We all decided to stay for a couple of days to stock up on supplies and ready the boats for anchoring out in the Georgian Bay. Ken McDonald, a head guy at the marina, met with all the guys for over 2 hours going over charts and making recommendations on routes in the Georgian Bay. Meanwhile, the ladies decided to have a "me" day, and we all took off for lunch and pedicures then met the guys for dinner out on the town.
A couple of days later - boats all readied - we said goodbye to BayPort and were off and running.
We heard that the Georgian Bay was home to some of the most scenic waters
and beautiful anchorages on the entire loop trip; so, we were excited to get started.
Bay Port Marina
We passed Beausoleil Island - the largest island in the Georgian Bay.
The Miss Midland - a 100' sightseeing tour boat. The Captain
didn't seem to have a problem with the narrow channel.
The bay is covered with rock islands, and, if the island is large enough for a house, then there is one on it as you can see from the following photos.
We were not disappointed by the scenery as the channel wove its way through rock islands.
At times the channel would open up into a bay and then narrow back down again.
Inuksuks are everywhere in this area - this is one of the larger ones.
I had a difficult time putting the camera down as around every corner was another picturesque scene.
The group stayed together, and we all anchored out our first night in Indian Harbor. Several other boats were anchored out with us, and we were only too glad they did as Amos came up missing in the middle of the night; so, we had lots of help trying to locate him the next morning.
I awoke a little after 4:00 am and went to check on Amos who was on the back screened porch, or so I thought... He wasn't there... Heartbroken Jeff and I searched the boat to no avail. At daybreak we had the dinghy down searching the shoreline and nearby rocks hoping that somehow he had made it to shore. Barefoot'n joined us in the search, but they didn't have any luck either.
We dinghyed over to our other buddy boats to tell them the news and the folks in the red boat below called out and asked "are you looking for a cat?" to which I responded "yes." Then they asked if it was a black and white cat (like there would be a lot of cats out here in the middle of nowhere...), I was excited momentarily as I screamed "yes!, have you seen him?"
Suddenly their expressions changed, and they all looked sad. I told Jeff "this is gonna be bad" as I thought they had recovered his body. But then as we approached their boat Amos appeared wrapped in a blanket, and he jumped into my arms! I cried so hard and he meowed - I don't think either of us ever expected to see the other again.
Apparently Amos unzipped one of the screen panels where the flag pole is and made it out to the swim platform. From there all I can guess is that he walked off the swim platform thinking the water was a flat surface and ended up in the drink. He swam against the wind and against the current finding his way to the red boat anchored out about 200 yards in front of us!
Amazingly enough the ladder was down on their swim platform so he was able to climb aboard The folks said that they awoke at 4:00 am to Amos crying, soaking wet, and standing on their swim platform! They felt that it was like "Moses in the basket" come to rest on their swim platform. In fact, they had already renamed Amos "Georgia"! (I assume since they found him in the Georgian Bay.) Hence, the sad look on all their faces... They said "you just don't know how much we already love that cat."
Needless to say we thanked them profusely! I think everyone was crying when we dinghyed away. After pulling up anchor and getting underway, we drove by their boat so Amos could wave goodbye and I could take their picture. They still had the anchor down on their swim platform - just in case...
After such an emotional start, it was good to get underway. Just being on the water and surrounded by such beautiful scenery helps to restore the soul.
We decided to call it an early day and grabbed a mooring ball at Massassauga Provincial Park. We heard that the Moon River was something to see so we set out by dinghy so we could explore the shoreline.
Moon River
Sunset over Massassauga Provincial Park - Port Rawson Anchorage.
A meteor shower was expected later in night; so, after Jeff and Amos were tucked into bed, I sat out on the bow of the boat from 10:00pm to 1:30am drinking hot chocolate and counting shooting stars - 82 in all! Several flying across the entire breadth of the sky with sparkling tails! With the day getting off to such an emotional start - I felt like I really needed to count my lucky stars, and the universe once again delivered...
The next day we had a "big water" crossing. And one of the many things we've learned on this trip is to pick your travel days when crossing big water. As the weather was expected to deteriorate over the next few days, we decided to make as much progress as possible today and get to a marina to hunker down for the bad weather days. We had a beautiful day on the water with no one in sight all day except our buddy, Barefoot'n, and 3 sailboats.
We passed the Point au Baril lighthouse as we made our way to Britt in the Byng Inlet.
We pulled into St Amant's marina late in the day, but happy with our progress. The store there was most impressive - better hardware section than most hardware stores - plus groceries, pharmaceuticals, and even a liquor store! Plus the top floor had a great little restaurant with bar and pool tables and an awesome display of historical photographs of the Britt area. It certainly wasn't anything fancy, but these folks made the most of what they had!
The store at St Amant's.
No fancy entranceway here...
Our favorite table - SeaGlide just out the window...
The following day a wind advisory was issued for all of Georgian Bay. We decided to pull out with Barefoot'n, but after sticking our bow into the big water, we decided to head back into port. Barefoot'n continued on, and we headed back to Britt, this time pulling into Wright's Marina where some other buddy boats were staying.
It, too, was a nice little marina, and the owner came out to greet us as we pulled into the slip. It seems that Amos' reputation preceeded us, and the owner was most anxious to meet him.
With the cool weather, we decided to have a chili cookoff with our buds - what an awesome idea!
Bucket List and Pazza Bella
We were a tad nervous in that it is already mid-August, and we still have the North Channel and Lake Michigan to go. With all the weather delays we've already had on this trip, when we see a good weather window, we take full advantage.
Both Bucket List and Pazza Bella were behind us as we watched the sun rise..
Waves kicking up some sea spray, but we continued on. In fact, contrary
to the forecast, the wind actually laid down later in the day.
The LaClouche Mountains in the distance - made of white quartz.
Yep, we have our cold weather gear on, but still having a blast!
The highs were in the low 60s and the lows in the 40s - feels colder than that while underway!
We made our way into Collins Inlet off Beaverstone Bay and were treated to some of the most beautiful scenery thus far on the entire trip. Jeff has remarked several times that this was his favorite spot so far on the trip.
We caught up to Barefoot'n in Mill Lake and the whole gang dropped anchor. We deployed our dinghy for more exploring.
Mill Lake
Finally, a good shot of a loon!
We collected a few rocks to build our own Inuksuk once we get back home.
We'll have him point the way from Potato Branch to the Georgian Bay.
My own rock island...
and Jeff found one too
with lots of flora
SeaGlide at anchor in Mill Lake.
Barefoot'n at anchor in Mill Lake.
This was to be our last anchorage in the Georgian Bay as we made our way to Killarney. From there we would enter the North Channel. So, we soaked up the scenery while wishing we had more time to spend in this gorgeous region.
We pulled into the Sportsman's Inn (had a marina too) as we had heard about the drive-in movie for boaters. They gave us prime slips just across from the movie screen. We thought they played the movie over the vhf, but it was over a radio station instead - too bad as we only have satellite radio; so, we missed the show.
The movie screen.
The next day we were off to explore Killarney. One of the main "draws" is Herbert's Fishery to dine on their fresh fish and chips. They only serve fish caught fresh that day, and it was a real treat. They also process the fish there and sell fresh filets along with smoked trout and whitefish. We bought the smoked fish and enjoyed smoked fish dip for days afterward.
Fresh fish and chips served out of an old bus.
One of their fishing boats.
The girls working hard to process the day's catch.
Jeff worked hard to finish SeaGlide's racing stripe -
an ongoing project since leaving Myrtle Beach.
We could never decide quite how to finish it until I had the thought
to copy the lines of the rub rail beneath it - lookin' good now!
The next morning we all had breakfast together before striking out for the North Channel. The Georgian Bay is truly an area to be seen and experienced. I'm hopeful of one day renting a cabin here for the season and exploring my heart out in this beautiful country.
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