082: Georgian Bay, Curtailed

 

On July 30^th we left Port Severn and the Trent-Severn Waterway after Nancy stopped in at the local coffee shop:

  

We only had to go a few hundred yards to get to Lock 45, the last lock on the TSW and the last lock of our Great Loop trip.  I didn’t really realize that at the time, or else I would have snapped a photo.  I have not counted all the locks that we have gone through, but it has to approach two hundred.

Once through the lock we were on Georgian Bay, Ontario.   GB is incredibly beautiful and has approximately 30,000 islands (must have a tree on it), and probably double that number of rocks lurking just below water ready to tear up your propeller.   You need not fear however, as long as you stay between the red and green channel markers on the “Small Boat Channel” which weaves its way in and out and through all the rocks and islands.   Stray but a little, and you’ll hit a rock.   The personal challenge for me was to stay in “sterile cockpit” (flying term) mode with no distractions, which meant “keep Dave’s Iphone away” and have complete focus on staying within the channel.

For our first day we only did thirteen n/m’s up to Frying Pan Bay on Beausoleil Island.   We took a very nice hike and went for swim off a small beach along the way.    

Dock at FPB:

That night Nancy caught this nice sunset picture:

The next day we went twenty-three n/m’s to San Souci Island, docking at the “famous” Henry’s Restaurant for fresh fish.   I will say the Walleye dinner I had was excellent, but I’m a bit doubtful that people from all over the world fly/boat here for fish.   We did pass by this airplane-only dock, so maybe…

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Hygge next to a fellow "looper" boat, a 62' Voyager with just one couple on it.  We look tiny:

On August 1, we took a short fourteen n/m trip over to Kilcoursie Bay in Parry Sound and dropped the hook.   It should be noted here that a nautical mile in the Small Boat Channel is like three miles on the ICW, you have to be 100% focused and on your game in the SBC.   You stray out of the channel on the ICW, you might run into some mud or sand, which you can probably back out of; on the SBC, you hit rock.  

On the way we got this shot:

 

We had a nice afternoon of swimming off the boat, and I got this video to give you some perspective on this lovely spot:

 

The next day we woke up to some hazy conditions but absolutely dead calm seas.   We decided to leave the Small Boat Channel and head further out onto Georgian Bay going fifty n/m’s to our next stop.   These factors lead to this decision:  a) the three days we lost stranded in Orillia, b) the hazy conditions making it hard to see the SBC channel markers, and c) the absolute flat seas out on the Bay, perfect for making some distance.

We had a great run up to “Bad River Bay” which is home to all sorts of rivers, rapids and world class canoe/kayak/dinghy exploring.  We liked it so much that we spend two days there “on the hook.”   The pictures speak for themselves:

 

Devil's Door Rapids (usually more devilish, but the water level was down):

I had to do some portaging with the dingy:

Hygge at anchor:

Sunset:

On August 4^th we reluctantly left our anchorage at Bad River Bay and headed to Killarney, ON which is the  “Gateway to the North Channel.”    It was twenty-four n/m’s with one-to-two-foot waves on the nose, not too bad.  

The lighthouse:

We pulled into the docks at the Sportsman Inn and then hiked a few miles over to the light house.   Nice trail and great views.

 

A "BFP"

View from the trail:

View from the Lighthouse:

That night we had dinner at yet another “can’t miss it, greatest place ever” restaurant for fish and chips and then called it a night after watching some Olympics courtesy of Starlink.  Had we not lost those three days in Orillia, we would have spent more time in Georgian Bay, but we still have the North Channel to look forward to, so we have that going for us, which is nice.

 

Dave

 

Odometer: 5,399 n/m’s