Day #374 – Gore Bay, ON

Last evening the brigantines set sail and headed out of Little Current.  What a sight and the kids were climbing the masts and the rigging.

We waited for the rain to pass before we left Little Current.  By 10:00 the storm had moved through and we were on our way To Gore Bay.

It turned out to be a beautiful day on the water and we cruised into Gore Bay at 1:00.

Gore Bay Marina is also home port for Canadian Yacht Charters.  Sunday must be the day that you pick up and return your charter boats as it was a busy place.

After securing the boat we went for a long walk.  This sign appears as you approach their Rotary Park.

They have a nice wooden walkway that goes down by the water and their small beach and docks.

This pavilion stands next to the marina and used to be home to “Rocky Raccoon’s” restaurant, however it is no longer in business.

We walked up their main street and this mural was painted on one of the buildings. Not sure of the significance of Kinney Park, but we thought the mural was charming.

After a quick stop into the grocery store where we ran into Patti (surprise, surprise!) we went back to the boat.  We prepared a nice steak dinner in celebration of their anniversary.  We had picked an anniversary bouquet in the afternoon and they took it home with them.

Sure hope the wildflowers don’t cause allergies!

Day #373 – Little Current, ON

Last night we were invited to a gathering sponsored by the Little Current Yacht Club.  The happy hour was held upstairs from the Anchor Inn.  Roy Eaton, the voice behind the Cruiser’s Net (VHF channel 71), was the host and they treated us like royalty.  After the happy hour he invited us up to the room where he does the broadcasts.

He individually took a picture of each couple and over the winter he takes those pictures and embeds the name of the boat and the date.  Quite a welcome here in Little Current.

Just before dusk two large sailing vessels pulled into port.  They are named the Pathfinder and the Playfair and owned by Tall Ship Adventures.  Their website (http://www.tallshipadventures.on.ca/) states, “Toronto Brigantine Incorporated (TBI) has been building the character of youths aged 13 to 18 for over 46 years. A not-for-profit charitable organization, sail training programs on the Great Lakes aboard the brigantines T.S. Playfair and S.T.V. Pathfinder have taught valuable life skills for generations of youth including seamanship, self-reliance, teamwork, leadership, marine navigation and piloting, dependability, and respect.”  It appears to be a great program.

Today we decided to take a day in port to explore and catch up.  We had been invited to attend the broadcast of the Cruiser’s Net at 9:00.

About 30 people attended and it was great fun.  We heard several people call in that were in the area and we had met previously including Terry and Sue on Final Decision.

After that ended Patti and I walked to their Farmer’s Market, in and out of a couple of shops, the grocery store and back to the boat.  Andy and I gathered laundry and made the usual stop when you have a day off.

I have tried a couple of times to get a good picture of this gazebo, however it is heavily shaded and hard to capture.

The gazebo is located right next to their memorial park.

The winds have picked up a bit and it is still cool, 64 degrees.  Unbelievable for August, but every day is still fun.  Little Current has been a most welcoming host and we have met many new groups of boaters.  Life is good!

Day #372 – Little Current, ON

We made the short run this morning from Killarney to Little Current, about 21 miles.

There was a lot of boat traffic and many people appeared to be headed in the same direction.  There is a swing bridge right before the town of Little Current and it only opens on the hour. We arrived at 10:00 and people all waited for it to open.

When it opened everyone paraded through and tried to get dock space.

The town docks don’t take reservations, so we were fortunate to each get one.  Welcome to Little Current!

They are having a music festival this weekend and the dock hands said they expect 4,000 people to their town of 12,000.

We walked around downtown and wandered in and out of shops.

Andy needed some oil so we walked down to Boyle Marine which was a nice walk along the waterfront.

There are lots of little art galleries and shops.

Much of the art is local Indian art.  Some of the items are porcupine quill boxes (quilling), stone carving and bead and leather work. A shopkeeper told me that the art of quilling has been passed down from generation to generation on one of the four Indian reservations here on Manitoulin Island.

We really enjoyed the day and it is a great little spot.

Day #371 – Killarney, ON

We had hoped to move to Baie Fine or Little Current today, however all of the marinas are full and it is a bit too windy for a comfortable anchorage.  So, we spent the day wandering through Killarney, which doesn’t take long!

We walked down to the Killarney Mountain Lodge and strolled through their gardens and made reservations for dinner.

Our next stop was Mr. Perch where they actually just serve whitefish these days as the perch are too scarce.  Their kitchen and take out window are in an old school bus.

This commercial fishing boat pulled up to the docks, deposited their catch and others cleaned it to serve that day.  Can’t get much fresher than that.

We took a long walk and then headed back to the boat to prepare for a couple of nights at anchor.

Before dinner we went into Killarney Mountain Lodge’s Carousel Lounge.

We toasted to Brad and Patti who were celebrating their one year anniversary of retirement.  Congrats to them!

After a wonderful dinner we strolled around their grounds.  They have an outdoor chess set by the pool.

People were out enjoying a picnic on their grounds with a lovely fireplace.

It was a beautiful, relaxing day.

Day #370 – Killarney, ON

We made it to Killarney, however not without incident.  The seas were really rough and much heavier than we like them.  There were four and five foot waves with the occasional six footers.  It was an 80 miles trip that took 8 hours.  As we approached Killarney these mountains appeared to have snow on them.

Since the high for the day was only 65, it is not unbelievable.

Welcome to Killarney.

We were never so glad to tie up to a dock.  By far, this was our roughest day on the water.  Good News handled the turbulence quite well considering that all of the dishes and bottles were rolling around in the cupboards as we took the waves.  Glad to report that the only casualty reported was one candle and the toaster landed on the floor and made a mess.  After putting the boat back together we were no worse for the wear, just extremely tired.

We walked into the little town and tried to do a little exploring.

Lots and lots of float planes are in this area.  They take off and land all right in front of the marina.

We decided we were all too tired to even do dinner together to Brad and Patti went back to their boat and we grilled on ours.  These kayakers paddled by.  What a beautiful night.

Bet we will sleep like babies tonight.

Day #369 – Killbear, ON

We have had no internet or cell phone since we arrived at Killbear.  We are in a “hole” and there is no signal.  Amazing how you feel cut off from the world without the normal communication tools.

Not much to report today.  The winds picked up overnight and we stayed put for another day.  The storms that were predicted never developed and as it turned out we could have probably gone, but it was a safer decision not to.

Andy spent most of the day polishing and waxing the boat and I cooked.  A crock pot of chili was on the menu and we shared it with Brad and Patti.  She made corn bread and it was a quiet, relaxing day.

Hopefully we will make it to Killarney tomorrow.  It may be rough, but no storms are predicted.  The low temperature tonight is predicted to be 50 degrees.

Day #368 – Killbear, ON

We were up at 5:00 for our 6:00 cast off.  The trip we had planned was straight west across the open water of Georgian Bay.  Watching the morning news it appeared that a storm had developed overnight and was sitting over the top of Michigan moving east.  We had a team meeting and decided to wait a bit and see how it developed.  Thankfully our internet connection was good and we kept watching.  They were calling for strong winds and rain.  Again we met at 7:00 and decided to call Killbear Marina 12 miles away to see if we could get a little further up the shore.  Finally they answered at 8:00 and told us they had room.  We were on our way and arrived there safely at 9:30.

We pulled into the fuel dock to get a pump out.  After that the marina told us that they were filling up and the fuel dock would be our overnight accommodation.  Side note that the pump out cost $25.00.  That is two and a half times what we have ever paid before.

No sooner had we tied up than a gentleman came over for a chat.  He introduced himself and said he was a Looper.  He and his wife are on a 24 foot tug and have been at Killbear for three weeks awaiting repairs.  They hit rocks in the channel and tore off the lower end of both of his outboard motors.  Ouch.

He also told me that he left Chicago 15 years ago and started the loop. He hasn’t finished yet, but he has a different boat and a different wife now.

Brad, Patti, Andy and I walked up to their little restaurant and had lunch.  This is the view from up there.

An ambulance pulled up to the marina and loaded into their emergency boat.  Off they went…

While we were having lunch they pulled back into the marina and had a woman on a stretcher.  It appeared that they had gotten a call and rescued someone in distress from their home on an island.  Hope it was not serious.

Terry and Sue on Final Decision are here and will be joining us for dinner this evening.  Hank and Anne on Queen Anne’s Revenge arrived later so there are five Looper boats in all in this tiny marina.

Day #367 – Parry Sound, ON

We decided to stay the extra day and catch up on chores before making our way through the rest of the Georgian Bay and the North Channel.

This morning we each got needed chores done.  Andy put the dinghy in and washed the hull all of the way around the boat.  That takes some time and he was glad to have it done.  Fortunately, the rain they had called for came through the middle of the night and today was sunny and clear.  The wind was fairly high so it was a good day to stay on shore and catch up.

I did several things that I had been putting off.  One was the dreaded chore of defrosting the freezer.  It had been a bit too long and the ice had really built up.  I was sitting cross legged on the floor when it decided to let go and came down like an avalanche in my lap.

Patti and I took the shuttle to the grocery store.  Little did we know that being a holiday the store would be packed.  I truly don’t think I have ever been in a grocery store that was that crowded.  We waited and waited and finally got checked out, missed the shuttle, waited for the next one and made it back to the marina.  Two and a half hours round trip and we were back on our boats to put things away.

For our family and friends who are ice hockey fans, we thought you might enjoy seeing who owns a restaurant in Parry Sound.

We still had the dinghies in the water from the fellas washing the boats.  Brad and Patti decided to take a ride.  They were back fairly quickly as the ride was windy, wavy, cool and wet.

Tomorrow will be an early start as we are hoping to make it all of the way across the bay to Tobermory, about 80 miles away.

Day #366 – Parry Sound, ON

Our farewell dinner at the Snider’s was a lovely evening.  After dinner we sat on Salvage Crew and watched the sunset.

Bright and early this morning Bob and Charlotte were on the dock with baked goods, a farewell and to throw off our dock lines.

So sorry to leave Delasco Island.  We told them it was lucky for them that the day was great for cruising or we might never have left.

I have been trying to get a picture of an inukshuk for several days.  Originally they were built by the Indians and used as markers to show the way through a channel.  Now, many are built as decorations on points of land, however still quite entertaining.

The scenery is breathtaking today as we travel the small craft channel through the area known as 30,000 Islands.

It is aptly named as the passages are narrow and twisting, and has a designated depth of six feet.  The channel runs from Port Severn to Killarney and is 168.5 miles long.

We had hoped to stop at the locally famous Henry’s Fish Restaurant for their claim to fame Great Lakes fish dinner.  It has been named one of Saveur magazine’s 100 favorite places, people and things in the world of food and drink.  Although it was only 9:30 as we approached, we called anyway for a dock.  They told us they didn’t open until 11:00 so we made a team decision to keep going.  Guess we’ll never know.

We had to time our arrival at the Parry Sound Swing Bridge accordingly as they only open for passage on the hour and we could not clear their 18 foot height when closed.  The Captain timed it perfectly.

Our final destination was Parry Sound which was 40 miles from Delasco Island.  I spent time as a child not far from here on Crane Lake.  We look forward to exploring the area.  It was a beautiful ride and an enjoyable day.

We walked uptown and decided that our restaurant of choice for tonight would be Bay Street Cafe.  Looks like a good menu and nice atmosphere.  More of Parry Sound tomorrow.

Day #365 – Honey Harbour, ON (Delasco Island)

Last night Charlotte and Bob hosted a wonderful evening. They invited their neighbors, Marg and Finn, over and we sat on the deck overlooking the water and had cocktails.

Dinner was outstanding, the evening superb…good friends, good times.  It was nice to be together again.

After dinner we were treated to a colorful evening sky.

Today we woke to another beautiful Georgian Bay morning.  The air was crisp and clean and the sun was shining.   We all had coffee in our respective boats/cottage and then went up the hill to Charlotte and Bob’s deck for a planning meeting.

Back to the boats we came and packed up a picnic lunch.  Off we went in their new boat for a spectacular ride.  The water was blue, the sun was shining and the temperature was 75 degrees.  Bob drove us back to a beautiful cove where we anchored and had lunch.  I volunteered Andy to be “anchor guy.”

We passed the church that Bob and Charlotte attend.  It is non-denominational and you can only access it by boat.  Instead of having ushers they take turns taking the chairs out of the building and placing them on the rocks for the congregation.

The Snider’s are the most gracious of hosts, accommodating and welcoming.  However, I have to question some other Canadians as the area we went was called Go Home Bay, Go Home Lake and Go Home River.  Thank goodness we were with locals or we might have been offended.

The channels were narrow in places

and this passage opened up to an area with waterfalls.

Dinner tonight will be provided by Good News and Salvage Crew as a small way to try and thank the Snider’s for one of the highlights of our last 365 days.  What an honor to celebrate with two of the couples that we have spent the most time with on our trip.  We are blessed!