World's Best Freshwater Cruising Grounds

Covered Portage Cove, off
the North Channel

Our favorite anchorage so far - Mary Ann Cove in Baie Fine
off the North Channel.

Our boat is 400 feet below
Molly's elbow in Covered
Portage Cove.

The view on Casson Peak, above Mary Ann Cove.  There
is a dot that is our boat!

The green line shows our cruising progress to date.

There is a saying that we heard that goes something like this, “The Great Lakes will prepare  you for the ocean, but the ocean will not prepare you for the Great Lakes.”  We learned this early on in Georgian Bay (technically part of Lake Huron, but also sometimes referred to as the 6^th Great Lake) where a modest 10 mph wind and only 1-foot seas resulted in one of our more uncomfortable open water crossings.  While Georgian Bay is 100 miles long and averages 40 miles across, it is like a bathtub and waves bounce off the sides and can reverberate in all directions.

Wingfield Basin before
dawn, Bruce Peninsula.

Ski slopes in Collingwood.

The clear waters of Georgian Bay.

Bruce Peninsula.

 We wanted to put our time to good use, and I looked at options as to how we could explore Bruce Peninsula National Park on foot, the main entrance of which is some 12 miles back down the southern coast. Also, there is no Uber here and because of crowd control measures one must have a reservation and a car to enter the main area of the Park. 

By 10 am a crowd is already gathered for
swimming off the cliffs and main grotto
in Bruce Peninsula National Park.

We saw a Massasauga Rattlesnake!

We took off Monday morning, minus Jan, he wasn’t feeling well, and got dropped off for the expected 7-hour hike back to Tobermory.  The scenery was spectacular, and the need for crowd control was clear as there were already a couple of hundred people near the Grotto, the Park’s main attraction.  Once we got a little way past the Grotto, however, the crowds quickly diminished to zero, and we were left hiking the splendor of the cliffs and rocky beaches in solitude except for the real Massasauga Rattlesnake that Stacy almost stepped on!

Stacy and Molly next to one of
the grottoes in the Park.

One of the few rock beaches in the Park.  There were very
few hikers after we left the main grotto.

Five miles in Molly’s back began to spasm.  With limited assistance of Tylenol and back rubs, she gamely continued as we were around four miles from the nearest road that went to Little Cove.  In her head she was already thinking about commandeering a car there.  About ½ mile from the Cove three hikers going to Little Cove caught up to us.  Molly made a quick connection with one of them and asked if they would give us a ride back to Tobermory.  Few can say no to Molly, and an hour later we are back at our boat having hitched a ride for the last three miles. 

The next day, Tuesday, was one to do laundry, grocery shopping and regularly check the weather.  The forecast continued to look grim until Saturday afternoon at the earliest, and we were facing a 50-mile open water crossing to the beginning of the famous North Channel in Killarney.  There was a small opening early Wednesday morning when the winds were to be a

On the water before dawn. We saw the sun come up.

 down to 15 knots out of the southwest, which would put them on our stern, an advantage if the waves weren’t too big.  We conferred with our Looper friends Jan and Stacy, who were going on the same crossing, and agreed to decide at 5:30 am in the morning after looking at the updated forecast.  We awoke early and with some trepidation the decision was made to go, and both our boats left the dock at 6:15 am before the sun came up.

The liquor store dock was closed. 

 Fortunately, the waves were only 1-2 feet until the very end, and we matched the 15 mph wind speed for most of the crossing.  It was still a relief to reach Killarney harbor although we were disappointed not to be able to tie up to the only LCBO liquor store dock that we know about.  The dock was at or under water as Georgian Bay is still almost two feet above its normal level. 

Our boat in Covered Portage Haror

Much enjoyed meeting fellow Rossi
 owners Mike & Mellisa in Covered
Portage. They joined Jan and Stacy
for cocktails on our boat that night.

Mary Ann Cove.

We motored past on our way to some of the most beautiful freshwater cruising grounds in the world.  The pictures here are worth a thousand words, as they say, as we anchored one night each in Covered Portage Cove, 

the Baie Fine Pool and Mary Ann Cove off Baie Fine.  At each stop we were able to hike the hills surrounding the anchorages and witness some of the most gorgeous scenery anywhere.  

On Casson Peak.

The morning view from our boat in Mary Ann.

Here the stern of the boat is tied to a tree on the shore.  Molly and I both agreed that this is our favorite anchoring spot so far on our Great Loop adventure.  In addition, the hike up Frazer Bay Hill (locally known as Casson Peak) was spectacular.

Without the sun shining
Topaz Lake didn't have its
color but the water was nice.

The next two days brought us through the beautiful Benjamin Islands, known for pink granite, and to Beardrop Harbour, part of First Nations Reservation land and another spectacular stop in the North Channel.  By many accounts, this are the world's best freshwater cruising grounds.

The temperatures are dropping
but we have a cabin heater, and
I have my hat that Caroline
gave me.

Today (9/2) we  headed south for the first time, crossed the North Channel and entered US waters off Drummond Island, Michigan.  We have said goodbye to our Looper friends Jan and Stacy Risheim, who have completed the Loop and are now headed to Wisconsin to have their boat hauled and shipped back to their home port, Seattle, Washington.  They have lived on their boat Ceci Kay, a Nordic Tug 37 for 3 1/2 years and cruised to Alaska, down the California coast to the Sea of Cortez, and now the Great Loop with a side trip to the Bahamas.  I look forward to trailering our boat as an RV across country and doing some cruising with them in Washington state and British Columbia.  But that is for another day!

The  Banjamin Islands, North Channel, are known for pink
granite.  

For now we will miss the beautiful Canadian waters and hospitality, but look forward to our upcoming US adventures on Lake Michigan and the rivers down to the Gulf of Mexico.

Anchored off the North
Channel in Beardrop Harbor.

The rocks in Beardrop.