Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay, often referred to as the sixth Great Lake, features more than 30,000 islands (many of which are no more than rocky outcroppings) and over 1,200 miles of shoreline. It is a very popular cruising ground for boaters from around the world.

After exiting the Trent-Severn Waterway at Port Severn, we cruised a short 8.5 miles to the town of Midland, Ontario.  It may have been short mileage-wise but it was long on angst as we gingerly felt our way through the narrow waters of Waubaushene Channel.  Waubaushene means rocky shore and the channel is aptly named. While the other loopers were more inclined to travel through the Potato Island Channel, Frank felt that a boat the size of Lazy W would be better off in Waubaushene.  Locating the buoys defining the channel was difficult and we stopped more than once to reassure ourselves that we were heading in the right direction!

We were warmly greeted by the crew manning the fuel dock at Bay Port Yachting Centre.  After dropping some big bucks on diesel fuel, we tied up at our slip and breathed a sigh of relief.   That evening we enjoyed cocktails on our boat with Jeff from Swamp Yankee who is singlehandedly doing the Great Loop cruise accompanied by Emma, his golden retriever.  I am duly impressed that he was skilled enough and bold enough to transit all the locks of the Erie Canal and the Trent-Severn Waterway with no one onboard to assist!!

 

 

 

Midland is situated in the southwest corner of Midland Bay.  With a year-round population of nearly 16,000 people, the town has just about everything a boater needs for provisioning before visiting the more remotely located areas of the Georgian Bay.  So we hopped on the dinghy and headed for the shoppers’ dock downtown.  From the water we had a great view of the largest outdoor historical mural in North America overlooking Midland Harbour.  Eighty feet high and 250 feet wide, it depicts a Huron native and a Jesuit priest at Sainte-Marie in the 1640’s.  It is one of thirty-five finely detailed murals that can be found on the walls of various buildings downtown.  Commissioned in 1990 by the downtown merchant’s Business Improvement Association, each mural represents an historic period in the history of the Georgian Bay area.

Brebeuf Lighthouse mural at Bay and Second Street

Girl Guides of Canada mural

 

 

Beer and provisions were restocked.  After stuffing ourselves with a famous mile-high corned beef sandwich at the highly-recommended Dino’s Deli on King Street, we returned to Bay Port Yachting Centre.  The marina has 600 slips and ours was w-a-a-ay out from their marine store so we had the brilliant idea of dinghying over to the store, docking and shopping before returning to Lazy W.  As we leisurely walked back to the dinghy after our quick shopping stop, we realized every dinghy owner’s docking nightmare – the dinghy was gone!!!  Unbeknownst to us, we had docked too close to the spot where the boats from dry storage are launched and the fork lift operator had made a statement – DO NOT PARK IN MY WORK AREA!!  He had hauled Cassiopeia out and shelved her in the dry storage building!  We apologized for our folly and he brusquely launched her.  He was the only somewhat disgruntled marina employee that we encountered during our three day stay.

King's Wharf Theatre

 

Once more we were enticed to stay somewhere longer than originally planned.  Not only does the Bay Port Yachting Centre have a three-nights-for-two plan, but we were also given two free tickets to see Mamma Mia! at King’s Wharf Theatre in nearby Penetanguishene for Thursday evening.  And WOW what a great show – the venue, our 4^th row seats, the singing, the dancing were all fantastic and the energy on stage was contagious.  Even Frank, who is not a lover of musicals, enjoyed it.  Next morning, a bottle of wine and a big thank you were sent to the unnamed boaters who were unable to use their tickets.

Now that we have the locks of the Trent-Severn Waterway behind us, we are free to explore the open waters of the Georgian Bay.  For many days, our only decision had been how many locks to transit and whether to moor above or below the lock.  Now there are literally thousands of islands and ports-of-call to explore and many decisions to be made.  The nautical chart book is confusing.  There are many charted shoals and charted/uncharted rocks to avoid as well as plenty of ‘skinny’ water to navigate.  And the questions!  Do we take the easy way and go along the route we took fourteen years ago or do we branch out and discover something new?  Where should we go and how the #%@! will we get there?  And how did we ever manage to plot this trip fourteen years ago with so much less technology at our fingertips than today??? Despite all the anxiety of moving on, we left the security of our slip at Bay Port on Friday, July 29^th and cruised out of Midland Bay for parts unknown…



Sunrise over Longuissa Point off Musquash Channel
Notice all the little 'islands' of Georgian Bay

 

After veering off the small craft channel to Musquash Channel, we found the perfect anchorage in Longuissa Bay at the mouth of the Musquash River.  And the anchor held us all through a very calm and peaceful starlit night!

Fourteen years ago, a group of looper boats found its way to Henry’s Restaurant on Frying Pan Island.  We were determined to revisit Henry’s so away we went through the very skinny Monument Channel and the even skinnier channel through Big David Bay and the skinnier-still channel around Lanoka Island. 

Skinny water on the way to Frying Pan Island

Finally Henry’s Restaurant was in sight. This busy place perched on the rocks claims to be world famous for its battered pickerel and chips and, judging by the constant comings and goings of boats, jet skis and seaplanes, their reputation is truly well known.  Henry’s is not just a restaurant but a federally registered airport for seaplanes and is serviced by at least five commercial airlines!?  Throughout the day numerous seaplanes from Georgian Bay Airways brought passengers to Henry’s via their ever popular Fly & Dine special.  (And now Frank is itching to charter a scenic air tour of Georgian Bay.)  Our dinner at Henry’s was as good as we remember it being so many years ago – the only disappointment was the lack of looper boaters as only CiCi from Boca Raton docked here with us today.

 

Seaplanes share the docks at Henry's Restaurant with the boats!

There are plenty of FOR SALE signs posted on the islands of Georgian Bay.  One particular island caught my eye – Isle of Rest.  I had to investigate just how much it would cost to purchase my very own island so I fired up the internet and found that for $1,850,000CA I could call Isle of Rest my own.  This 1.3 acre island not far from Henry’s Restaurant has a 2,800 square foot ‘cottage’, a guest cabin, two sandy beaches, a deep water harbor and a raised bed vegetable garden. Anyone want the listing agent's phone number??  The exchange rate is very favorable right now...

  

Isle of Rest

Pointe au Barile Light

 

Range finders at Byng Inlet
 

After an overnight anchorage near Brooks Landing (site of the invasion of the mayflies!) where we fell asleep to the yodeling of loons, we cruised up Byng Inlet to St. Amant’s Waterfront Inn and Marina.  The name would lead one to imagine a fancy little place but St. Amant’s is just a small marina in Britt with a fuel dock, restaurant/country store selling beer and wine and a few other necessities.  Unfortunately, a power outage prevented any sales until after 3PM when power was restored. Britt may be a bit off the beaten path, but we counted at least three other looper boats docked here.

The white quartzite peaks of the Killarney Mountains come into view as we approach Beaverstone Bay.

 

 

Lazy W barely fit between the buoys in the skinny water leading from Beaverstone Bay to the entrance of Collins Inlet. Rocks lurked beneath the water just beyond the red and green.
 

 





We were rewarded with this view as we entered Collins Inlet.  The scent of pine trees permeated the air.





A few miles down Collins Inlet we dropped anchor in Mill Lake.  The water here was so calm and the stars so bright that the stars were perfectly reflected in the water.

 

 

The next morning, we saw a bear!!!  Swimming across Collins Inlet to Philip Edward Island!!!  I did not have the camera at the ready to capture him but I did manage to capture these loons.  We did spot a few beaver lodges along the way to Killarney but no beavers.



Entrance to Killarney Harbour

Killarney has a year-round population of 430.  There must have been at least that many people on the water as we cruised along the narrow channel past the Killarney Mountain Lodge to our slip at the Sportsman’s Inn!  Docked at Killarney Mountain Lodge was Sojourner from Norfolk, VA.  We walked down there after lunch and met Preston and Sherry – they live just across the Elizabeth River from us in downtown Norfolk.

Killarney lies on the north shore of Georgian Bay, 168 miles from Port Severn, and is considered to be the gateway to the cruising grounds of the North Channel.  We will be spending the next two days here in Killarney plotting and planning our next moves…