spectacular with gorgeous rock formations everywhere. All the twists and turns made it more fun and interesting.

As we consulted the weather we decided to bypass Wright’s Marina to get further since the weather over the next two days was going to deteriorate.  So we continued on until 4:30 where we cruised through the Bustard Islands which had been closed due to the forest fires this summer.  Lucky for us this passage has reopened and there was little evidence of the fires from our vantage point.

We chose a beautiful anchorage in a cove with other boats and just a few cottages.  After we set the anchor, the couple aboard a trawler anchored in the next cove dinghied over to greet us.  They told us that they had started to anchor in the spot we were in but the  locals had advised them not to because when the weather turns, the wind funnels in off the lake down Gunbarrel Channel into the anchorage. 

Reluctantly, given the local knowledge and even though our weather review didn’t show wind coming from that direction, we moved further into a narrow channel where we set the anchor again.  However, we were now concerned that we were too close to the very rocky shoreline.   So Jonny decided to tie off the stern of the boat to a tree on shore (he had been wanting to do this ever since we arrived in the Georgian Bay)!  Some areas where we’ve been cruising actually have rings drilled into the boulders on shore so boats can tie up to them.  We looked for some nearby rings but didn’t find any, so we just used trees.  It took us three tries with two sets of lines running from the stern to two trees on shore.

Finally, by 6:30 (two hours later) we relaxed with some adult beverages and had dinner.  The setting was absolutely beautiful.  We were only ten feet from the rocky coastline but we were securely anchored in place in case the winds came whistling through (not likely to happen). It was profoundly quiet and just wonderful!

We went to bed early because we wanted to leave the next morning at the crack of dawn.  We would be crossing a big corner of Lake Huron and the forecast called for rain and higher winds the following day.  We wanted to get as close to Killarney as we could so we could stay at a marina if we were held up by weather for a day.

Snug Harbor, Ontario

We were anxious to see if the engine started when we woke up on Sunday August 19.  Fortunately, it did and it sounded great!  We were very happy and greatly relieved to have finally corrected the problem.  Jonny went to pay our marina bill while Lynn exercised and got ready to push off.  After a quick pump-out, we were on our way by 9.  At first we thought we would take the quicker outside route and we did for awhile and then we switched to the small boat channel, a more interesting and beautiful route. Even though it was Sunday, there was not a lot of boat traffic.  We cruised through gorgeous rocky scenery with interesting markers and cottages scattered here and there.  This contemporary style was the exception.

Lynn rocked out to Aretha Franklin for much of the cruise. Hail to the Queen of Soul who sadly just entered a new realm of of the divine!

We decided to anchor at Snug Harbor so we could take the new dinghy for a spin and eat at Gilly’s, a well known fish restaurant that many people have recommended to us.  We needed to arrive fairly early because they stop serving at 6 p.m. And there is always a wait to get in.  Lynn called them to see about dockage and to let them know we were coming.  

Our anchorage was in a small harbor with some cottages but also stretches of undeveloped boulder-strewn coastline.  Our friend Dwayne had entered a review of this anchorage in the Active Captain website so we knew it would be good.  It was also a little further off the small boat channel and we thought the alternative anchorage we were considering might be likely to get more crowded as evening approached. It had one sailboat in it when we passed and the one we chose had none.

Jonny went for a bracing swim while Lynn updated the blog.  Then we scrambled aboard the dinghy so as not to be late to Gilly’s.  When we arrived, a sign was posted saying that they had stopped seating for dinner.  Lynn appealed this dictum by reminding them that she had called earlier to let them know we were coming.  They kindly acquiesced and we sat on their porch with a refreshing cocktail to wait for our table.

Our wait was a short one and we proceeded to enjoy a very good dinner.  The restaurant was much nicer than what we expected. Instead of the typical very casual fish camp type restaurant, this one was nicely decorated in simple clean white board and batten motif. It reminded us of one of our favorite restaurants to in Ponte Vedra, the Palm Valley Fish Camp.  We enjoyed our meals of local fish so much so that we even made room for their homemade peach pie for dessert (Jonny’s favorite).

Our dinghy is proving to be a very good purchase as we used it to comfortably explore the bay where we were anchored staying high and dry and cruising faster and more comfortably than in our old dinghy.