The Islands of North Channel

Large granite slope on South Benjamin

We left Little Current on Wednesday morning, Aug. 22^nd, after sad good-byes to the crew of After Taxes.  The sun was shining and the water was fairly flat so we had a pleasant three hour run to the Benjamins.  The Benjamins are broken into north and south with sister islands, Croker and Eagle.  We chose to anchor in the main harbor between North and South Benjamin.  Several other boats had the same idea and we had to drop anchor twice before we found a space with good holding and adequate swing room.   The Benjamins are different from most of the surrounding islands in that they are formed mostly of pink granite.  We hiked both days we were there and were rewarded with great views of the area.

Linda by Canadian flag on S. Benjamin

vVew of Raydiance at anchor
in main harbor at the Benjamins

View from top of North Benjamin

How these gnarly trees can find any soil is beyond me!

Sow and Pig Islands at entrance to the Benjamins

View from the granite slab.  Several boats in the harbor.

 The water is a bit chilly 66 degrees, but that hasn’t kept me out.  It is so clear that we could follow our anchor line to the bottom.  Thursday night we had a thunderstorm roll through with a lot of lightning   and some heavy rain.  Raydiance stayed put though we rocked a bit.

Gotta have at least one sunset picture at each harbor!

Shortcut out of the Benjamins which we did not take.

Friday we awoke to cloudy skies and a forecast for more rain with possible storms.  We waited until the radar looked clear and took up anchor around noon.    Even though we had scoped out a clear shortcut with the dinghy, we decided to retrace our entrance path out of the Benjamins.  Not worth taking a chance of that lone rock we didn’t see to save a few miles.  We headed north only traveling about 12 miles before reaching the next anchorage at Hotham.  Only two other boats were there, and one of those left shortly after we arrived. A bit later a woman came by in a kayak and invited us to her cottage for cocktails.  We have read so much in the guides about cottagers not wanting boats to anchor in their coves that I was sure she was coming by to ask us to leave.   Her invitation was a nice surprise!

Elaine and Norman's cottage (right) and
guest cottage, "the bunkhouse" (left)

Cocktails on the cottage porch
L-R  Tom, Elaine, Frazier and Kathy (aboard Lily Rose) and Norman

The next morning, Norman dinghyed to our boat to ask if we would like some pickerel (walleye) for dinner.  A friend had brought some over to them that morning and they were sharing with us and the crew of Lily Rose.  Without question, the answer was YES!  We had cocktails on our boat that evening and then everyone went back to their respective “homes” for delicious walleye dinners and a fine sunset over glass-smooth water.  A loon was calling that night. They chatter during the day and have that wonderful three tone melody at night. Tom knows how much I have enjoyed them, so he bought me a hand-carved loon as a belated birthday present when we were in Little Current.

You may wonder what we do all day at anchor.  Well, Saturday we cleaned the ising glass windows (which needed it badly as the diesel soot had really accumulated on them), scrubbed the back deck, read, swam in amazingly clear, cool water and went for a long dinghy ride with Tom attempting to fish at least part of the time. We are  contemplating adding an inflatable kayak to the fleet next year—for those times when I want to explore, but Tom doesn’t want to set up the dink.  The crew of Lily Rose has one and it looks like a lot of fun without much hassle.  

Did I mention boat baths???

Sunday we left Hotham and journeyed about 20 miles to Bear Drop Cove.  Legend has it that the indians used to drive bears to the edge of the cliff here and force them off.  Grizzly, eh?  Bear Drop proved to be

a difficult anchorage for us.  After three attempts we finally got a set on our anchor and spent a calm night there.  Monday, a gusty wind came up from the west, northwest  (an exposed sector in this anchorage) and we lost our set.  So we moved to a more sheltered part of the cove, but this area had a very weedy bottom.  Finally after resetting the anchor four times (each time it seemed to hold, and then an hour later we were dragging) we finally gave up and made a run into Blind River Marina.  The water was windblown into 3-4 foot choppy seas so the trip was not too  pleasant, but it was only 18 miles.  We arrived at the marina around 7:30 p.m. very grateful to be securely tied to a dock.  Bear Drop will be one of the few places on our Do Not Return list!

We will leave Blind River early Wednesday morning, if the weather stays as predicted.  Then it is good-bye to Canada after two wonderful months here.  We have thoroughly enjoyed the country and the people.  A return trip is definitely in the bucket!

Little Current and Baie Fine

Leaving Killarney in the company of After Taxes on Wednesday, the 15th,  we paralleled the white quartz topped La Cloche mountains.  We passed this fishing boat that supplies the red bus.  He was obviously bringing in a fresh load of fish as he was surrounded by hungry gulls.

We had to wait about 10 minutes for the swing bridge at Little Current and then we entered the harbor. The swing bridge is turning 100 next year and it is a big deal to those in the area.  A book called Bridging the Centuries has been written about it. We stayed at the town docks which are in good shape and again had 50 amp power!
Before going to our slip, we stopped at Wally's for a pump-out.  We were very pleasantly surprised to find Fred from Boreas on the dock ready to help with lines.  We had last seen Julaine and him at Columbus, MS on the Tenn-Tom in November.  Naturally we stopped by their boat to catch up later in the day.

Lighthouse at entrance to Little Current 

Thursday morning, Gary, Cathy and I went to the Anchor Inn to sit in on the Cruisers' Net broadcast.  Roy Eaton broadcasts on VHS channel 71 every morning during July and August.  He broadcasts the weather, sports, news and then has boaters call in with their boat name and location--which an assistant writes down.  This is a great way to find out where fellow boaters are and it is  reassuring to know that  in case of emergency, someone knows where we are.

Roy Eaton behind the computer

Later Thursday good friends, Jan and Bob Chastant from Hot Springs, Arkansas, arrived around 5 p.m.  Jan is a friend from high school and we also traveled to and worked in Yellowstone in '68.  Fred and Julaine came to the boat for cocktails and we all decided to head to the Anchor Inn for dinner.  Fred and Julaine are from Bay City, Michigan and have traveled this area extensively, so they had valuable advice on anchorages, weather, etc.

Friday was WINDY and rainy, so we chose to take advantage of having access to a car and went on a roadtrip to Kagawong and Gore Bay.  Jan and Bob were returning from a trip to Newfoundland and had already driven 5000 miles, but they were game to go a few more!  In Kagawong, there is an Anglican Church that has a most unusual pulpit.  I had read that the pulpit was made from the bow of a boat, but didn't realize that it had come from a boat that had gone aground in the 50's with 4 adults and 2 children aboard.  When the winds came up they tried to swim to shore by tying everyone together, but only two survived.  The windows in the church are all nautical and check out the name of the church on the life-ring.

Friday night several loopers  planned to  order pizza and have it at the pavillion, but the nasty weather continued so we went to the pizza parlor instead.  The walk was about a mile and much of it uphill.  Gary became quite winded and complained of chest pains.  After dinner  he waited for Bob to bring the car for a ride back to the  docks, but  decided it was time to have this condition checked and instead went to the hospital.   I am writing this  now on Tuesday and Gary has been in the hospital the whole time.  The doctor has told him he needs to go home, so they are putting the boat in storage here for the winter and heading home (Malone, NY) in the next day or two.  We are sad for them   that they have to postpone their dream, but this is definitely the right decision under the circumstances.      We will miss their company and all the fun we have shared these past  weeks.

Better days playing dominoes on back deck of After Taxes
Gary, Carol, Jimmy, Cathy, and Tom

Saturday morning the sun was shining and the winds had died down, so we struck out for the beautiful fiord,

Baie Fine (pronounced Bay Fin).  The run there took us about 3 hours.    

On the way to Baie Fine--Tom, Jan and Bob

  

Entrance to Baie Fine--La Cloche Mountains in background

The clouds gathered as we entered, but cleared later.

We anchored in the pool at the very end of the bay and had no problems with a set even though that area has a lot of weed growth.  After a quick lunch, we put the dinghy together and set off for the path leading to Topaz Lake.  We had read rave reviews about this lake on other looper's blogs, so we were anxious to see it for ourselves.  Jan had orthoscopic surgery on a knee four weeks before this, but she insisted she would be okay to hike.  And hike we did!

On the trail--this part was the easy section!

Topaz Lake was gorgeous as promised.  The color seemed deep blue in some parts and turquoise in other spots.  We speculated that the bottom was white quartz giving the water those amazing shades of blue.  I took a brief swim in the incredibly clear, chilly water.  Tom and Bob hiked to the top of one of the bluffs and were able to see Raydiance at anchor in the pool.

Tom by Topaz Lake

Beautiful water of Topaz Lake

View from top of bluff

View of the pool with Raydiance at anchor

Returning to Raydiance, we played Five Crowns ( a game Bob grew to hate :) while the black clouds finally broke loose with a drenching rain followed by a lovely rainbow and calm.

This was actually a double rainbow, but the higher one was too faint to show up in the photo.

Sunday after a breakfast of blueberry pancakes and Tom's infamous 4 hour bacon, we packed sandwiches and again headed for the trails.  This time we first went to Artist's Lake, a meadow lake nearly overgrown.

Bob and Jan at Artist Lake

Frog catching rays at Artist Lake

Lily pads at Artist Lake

Since that was a short walk, we decided to tackle Three Narrows Lake also, and that proved to be a test of our stamina.  Bob and Jan both enjoy geology and were very interested in the rocks in this area.  

Bob and Jan overlooking Three Narrows Lake

"Just one more little rock, Bob!"

View from top of Three Narrows Lake bluffs

Jan and Bob

Saturday and Sunday nights the sky was loaded with stars, but the temperature had dipped to 12 degrees C, so we gazed quickly and retreated to the warmth of the cabin.  Monday morning we rose early trying to make the 10 o'clock bridge opening at Little Current.  Untangling the load of weeds from the anchor took about half an hour in itself!  Tom found a way to bypass the fuse until we can find a new one, so thankfully we had use of the windless.

Early morning mist at the pool in Baie Fine

A few weeds came up with the anchor.

Traveling back to Little Current, we tuned in to the Cruisers' Net broadcast at 9 a.m.  When it came time for the boats to call in with their location, Tom called and said,  "This is Raydiance returning to Little Current from the pool at Baie Fine with a load of weed."  There was a bit of hesitation on Roy's part before Tom clarified "weeds from the pool".  I halfway expected the Canadian mounties to be waiting for us on the docks!

 

We made the bridge opening at 10 and Jan and Bob were on their way by 11.  They had a long trip ahead of them that day as they were headed to a friend's cabin in Tomahawk, WI.  We  were so glad they had made the effort to catch up with us and we enjoyed sharing beautiful Baie Fine with them.

We decided to stay two nights at Little Current to catch up on some internet business and help After Taxes in any way we could.  Also, Tuesday night, the Cruisers' Net held a potluck dinner followed by a flare demonstration using out-of-date flares.  We had a good time at both and I even won a door prize!

Linda with Roy Eaton and door prize

Ready, aim, fire!

Roy with smoke flare

Tom with signaling flare

Loopers will never go hungry!

Cruisers Net potluck supper in pavillion
at Little Current Town Dock.

Tomorrow  we say good-bye to After Taxes and head out for the North Channel islands.

                                                                                                                                         

Byng Inlet to Killarney

Leaving Byng Inlet on Sunday, we twisted and turned through some narrow, shallow passages as we headed for the Bustard Islands.  We pass very close to the granite so we can appreciate the swirling patterns on the rock.

This passage is called Roger's Gut--narrow!!!!

Beautiful patterns on the granitel

We arrived at the bay in the Bustards to find three other boats already anchored there.  It is not a large bay, but we found a spot and started to let out our anchor.  The anchor jammed and would not budge.  After much pulling and hammering, Tom was able to get it moving.  But the windlass would not work, so he had to anchor the old-fashioned way--letting it out by hand.  He later discovered the main fuse had blown when it jammed.  With all the spare parts we have on board,  that is one we don't have.  And we later found that the marinas and parts stores do not stock this either.  To be continued.....

 After Taxes rafted with us and we again tied to shore.  After a short rest, we took a dinghy ride through Gun Barrel Cut into the other arm of the bay.  The scenery was gorgeous, but the black flies were ferocious.  The flies won over the scenery and the ride was quite short!

Raydiance with buddy, After Taxes

Cottages on the small islands of Bustard Islands

Looking back through Gun Barrel Cut

As we came back into our bay,  this small remote controlled sailboat came to greet us.  Boaters just can't seem to get enough of boats!

The sunset that night was so pretty.  Wished I had Sarah or Diane's camera to capture the deep pink on the horizon.

Sunset and reflection

Monday we had a long stretch of open water to run before ducking into the small boat channel at Beaverston Bay.  Luckily the wind and weather cooperated and we had a smooth ride.

Three lighthouses on one of the granite islands.

"The fleet" entering Beaverstone Bay.

In the distance, we began to see the La Cloche Mountains.  As the day progressed, we got closer and closer.  The appearance of snow is actually quartz.  We will soon be climbing on them when we reach Baie Fine in a few days.

La Cloche Mountains in the background.

After going through Beaverstone Bay, we came to Collins Inlet--VERY narrow and VERY shallow.  The lake is down this year to chart datum, so we went very slowly and even so stirred up the bottom.  In places we were marking 4.6 feet and we draw 3.5+.   Yikes!

Typical scenery in Collins Inlet

Low water buoy!

Narrow channel in Collins Inlet

Since the anchor was now a manual labor job, we opted to have After Taxes anchor and we rafted to them.  Once set, Gary called the Mill Lake Lodge that we had passed at the entrance to Mill Lake and managed to get us dinner reservations.  Around 5:30 we set off in the dinghies for a 2 mile ride to the lodge.   What we won't do to get out of cooking!

After Taxes dinghy bound for Mill Lake Lodge

Arriving at the lodge we stepped onto rickety docks and everyone was wondering if this was such a good idea.  But the lodge was quaint and the meal was made from scratch and delicious.  We were the only people there that night.  

Gary,  Kathy, Carol, Tom and Jimmy

Linda and moose
This is the closest I have come to seeing a moose.

Tuesday, the 14th , we left Mill Lake and headed for Killarney.  The wind had picked up a bit, so it was choppy when we reached the main body of Georgian Bay.  But we only had a few miles of open water and then we were in the protected harbor of Killarney.  Killarney is a very small town that at one time was a busy commercial fishing port accessible only by water.  The one road into it today opened in 1962.  We stayed at the Sportsman's Inn and had lunch at the infamous red bus.  We had been told by everyone we met that we had to eat there.  It was a fun experience and the fish was very lightly breaded and good.

The fish are caught and brought to the dock on this boat.

Then they are taken in the back door, cleaned and fried.

And served out the front of the red bus.

Sportsman's Inn

Kathy and I decided to try the floating bikes for an hour.
Mine had a mind of its own.  Did not want to turn!
We had great fun, but I'm sure my legs will feel it tomorrow!

Across the channel, but visible from the back of our boat, a movie
was shown on this screen at night.  We tuned in to an FM radio frequency
to hear the audio.  Reminiscent of drive-ins from days of old!

We are leaving Georgian Bay today and heading into the North Channel.  As beautiful as this has been, we keep hearing that the North Channel is the true jewel.  Stay tuned!