Into the North Channel

Our cruising spinnaker is rarely used but we flew it from Byng Inlet to Collins Bay

Last year before we left on our cruise through Lakes Erie and Huron and into Georgian Bay, we joined the Great Lakes Cruising Club. A week ago Saturday, we sailed to Collins Inlet and anchored there at Keyhole to attend a Cruising Club rally. We thought that we were going to a “rendezvous” but the GLCC definition of rendezvous is different from ours. A rally is a few boats (in this case 18) meeting over 2 days or so with a few group activities. A rendezvous can last for several days, with many boats (could be as many as 100) and an array activities. 

On Saturday afternoon, at the rally, the crew of all 18 boats met on a rocky point of land for a meet and greet but Sunday was the main day: at 10, a dinghy ride down Collins Inlet, to a winding stream and then a hiking trail in Kilarney Provincial Park where some of us went for a 2 hour hike climbing up and down on a trail marked on gigantic granite rocks; at 2:00, a chart talk about routes, anchorages and places to take your dingy or kayak (many boats have kayaks perched up top) and finally at 5:00, a Fish Fry (bring a side dish) – our weekend fee of $25 included a full fish piece (plenty for 2) seasoned, wrapped in foil and cooked over a fire. 

In the process of all this, we were introduced to Collins Inlet – a beautiful cruising and anchoring area but as important, we were given a taste of the community of boaters that enjoy the North Channel. Cruisers from the U.S. and Canada return here year after year – many live elsewhere but keep their boats where they have access to the Bay and to the Channel. Each year their friendship group grows and there is always someone (friend or not) who will share information and offer help. And so it was that our question at the afternoon chart talk was - where might be a good anchorage for us to wait out the upcoming days of poor weather?

On Monday, we left Collins Inlet with the intent of going past both Kilarney and Little Current and then on to Mosquito Bay in the Waubuno Channel, but when that anchorage didn’t look promising, we called Class Act,  the sailboat following us. We’d met them at the rally and knew they were going into Sturgeon Cove. We also knew that without “local knowledge”, the entrance to Sturgeon was difficult– so we asked - Could we follow them in?  Class Act used a “zig zag” route into the Cove – others had told us about following old range markers and entering along a straight line.  It turns out that the zig-zag route uses markers too – two sticks and a circle painted on a rock on one side of the entrance: line them up visually (like a range) as you go part way in, then when you get abeam (midships) of  two diamonds painted on rocks on the same side and when they are lined up, you turn to port and go across the entrance until two circles painted on rocks on the other side are on your port beam, at which point you turn to starboard going into the cove and then you line up the same two diamonds at your stern. How’s that for “difficult”? Strangely enough, Surgeon Cove seems to be very popular – it’s well protected but also – could it be that people like the challenge?  Bob had created a GPS track going in and we followed it out, also taking note of the circles, diamonds and sticks. All I know is that my heart was in my mouth and I breathed a sigh of relief when we got well past the entrance to the Cove.

Clear but Cool!

 Since leaving Collins Inlet, we’ve spent several days swinging on an anchor in Sturgeon Cove, in a bay at East Rous, finally, last night in Bell Cove. We broke it up with a night in Little Current (laundry, shopping, visit to the VHF broadcast of the Cruisers’ Net).  The weather has mostly featured strong winds accompanied by off and on rain.  The temperature kept dropping until I was no longer going in the water for my daily dip. Our anchorages were all around Great La Cloche Island so we hadn’t managed to get far. Last night the skies cleared and we could finally see the low lying La Cloche Mountains. Now I understood why I’d been told that the area had a beautiful view.

There are advantages to cooler temps and inclement weather. We’ve just arrived at the place to be, South Benjamin Island, and there are only 2 boats here.  The sun is out and it’s warming up - this morning there were moderate winds coming out of the east and we were able to sail all of the way. The Benjamin Islands are public so this afternoon, we’ll go for a hike.