On Our Way At Last

Anchored in Kilcoursie Bay, Killbear Provincial Park

On Monday afternoon at about 4:30, we set anchor at Hope Island, a 4 ½ hour sail from Penetang and yes, amazingly, we were able to actually turn the motor off and sail for most of the way.  Also, it was sunny and warm, which after our July weather seemed like a gift.  This was the first leg of a cruise which will take us up the east side of Georgian Bay and its 30,000 islands on our way to the North Channel. The Goodyears on Sand Castle were already anchored at Hope Island, waiting to have us for dinner aboard their boat. They had just completed their own North Channel cruise and we were anxious to catch up with them, hear about their experiences this last month and get some cruising tips- so nice to visit with our good old sailing friends.

We left the following day for an anchorage at Killbear Park. The weather was exceeding fine but we were out of sorts.  We were in the throes of “starting out” fever with needless angst over small navigating questions /decisions and a general display of short temper.  It was a long and seemingly endless day – some sailing at first but then the wind died and when,  after crossing through open water we finally got into the maize of buoys and islands, we felt it took forever to weave our way toward the anchorage we’d chosen in Kilcoursie Bay. 

The rest of the our time there went as follows: We arrive to a fairly (but not awfully) crowded bay and after scoping out the best spot, we prepare to drop our anchor only to be advised by a group of sailboat partiers that “that’s not a good idea”. “Not enough swing room, “ they say – which raises our shackles since, after considerable anchoring experience, Bob is likely better prepared than they to estimate swing room. Still, neither arguing with them nor ignoring their directive seem a good idea, so we relocate – now behind a power boat filled with carousing children and beside  a swimming area – so a general background noise of screeching kids (having fun) and in our current curmudgeon-like mood - we are not amused. At the moment, our choice of destinations is in question.

After dinner,  we sit flipping through charts, scanning Karen’s notes on anchorages and routes and trying to sort out the information in our Georgian Bay Ports book.  After much page flipping and then more of the same, I suggest that we stay another night to decompress and give ourselves a shake. The following day, we move the boat to a parks anchorage delineated by buoys and forbidding personal watercraft and small fast boats from zipping through. For an $11 seniors fee (on an honor system), we can anchor here in 44 feet of water with lots of room to swing and have use of park facilities and garbage disposal.  We settle down to study charts, decide on a route and choose possible anchorages. Once done, we adjourn to enjoy the day. We swim off the boat and dinghy over to the Killbear marina where we buy a loaf of bread at the store, lunch at the restaurant and Bob tops up the dinghy gas tank.  In the evening, we dinghy around the large bay, noting several  volleyball nets and marked off   children's swimming areas placed at intervals along the sandy beach that rings the bay. This is a great place for visiting families and for those who are camped in Killbear Park. For a while we walk the beach and then we ride the dinghy out to the hill of rock at Killbear Point where there are groups of people gathered and looking out toward the water. When we turn to look back, we realize that they have come to watch the setting sun behind us.  We feel lucky to be sharing the view.

 Yesterday we traveled further along the small craft route and turned off to anchor at a spot surrounded by treed small islands where the water was warm and the swimming was lovely.  

When we left Eureka Point this morning, our route to Byng Inlet was a test of nerves.  In several places there were sharp zigs and zags around marker buoys sitting in a watery field of rocks and there was no sitting back to read when it was our turn off the helm.  It felt better to have four eyes watching and comparing buoy numbers with those on our paper charts so that there was no possibility of mistaking where the safe water was. The route was also very scenic – so that along the way I thought – this is so beautiful and also – I don’t think I’d care to do this again.

This afternoon, instead of anchoring, we decided that we’re ready to walk on land. We’re in Byng Inlet in a small marina. We’ve anchored every night since we left Monday:  to stay at this bare bones marina seems so decadent and tonight, instead of cooking, we’re going to the restaurant over the grocery store for a pickerel dinner.  

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