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| Baie Fin |
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| Sunset in Baie Fin |
September 15, 2024
We had perfect weather for heading into Little Current. The town marina is just beyond the narrows and just before the swing bridge. I imagine if you hit it wrong and have a big wind driven current, it could be disasterous. In fact, we watched an acquaintance from a previous marina brand his sailboat in later that evening. It was not pretty. He took a couple of passes and finally got close enough to throw lines to shore and get tied up.
We took our bikes down and did a reconnaissance of the town. There was a grocery store nearby and a brewery. We opted for the brewery. It had nice outdoor seating and an Indian Food cart. We ordered almost one of everything and beers. We were pleasantly surprised. The food was excellent - I wish I could go back for more! The beer was good too. We sat with a couple from Sudbury who were planning a trip to San Francisco to see the last series played there by the Oakland A’s. We enjoyed taking to them and hearing about their planned adventure. When they departed the owners of the only taxi cab service on Manitoulin Island sat down with us. They were local and had many stories to tell us about their taxi service. After a beer or two too many we rode our bikes back to the boat.
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| Delicious Indian food |
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| Little Current Marina |
The next day we woke to the dreaded CRUISE SHIP in port. They were docked just to the west of us and were off loading passengers as we ate our breakfast. They were being lightered in from around the corner in the North Channel. It was cold and windy and surprisingly few passengers disembarked. We made our way to the grocery store and bought some fresh produce and beer. We later walked down to the one lane swing bridge - the only road access to the largest fresh water island in the world. A little surreal. The bridge takes you to Goat Island, which has no goats. On our way back we ran into a local working in his garden. He stopped long enough to tell us about his solar panels and electric cars. We enjoyed our chat.
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| Stone Gazebo |
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| Little Current Swing Bridge |
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| Swing Bridge up close |
After dinner we walked up to the stone gazebo in the waterfront park. There was a band setting up and we thought we’d stay and listen for a bit. We were so glad we did. It was their last performance for the season and they were quite good. There were 5 gentlemen our age sitting in folding chairs and two teens standing behind. They also called people from the audience to join them- both women quite accomplished in their area. One sang mostly old country songs and the other play the harmonica. They were an absolute treat. We are so lucky . We find these wonderful gatherings and get to talk with locals and enjoy the local atmosphere. This is why we cruise. We’re not foodies and we don’t eat out often but we sure enjoy chatting with other travelers and locals.
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| Local entertainment |
The wind finally lay down and we dropped our lines and left for Baie Fin. We were told it was like cruising in a fjord with steep rock walls and beautiful scenery. We could barely wait. The entrance to Baie Fin is well camouflaged and once in you realize that your depth finder will be your best friend. We traveled up to the anchorage before the pool. With the wind blowing straight dow the bay, we needed a protected spot for at least a day. We looked at the recommended anchorages but they were exposed. We found a sweet little cove and set a stern anchor and tied a bow line to a tree on the shore. Later that day three looper boats came in and anchored on top of the anchor symbols on Aquamaps. They had a rough evening and left early the next morning.
We decided we’d take a ride up to the pool and hike up to Topaz Lake. Katie and Dean said it was a must see. When we got to the dock, other cruisers were just tying up. We spoke and they took off. We should have followed them. There were trail markers but at one point other makers appeared and no indication was given as to which went to Topaz Lake. We chose wrong. We hiked a good 2-3 miles up a creek bed on rocks and finally decided that we had chosen the wrong trail. Going back down was easier. We intercepted the other cruisers and they pointed us in the right direction. It was a 15 minute hike as opposed to our death march up and down the creek bed.
The lake was beautiful with high bluffs surrounding it. We sat for a bit with our feet in the water cooling off till Abby arrived. Abby was a sweet mutt who came barreling up behind me panting in my ear. Scared the bejeezus out of me - thought she was a bear. Her people arrived shortly there after and introduced us properly.
The walk back to the dinghy was half as long and we were glad to get back to our dinghy. As with all dinghy excursions, they start on a flat calm water but the return is always rough. The wind had come up and there was a good chop on the bay. We made our way slowly the 1/2 mile back to Carolina. We were both tired and hungry when we finally got back.
The next morning we planned on leaving fairly early for Killarney. We had a bow and stern anchor to retrieve and a bow line to untie. Bob pulled himself in the dinghy along the bow line to shore and untied us. We wear our headsets so we can communicate with each other. It became very apparent the first time we tried this that communication was essential. Next I let out more chain on the bow anchor so Bob could pull in the stern anchor. This turned out to be a long and painful operation. We eventually had to pull up the bow anchor and backdown over the stern anchor to break it free. We were well and stuck to the bottom. Once we had both anchors up, we proceeded through the fjord-like gap and around to the Killarney Channel.
We had booked into the Killarney Mountain Lodge for two nights with the option to stay longer. We knew it was expensive and we hoping it was worth the money. We were pleasantly surprised. The resort was lovely. It would make a fantastic place to take your family for a week. Swimming pool, sauna, restaurants, bars, game room and more. Our only complaint would be the walk to the bathrooms was about 1/4mile. Needless to say, we just walked up for showers - which were spotless and well appointed.
There’s not much in town to entertain and we were at the end of the season so many things were closed. We did visit Herbert’s Fishery for lunch one day and we shopped at the general store. We borrowed resort bikes to ride out to the lighthouse. We had tried to hike out there but once again the trail signs were ambiguous and not marked. We had walked for a couple of miles and finally gave up rather than get lost. It was easy to find on the bikes and only about 3 miles.
While we were visiting the lodge,there was a fly-in of Lake Amphibians. There were 8 Lakers pulled up on shore just beyond the marina. We watched them land behind our boat then take off 3 days later. It’s quite exciting to see. Bob, of course, talk to every pilot he could button hole. We also met a lovely couple from Illinois. Wil and Vera were touring through Canada enjoying the beautiful weather. We had much in common and wish we had more time to talk with them but we had a weather wind and would be leaving at sunrise the next day.
We ended up staying at Killarney for 4 nights due to wind. We left early the morning of the 9th heading for The Bruce Peninsula and the Cape Crocker anchorage. The winds have been a real issue all summer. Finding an appropriate anchorage meant exploring new possibilities and not just anchoring on top of the anchor emblem on Aquamaps. We are surrounded by high bluffs. The topography is exceptional. The weather had turned cooler and our night here was frosty.
We are in the home stretch now making our way to Penetanguishene, ON and Hindson Marina for winter storage. Our next stop is in Big Sand Bay on Christian Island. The anchorage is empty. We think we’ve over stayed the season maybe. The Big Sand Bay is just what it says- big and sandy. We drop our anchor in 17’ of water and I can watch it hit the bottom and set. The water is beautiful and crystal clear. We had a wonderful and peaceful night here and had a lazy morning the next day. We didn’t leave till almost noon because we only had 3 hr. Cruise to the marina. The Penetanguishene Harbor is quite protected and much bigger than it looks on maps. The boat traffic in and out was overwhelming. We hadn’t seen this many boats since we left Sault Ste. Marie. Hindson was ready for us and sent a dockhand out to help us find our slip. We got docked, plugged in and ready to start unloading when we were informed that we’d have to move. We had just be saying how nice it was to be so close to the restrooms and parking area. Oh well…..we got moved to the hinterlands a good 1/4 mile walk to shore. Now our packing would have to start in earnest. But first we had to meet Katie and Tammy and our truck! They arrived minutes after we had moved the boat.
Katie had volunteered herself and her daughter as delivery drivers. They had stored our truck for us all summer and now were driving it the 8 hrs. over to Canada to meet us. We can never thank them enough. We all went to lunch together and enjoyed catching up on our summer escapades. They were anxious to get back on the road. Around 4:30 they were off and on their way back to Muskegon. Next year Katie and Dean hope to join us for a bit on the boat.
We spent the next day and a half packing and talking with trades men about work we wanted done. We were very pleased with our choice of marinas and have great hopes for a wonderful job on our dodger. Once we had crammed everything not nailed down from the boat into the car, we said our goodbyes and left. We reached the border after dark and of course picked the slowest line. With our truck packed so full, we were sure we’d be searched. When I turn came the conversation started wit,”What’s your nationality?” Kind of surprised us since we just handed him US passports. He asked us to roll down the back window. Looked inside and exclaimed- What have you been doing here for 3 months? We explained and he was intrigued. Waved us on and wished us luck next year. Phew!!
The rest of the trip was kind of a blur. We got in late in the evening and unpacked because it was possibly going to rain. We were beat and Bob didn’t feel well. He got worse then gave it to me. We finally tested and we both had COVID 😖. We spent the next five days secluded in our house trying not to spread the wealth. It’s now Tuesday,September 24th and we are both COVID free and busy packing for our next adventure. We’re off to Scotland to cruise the Caledonian Canal (in a rented boat). Wish us luck. I’ll try to write a post or two from there but we won’t have dishy with us so Wi-Fi will be spotty.
Stay safe and please remember to get out and vote! Let’s Make America Kind Again!!
P.S. Pictures are being a pain - I’ll post them at some later date.😥
