Killarney and Baie Fine at the junction of Georgian Bay and the North Channel

Killarney is a popular route for boaters to move from Georgian Bay to the North Channel of Lake Huron on their way back to the USA. Although it is well traveled by water, it is almost inaccessible by land.There is only one road into Killarney from Sudbury and Sudbury isn't much of a town either.

Maybe we were too excited to return to Killarney after being there in 2001 on Mike's boat. Our expectations were too high! It was no longer the quaint little place we remembered. The Sportsman's' Lodge was now a new building without the charm and trees from the original building. There isn't even a tree to hang a bear from during bear hunting season. Herbert's Fish is building a new building and operating from a concessions trailer, no longer the cute school bus. Frank, Mike's mechanic was still there but not in good health. To summarize, Killarney was trying to be "big time" and in our opinion lost it's charm.

After checking out the grotto across the canal we had a most unusual fish encounter. As we were motoring along slowly, we saw the eyes and mouth of a muskie or northern pike swimming along side of us, about ten feet away. It's head stayed out of the water for at least 30 sec. We all saw it and hadn't ever seen anything like it before. After a while it went down and swam away.

Baie Fine is pronounced Bay Fin. It is an inland fjord with an area at the end called the Pool. When we anchored in the Pool we were the only boats there. That changed after a while and we shared the pool with three or four other boats for the night. The area is beautiful with the trees growing right out of the granite.

While anchored we took the dinghies to the trail that leads to Topaz Lake up on the mountain. After an invigorating hike up a dry creek bed we arrived at the lake. What a beautiful site! The water there is actually a green color and the lake is reported to have nothing growing in it. Mark, again found an area to jump off of for his daily facebook video. After swimming for a while we hiked back down and dingied back to the boats. What a beautiful and relaxing place to be.

It's such a shame this grotto isn't being maintained.

Someone put a lot of work into this at one time.

At least it isn't being vandalized.

The new Sportsman Inn without the charm of the original one.

We were docked next to this big boat, more than twice our boats' length.

Leaving Killarney.

This barge is the way to transport things in the islands.

On the way to Baei Fine.

Entering the Baie Fine fjord.

Beautiful!

Just as beautiful in the sunshine.

Leaving Baie Fine with a little fog.

The dry creek bed going up to Topaz Lake.

Notice the tire tracks. I can't imagine travelling this with any vehicle.

Its hard to believe but, someone moved a load of lumber up this path while we were up at the lake.

It was at the landing when we arrived and gone when we returned from the lake.

Not all of the trail was difficult.

The final bit of trail to the beautiful lake.

This beauty was worth the hike!

It was surprising to see so many people in such a remote area.

Our two boats at anchor in the Pool.

Looking the other way at our boats at anchor.

Mark and I were swimming in the Pool. The water was beautiful on a hot day.

Maybe there was some beer consumed while swimming also.

This is a view in the pool.

WOW!!!!

It was very weedy anchoring in the pool and we hauled up this weed ball on our anchor.

It was a bit difficult to remove.

The next post will be the completion of Canada.

Beautiful Georgian Bay and Devon Falls.

After enjoying our rest in Midland it was again time to move on. This time we are excited to experience the beauty of Georgian Bay.

Our first night was at the legendary Henry's Fish Restaurant. Henry's is located on Frying Pan Island in the Sans-Souci area. The only way to get there is by boat or float plane. Georgian Bay Airways flies people into Henry's, drops them off and leaves, returning with more people later and returning the original passengers to Midland or Parry Sound.

After enjoying a family style meal of pickerel, walleye to Minnesotans, we took a dinghy ride to an anchorage we knew other loopers have used. Although it was beautiful we decided to check out the anchorage recommended by our dock mates in Midland. The following morning we traveled about five miles east to an anchorage in Port Rawson Bay. It was an absolutely beautiful place, so beautiful we stayed a second night.

Following our dock mates' advice we dinghied to a waterfall about five miles away. Wow, the trees growing out of the rocks, the water, the sky, it is all just gorgeous! When we arrived at the last lake before the waterfall, we encountered some people paddling a fishing boat because their engine wouldn't start. We got one dinghy on each side of them and "escorted" them back to their dock. While helping them, they told us exactly how to navigate the narrow channel back to the waterfall. That advice was greatly appreciated. After navigating the narrow, shallow and very rocky channel we beached the dinghies and walked the shoreline a short distance to the waterfall.

Now from previous blogs you may remember that Mark likes to jump off of things into the water. While enjoying the beauty of the waterfall, I mentioned that Mark would jump off the waterfall if he knew where to jump. An attractive young lady overheard my comment and offered to show Mark where to jump. After setting her beer down she and Mark walked the rocks to the waterfall and she made a beautiful dive into the pool below. Mark, following orders, didn't dive but jumped into the pool. Upon exiting the water the girl introduced herself as Devon. Therefore we nicknamed the place Devon Falls. Good luck to anyone that tries to find Devon Falls!

After two beautiful nights at anchor we again needed to move along. This time our destination was Parry Sound, where we contacted Ernie and Nancy Klink, friends from Fort Myers Beach, who live on the water at Parry Sound. While waiting for the bridge to open we visited with Ernie on his dock. After work Nancy and Ernie met us at the marina and took us to a much needed grocery store and Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire is much more than a tire store, kind of like Fleet Farm in Minnesota. The Klinks were hoping we would stay another night in Parry Sound but again we needed to move on. We really appreciate the visit we had with them and look forward to seeing them in Florida again this coming winter.

Hopewell Island was our next anchorage overnight. Again we dinghied around Hopewell Bay and found a narrow channel between walls of granite rock. Bustard Island was our next anchorage and just as beautiful as all the previous anchorages. Leaving there was like an infinity pool, the sky and water seemed to be joined together.

We were really happy we traveled the back way through Beaverstone Bay and Collins Inlet on the way to Killarney.

Killarney and Baie Fine will be the next blog.

 Henry's Fish Restaurant. This building is where the servers bunk for the summer, avoiding a daily boat ride to work.

One of the sea planes leaving Henry's

Henry's from the water.

Propellers are no match for Georgian Bay rocks!

Devon Falls

Mark following Devon to jump in.

Getting ready to jump.

Swimming back after a successful dive and jump.

Navigator and Average Looper at anchor in port Rawson Bay. 

Ernie and Nancy's house in Parry Sound.

A tour boat leaving the Parry Sound town dock.

Scene from Parry Sound town dock.

View of Parry Sound from the town dock.

Sailing lessons as we departed Parry Sound.

Canadian Coast Guard boat in Parry Sound.

There were many beautiful spots like this along our route.

Sunset at anchor.

Pointe au Baril lighthouse.

At anchor with sailboats in the Bustard Islands.

There were lots of areas with this beautiful pink granite.

How can those trees survive in rock?

Sometimes we get up close and personal with the rocks.

The pink granite is everywhere.

Jan and Jane were intrigued with the inukshuks.

We found this granite wall on our dinghy ride.

This channel was gorgeous.

An island doesn't have to be very large to have a cottage built on it.

Until next time---

Midland Ontario, a needed rest after the Trent Severn

After completing the Trent Severn Waterway with all its locks Midland was a welcome rest. While we thoroughly enjoyed the Trent, it was a lot of work, especially for Jan. We stayed at Bay Port Marina, one of several Parkbridge Marina. At the spring rendezvous Ken MacDonald, of Parkbridge was one of our favorite speakers. He promised excellent customer service and services. We are happy to report that he and his staff delivered above and beyond his promises.

Our first encounter, was one of the two docking helpers asked if we had any trash he could take for us. That was the only time that has happened! Before we had time to check in at the office a lady stopped by and made sure we had everything we needed. During our conversation I mentioned that we needed to rent a car to drive back to Orillia to pick up my battery charger. When we arrived at the office she had checked with Enterprise and knew that Enterprise didn't have any cars available in Midland. So she called Enterprise in Orillia and reserved a car for us and arranged a free ride to Orillia, a forty five minute drive. Before taking us to Enterprise she took us to get the battery charger because she thought we might have trouble finding that marina.

By the way, after our battery charger was repaired in California we had it shipped to Len and Karina's home. To our disappointment it didn't arrive until after we visited them. After paying the customs and brokerage fees for us Len dropped the charger for us at a marina in Orillia. Thank you so much Len!

We knew other Loopers that were staying in Wye Heritage Marina, another Parkbridge Marina in Midland. We reconnected with them while waiting for a table at Henry's Fish Restaurant -  great fish by the way. Our friends informed us that we could attend a briefing of Georgian Bay the next morning with them. Jay, the Wye Heritage manager conducted a very thorough and interesting program. After his presentation Mark and Jane purchased the same charts that he used and he allowed us to copy his notes and travel routes onto our charts. He even provided the highlighters.

As with all of Canada we found the local people very helpful and friendly. Two of the local boaters gave us very helpful and detailed information that agreed with Jay's information and expanded on it. We also met an older couple that owned a beautiful 1928 fifty eight foot Trumpy Yacht. They were very proud of it and happy to discuss it in great detail.

Our greatest highlight of Midland was reconnecting with Bluenoser Jim, a looper we met in Brunswick Georgia. Jim's home port is Penetanguishene Ontario, just a short distance from Midland. He's called Bluenoser Jim because his boat is named Bluenoser and that is another story for another time. Since Mark and Jane traveled with him and knew him better they contacted him and he was excited to entertain us. While I changed the oil in Navigator he picked up Mark, Jane and Jan and gave them a very interesting tour of the area

Later in the afternoon he returned to pick us all up and take us to his house for a barbecue. Wow, what a feast! Jim is an excellent chef and was in his glory having us there with him and his wife Wendy. It was great seeing him again and reminiscing. We found it interesting that it took him about a month to get back into life on land after completing his loop.

The next post will be Georgian Bay.

What a beautiful boat!

The proud owners.

Sunrise in Midland.

I was disappointed with myself when I realized that we didn't have any other pictures from Midland, especially Bluenoser Jim and his wonderful barbecue.