A Few More Days

More hiking: Bob and Warren stop to check out the root ball of a fallen tree.

Hiking along the rocky shore at  Lost  Bay 

We had a productive couple of days at home and drove back to "our" marina in Penetang last Thursday morning. We left Toronto at 7:20 a.m. and by 1:00 pm we had dropped the hook  at
Lost Bay: another of the anchorages on Beausoleil Island. That seemed like quick time to go from home to a lovely little cove surrounded by trees, the usual rock :-) and clear water. The Goodyears joined us there and we wasted no time in getting caught up on all that had happened since we were last together.

The Lost Bay anchorage was one of the nicest we've been in: it was very pretty, the water was warm for swimming and we were close to more of the Beausoleil hiking trails that we'd sampled a couple of weeks before. By Saturday, there were 7 boats anchored so even though the anchorage is small, still not a lot of boats for a Labour Day weekend. One fellow who was walking his dog on shore told me that the number of boats on the water this year in the Bay was down considerably. We'd heard the same thing while in the North Channel. This has been a cooler summer and the low water level at the beginning of the season may have put some boaters off (?) (Currently the water level is  above datum.)

 

Massasauga Rattlesnake on the path: 
very poisonous but also very shy - this one slithered away
while we were taking pictures but not before shaking its rattler
and making us all jump.

The only flies in the anchorage "ointment" were two power boats rafted together close to both Sea Change and Sand Castle that ran generators for several hours each day. Bob asked at one point if the generator of the bigger boat would be going off soon (this was just after dinner) and the reply was - maybe not until movies ending at 11:00. I guess we're a little naive: we keep expecting more awareness of others in these small spaces but that doesn't to be the norm. At least - that's been our experience so far.

We left the Goodyears at Lost Bay yesterday and sailed to 3 islands clustered together in the south part of the Bay - Beckwith, Christian and Hope. Our preference would have been to anchor at Hope - the Goodyears had been there earlier in the week and had good things to say but the direction of wind and coming rain and storms dictated that we choose Beckwith.  Since the islands are within striking distance of Midland and Penetang, this is where the weekend party people were. It was to be expected. Bob spent most of the afternoon watching the the goings on. Someone had a "Flyboard" - a short fat board you stand on which is attached by tube to a Seadoo. Jets of water shoot out the bottom of the board and push the person up several feet in the air. We weren't sure who controlled the height (probably the person on the Seadoo) but it was amusing to watch someone wheeling about in the air, now higher up, now lower, now tumbling into the water and the accompanying screams, yells and laughter. There were several rafts of boats, some quiet and some extremely noisy - but as dark approached a number of boats left and with the rising wind and cooling temps, the anchorage became blessedly still. I guess this emphasis on "quiet" goes along with our age (or so I heard it said on a radio talk show). We do like to sit in a quietly peaceful space!

We're back at the marina. The weather is not good. We'll return to anchor at Hope Island tomorrow or the next day if the weather improves but otherwise - this may be it for our summer sailing in Georgian Bay! We want to get to work on the boat - get it ready for the winter - have it taken out of the water - wax the hull and get the cover on before the weather turns cold. We'll do some research and planning this winter for another summer of sailing in the Bay and for a return trip to the North Channel. This will likely be my last post to the blog.

Sunset at Cedar Springs, Beausoleil Island

..... to be continued, June of 2014.

One Week In the Thirty Thousand

Before Bob and I brought our sailboat to Georgian Bay, we had little experience with or knowledge of the Bay. We had visited Penetanguishene and Midland and spent a few days at a lodge near Honey Harbour but that was about it. Should I admit that when someone mentioned the Thirty Thousand Islands, I thought she had misspoken and was talking about the Thousand Islands (as in Lake Ontario)? By the time we were preparing to sail across the Bay to the east side and the home of the Thirty Thousand Islands, we were better informed although still not sure what to expect. Now, from our limited vantage point after a week of poking about, we've experienced an area similar to the Thousand Islands but with more of everything: more islands, more anchorages, more and bigger park islands where you can anchor and find a place to hike, a more beautiful, more varied landscape and clearer, cleaner water. However, there is also more opportunity for hitting a rock, grounding your boat on a rock ledge and any other rock encounter you might imagine.

"Fairy" Trail at Frying Pan Bay

 The small craft channel which weaves it's way through the islands is marked by red and green channel markers and leads you through safe water. The zigs and zags of the channels are more frequent and the routes more circuitous than we've experienced elsewhere - in the Thousand Islands, on the St. Lawrence and all down through the Intracoastal Waterway. There's an intensity of focus required here. On our first day in the channel, we traveled only half a day - but there were high winds and in places open to the Bay, the waves hitting our boat were rather large - all of which added to the challenge. A couple of near mistakes made us acutely aware of possibilities for error - a kind of a trial by fire.

Fairy Lake, Beausoleil Island

On the next day,we traveled another short distance from the safe haven of our small marina to our first anchorage in the Thirty Thousand. We chose Frying Pan Bay because we had passed it the day before and it was easy to get to! We learned later that Frying Pan was one several anchorages on the perimeter of Beausoleil, the largest island in the Georgian Bay National Park system. We anchored in the small well protected bay and dinghied in to explore. We found outhouses (good to have!), receptacles for garbage and recyclables and a well marked system of hiking trails leading in various directions. We chose the "Fairy" trail and walked through a wooded area and then over rock outcroppings eventually ending up at Fairy Lake. The trail continued but since we didn't have a map, we decided to retrace our steps. A couple of days later, we returned to the island, this time with the Fletchers, and anchored further south at Cedar Springs, a much larger anchorage and home to the centre for the Georgian Bay National Park. Here, we were able to get a map that showed the many anchorages and hiking trails around the island There are also camp grounds and small cottages, newly built and available for rent.

David and Linda Fletcher

After rough weather on the Bay kept our friends, David and Linda, from meeting up with us, we finally resolved to rendezvous at "Methodist". Bob thought we were going to Methodist Island near Port McNicholl. David had intended that we meet at Methodist Point on the mainland coast north west of Penetanguishene. There followed a day of miscommunications which had Bob and I confused about where one could possibly anchor at Methodist Island and David and Linda wondering why we would suggest an alternate anchorage (at Beausoleil) which made their sailing day even longer. Even after the Fletchers arrived, anchored and were sitting in our cockpit having a drink with us, it took a while to unravel the web of misunderstandings. We had been confusing each other all day with strange communications. The fortunate part of it all was that we were now located very close to Penetang and Discovery Harbour where we would anchor the next day and go ashore to have dinner and attend the theater - something the Fletchers suggested and arranged for us.

The night we went to the theatre, we returned to our boat in our dinghy to find Sea Change secured to one of two power boats rafted together. The owners of the two boats told us that just before the theatre performance ended, they heard our boat knocking against theirs. We apologized and proceded to pull up our anchor along with a bushel of weed. We anchored again and had to pull up the anchor again - and Bob again cleaned still more weed off the chain - in the dark! Finally we put the anchor down and it grabbed. It was a tense time for me manoeuvering the boat in the dark and taking care to avoid other boats and shallow water at the edges of the bay. After it was all over, when Bob had a moment to think, he began to wonder how we could have dragged into boats that were in front of us. We looked back to where the two boats now sat. They were no longer in their original position but were sitting where we had been anchored. In other words, it was they who had dragged anchor (one anchor for the two boats) and it was they who had bumped into us. We had a short conversation with the captains the next day. Bob explained that we had 80 feet of chain down and had been dug in. When I noted the quick defensiveness of the two men, under my breath, I told Bob, "Don't say any more".  There was no winning an argument on this one. When we pulled away later - on our way finally to the now infamous, anchorage at Methodist Point - one of the two boats was re-anchoring "to better face the sun", they told Linda - but we couldn't help but wonder if they had finally looked around and noticed how far they down the bay they had traveled during the night!
 

A quiet morning at Methodist Bay

We last visited with  Linda and David while anchored at Methodist Point - a large anchorage on the edge of the Awenda Provincial Park. Thanks to the Fletchers we had experienced new anchorages and done something we would never have thought to do - anchored our boat and gone to see some great musical theatre.

Marguerite, Art and their grandson, Evan

The marina here at Penetang, where we have a dock and where we'll leave our boat this winter, has supplied us with a barbecue and a picnic table. Today our friends Art and Marguerite drove over from Midland to take us to lunch after which they drove us around to buy groceries, a propane tank and a fake wasp nest - in prep for our children's visit this weekend.  After the weekend, we'll have a very short visit at home. (Sean and Michelle will drive us back.)  We'll return with a car and then head out sailing to meet up with the Goodyears and hopefully also the Fletchers and to see more of the Thirty Thousand.

Hike at Cedar Spring on Beausoleil Island

Long Time - No Internet! (Killarney and Covered Portage Cove)

We've been a long time without WiFi or at least without a sustained signal and time to write email and post to the blog.

The night before we left Tobermory, we changed our plans (we sailors seem to do that a lot!) and decided to continue on with the Goodyears for a taste of the North Channel. The next day we sailed with them to Club Island where we anchored for the night. Our destination the following day was an anchorage in Covered Portage Cove off of Killarney Bay. To get to the Bay, we would be traversing a narrow channel between George Island and the mainland and would be passing the town of Killarney which is spread along the northern shore of the channel. As we were nearing Killarney, Warren hailed us on the VHF and asked if we would like to stop there for lunch at Herbert's (famous) Fish and Chips (AKA Herbert's Fisheries' Mister Perch). Mister Perch is run out of an old bus and there are picnic tables set up nearby overlooking the channel and beside a public "dock" (actually a rough timbered wall). After some hunting about, we located the dock and tied up. Sandcastle arrived soon after. Once tied up, it appeared that no one cared how long we stayed so we ate our lunch - stuffed ourselves, that is, with a big order of fish and chips - and then visited the small grocery store, the bakery and Herbert's fresh fish counter.

An hour after leaving the town, we were anchored in Covered Portage Cove surrounded by the beauty and drama of chiseled stone rising out of the water and covered with stands of tall fir and pine. To get there, we'd passed through a larger outer bay where several boats were anchored and then gone through a narrow shallow cut into the also very shallow cove. Sandcastle had preceded us, testing out the depths with their more shallow draft keel and calling out depths to us over the VHF. We hunted around for somewhere with "enough" water, but settled, at last, for anchoring in about 5 feet - with our 4'10' keel! In Big Tub at Tobermory, we anchored for 2 days in 38' of water. Fortunately, both Sandcastle and Sea Change carry lots of anchor chain and rode. What a contrast to this low water spot! On the other hand the cove is protected from virtually all sides and our anchor easily sank into the mushy mud bottom. We were secure.

What a beautiful spot! We hiked up to the top of the promontory and looked down on our tiny boats below. We picked sweet wild blueberries and back at the boat we went swimming off the side of the boat. The water was cool but once in it felt good enough to stay. It's wonderful to swim in clean clear water where on a calm day you can see to the bottom at 10 feet or more.

Our weather this past while has a fall feel to it. The wind is cool even on the warm days and temps are falling low at night. In preparation for our aborted sailing trip to Nova Scotia, Warren installed an Espar heater in Sandcastle. Little did he know how glad he and Karen would be to have it while Sandcastle sat at anchor in the North Channel!

We left the Goodyears in Covered Portage Cove and started south. The first night we anchored near the tip of the Bruce Peninsula and then, to take advantage of calm water and favourable weather, we crossed Georgian Bay to Sans Souci on the east side of the Bay. So - we're now in the "30 Thousand Islands". To be sure, we are finding this maize of rocks and small and big islands a bit intimating. "No room for error" warns our Georgian Bay Ports book. We'll get used to it - eventually....

Tomorrow, we are sailing to an anchorage further south where we meet up with our friends David and Linda Fletcher on their sailboat, Camp David.