The North Channel

 TRAVEL DAY 98 - Killarney to The Pool

August 19, 2023

3.56 Hours/25.8 Miles

    The Georgian Bay is behind us and our departure from Killarney now marks the start of The North Channel. A little warmer today and definitely better than yesterday, we pulled out of our tight slip and around to the fuel dock for a pump out. We fired up Betty again and motored across the water and docked temporarily while our traveling companions did the same operation. Once they completed, we pulled away from the dock and headed toward the open bay. About 30 minutes into the trip a large boat passed close to our starboard side leaving a heavy wake, then crossed in front of us, turned and passed in front of us again, leaving 2 more huge wakes. The crew was making breakfast and several items in the cabin were thrown to the floor. Jerk.
 
High Cliffs & Clear Water

    Baie Fine is one of the few fjords in North America. It's an eight mile passage to our anchorage named "The Pool". We passed by tall rock cliffs on either side in this narrow waterway. At the entrance to the pool it was a very narrow channel with about 6' of water. I posted the deck crew on the bow to make sure we were dead in the passage. As soon as we cleared, the waterway opened up and the depth dropped to 20'.
 
Narrow Opening

    The story of the invention of Evinrude motors goes, that around 1906, Ole Evinrude and Bessie Cary (later his wife) were picnicking on Okauchee Lake in Wisconsin. Bessie expressed a desire for a dish of ice cream and Evinrude rowed 2 1/2 miles across the lake for the ice cream. By the time he returned the ice cream was melted. Inspired by the incident, Evinrude set out to design an engine to replace the oar. I thought about his monumental achievement as we motored past the Evinrude cottage just north of our anchorage.
 
Evinrude Cottage

    When we arrived at The Pool, there were 3 other boats and plenty of room for us. We had our pick of places to drop the hook. The deck crew released the anchor and I marked it on the GPS as we backed down for a good set in the weedy bottom.
  
Dinghy Captain

    With a warm day and plenty of daylight left we dropped the dinghy and motored to the dock at the opposite end for a hike to Topaz Lake. What should have been a short 20 minute hike became longer when we missed the well marked yellow/red trail turn and continued on the blue. We turned around and hiked back to the turn. 
 
Stick to the trail

    We scrambled up and over the rocks that lined the sides of the lake. Once over we were greeted by a beautiful view of this crystal clear lake. We found an appropriate spot and jumped into the water. What a rush. The water was cold but refreshing.
  
Cold clear water
  
    A couple more swims and we headed back to Lil' Scuz and Beth ran the dinghy back to the boat. We got together with Last Arrow for some sausages on the grill and a cold beer. A game of cards and it was lights out.
  
Killarney to The Pool

TRAVEL DAY 99 - The Pool to Little Current

August 20, 2023

3.88 Hours/25.4 Miles

    We back tracked out of the narrow passage from the pool, around the cottage and back out the narrow opening following our previous day's track. Our target today was Little Current and the marina there.

Strawberry Island Lighthouse

    We rounded the corner and could see Strawberry Island Lighthouse and the entrance to Little Current. The swing bridge at Little Current opens every hour for 15 minutes and we had just missed the 2 pm opening. I called the bridge tender to inquire about the bridge clearance and he replied "16' Captain." We were able to go under without the opening. Success!
 
Will we make it?

    There is a current at Little Current and as we approached the dock a wind as well. We used both to our advantage as I went in bow first, which I normally don't do. We hoped off and hooked up the electric and we were off to town for some groceries.
  
Manitoulin Brewing Co.
 
End Game - Last Arrow - Ramble On II

    Later we met with some old Looper friends and some new ones at Manitoulin Brewing.
 
Bae Fine/The Pool to Little Current

TRAVEL DAY 100 - Little Current to Gore Bay

August 21, 2023

5.1 Hours/31.8 Miles

    Today was a two part day. The first stop a little over 2 hours was Kagawong. It is a small town in Mudge Bay, a short 2 1/2 hour ride. Kagawong, like Little Current is on Manitoulin Island. We pulled into the municipal marina and we were allowed to stay for a few hours while we hiked to Bridal Veil Falls.
 
Kagawong Marina

    After tying up we visited the Old Mill Heritage Center (history museum) on the harbor and then made the 30 or so minute trek up to the falls where the Kagawong River flows over a tall cliff. It was just a little too cold to swim. We shot some pictures and then sat at the top of the falls and had lunch with our traveling companions on Last Arrow.
 
Bridal Veil Falls

    Afterwards we climbed back on the boat and headed to Gore Bay. Our plan was to anchor in Gore Bay and the next morning hike to the lookout over the bay. It took us another 2 hours to get to Gore Bay and this was a great way to break up the days travel.
 
Split Rail Brewing Co.

    Once we dropped the hook, we deployed Lil' Scuz and headed to Split Rail Brewing. A few beers later and it was back to the boat to cook dinner. I let the galley crew practice their dinghy skills to get us back to the boat.
 
Learning new skills everyday
 
Little Current to Kagawong to Gore Bay
    

TRAVEL DAY 101 - Gore Bay to Benjamin Islands

August 22, 2023

2.63 Hours/18.5 Miles

    Knowing we only had a little over 2 hours to travel, we hoped in the dinghy and traveled over to a small dock for our hike up to the lookout over Gore Bay.
 
Gore Bay
  
A great anchorage

    All up hill but an easy path to navigate, brought us to the highest point on Gore Bay and the lookout. We could see the entire bay and our boats floating on anchor. I quickly checked my phone and noticed there was a Geocache nearby. This would be our first and only find in Canada.
 
Canadian Geocache

    Back down the path and in the dinghy we climbed back into Pau Hana and prepared for the day's travel. I hooked up the dinghy and hoisted it into place on the transom. The deck crew & I switched places to pull the anchor as I figured it would have some weeds on it. My suspicions were right and it took some doing to clean off the huge bundle of weeds and mud and one misplaced crawfish. One clean anchor and one dirty shirt later and we were on our way. 
 
A weed covered anchor

    Backtracking some but helping to get us to the north shore of the North Channel we came to the Benjamin Islands. This archipelago is north of Clapperton Island and south of Fox Island. It has been called the "Hollywood" of anchorages on the North Channel and is a very popular spot. With beautiful clear water and plenty of rocks to explore.
 
Benjamin Islands

    When we arrived, there were already 10 or so boats anchored and it took us a few minutes to scout out what we thought would be the best resting place for the evening. The hook was dropped in about 18 feet of water and in front of a large Granite cliff. I felt we had enough room to swing if the wind changed and it seemed like we had a good hook set. Just to be sure I dropped an additional stern anchor.
 
High Rocks and Deep Pools

    Once again we deployed the dinghy and explored the shore of this semi circle group of islands. I found another cove off the main anchorage and was tempted to re-anchor there for better wind protection but was a little nervous as it was more treacherous to get into and would have required us to do a "Med-Tie" or stern tie to the rocks on the shore to ensure the boat didn't swing into the rocks on either side.
 
Exploring the shore

    We met some nice Canadian folks that were spending the night and we chatted with them as we were perched on one of the volcanic like rock humps around the bay. After eating some dinner, we dinghied over to our friends on Last Arrow as they had a camp fire going and we stayed until after sunset.
 
Last Arrow's awesome campsite/anchorage
  
Gore Bay to Benjamin Islands
   

TRAVEL DAY 102 - Benjamin Islands to Blind River

August 23, 2023

5.02 Hours/39.6 Miles

    2 am and I woke to the sound of water lapping hard against the hull of the boat. I knew that the wind had picked up and was coming straight into the anchorage. I could see that we had swung on the anchor to meet the wind and noticed the high granite wall to our stern was now much closer than it was when we went to bed. Closer than it should be but the anchor seemed to be holding. I turned on the GPS and watched it for awhile. Around the same time another boat whose anchor had also come loose in the wind was now slowly making their way in the dark through the rock infested bay to reset their anchor. I secretly was thankful it wasn't me but I didn't sleep at all the rest of the night as I could hear the water lapping against the cliff in the dark. I would doze off then wake up every 15 minutes or so and look at the cliff and the Simrad to make sure we weren't moving closer, as the wind swung us back and forth. Once the sun rose I started to feel better but rousted the crew and made plans to pull the anchor and reset. After we got the anchor reset we decided to go ahead and skip our next stop at Spanish, Ontario and go to Blind River.
 

    There was a cut through the rock walls opposite the main entrance and a shortcut out of the anchorage. We witnessed a boat come in through it the day before and a boat go out of it this morning. We radioed the boat that exited and got assurance we could get through. We slowly zig zagged through the cut and out of the island anchorage. This short cut saved us an hour at least.
 
Little Detroit Cut

    Taking the inside passage meant we could stay out of the wind and have an easy ride. It also meant a few more tricky passages but was pretty well marked.  I made a Security call on channel 16 just prior to entering Little Detroit Cut to warn boats coming the opposite way, as it was too narrow for boats to pass each other safely.
 
Blind River 

    Once we got back out in the North Channel and out of the protection of the islands, the wind had kicked the waves up considerably and were catching us on the beam making the ride a little bumpy. We toughed it out for about an hour and a half until we could turn with them and make the entrance to Blind River Marina. I called the marina and they were waiting for us at the slip to handle lines and get us tied up in the stiff wind. With little sleep the night before, this was a long tiring day and not one of our favorites.
    
Benjamin Islands to Blind River

TRAVEL DAY 103 - Blind River to Thessalon

August 24, 2023

3.6 Hours/30.6 Miles

    Thessalon, Ontario is the northern most point of our Great Loop trip. In fact we will be closer to the North Pole than we will be to Ft. Meyers! The day started out overcast and a little breezy. The prediction was for it to lay down so we planned on a 10 am departure. The prediction was spot on and about an hour into the ride the water flattened out.

Breakfast at 8 mph on Autopilot

    It was a pretty easy ride with not much to see as we cruised to our northern most Loop stop. No rocks to really worry about as we were a good distance from the shore. We called Thessalon Marina and got a slip assignment and layed up against the dock.
 
Thessalon Marina

    Planning to enter the US tomorrow meant we had to eat up or get rid of all the vegetables, eggs and meat we had. Breakfast was pretty hearty & the galley crew made a pretty big salad and planned a good sized dinner of grilled chicken and asparagus.
 
Thessalon

    We walked into town expecting to play Pickleball at the courts but the net was locked up and we couldn't get the combination, so we walked back to the boat. A few minutes after getting back the Captain of Rambling Rosie called me & said they were on their way in. Awesome, having 2 boats here in Canada, both from Citrus County was neat. We planned 6 pm docktales.
   
Surf Rider - Lucky Chicklette - Last Arrow - Harmony - Rambling Rosie

Blind River to Thessalon

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