Hygge Adventures: 083: The North Channel: Curtailed Again

On August 5^th we left Killarney for the twenty-three n/m run to “The Pool” at the end of the approx. ten n/m long Baie Fine Fjord. The Pool is actually a bay and it is spectacular.

Aside from the natural beauty of the Pool, the big highlight of this spot is a Topaz Lake, a mountain lake up a moderately difficult hike. We really enjoyed the hike, and Topaz Lake was great. The water temperature was perfect, not like those mountain lakes in the White Mountains when Nancy and I did a week hike on the Appalachian Trail – those lakes were COLD. We hiked up with a nice couple and really enjoyed this place. Definitely on the “must do/see” list.

Topaz Lake:

On the 6^th we went twenty-two n/m’s to the town of Little Current and stayed in Spider Bay Marina. Little Current had an actual grocery store, so we stocked up on food supplies. We also took the bikes and rode over to the Little Current Swing Bridge (Hygge was able to go under it, but larger boats must wait for an opening, which it does on the hour) and had a nice chat with the Bridge Tender. There isn’t much to Little Current, but Nancy was able to go for a swim off the beach there, and we did talk to a variety of boaters in the marina about our G/L trip and general boating talk.

The next morning, we went to a decent coffee shop before setting off on the sixteen n/m trip to South Benjamin Island. As we headed out of the marina we heard a message on Channel 16 from the Bridge Tender: “The eleven o clock opening will be delayed, the bridge is inoperative. We have called maintenance services.” While we were headed away from the bridge, it was yet another reminder of why we like our diminutive boat: we have gone under most of bridges that need an opening for boats to go through.

Swing Bridge:

LC: Lighthouse

South Benjamin Island is phenomenal. There were no less than eighteen boats in the large, well-protected bay, but with our shallow draft we were able to find a small bay within a bay and we anchored in five feet of water about forty feet off the shore. We “stern-tied” to the a rock on the shore to keep Hygge from swinging on her anchor. Forty feet is pretty darn close to the shore, and I was super-anal about the anchor. Not only did I put out a second bow anchor, but I dove down on both to make sure they were nicely set. With the stern tie and two anchors out, we literally didn’t move more than a few feet side to side (slack in the stern line).

Great spot:

We rowed the dinghy to shore (engine would have been silly) and did some hiking on the Island and got this nice panoramic view.

Later we went swimming off the boat, and given the relative shallowness of our bay-within-a-bay, the water was a great temperature.

The “Plan” for the 8^th was to head over to Blind River Bay further east, and then on the 9^th go east again to Thessalon Island before turning south and heading out of the North Channel. That changed, however, when we looked at the weather forecast. A big storm was coming in with strong west winds predicted starting on Friday (the 8^th was Thursday) and lasting through Saturday, so we wanted a nice protected marina to hunker down in. Long story short, we wound up bypassing those stops and went seventy-three n/m’s to Drummond Island, MI for the night. It was a bittersweet moment when we re-entered US territory and cleared customs (via app). “Tears in his eyes, I guess” as I took down our Canadian courtesy flag. Canada was fantastic and we hope to come back and spend more time in Georgian Bay and the North Channel next summer.

Back, Back, Back in the USA:

Nancy's artistic shot:

Sunrise on the 9th:

On the 9^th we took a short seven n/m ride over to De Tour Village, MI to stay at the state park marina, which is on the western side of the peninsula, so well-protected from the coming storm.

This area is the main shipping channel from Lake Superior: