Georgian Bay

You are looking at a mural on a full size grain elevator

After Locking through Port Severn we thought we had it made . After all “The Georgian Bay” is one of the finer cruising grounds, open water, lots of Islands,plenty of anchorages and great scenery.
Leaving the lock in Port Severn guess what we found – all of the above except the “Open Water” part. We had to negotiate – yes you guessed it – more narrow rocky channels until we reached an opening to the bay and we headed for Midland. Great Mural on the grain elevators. We also got to watch some races. The canoes started out by rowing and then switched to sail when there was enough wind. We stopped there for a short shopping trip and then headed across the harbor and anchored out off of a state park.

Monday through Thursday – July 26^th to 29^th

Bay Moorings is sponsoring a Looper's Reunion. It is just a short ride around to the other side of the Peninsula to Penantanguishine (hereafter called Penantang).About 19 Looper boats are expected. We know about ½ of them at this point. The Marina charged for the docking, but all of the other events were free. It started Monday night with a wine and Cheese party – a great mixer. And they announced that on Tuesday at 11:00 would be the start of the Cardboard Boat race.

Putting the deck on Loopers Blooper

Teams were to to consist of two boats – we get to choose our own teammates. Four teams formed up. At 11:00 o'clock each team got to pick their own refrigerator box out of a pile, and we were each given a box knife (not many metal detectors out here) and two rolls of duct tape. We had 1 ½ hrs. to build our boats. Bill (from High Spirits) and I did most of the building, Barbara was our Gopher and Carole was the Decorator. We had thought a bit about it ahead of time. Bill was sure we would run out of time so we finished the basic boat in ½ hour and had way too much time to decorate it. Carole made a name board “Loopers Bloopers” and then painted a mermaid (complete with nipples) on the foredeck. Since the piece of cardboard we used for the foredeck came with a round hole in it we had to put a flagpole up. We used a broom for the mast, three stays and AGLCA and Bay Moorings pennants flew from it. If there had been a prize for decoration (there wasn't) we would have won it easily! Bill also used the extra time to completely cover the outside of the boat with duct tape to help make it more water resistant.

At 12:30 they served us lunch and at one the race was on!

The building of the "SLED"

I was the driver since I was lighter than Bill and neither Carole or Barbara would even consider getting into a cardboard boat – even if it was completely covered with Duct Tape. The race started from the boat launch ramp, went out about 25 yards to a docked boat then ½ way back to another dock where we were given a drink to finish before the finish line and back to the ramp and a short run to the finish line.

The starting Line

The Start

Well at least most of us started

The "SLED" takes off

I start behind these two

Chugging Along

Second to the start line,
the finish is ten yards up the ramp.

Award Ceremony

I predicted that our boat would not sink, but that I would probably turn it over. I almost did. As the race started I slipped on the ramp on to my butt, taking the boat with me. There was only 2” of water at that point and Bill caught the boat. The slip at the start put me 3^rd of out four boats. The fourth boat turned over at the start & never floated. The boat in front was an ingenious design. It was basically a surfboard and the driver/captain lay on it and propelled it with swim fins. I knew I had no chance against him as I was using a kayak paddle and our boat was basically a box with a slanted front. Does paddling a potato chip give you the picture? Each stroke I took would spin the boat around and I would need to take a stroke quickly on the other side to keep it more or less in the right direction. We did have that nifty flagpole though! In second place was a more conventional type boat, slightly pointed in front and it was being propelled by a kayak paddle made of two oars taped together. He was struggling and as I passed him I watched his boat fill with water and sink. I eventually got sort of a rhythm going, but the surfboard was at the drink station by the time I reached the turn. Fortunately he had not heard that he had to finish the drink before finishing the race. It gave him a pause which gave the water more time to soak in to the cardboard. The drink was in some kind of kids sipping cup with the straw all wound around the outside of it. It felt like I was sucking my guts out each time I tried to drink more. I had the straw in my teeth and was paddling and sucking while I tried to catch up. Jay, on the surfboard, got off the surfboard before it got back to the start line and had to go back. By then the board was totally waterlogged and he was out of gas. He could not get the boat to move. He got off and dragged it to the start line, but he was wearing flippers and I got the boat to the start line about the same time he did. Without flippers on it was no contest to the finish. I was so tired that I couldn't break the the tape, or maybe it was because they used Police Barrier Tape (that's my excuse). The whole thing was a blast and it was even better because we won. The “Boat” was on display all the next day in front of the Marina Office. On Wednesday night they did a Barbeque Buffet Dinner, and the boat was on display again. One boater had Carole sign the deck and she took it on her boat as a memento.

Blacksmith

During the day on Wednesday we visited a recreated Jesuit/Indian village, circa 1629 . Using Archeological findings the St. Marie village was recreated. It was originally built so the Jesuits could convert the Indians to Christianity. In the end it created a conflict in the native community and led to the end of the tribe. Intern/Guides dressed in period dress were stationed in many of the buildings. They were usually engaged in an activity that was common at that period (making candles, birch bark pots, wooden planks, etc.) It was very well done and they were quite knowledgeable. Carole got to try her hand at writing with a quill pen, difficult but with practice it was doable.

After the village we visited the Martyrs Shrine commemorating those who died Christianizing the local natives. It was – well a shrine. The church was beautiful, just not my thing.

A BBQ at night with a good presentation on the trip up the Georgian Bay – what to see, what routes to take, places to anchor, and places to avoid capped the gathering.

Mitch practicing his vise

On Thursday morning there was a 1 on 1 route planning and Q & A session, and at noon we headed out on to the Georgian Bay. 2 ½ hours later we were anchored in Longuissa Bay with about a dozen other boats – One was another looper and one about to be. Had cocktails aboard Windsong a 38' sailing catamaran out of Salem Mass. With three chocolate labs aboard.

The trick in this area is finding a place to take Annie ashore. Most of the land around here is privately owned and it is not considered polite to go ashore on some ones land. There are many smallish rock islands in the anchorages and the locals call them “Dog Poop Islands” and they are! It does work for us.

Friday July 30^th

A 35 mile trip takes us up the 30,000 islands to Port Rossum Bay. This is a Dominion Weekend – The first weekend of every month is a 3 day weekend) and by 2:30 when we arrive there are boats in almost every anchoring spot. We have been traveling with Windsong and Lazy Dolphin is also coming so we are looking for a place to anchor 3 boats. We finally find a cove with enough room and all get anchored

Serendipity at anchor

The trip was really pretty. This area is an outcropping of the Canadian Shield and there is solid rock everywhere. We might be traveling in water 90-150 feet deep and the shore is 20 feet away! Like nothing I have ever seen before. Social hour on our bridge today.

Weather has been cool and very comfortable. Great for sleeping but a bit cool for swimming although Annie doesn't think so. She jumps in to the water every time I take her to shore.

Saturday July 31^st

We will probably stay put today. Yesterday we were besieged by lots of boats rushing about. I expect today will be much worse and anchorages will be full by the time we get to them at 7 mph. One thought was for the 6 of us to get in a dinghy and go for an early dinner at Henry's fish camp about 5 miles back. We shall see. Carole, Annie and I took a short dinghy ride this morning and then hiked a little on a nearby island. This is National Park territory so there are no private lands or cottages here. Lots of moss and lichens growing on the rocky land. We did find a patch of black raspberries for a morning snack. Back at the boat we had a bacon and egg brunch.

Carole Fishing

Carole started fishing and I was headed out in a kayak with a fishing rod when I heard a shout. Carole had caught a 2 lb. Smallmouth bass. I spent the next hour and a half fishing all of the “good” spots and caught nothing, while Carole got her bass under the boat on a worm. So much for the great fisherman! Anyway fish dinner tonight.

Bass for dinner was good. It was a clear cool evening and with no lights for miles around the stars were incredible.

We have decided to stay another day and have lunch at Henry's Fish Camp on our way up the bay on Monday.

It has been three days without internet, and I am still going through withdrawals. Although we still have cell phone service I feel like I have lost contact with the rest of the world as I know it. We can sort of get one TV station and we have a few DVD's of shows we recorded. It is likely we will be in this situation for the next few weeks so I better get over it.

Sunday August 1^st

The group at Moon River Falls

Overcast, cool with a light wind. One side of the dinghy was deflated this morning. It was the patched side and I was concerned that the patch failed, however I found the cap on one of the inflation valves was off and it probably leaked out overnight. I re inflated it and took Annie to shore and it is holding fine.

Mitch contemplating a dive

We are riding about 7 miles to Moon River Falls with two other boats in their dinghies (ours is too small and too slow). We were told that it is a great place to visit and we do not want to miss it. Sun is coming out but still lots of cloud cover. What a fun trip. An hours ride through rock canyons and open bays took us to the head of the Moon River and a small falls. The place was loaded with campers, day trippers, canoes, and rental aluminum boats. Kids (young and old) were jumping off the rocks in to the pool below the falls, others like us, were just hiking and looking. I thought about trying a jump but I was already cold and the prospect of an hours ride back at 20 mph in a wet bathing suit stopped me.

Social Hour tonight on Lazy Dolphin.

Monday august 2^nd

Raised anchor at 10:30 and headed NW to Henry's Fish Camp for lunch. I got a birthday card signed by everyone, Barb & Randy, Jay & Joan, and Carole. Had a Henry Burger which is Fried Pike (Walleye) on a roll and enough fries (nice and crispy) to feed all six of us. Everyone got that that many fries. Pretty good lunch and a great show. Dock hands (3 at a time) running to help dock all of the boats arriving and they were being choreographed by the dockmaster up on the hill. At the same time seaplanes were landing and taxiing in. About 8 planes were in and out while we were eating lunch. Several had to wait for dock space.

Seaplanes at Henry's Fish Camp

Carole has observed that the Canadian dock hands were way better than the U.S. Hands. They listen and and seem to be more knowledgeable and they are not looking for tips. In fact we have had several refuse them.

After lunch we continued on to Parry Sound. The marina is run by the local Chamber of Commerce and the dock hands did not live up to Carole' Canadian standard. Nice town – Bobby Orr's hometown – we did not go t the museum, but did go to the movies. Saw “Inception”. Very different, somewhat strange at first and then very good. We really liked it.

Tuesday August 3^rd

Shopping and laundry took up the morning. I was a little antsy so we hooked up with Windsong and pushed on another 15 miles. After negotiating a lot of narrow channels (Windsong took the outside route so they could sail a bit) we entered Snug Harbor. It was too small and shallow for us to anchor so Windsong headed for a side bay behind an island. We heard a loud crunch and saw Windsong had run up on a submerged rock. Jay was distracted by two girls in Bikini's paddling a canoe. He claimed that they seemed to be struggling and he wanted to give them room. Fortunately he did little damage although it did take both of our boats at almost full power to get him off. The owner of the nearby island came out in his outboard and helped turn Windsong around. He also offered to pull them off with his tug. When they asked if he was affiliated with Towboat US (Windsong's towing insurance) he told them that there would be no charge. The local people here are amazing. A number of people stopped to see if they could help. When we anchored behind the island, one boater came by to tell me that I might be anchoring on the island's power cable. At that point Bob (the island's owner) came over to return the towline I had used. He told me that it was only his phone cable and that if I raised the anchor and saw the line to just remove it from the anchor. The three of us (Bob, myself, and the other boater) sat and talked for a half hour about tug boats. Bob's was a 1942 restored tug.

Jay and Joan insisted on treating us to dinner. On the way over in their dinghy we saw a mink running around in the rocks. A really good fish and chips (what else?) restaurant. They had just finished smoking a batch of whitefish which was excellent.

Wednesday August 4^th

Started this morning with a call shortly after we left Snug Harbor. Windsong had lost both its engines. They were able to run slowly, and we accompanied them back in to Snug Harbor. After some investigation we found a fuel filter on one engine was loose so that engine problem was solved. The other engine appeared to have a failed fuel pump. Jay had an electric pump that he could use to replace the engine pump. We were sent on our way whole he did the repair, cleaned up and did some testing.

We continued on to Hopewell Bay. Lazy Dolphin had gone on to Pointe Au Baril found nothing and came on back to Hopewell Bay. Windsong and Selah also also showed up there. We hosted social hour on our flybridge.

Thursday August 5^th

Carole had a mini melt down today. After the grounding of Windsong she was understandably nervous about hidden rocks. On entering Hopewell Bay last night I was headed for what I thought was the opening, when Carole came up she pointed out that I was one island off and that it was real shallow where I was headed. I naturally argued with her, but she was right. The combination of events did shake her up a bit. Being used to mud bottoms where if you run aground it is only an inconvenience to a rock bottom where hitting something hurts either the people or the boat is a big transition. So I understand the concern and we have come to some agreements and I have promised to be more diligent.

We took a 2 ½ hour bumpy ride across Byng (pronounced bing) inlet and ran about 4 miles up to Britt. A nice marina and campground. I was able to refill our propane tank. I can not exchange it since it is an aluminum tank. We ran the refrigerator 14 days (some of them 24 hrs.) as well as cooking on the tank. I am happy with that.

A tight Channel

We did a chart session with Selah, Windsong and Lazy Dolphin to see where we would go the next day.

Friday August 6^th
Wind is not quite as bad this morning. We had some short fairly exposed runs. In the afternoon we had our choice of a tight inside passage or an outside run. Selah took the outside (they were about 1 ½ hrs ahead of us) and anchored in the Bustard Isles after reporting a 1 -2 ft. chop. Windsong (about ½ hr. ahead ) decided to push on to Beaverstone Bay on the outside. I called Lazy Dolphin (about 45 Minutes ahead) to find out what they had found, and learned that they had taken the inside channel. They reported it was well marked and very scenic although it was a bit tight is was doable. We had just reached the decision point and were leaning towards the outside run when Randy's report changed our mind. Carole was O.K. As long as it was well marked – so off we went! One of our best decisions so far this trip. It was a spectacular trip. When Randy told us it was tight, but easy it was before he had come to Obstacle Island and Parting Channel. About 25 minutes after we entered the channel Barb called and said if we thought we had seen tight and narrow she said: “You ain't seen nothing yet!” WOW – we turned into parting channel and were looking at a huge rock in front of us. The channel was maybe 30 ft. wide and in about 2 ½ boat lengths we we had to turn left at the rock. Turn right around the rock and then left again to avoid hitting our flybridge on an overhanging rock. The vistas were wonderful. Looking our over all of the red rocks surrounded by water. It was a real beautiful treat.

The narrows

Uh Oh!

Made the first turn

This is what we saw after the first turn

We then took a short run outside and up the Bad Rive to an anchorage at Devils Rapids. I was having trouble deciding where to anchor when Randy offered to have us raft up to them. After a bit of a struggle we managed to set our anchor and tie up alongside the Lazy Dolphin.

What a great anchorage. We took the dinghy to go on a nearby island with Annie. On the way we thought we we look around for Devils Rapids before the walk. ! ½ hrs. later we got back to the boat. We had gone through the rapids (it was running slow this time of year) and in to a canyon. Then we took a side canyon up to a small falls and then found another canyon that we followed for about ¾ mile up to another falls. When we got back I took Randy and Barb up there as their dinghy is too large to go there safely.

Rafted in Bad River

Small Canyon near Devils Rapids

Cardinal Flowers at Devils Rapids

One of the rapids - no we did not go up them!

We were intrigued enough to decide to stay for another day.

Saturday August 7^th

Cool, sunny and calm this morning. Carole heard a strange sound and went out to see if the dinghy was rubbing against the boat. She called me to come see. Up on the hill on the Island next to us were a pair of Sandhill Cranes feeding (we had too look them up). We watched them for about 15 minutes before they flew away.

We went off with Randy and Barb in two dinghys – we took Annie and hoped to hike on the island nearby. If we could climb to the to we would get a great view of the area. We tried four different approaches and each one was separated from the highest island by water. We wound up motoring around the island and never did find a way up to the top. We did have a fun afternoon drifting down alongside the rocks with the current.

On a Hike at the rapids

Sunday August 8^th

The day started overcast with a short rain shower. We decided last night that if the wind died we would go today. It mostly died, but the forecast was for 15 kts. In the morning building to 20 by noon. We were undecided. Lazy Dolphin contacted The Old Grouch who were already underway. They reported that it was lumpy, but O.K. We both decided to go. It was a bit uncomfortable but doable. We would only be underway outside the protection of the islands for 1 ½ hrs. And then the rain started. We pulled in and anchored behind Burnt Island in the Beaverstone Bay (still in the Georgian Bay) in a pouring rain. It is 1 o'clock and there is no wind- I mean none- and lots of rain (not in the forecast). Makes one wonder what the forecasters are doing. After we anchored at 1:00 we spent the afternoon working on a puzzle. After the rain cleared we took a dinghy ride over to the nearby island (not Burnt Island). Interesting rock formations. It looked like the rocks had been set in concrete similar to the way bricks look with ribbons of cement between them. Carole and I both liked the island so it is now “our island”! Since the 20 kt. Winds were non-existent we had a beautiful evening.

Aah!

Monday August 9^th

Mist in the treetops at 7:30 am and very calm. At 8:00 the fog starts to drop and by 9:00 we socked in solid. Lazy Dolphin and The Old Grouch who are in the anchorage with us are invisible. By 10:00 the fog had lifted and we got underway. We are headed for Killarney and it proves to be another really scenic trip. It is really amazing how the rocks and the formations change as we move along. Every channel seems different. I realize that the pictures do not show it to its best, but every area we pass through has a different feel to it.

By the time we reach Killarney it has gotten quite warm. This has been the first real swimming weather in about a month. I had really expected to see more warm weather than we have had. Killarney harbor was not the most inviting swimming place, but the shower in the marina was great!

On the trip over I found the water tank empty. I did not think we could have used that much, but it was possible. When we arrived I filled the tank and turned on the water pump. It seemed to be running a long time when Carole found water coming out from under the sink in the forward head. I shut off the pump and found the hot water pipe going in to the sink had pulled out. I replaced and tightened it, but still had a slow leak. There is no hardware store in Killarney. I shut off the water pressure for the night and hope that we can find a hardware store soon.

We went to the “World Famous Fish and Chips” at Herbert's Fishery. We ate it on the patio at the dock. It was really fresh since the fish come to the dock on on side, are cleaned and then cooked on the other side. Service is out of an old school bus. Have to say the fish was slightly overcooked.