Georgian Bay: Collins Inlet to Killarney, Ontario Canada

Day 36

Travel Time: 1 hour

NM today: 6

NM total: 823

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

Because of where we stayed the night before, today’s trip was very short.  The waters were very calm, so all went well and quickly with our travel to Killarney.  When we go to Killarney, however, the picture rapidly changed.  We had a reservation at The Sportsman Inn and had called ahead for a pump out of the holding tank.  It took an hour sitting running at idle hanging off the fuel dock for our turn.  It took another hour for us to complete getting service, and the only services we required were a pump-out and filling the water tank.  It was ridiculous, and it seems that the major problem was that there was only one hose for water and the water at our assigned dock was not tested and proved potable.  Anyone staying on the George Island side of this marina has to get their tanks filled up at the fuel dock.

One sailboat owner had filled his two 60-gallon tanks with water from George Island before he found out it was tested to be potable.  He ended up emptying his tanks and filling them at the fuel dock through a filter he put on his tank which meant it took him forever and I do mean forever. 

We arrived at the marina at 10:15.  At 12:15 we were still at the fuel dock.  By 1:15 when we were finally at our slip, I was as cranky as a bear with a sore head having not had lunch because Clark had proposed eating lunch in Killarney.  That plan was fine before the fuel dock fiasco.  I have to eat at regular intervals or you don’t want to be anywhere near me.  I was getting grumpier and grumpier such that I didn’t want to be around me either!

We needed lunch and we needed supplies.  Alas both are on the opposite side of the Killarney channel from where we are docked.  The only way over is to take the “Tinker Bell” Ferry which is a marina pontoon boat.  We walked down to the end of our docking area where they have a pickup station and rang the “tinker bell” which is basically a ship’s bell / cowbell that can be heard across the water.  Another wait was required and I felt like I was getting older as the day progressed with practically nothing to show for it.  Finally they retrieved us and we were able to scope out the town.  

First order of business was to hit the head.  We found out that there are no showers or heads on George island, so every time we need to use the toilet, we have to call “Tinker Bell”.  Second order of business was to find lunch.  We walked through town to Herbert’s Fish Restaurant where there were so many people milling about, it was a crazy mess.  A few were in queue to order food; most were in queue waiting for their number to be called because their order was ready.  There were two items on the menu – fish and chips.  I told Clark we had to find someplace else to eat as I was not willing to wade through the crowd to get fried fish that I most likely would not be happy to eat as the grease upsets my system.  We found a place down the road where I ordered a delectable chicken Caesar salad which rapidly improved my mood considerably.

After lunch we found the general store and the assessment that there are slim pickings at high prices was accurate.  I found it difficult to even procure my absolute must-haves.  By wandering around enough I was able to find a sufficient amount of food to satisfy me until we get to Little Current.  We brought our bundle of food back to the boat via ferry, put the food away, pulled out our bicycles and went back to call “Tinker Bell” once again.

When we got to the other side, we asked where we could go on our bicycles for interesting views and were told to go to the Killarney Lighthouse.  We followed the marina staff’s directions and quickly found ourselves going from paved roads to dirt / gravel roads to get to the lighthouse.  Our travel bikes do not handle gravel or sand well, and a few times I felt the tires skidding out as I tried to navigate some particularly difficult road surfaces. 

The effort was well worth it, however, as overall the bike ride was great, and once we got out to the lighthouse, a cold breeze (not cool) hit us and felt fantastic after the hot bike ride out.  We stopped at the lookout point first and then went all the way up to the lighthouse itself.  The view was spectacular. 

Lighthouse seen from our boat as we approached Killarney

View from the Lighthouse

Lighthouse stationed on solid rock

Waters around the path to the lighthouse

 After exploring around the lighthouse we headed back to town and poked our heads into two gift shops to see what goodies they had for sale.  One had a great moose at the front door that I wanted to bring home on the boat with me.  Bullwinkle!!

Moose Outside Gift Shop / Information Center for Killarney

I promised Clark that we could stop for ice cream after the bike ride (he wanted to stop before), so when we came back into town, we each got a Pralines and Cream Waffle Cone.  Decadent but very good!  By this time it was getting on for 5:00.  The day had flown mostly due to the fuel dock fiasco.  I suggested that we take showers to get that done while others eat and then after we could grab our dinner.  So it was back and forth on “Tinker Bell” once again to drop off the bikes and get our shower bags.  We brought money with us so we could get dinner without having to travel back and forth yet another time.

For convenience, we ate at the pub at the marina where we are stayed.  One thing I have noticed is that the Canadians love pork and in particular bacon.  My Caesar salad at lunch had bacon in it which I thought was great, but when Clark ordered a Caesar salad for supper, I never thought it would come with bacon, but there it was.  Problem is, Clark is allergic to pork, so he had this big salad that he could not eat.  We had them make him a new one without bacon so he could eat it.  They let us keep the salad with the bacon on it, so I brought it back to the boat for me to eat tomorrow.

When “Tinker Bell” dropped us off close to our dock, Clark spied a boat from Michigan and that was the last I saw of him for the next hour as he picked their brains for where to go and what to avoid in the waters between here and our U.S. entry point.  I said hello but kept going back to the boat so I could work on my blog entries. 

The Sportsman Inn offers drive-in / boat-in movies on the water.  We are docked directly in front of the movie screen.  The movie hasn’t started yet but should start any minute as it is now dark enough for an outdoor viewing.  We've been watching "coming attractions" for the past 20 minutes.  I have no idea what they will be showing.  We asked but the dock staff did not know.  I’m hoping it will be something that I find moderately interesting and not  a horror flick which I won’t want to watch...

Well it's not a horror flick, it appears to be The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part I.

Georgian Bay, Canada: The Bustard Islands to Collins Inlet

Day 35

Travel Time: 4.5 hours

NM today: 31

NM total: 817

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

Now that we have almost completed our visit to the Georgian Bay, we believe we have figured out the algorithm for best traveling in this area – up at 7:00, on way by 8:00, off the bay before 11:00.  From 11:00 onwards the winds pick up.  We turned into Collins Inlet just before 11:00 and arrived in our anchorage for tonight just around 12:30.  Shortly after entering the inlet, we could tell the winds had picked up and were very glad we were in a protected area already.  As I sit here several hours later, I marvel at the fact that the boat has been spinning back and forth like a top due to the wind gusts we have experienced all day long.  Thankfully we used the Danforth anchor straight off today and it held on the first go!  Hallelujah!!! 

It took us a while to actually get going from the anchorage this morning as Clark had to pull up the Danforth by hand – no winch – just the old heave-ho!  As soon as he got to the chain, the heaviest part, he ran into trouble because it was covered in mud.  He could not keep a grip on the chain to pull it in.  To my horror he started using the outdoor shower at the bow of the boat.  I knew we had another night of anchoring and did not want an empty water tank, so I quick ran and pulled out a big bucket and smaller bucket, filled the larger one with water, dragged them both up front to him, and told him to stop using the water from the water tank to wash down the anchor line.

He told me his problem with not being able to get a grip on the chain, so I ran back and pulled out a pair of the gloves we used for locking through to see if that would help.  By the time he had the anchor up mud covered everything.  The water from the bucket left black streaks of yuck all down the port walkway.  It was a mess.  He used up the bucket of water I had given him and got a second one to do a quick wash down of the bow and walkway to get off the worst of it.

While he was mucking around with the anchor and line, I was up top manning the helm and doing ‘station keep’ to keep the boat from wandering around the anchorage after the anchor was disengaged.  Eventually Clark told me to turn the boat around to face the exit from the anchorage.  I looked at the collection of rocks and islands in front of me and had no idea which way we had come in yesterday.  I decided I better sit tight and wait for the captain to take the helm.  When he came up, I went down to the bow to do rock-lookout duty.  He waved the chart in my direction and said, “Which way did we come in here?”  Uh-oh!  Neither one of us knew how to get out.  I thought, “This might be fun”!

With me standing just in front of the windows of our cabin and just under the upper helm station, I studied the chart while looking for rocks in front of the boat trying to point out to Clark the way I thought we came in and where I thought we needed to go.  Between what we remembered and what the chart plotter provided as guidance, we soon found our way out of the maze.  Believe me there is a harsh penalty in prop damage if the correct path out is not chosen.

Teepees?  No 3 Lighthouses marking an island.

Rocks Lying in Wait for Distracted Boaters

Sun on Water Behind Us Traveling West on Georgian Bay

The section on Georgian Bay was about five or six nautical miles of open water heading directly into the wind.  We went up and down with the waves, but we did not roll, so no tables were damaged, no books covered the floor, all was good.  The trip through Collins Inlet is a side trip as many boaters go directly to Killarney; however, Clark had heard it was pretty and knew of an anchorage with beautiful sunsets, so he decided we needed to make a visit.  The landscape here is breathtaking.  We noticed that other than a few “lodges” and “hunting camps” not many people seem to live up here.  We passed an Indian Reservation to come in and saw some housing there, but other than that, this is a very remote part of the country. 

On the way to our selected anchorage, we passed through a portion of Mill Lake.  Our Skipper Bob guide book says to look for the profile of the “Crabby Indian” in the rock face shortly after turning into Collins Inlet from the lake.  We found him!  Do you see him too?

Crabby Indian Rock

We found intricate and interesting rock formations in tonight’s anchorage and along the way.  With the sun hitting the colored striations of the rock faces, the effect was particularly striking. 

Rock Formations along Collins Inlet

Today was a lazy day.  Although the woods and terrain look interesting to explore, we have been warned about bears and rattle snakes enough times to make us think twice.  Even though the sun has been shining brightly all day, with the wind howling like a banshee, the idea of taking the kayaks or even the dinghy out seemed very unappealing.  To pass the time today, I read, solved some Sudoku puzzles, and watched the scenery swing back and forth out the windows of the boat. I am amazed that I can do the first two activities while the second is occurring without any dizziness or seasickness.  I am not normally susceptible to seasickness, but the spinning can be very disconcerting unless watching it directly instead of peripherally.   

Every so often as we sat spinning, the anchor alarm went off just to keep Clark on his toes.  Spinning in place should not cause the alarm to sound.  Clark speculates that every time the GPS picks up a different satellite signal, the alarm sounds.  Twice last night, the alarm woke him – once when it lost the DGPS signal and then again when the system found it again about an hour later.  In between he switched to GPS.  I sleep very well on the boat and must tune out the alarm signal, because I sleep through the alarm sounding as well as Clark going to see what needs to be done to address it.  Not my job!

Tonight’s dinner was sadly lacking green vegetables.  However, I did have potatoes, onions, and carrots, so I added some beef to the combo and came up with a beef stew.  I even managed to make dumplings to top it off.  Yummy!  Clark read the guide book regarding our next stop, Killarney, where I hoped to get some provisions.  I do not know what I will find there as the guide book indicates the grocery pickings are slim and expensive.  Apparently, according to the book, a planned stop two nights later might provide a better selection. We shall see!

We came to this anchorage because we had been told about the wonderful sunsets here, so after dinner we watched the sun set and the clouds change colors as the sun reflected up on them. It started out as an ordinary sunset with the exception of one cloud that glowed like it was made of silver, but as the show went on for many minutes, the view changed and eventually became purple clouds streaked with red like someone had taken a highlighter and drawn red lines to outline the edges.  Spectacular!  I have never seen anything like that before.  I made Clark rush out with the camera to try to capture the effect.  Only moments later the red coloring was completely gone and the clouds became silhouettes.  Being north as we are, sunsets last a long time, and we truly enjoyed the show.

Sunset at Collins Inlet

As the sunset faded away, we set our focus on getting ready to watch the stars come out.  I spotted my first “star” as the sun was still going down.  We could not decide which planet we were looking at and with no internet, we couldn’t cheat.  Perhaps Venus was what we saw?!  It rapidly moved across the sky and set behind a bunch of trees and could be seen no more.

To the east was cloud cover, but to the west was clear, so we watched out the front window to see what would appear next.  I expect that what we saw next was a constellation, but my knowledge of constellations is limited with having lived in NJ for so long where NYC obliterates the night sky with lights.  Clark was trying to turn the constellation into the Big Dipper, but I said it looked more like a pitchfork than a dipper, so definitely not Big or Little Dipper. 

The Big Dipper made its appearance a little later with one of the four corners hidden behind a puffy cloud. Even with all those navigation classes Clark took, he could not tell me how to find the North Star by using the Big Dipper to help.  We did not find the Little Dipper.  The moon did not help our cause as it is approaching a half moon, so the sky was fairly well lit. 

If the display of stars had been more spectacular, I would have ventured outside to get a better look.  At one point I even mentioned that I wanted to go out to Clark, and he said he’d never see me again if I did as the mosquitoes would carry me away.  Darn things!  We decided that in a couple of weeks the sky will be darker and the show will be better (hopefully), so we went to bed with the idea in mind to try again another night somewhere further down the line.

Georgian Bay, Canada: Britt to The Bustard Islands

Day 34

Travel Time: 6 hours

NM today: 24

NM total: 787

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

Last night we studied the weather and wind reports carefully to determine our plans for travel to The Bustard Islands over some open water.  We decided that the earlier we left port the better, so we planned to get up and on our way first thing in the morning.  Only one catch, last night Clark had gone over to the office to pay for our night’s stay and missed the staff by about 5 minutes of closing time.  That meant we could not leave until after 8:00 this morning.  We didn’t pay when we checked in because we couldn’t decide then if we would need to stay two nights to get a weather window to get to our next stop.

We pulled out of our dock space at 8:10 and made our way back down Byng Inlet to the open waters of Georgian Bay.  No sooner did we approach the open waters than we starting riding a bucking bronco.  I could not imagine 3 hours of hanging on with both hands with death grips, and I started to think about putting on my life jacket.  About that time I started thinking that this could be a real miserable trip.  Clark and I discussed whether or not we should turn around and head back into Byng Inlet for another night, but we agreed that we would rather push onwards than retreat, so we decided to do a test. 

Once we covered the four nautical miles required to get out of the inlet, we would be turning the boat from 270 degrees to 336.  The question we needed to answer the question of how the waters would be once we turned.  We did a quick turn to approximately 336 to check it out and found that we were not thrown about anywhere near as much.  Okay then, only two miles of being tossed around and then maybe some relief in sight.  I asked Clark if he was happy he had married an intrepid wife, and he smiled and said, “Not many people would be willing to be out here in this.”  I guess that meant yes.

Folks familiar with sailing should know the term “tacking” where instead of heading straight into wind, the boat is piloted in a zig-zag pattern to reach the destination.  Clark decided that he could tack to the buoy at the end of the inlet to give us some relief.  That helped tremendously even though it increased the distance and time traveled before we could turn.  I had been thinking it but Clark suggested that we put on our life jackets, so I asked if he was that concerned with the waves.  He said, “No, just thinking about safety”, and so we put on our jackets.  That also served to add another layer of warmth as the wind was quite cold.

Once we turned the waves were still bouncy but we no longer found those “rogue” waves that must have been in the six foot range.  Oddly enough, now that some of the tension had been removed from the picture,  both Clark and I decided around 10:00 that we were very hungry – must have been all the energy used up worrying about the boat ride.  I made sandwiches before we left the marina because I didn’t know what we would be facing, and I did not feel like having cheese and crackers as my lunch for two days in a row.  We ate lunch at 10:30 because the waters had settled down enough to let us eat without wearing our food.

As we finally approached The Bustard Islands, Clark asked me to read about the anchorages in our boating guide.  The first anchorage mentioned said that the anchorage was well protected but it difficult to get the anchor to hold.  We decided to skip that and go for the second option where they said that a layer of mud covered the rock bottom.  This anchorage they referred to in the book as The Bustard Islands Harbour.  When we entered the anchorage, one sailboat was anchored there which helped verify that we were in the right place.  It is very hard to tell one rock / island from another here.

Sailboat in Anchorage at The Bustard Islands Harbour

 This anchorage quickly turned into the devil’s own harbor as we tried and tried to get first one and then another anchor to take hold of the bottom.  We tried twice with our standard CQR and each time Clark did his pull test, he could tell the anchor was slipping over the bottom.  We decided to move to a new spot and pull out the Danforth anchor as we had done in Echo Bay.  The Danforth felt like it had a grip but Clark was not comfortable that we had a good hold.   He decided we should go for an entirely different solution. 

Clark deployed the dinghy and took 100 feet of 5/8” – 3/4 “ anchor line with him to tie the line to a tree on shore.  He explored for quite some time with the dinghy trying to determine the depth of the water close in by the trees (he has a depth sounder he rigged for his dinghy) and find the right tree for his purpose.  Eventually he came back to the boat having tied the line around the tree and secured the ends of the line to a boat fender which he left floating off the side of the island.

Clark in dinghy getting ready to tie line to a tree on shore

Clark looking for the perfect tree to tie to

“Okay”, he said upon his return, “here’s the plan.  We move the boat towards the floating fender, deploy a stern anchor, and then pick up the bow anchor line with a boat hook and tie it up.”  Sounded similar to a procedure we have used to anchor to the beach at Sandy Hook, so okay so far.  Everything went according to plan until the wind decided to join into the fun.  The stern anchor was deployed with Clark in the back tending that.  I had retrieved my fender and had the bow anchor line attached.  Then the wind got us in its grip, and I watched in horror as the boat was blown sideways ever closer to shore with giant, unforgiving rocks relentlessly approaching.  I could not see Clark in the stern dealing with the stern anchor, so I just kept shouting back to him that we were in trouble and the situation appeared to be getting worse and worse.

I grabbed a boat hook and was able to fend the boat off the rocks by pushing the boat hook against the rock face.  As I struggled to keep the boat off the rocks, Clark came up beside me to untie the bow line with the other end attached to the tree.  I had untied the fender floatation from the line, so that had to be reattached.  The line was pulled taut by the force of the wind, so Clark had a hard time getting enough slack on the line to untie it and throw it off the boat.  Eventually he got it untied and thrown overboard and then ran back up to the helm to get the boat in reverse and away from shore.  Phew!  I sighed a big sigh of relief as I watched the rocks getting farther and farther from the bow of the boat.

With the “tie-to-the-tree” solution a giant fail, Clark then brought the end of the stern anchor line up to the bow of the boat and tied it off such that the anchor he had deployed for the stern was now the bow anchor.  Running around the boat with the anchor is extremely difficult.  The anchor weighs a great deal just by itself, add to that 10 to 20 feet of chain and 100 feet of line, and you’ve got some weight going on.  To move the anchor on the boat it takes the two of us.  Clark carries the anchor and chain and I carry the 100 feet of anchor line.  I clearly get the easy part of this job.  For this anchoring scenario, since the anchor was already in the water, we just had to move the line around to the front. 

What a production the anchoring turned out to be, and the whole time we were concerned with drifting into either the rocks or the one-and-only boat anchored in the anchorage with us.  The sailboat here with us is from Canada and probably used to anchoring in these waters.  I wonder if they enjoyed the show or just wondered what the heck the U.S. folks thought they were doing.  When all was said and done, we were anchored right back where we had started an hour earlier before Clark tried the anchoring-to-the-tree maneuver.  The only difference was that we were now anchored with the Danforth and not the plow.  Thank goodness we ate lunch at 10:30 because when I eventually got to look at my watch, I saw that it was now 2:30.  We must have spent at least an hour getting the boat anchored. 

Clark kept finding things to do on the boat related to cleaning up the mess we had made anchoring.  I kept harping on the fact that he had to go out in the dinghy and retrieve his line and my fender.   Eventually I guess he figured out that I was going to keep nagging about my fender until it was returned to me, and he went off in the dinghy to bring it back.  His assessment of the spot he had chosen to tie the boat was that it was a focal point for the wind so that it was windier there than other places in the anchorage.  Figures!

Eventually the anchor must have dug itself in because the anchor alarm stopped sounding every two or three minutes.  Clark decided that everything was secure and we could take the dinghy out to go exploring since it was already deployed off the swim platform.  We decided to go visit the other anchorage to see if any of our AGLCA friends had found their way to that anchorage since at least two boats from the group had The Bustard islands on today’s agenda.  We found five or six sailboats over in that anchorage but no loopers.  They must have all been sane enough to sit out the winds and wait for a calmer day to travel. 

Exploring the Bustard Islands by Dinghy

The other anchorage choice had many sailboats present

Most of the dinghy ride out was interesting and dry, but at one point we came out into water where the wind was whistling through, and we took spray from a wave over the boat.  The water is cold.  The wind is strong.  The combination made for a cold shower and colder dry off.  Fortunately I was not facing forwards when we got hit, so I didn’t get a face full of water, but I did get an earful of water.  Besides that it was my faithful green and orange coat that took a bath as well as my backside.  After that I kept my head down and my hood up!

After exploring, we returned to Sea Moss, and I helped a little with the cleanup, but Clark did most of the work to get the boat in order and the dinghy stored on the swim platform for tomorrow’s travel.  I started working on this blog entry.  Around 6:00 Clark came and asked me about dinner.  He wanted to eat Al Fresco at the table up top and did not want to dine with bugs, so he was anxious for me to cook the meal, so we could enjoy dinner without uninvited pests. 

At every opportunity I have looked at the sad offerings of vegetables in the grocery stores or at the marinas and found the selection not worth buying.  Tonight, however, I wondered if I should have been less picky as we consumed the last of our green vegetables.  We are anchoring out again tomorrow, and I have meat and potatoes but no veggies to add to it.  I just hope that when we get to Killarney I can replenish my food stores with fresh vegetables and a few other items that are either low or fully depleted.

We finished dinner around 7:15 and thought about how much we seem to pack into each and every day of this adventure.  With the exception of my addiction to the Facebook game ‘alphabetty’ and snatching up my Kindle whenever I can get a minute, which is not very often, we find our days are full of boating activities that keep us both moving and focused like studying charts and spotting buoys, dodging rocks and deploying anchors, doing laundry and cleaning the boat, exploring the area by kayak, bike, or dinghy, … The list never ends including watching beautiful sunsets.

Cloud Cover at Sunset

Georgian Bay, Canada: Unnamed Anchorage to Wright’s Marina, Britt

Day 33

Travel Time: 4 hours

NM today: 31

NM total: 763

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

We left our unnamed “Pointing Finger” anchorage around 9:00 and were amused to see a number of small, fast boats all heading in the same general direction and all with young children on board.  Most were driven by women. One boat piloted by a man had four children.  We wondered at the number and the speed if the children were all being taken to school, summer camp, or daycare on the water.  Wherever they were going, with the speed they were traveling, they all appeared to be late.  What a great way to be driven to school in the morning!

When Captain Clark met the owner of St. Tropez, he asked if he recommended for or against Hang Dog Channel.  With twin engines the answer was you’ll be fine if the winds are under 20 knots.  We decided that we would try it.  What fun!  My heart was in my throat as we came out into open water to approach Hang Dog Channel.  The waves were at least four feet, and we were being tossed about like a toy boat in a storm.  The rocks surrounding us on all sides with the exception of the twisty-turny channel added to the thrill of the ride.  I told Clark that I had no need of amusement park roller coasters with the excitement of being on Sea Moss!  Once we rounded the bend, the waves calmed down and Hang Dog was no problem whatsoever.  It was just that entry to the channel that was a hair-raising experience.

We went on from Hang Dog to Port Au Baril Channel to see the Port au Baril Lighthouse as well as the symbolic barrel marking the channel.

Port Au Baril Lighthouse

Port Au Baril Barrel which denotes safe passage thru turbulent waters

After that the boat ride became much more interesting as we came out into open water heading for The Bustards Islands.  The winds had picked up and were hitting us broadside making the boat truly rock and roll.  The trip across open waters was going to be at least 3 hours, and we were taking a pounding.  Everything on the seat next to me fell onto the floor and skidded across to the other side of the boat.  Even something on the floor fell over and spilled its contents all around Clark’s feet as he attempted to control the boat.  I was hanging on for all I was worth. 

We took about an hour of that and then decided that maybe we should find a port for the night and try the rest of the trip to the Bustards on a calmer day.   After cleaning up the fallout on the upper helm, I dreaded to see what I would find down below.  Eventually I found a break in the waves and made a bolt down the stairs to see what kind of a mess awaited me there.  It was ugly!

The water coolers and ice chest were on the floor already for traveling, but they had “walked” across the floor from port to starboard.  All the charts and travel pamphlets we have acquired had fallen off the shelf and scattered across the floor.  The new dining table was wobbling like it was just preparing to go over.  One of the bikes had fallen over but could not go far as it is tethered to the Captain’s wheel of the lower helm.  On top of all that, as I stood in the doorway, the boat started getting hit with the big waves again.  I had to use the handrail across the ceiling to work my way through the debris to the couch where I plopped down, braced myself with my legs, grabbed the table with my left arm and the bicycles with my right and sat there clinging to everything so that it would not cause more damage. 

Our brand new, expensive table top took a couple of solid hits from my laptop sitting on it and now has two dent marks where it must have been whacked pretty hard by the corner of the laptop.  Weep Weep!  At least the table did not topple over as it clearly wanted to do.  It clearly slid across the floor into the couch as there are scratch marks on the floor that were not there before.  Once there it jammed itself up against the couch so hard that it had trouble falling over.  Thank goodness or I’d really be crying!

Our safe haven for the night was Byng Inlet.  As soon as Clark turned the boat towards the inlet, the rolling stopped as the waves were no longer hitting us on the side but on the stern instead.  I waited for a while to make sure we were not going to be hit by a rogue wave and then started the cleanup process.  Once I had everything reasonably back in place and secured, I went back up top with some cheese and crackers which became our lunch for today.

In Britt we found Wright’s Marina and decided since we had not seen a single anchorage to this point, it was worth a stop here overnight to fill our water tanks, take “real” showers, use the WiFi, etc.  We have been in anchorages for the past couple of nights, so it was nice to put my feet on land.  We found out that down the road from here about 2km there is another marina with a food and hardware store.  We did not know until we rode there by bicycle that the food store and the hardware store are one-and-the-same.  It is the kind of store that sells a little of this and a little of that, so it was interesting to snoop around. 

On our way to the food store we stopped at “Ice Cream On The Rocks” to get an ice cream treat.  Since lunch was cheese and crackers, I had vanilla ice cream with home-made peanut butter topping.  I figured that way I could claim I was having my protein.  Besides selling Kawartha ice cream, the “Ice Cream on the Rocks” store had a canoe / kayak launch.  I saw no canoes or kayaks at the store, so they did not appear to rent them.  They just seemed to charge kayak owners a fee to use their property to launch their boats. 

Ev enjoying her peanut butter ice cream

After our bike ride which was uphill with the wind going and downhill against the wind return, I was ready for a shower.  I pulled the laundry out and took it with me as they provide a washer and dryer here.  I figured I could get clean while the laundry was getting clean.  After my shower I sat in a chair on the porch by the laundry room to wait for the dryer.  I was slightly annoyed that every time I opened my Kindle to start reading, it would start to sprinkle rain.  I then moved into the laundry room and it would stop raining.  I’d go back out to sit down, and it would start again.  This pattern continued for the duration of the time I was waiting for the dryer to finish.  The weather was tormenting me on purpose I’m sure as when I was done with the laundry, I saw no more rain for the whole night.

Georgian Bay, Canada: Parry Sound to Regatta Bay

Day 32

Travel Time: 2 hours

NM today: 16

NM total: 708

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

We left Big Sound marina just after 11:00 heading for I didn’t know where.  The night before we had talked about a few options, and even the captain had not yet decided on our final destination when we were pulling up our lines.  We are still hunting for the type of temporary cleats that we saw in Frying Pan Bay, but we have not been able to find a store that stocks them.  We stopped into the Home Hardware store yesterday evening and asked them.  The person behind the counter said he had his for 20 years and had no idea where he got them from.  He suggested we go to Killbear Marine where they have a marina and a good marine store.

Killbear Marine was on our way so we decided to stop by for a peek.  We did not find the cleats, but we did find some oatmeal raisin cookies for Clark’s snacks.  We also used their washrooms to save a flush on the boat – hey every little bit helps!  We were not there long and headed on our way. 

Boaters talk to each other on the VHF channel 14, so Clark scans that channel for talk as well as the standard Ch 16.  Today a lot of chatter on ch. 14 centered on good and bad anchorages, so we listened carefully.  Regatta Bay came up several times.  We decided that since we had heard so much about Regatta Bay from AGLCA members and the Canadian boaters alike that we should poke our heads in and take a look see.  I studied the charts to look for other suggested areas we heard about on the radio.  I could not find two that were under heavy discussion, but as I perused the charts I found both an Evelyn Island and a Clark Island – one for each of us and reasonably near each other.  How about that!

With all the clamor of how wonderful an anchorage Regatta Bay is, I expected a full complement of boats and no room for us, but we found only a few boats and lots of space for us.  While looking around for a place to drop anchor, a fellow boater yelled over that it was deeper on the far side from her, so we wandered over there a met a very friendly man on a sailboat who offered to row a stern line to the land and tie us up to a tree.  We accepted his gracious offer, so with the bow anchored and the stern secured to land, we wouldn’t be going anywhere. 

Stern anchored to shore at Regatta Bay

The water depth is disconcerting here.  If we look down into the water and see bottom in NJ, we are in big trouble.  We look down here and see rocks and weeds below us, but the depth sounder tells us we have six feet of water to float around in.  Seeing big, big rocks below the boat is unnerving to say the least. 

Large rocks surrounding the boat at anchor

The water looked inviting to jump into until Clark took a reading and found the temperature at surface level to be 67 degrees.  Surely it is a lot colder below the surface.  We never went in for a dip but many boaters around us did decide to go for a swim even with the cold water temperature.  Given the setup of some of these vessels, with anchor lines come out from all sides looking like a spider web, they must come with the intent of staying for quite some time.

Each of these boats had about 8 anchor lines out to secure themselves in place

I changed into my bathing suit because I was too hot in my t-shirt and jeans, but I had no interest in even dipping my toes in the cold water.  While I sat around at my leisure, Clark worked on solving the mystery of the foul odor we are noticing at the foot of the stairs into the head / state room area.  He climbed down into the bilge to sniff around and tighten some hose clamps to see if there was any apparent source of the smell. Nothing obvious! 

He continued to investigate and suddenly declared that he was fairly certain he had found the root of the problem.  The sump pump to remove waste water from the sink and shower in the head had stopped working, so the used “gray” water was not being pumped out of the boat but was sitting in the bilge becoming stagnant.  Ewwwww!  He ended up cleaning out the stale water with a sponge then taking the pump apart to see if he can rig a fix.  I just don’t get it at all, he gags when changing a dirty diaper, but he can stick his nose and hands in that.  Give me the dirty diaper job any day!!!

Ultimately it turned out to be a bad switch.  Try as he might, Clark was unable to fix the pump with anything he had on board.  It is a purely mechanical switch that turns on when a float says the water is high and turns off when the water level drops, but the mechanism to turn the switch on/off had rusted through and fallen off.  As a temporary solution Clark ran a wire from a not-in-use circuit breaker he had in his parts bin down to the chamber with the sump pump and wired it in (with my assistance).  Now if we wash our hands or brush our teeth, we have to turn on the sump pump beforehand.  Quite clever but not very sustainable.

We called Killbear Marine Store and they have a Rule-a-matic float switch that we believe will fit our needs.  Looks like we’ll be making a trip backwards by about 6 miles to go pick up the replacement part.  As we understand it there is no better marine facility for many miles ahead. 

After we got all the wires, tools, meters, and etc. put away, I was finally able to start dinner around 7:30, and we ate at 8:30.  I played a little “alphabetty” on my phone which I am sadly addicted to now.  Before I knew it, it was time for calling it a night.  Weather reports are only for one day ahead around here and even so not very accurate, so every day begins as a mystery as we have to play it by ear as far as deciding where we will stay the night.  

Georgian Bay, Canada: Echo Bay to Parry Sound

Day 31

Travel Time: 2.5 hours

NM today: 14

NM total: 692

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

As predicted it started to rain in the wee hours of the morning, and we woke up to a soggy day.  With no good reason to stay in Echo Bay, we got on our way to our next stop, Parry Sound, around 9:45.  Although we were basically ready to be underway much earlier, it took quite some time to deal with the anchor.  Clark had put a bridle (a Y-shaped arrangements of lines) on the bow with chafe guards to protect the lines last night.  In addition to undoing all this line protection, the anchor itself had to be hauled up by hand.  I told Clark that I needed to take the helm, and he needed anchor duty to deal with the 100 feet of line and the weight of the anchor, so we switched jobs for once. 

When we finally headed out of Echo Bay, the captain posted me at the bow of the boat to be lookout for rocks in the way of a clean escape.  With no markers to show the way in or out of an anchorage, the term “gunk holing” is used meaning that you are on your own and need to feel your way in and out.  I had on full rain gear, but at 61 degrees, it was chilly standing out there with the water dripping from my hat.  Oft times, when doing something mundane, my mind wanders to entertain myself; I never know where it will go.  Today, as I stood there at the bow of the boat looking for rocks, my mind turned to stories of Horatio Hornblower and seaman on lookout duty for hours during the Napoleonic wars and how they must have felt.  I’m almost never bored as my mind takes me off on interesting paths.

At the main channel, the captain said I was relieved of my post so I came in out of the rain.  One thing we have found up here in the land of 30,000 islands is that after a while they all look alike.  We see some have signs up showing the name of the island, but with the bad weather and poor visibility, we were having trouble making sense of the chart compared to the island layout.  At one point we followed a “magenta line” on the chart thinking it was the course we needed to follow.   As we proceeded the water became more and more shallow with the chart showing first 5 feet ahead and then 2 foot ahead.  Yikes!  “Uh, Clark, I think we’re going the wrong way!” 

We had to backtrack to where 5 magenta lines intersected on the chart, sort through the comparison of the chart to the land once more, and try a different route.  Our second choice was much better as it had some 20 feet of water and buoys!  Oh boy!  I had pointed out this specific channel to the captain earlier because it did have buoys and other boat traffic.  Of course I had a good time telling him “I told you so” after the fact.

After a wet, miserable boat ride we arrived at the Parry Island swing bridge, which only opens every hour on the hour, at 20 minutes to 12:00.  I asked the captain, “So what is the clearance on that bridge anyway?” because it looked to me like we might be able to squeeze under if we tried.  The captain was thinking the very same thing, so he went me down below for the boat clearance requirements.  Our sheet said that we need 15’ 3” if everything is folded down except the Bimini top.  Hmmmm!  Clark called the bridge tender who said that the current clearance is 16’4”.  We decided to go for it though we knew it would be a tight fit. 

Clark lowered the two antennas on the boat as well as the radar tower to bring us down to our 15’3” height restriction.  I asked if we had current to push us into the bridge if we decided to bail; Clark said, “No, but we have wind pushing us in instead.”  Great!  Here goes!  We told the bridge tender we were coming through and asked him to let us know if he saw any difficulties as we made our attempt.  I guess he wanted to watch the show because he came out and stood on a ledge where he could see our boat and the bottom of the bridge as we went under. 

We were completely under the bridge when, with a smile on his face, he held up his hand with his fingers showing an inch of space between his thumb and his pointer finger and said, “You’re good”.  Heaven sakes, if we weren’t good by then we would have known before he told us as we would have snagged our Bimini top on the bottom of the bridge.   He went home after work today with a story to tell his friends as I am sure he could not believe that we even tried it, let alone made it.  I love the feeling of exhilaration after successfully pulling off something a little daring like that. 

We cut 20 minutes off our ride in the rain by pulling off the “limbo act” with the bridge, so we pulled into the Big Sound marina at a few minutes after 12:00.  We found Ariel in the slip next to ours with a report that Rock Me Baby and Sno Daz had already arrived.  Shortly after we were settled in place, we saw the boat that had been anchored next to ours at Echo Bay pull into a slip just a few down from ours.  Seems like we all had the same destination in mind. 

Docked at foggy Big Sound Marina in Parry Sound

We plan on leaving tomorrow but Ariel plans to stay for two nights and Rock Me Baby will be here a few days before heading onwards.  Unlike the others we have nothing to hold us here and Clark is excited to try his hand at some more anchorages and “gunk holing”.

Still taking care of business with our South Jersey house, we had some mail to send and we needed some groceries like bread and such.  We found out that it was several blocks to the post office and several kilometers to the grocery store.  We planned on walking in the rain to do our errands, but as we were just about to leave the marina on our way, Bill and Annie from Rock Me Baby pulled up in a rental car and told us to get in and that Bill would drive us to the stores. 

What a treat especially since we planned on going to Canadian Tire in search of a temporary docking cleat like the one we had borrowed in Frying Pan Bay.  Annie and Bill had already been there in search of the same thing and knew that we would be disappointed as they did not stock them.  Darn!  Anyway we did get a few essential groceries and we did post our letter, and we didn’t get soaked in the process.  After Bill brought us back to the marina and we had put away our supplies, Clark and I decided that we wanted to walk into town in spite of the weather. 

An Arts Festival is happening this weekend, and we decided to walk around and see what they had for sale.  On our retirement budget I am trying very hard not to buy unnecessary items, so I looked but did not buy any of the merchandise on display at the fair.  It was basically a craft fair though the quality of what I saw was excellent.  I just didn’t need any of what they were offering.  Even in the rain it is nice to walk about the towns we find along the way so we get a feel for the area.  I would hate to leave tomorrow and not have seen any of the downtown.

Soggy Arts Festival in Parry Sound

We read menus on the way back to the boat, but since we ate out at Henry’s yesterday, we ate dinner on the boat.  We put on a DVD of a comedian we had seen at Middletown Arts Center to entertain us while we ate.  After dinner Clark did travel planning while I worked on my financial bookkeeping records as well as my blog.  For some reason tonight I felt I needed entertainment.  We scanned and found that we got exactly 0 analog and 0 digital TV stations and two hard-rock radio stations from which to choose.  I suggested Clark play his guitar, but he didn’t pick up on that idea, so I went and dug out my mp3 player, so I could listen to music I like instead of stuff that made me want to cover my ears.  All too soon it was time to call it a night in preparation for another boating adventure tomorrow.

Georgian Bay, Canada: Frying Pan Bay to Echo Bay

Day 30

NM today: 25

NM total: 678

Locks today: 0

Locks total: 70

Our plan for today was to move from Frying Pan Bay to Hockey Stick Bay.  The Captain seemed in no hurry to leave because of the short distance between the two and no threat of bad weather, so we hung around the boat at Frying Pan Bay and relaxed.  I read some more of my never-ending book that I have been reading since NJ.  It is one of those that is hardly worth reading but not bad enough to stop reading, so here I am after several weeks still trying to get through it.

As we sat around the folks on Ariel pulled out their boat toys – inflatable paddle boards.  I could tell Clark was chomping at the bit to try this sport, so when Robert yelled out, “Who’s next?”  Clark stepped up and asked if he could give it a go.  Not knowing about Clark’s extraordinary balancing abilities, his audience for his first time on the board fully expected him to take a swim. 

Clark and I had more confidence in his ability to stand up on the board than the others there.  Regardless of that, they convinced him to change into something more appropriate than jeans, so he changed into shorts.  To the disappointment of his spectators, he did not take a header off the board and found it quite a bit of fun.  Fortunately he said he is not ready to buy one to add to our collection of boat toys.

Clark trying out a new toy

We finally pulled out of Frying Pan Bay just before 11:00 a.m.  I was busy reading the boating guide, and the captain was busy with the VHF radio as well as watching the channel markers when all of a sudden he says, “Whoops!  I missed the turn off to Hockey Stick!”  “How far back?” says I.  “Too far to make it worth turning around”, he said.  “So, what’s plan B then?” I asked. 

We ended up at the next stop on our itinerary – Henry’s World Famous Fish Restaurant.  We heard about Henry’s at the AGLCA rendezvous and everyone we have met along the way has told us we have to go there for dinner.  We reached Henry’s at 2:00 – too late for lunch and too early for supper, but we had planned a little for that and only had a light meal at noon to tide us over until we got to Henry’s.  We had Pan Fried Pickerel from their dinner menu which was quite good.

Proof we ate at Henry's Fish Restaurant

After tying up the boat we found Rock Me Baby was there ahead of us.  They too had planned on an anchorage but aborted that plan on purpose because their chosen anchorage was not well protected and high winds are predicted for tonight into tomorrow.  Next to pull in was a boating couple we had met along the Trent-Severn on Sno Daz, and then here came more friends to pull in on Ariel.  Mind you that all three of these vessels plus ours made a total of four Mainships in port at Henry’s.  Annie from Rock Me Baby said, “There goes the neighborhood!” as she walked over to greet us.

All the other Mainships / Loopers planned to stay at Henry’s for the night, but Captain Clark was anxious to anchor in one of the bays.  We were told by the Canadian boaters that we met at Frying Pan Bay that Echo Bay was a good anchorage close to Henry’s, so we decided to go there for the night.  It was indeed a short hop over to Echo from Henry’s; however, we had to take it very slowly coming into the bay which had no buoys or day markers showing the way in.  I went up to the bow to hang over the railing to look for rocks or obstructions in the water – I saw none!

When we came into Echo Bay we could see many boats already at anchor with their sterns tied to the rock walls surrounding the bay.  Apparently there are rings of some sort provided there, embedded in the rocks to tie stern lines to.  We decided to just drop anchor in the bay somewhere but had to decide where.  We sidled up to another boat that had just anchored and asked them where they recommended we anchor.  They told us anywhere was good except for the “dead head” marked by the plastic container floating in one section of the bay.

A “dead head” is a log or tree stump under water that is a hazard for anchoring as the anchor can get hung up on it, provide no holding power, and make it a devil to untangle yourself from once hooked.  We certainly wanted no part of that.  We drove in circles for a while scoping out depths and checking for swing proximity to other boats then Captain Clark decided to drop his anchor.  We use a CQR-type anchor in NJ that is shaped like a plow head and holds very well, but we could not get it to grab hold of anything on the bottom of Echo Bay.  It slid right through like it was gliding through butter. 

We tried to anchor twice with the CQR but after that Clark said what I had been thinking, “We’ll have to go with the Danforth”.  A Danforth anchor is built like a set of sharp teeth that bite into the ground underwater.  They are ideal for mucky bottoms.  The only problem is that our Danforth is our “spare” and is stored in the compartment under the area on our boat where we store our bicycles. 

We had to move the bicycles and then pull out this huge anchor from the locker in the bottom of the boat plus the 200 feet of line and drag it around the boat to the bow to throw over the side.  It takes two of us to carry – Clark took the heavy part which is the anchor and attached chain, and I followed along carrying the 200 feet of line behind him trying not to trip over the ends that kept wrapping themselves around my feet.

As soon as the Danforth hit bottom it grabbed on and took hold!  Because it is hard to know where the anchor lines are once they are under water, the boaters here tie a float to the anchor line that sits on the water surface so others entering the anchorage know where the anchor lines are hiding.  I wasn’t sure what the captain was going to do about that if anything, but sure enough he asked me if we had some thin line and something we could attach to it to mark our anchor.  I pulled out my clothes line and my empty white-plastic spray bottle and offered them up for sacrifice. 

I had them in my hands ready to attach to the anchor but the captain lowered it so quickly (mostly due to weight) that I had no time to even suggest that we tie the spray bottle on to the line.  He turned around and saw what I was holding and immediately starting do the heave-ho to pull the anchor line back up to where the chain started so we could attach the bottle and drop the anchor line once again.  The whole procedure of finding a spot and then getting our anchor to hold must have taken well over an hour.  It is important to get it right especially with potential strong winds in the forecast.  We don’t want to visit any of the other boats or rocks during the middle of the night.

Anchored in Echo Bay

Sunset in Echo Bay

Anchoring turned into hot work and we had both worked up a sweat by the time we were done.  Clark was still in long pants and said he was going to change to shorts.  I suggested bathing suits and we both jumped off the back of the boat into the 72 degree water.  72 on the top 6 inches that is.  Below that it is much, much colder motivating either floating on top or swimming vigorously.  We were quickly refreshed and decided that we should pull down the kayaks and go for a look see in the area.  I left on my wet swimsuit figuring I would get wet paddling anyway as I am a very sloppy one with the paddles.  Somehow Clark can stay completely dry in a kayak while I look like I took a shower in mine.

Having eaten dinner at 3:00 we were in no mood to eat anything until quite late.  Fortunately we had some leftovers from last night’s dinner as well as some take home from Henry’s that were sufficient to make a meal.  The captain said we were leaving early tomorrow to try to beat the bad weather to the next port, so after a long and busy day on the water, it was an early night to bed for me.