August 29 - Thessalon, Ontario

We left Little Current about four or five days ago.  The days seem to go quickly, even though we're moving slowly.  We have been at anchor for four days in some beautiful and different places.  Now in Thessalon we're at a dock and can get an internet connection at the local library.

We anchored in three different locations:
Croker Island (a tight anchorage with steep cliffs all around us; a bear came down to the water and checked us out, and a beaver swam around our boat, several times; and Patti baked blueberry scones and I delivered hot scones to our neighbors)

Eagle Island (a big wide anchorage with protection from the southwesterly winds; Panda Bear joined us for the evening)

and Beardrop Bay (beautiful scenery; Patti caught a fish (we think it was a Pickerel))

 

All were beautiful and remote.  The stars at night, are big and bright, and the Milky Way goes from horizon to horizon.  But no northern lights.  Each night at anchor there are no other lights in the area, except for a couple of other boats' anchor lights.

Yesterday we arrived in the Thessalon marina.  It's getting late in the season and fewer boaters are on the water.  We have the place to ourselves.

The US is beckoning, and we're only about 15 miles away.  As soon as the weather clears a little, we'll head south to the US.  It's been a good three months and we're getting itchy to get the boat tucked away in Cheboygan, Michigan for the winter and head home.

August 22 - Little Current (deja vue all over again)

We came back for the Cruisers Net pot luck dinner on Friday night.   They gave you a free night at the dock if you attended the pot luck.  Did I say "free"? Fifty one boats descended on Little Current despite Summer vacations winding down & most of the boats doing the great Loop having migrated out of the Great Lakes by now.

It's a really nice town and we enjoyed coming back to meet boat people of the North Channel.  They seem intent on convincing us to keep our boat up here and keep coming back every summer.

Yesterday Patti and I left "downtown" Kagawong and anchored in Clapperton Harbor.  Not a harbor really, but a large bay that is well protected from the wind.  This time we were alone.  No other boats, no houses or cabins on the shore.  And it was dark at night.

Patti insisted we go skinny dipping.  Normally I'm more reserved than that, but she convinced me.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures.

Today we came back to Little Current and have a great spot on the "wall".  It's across from a flowerbed.  I'll attach pictures.  Soon.

Meanwhile, it's Friday night in Little Current!  Woo hoo! Sounds like a good excuse for ice cream. 

August 20 - Kagawong, Ontario (and rain, rain, rain)

You'll have to google Kagawong to find it.  You can't find it by car if you blink.  Very small and the main harbor is large enough for a half dozen boats.  But it is beautiful on the bottom of Mudge Bay.

Yesterday we left Little Current to come to Kagawong or to anchor out  (40% chance of rain predicted). Half way there the wind and rain picked up, then came lighting and thunder.  There are no tides or hurricanes here but waves can build in the wind across a long stretch of water, in this case West Bay. We were rolling in 3 to 4 foot waves on the beam, so we zig-zagged across the waves and opted for the safe harbor.  Not that we could see very far anyway to anchor.

We learned from the Kagawong museum that our route was the one where Daniel Dodge, the Dodge Motor heir, lost his life falling out of a boat in a storm. There was big drama for Kagawong when his switchboard operator bride of 13 days inherited millions & was suspected of foul play. But they had been on the way to Little Current for medical treatment after he & a friend blew themselves up playing with dynamite in the garage - the garage of the lake cottage sold to him by a Ford heiress for $1. Just when you think you are away from it all...

Today we woke up to more rain and decided to stay put.  When the rain finally stopped we walked up to the Bridal Veil Falls.  On the way we saw a salmon trying to get up stream to spawn.  This is early, they usually start moving up stream in the fall.  If you can see in the picture, this salmon has a Lamprey eel attached to him.  One of the reasons the Great Chute railway is operation - to keep Lampreys out of the Trent Severn system.

Finally the falls in the rain.  Nice spot for swiming if we weren't already a little wet.

August 18 - Little Current, Ontario (the North Channel)

We left Killarney three days ago and anchored out in Covered Portage Cove.  We liked it so much we stayed two nights.  Either that or we're getting lazier.  Pulling up the anchor is hard.
Patti's favorite part about this anchorage is that we had an Indian beside us.  If you look hard, you can see him watching over Fairways.

We ran around in the dinghy, we read, we ate, but we didn't go anywhere for two days.  Hard to imagine.

 

Yesterday we moved the boat and traveled up the Baie Fine (pronounced "Bay Fin"), which is a thin lake-like waterway with mountains (small mountains) on both sides.  Although we had to motor around for a couple of hours to get there, we saw that, as the crow flies, we could probably have hiked to Baie Fine from Covered Portage in less time.

 

After our Baie Fine tour, we moved to a quiet anchorage on Heywood Island (below) and dropped the hook (anchor) and we were alone.  No other boats.  That didn't last long and we were surrounded by sailboats.  We spent the early evening watching them take their dogs ashore & pick blueberries.  We did a little maintenance & swam although the water was cold! In 17 ft of very clear water we could see the anchor chain & our shadow. Fun times in the beautiful North Channel.

Today we made it to Little Current, and we're tied up to the town dock wall.  It's a great small town and we're enjoying a chance to walk around.  Good internet, but no cell phone coverage.  Have to climb the hill to get a signal.

Little Current is the home of the "Cruiser's Net" which broadcasts news, weather & a cruiser's check in each day in July & August at 9 am on marine band, VHF channel 71.  Cruisers relay calls from those who are more remote (out of radio range to Little Current) and share relevant info. It is great to hear where our friends are even though they are not in range of our radio.

August 14, 2014 – Killarney, Ontario

It has been six days since we last tied up at a marina and had internet access:  two nights in Kilkoursie Bay in the Kill Bear Provincial Park, a night on the Alexander Channel in a side anchorage, a night in the Bustard Islands and two nights in Mill Lake, about 13 miles before Killarney. 

Each day we made about 20 or 30 miles progress, through very interesting and winding waterways.  There were rocks everywhere, so careful navigation was important.  There were islands all over, some with trees and others just rocks.  In some places the whole area looks like a moonscape (with water).  Beautiful, foreboding and exposed.  

We picked anchorages carefully.  In one anchorage we had an underwater rock (2.5 feet below the surface) beside us that looked like a small whale that was waiting for us.  Patti is standing on it.

Once we got used to the idea of rocks (or a little more used to rocks), the anchorages were beautiful.  The weather was warm and very low wind.  We were able to explore in the dinghy, swim and Patti fished (no luck).

Then the weather changed two days ago.  We had wind and rain, from the southeast, then the northwest.  We sat at anchorage on Mill Creek for two nights.  We had company though, Larry and Flora Moynihan in Panda Bear (a Krogen Manatee) were traveling with us and we got off the boat both days for happy hour and dinner.  It’s good to have company while cruising.

Yesterday we moved from Mill Lake to Killarney in rain and wind from the Northwest.  Luckily we were traveling west and the waves were reduced by the north shore.  It felt good to get off the boat and walk around. Killarney is small, but has a nice waterfront and is a good break from being on the anchor.

Next is the North Channel.  Another place to explore.  3 or 4 weeks remaining.  The summer has gone fast.

August 3 - 5 - Somewhere in the Georgian Bay

We were having great weather.  We left Sandy Bay on Hope Island with sun and little or no wind.  The Georgian Bay was literally"like glass".  We headed NNE toward the Haystack islands.  It was an easy cruise up toward Fryingpan Island, where Tom McDonald (an accomplished Monk owner) was going to meet us and lead us to their island.  I have never known anyone with an island, anywhere.  So we were excited.

Tom showed up in their motorboat with his son-in-law and granddaughter.  They dropped off Tom on our boat just like the Chesapeake Bay pilots.  Tom immediately said "right rudder 5 degrees, left rudder 5 degrees", just to let us know who was in control. :)  He led us through the islands (and rocks) to their cabin which sits on a beautiful little island.  They have docks behind it that held the fleet:  our Monk and his, as well as a pontoon boat, three run abouts, paddle board, and other floating toys.  It was a great setting and we enjoyed it a lot.  Thank you Tom and Barbara! We couldn't have enjoyed it more.

Patti caught her first "big" fish: a 24 inch northern pike.  This fish was very prophetic since Patti's maiden name is "Pike" (Patti Ann Pike).  She was understandably excited, and Tom cleaned and fried the fish for everyone to share for dinner.  Couldn't have been better.

It was hard, but we had to move on.  The plan was to go to Parry Sound and provision up for the northern and remote (?) areas ahead.

August 1 & 2 – Somewhere on the Georgian Bay

We anchored out two nights after leaving Midland.  The first night was along Beausoleil National Park.  Which is an island and a great park with trails and a lot of people tent camping.  We took the dinghy to shore and walked around.  It was great to see people enjoying themselves who were later going to sleep on the ground.

It was Friday night of a three day Canadian holiday weekend and the natives were restless.  The anchorage was chock-a-block full of boats rafted up with their jet skis and fast dinghies.  We rocked on the anchor until about 6:00 and then they fired up their Honda generators sitting on their swim platforms.  We settled down to a nice evening listening (rocking) to the native music until into the wee morning hours.  Nice calm evening.

Later in the day Bill and Lannie Rourke and their grand-daughter Riley met us at the anchorage in their Monk.  Bill keeps his boat across the bay at Penetanguishene (or something spelled like that).  We had happy hour on their boat and breakfast on ours.  Bill gave us an orientation to the area and (most importantly) encouragement that we could make it through the rocks.  We weren't sure.

The forecast was for calm winds and Bill recommended Sandy Bay at Hope Island.  We left Bill and Lannie and went over to Sandy Bay and, while still busy, it was a big open bay with 90 percent sail boats (and no jet skiis).  The sandy bottom was 10 feet below us and we could clearly see the anchor and chain below us.  We swam around the boat and cleaned the waterline, and enjoyed a calm, dark night on the anchor.  It was beautiful.