7/21/2015
Beaverstone Bay
Collins Inlet
Killarney, Ontario
Herbert Fisheries
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| Sportsman's Inn and Marina
Even though the wind had been blowing out of the northwest
in the upper teens all night, we had a peaceful anchorage by ourselves,
sheltered by the high cliffs in Beaverstone Bay. At 7:30 a.m. we picked up the anchor, and
headed out on a 21 mile trip to Killarney.
This journey took us through jagged Collins Inlet, and the scenery now
included high, rugged mountains in the distance. As we entered the narrow Killarney Channel,
there were many boats at the marinas that lined the northern side, and we
headed for “Sportsman’s Inn Marina”. This
marina also includes a number of docks across the channel, and a water taxi
picks boaters up from there, and transfers them across so that they, too, have
access to the Inn’s restaurant, pub, and spa services as well as the laundry,
showers, and ship’s store. From here you
can also easily walk to the town’s few stores, restaurants, and post
office. As we toured Killarney this
time, we noted that a number of things had changed since we were here 6 years
ago, including the closure of Herbert Fishery’s “Mr. Perch Fish and Chips”
school bus that had operated as a take-out restaurant with seating under a
tent. Replacing it now, was an actual
eat-in /take-out restaurant, and Gateway Marina’s small restaurant and bakery
had unfortunately closed. We made a
visit to Pitfield’s General Store and eventually ate lunch at “Mr. Perch’s”. During the afternoon the wind began to build
into the 20+ mph range with gusts to 30, so observing the dockage procedures of
many of the boats attempting to pull into the marina became very interesting as
they battled the wind. It was a very
difficult process for some panicky skippers as well as their crew members
aboard who did not have their fenders ready in advance or their lines secured
to the boat and ready to toss. One
elderly captain even shut his engine down before he was tied to the dock! After “showtime” was over, we relaxed and
George picked up pizza at the pub for us for dinner.
7/22/2015
Since the wind was still howling, we decided to spend
another day in Killarney taking care of some usual boat chores: laundry, and
cleaning the inside and outside of the boat in preparation for a visit by our
friends, Clare and Andrew Zeigler, who were flying up from Savannah, Georgia to
meet us in two days in Little Current.
We also heard from Randy and Cindy aboard “I Think I Can…” who also might meet us there on Friday for a
short visit, since they were trying to get to Drummond Island and then on to
Saulte Ste. Marie by the end of the week-end.
Early in the evening we had a light dinner at the Sportman’s Inn’s new
pub, and after some DVD watching, we retired early.
7/23/2015
On the way to Little Current, Ontario
  
"Pearl Mist" Docked at Little Current
Though we wanted to leave at 8 a.m., we were blocked in by a
boat that was placed behind us on our floating finger dock. No marina staff members were available to
help us, so a number of our fellow boaters came to our assistance, and when the
boat behind us graciously backed out of the slip, others released our lines and
walked us back out of our spot, and we turned and were on our way. Again the scenery was magnificent with the
mountains of the North Channel in the distance.
We timed our speed to make the once-an-hour/ on-the-hour opening of the
Little Current Swing Bridge at 11 a.m., and by 11:30 a.m. we were docked at the
end of a floating T dock at the Little Current Town Docks. This town is the largest town on Manitoulin
Island with a population of 2,700, and a little while later we walked up the
hill to one of its two supermarkets, “GiGi”s”, and after our shopping, one of
its employees drove us back to our boat with our provisions. In the evening we had dinner delivered by the
only Chinese restaurant on the island, “China City”. Except for not having adequate Internet
service here, all was now well with the world, and we eventually got a phone
call from Andrew and Clare to tell us that they had arrived at their hotel in
Sudbury via airline flights from Savannah to Toronto, and Toronto to Sudbury,
and also to tell us that would be taking a car service from there to Little
Current tomorrow and expected to arrive around 10 a.m.
7/24/2015
Barkentine training vessel
This morning we had an 8 a.m. breakfast at “The Anchor Inn”,
and then went to the second floor of the inn to take part in “The Little
Current Cruisers’ Net”, which is a radio show begun by Roy Eaton in 2004. He broadcasts this show daily on VHF Channel
71, and also live-streams it on the Internet daily at 9 a.m. during the months
of July and August as an assistance to boaters in Georgian Bay and the North
Channel within a 25 mile (and sometimes more) radius of Little Current. He reports on both Canadian and American
national news, sports, and stock market figures, as well as reporting local
marine weather, historical data of the day, and local events. Afterwards, he invites boaters from various
areas of the region to call in from their locations, tell where they are
heading, and also allows them to pass on messages to other boats. Today Pat was one of Roy’s “Secretaries” of
the day, and she recorded the name and location of 151 boats as they called
in! Roy also was kind enough to mention
our books, and told everyone that we would be present at this afternoon’s
“Cruisers’ Net Happy Hour” from 3 – 5 p.m. at “The Anchor Inn” and would also be available for book purchases and
signings. George went back to the boat
early to await the arrival of Andrew and Clare.
However, a short time later he received a phone call from them that the
car service had not shown up to pick them up, and that they had to get another
one to deliver them, so that they would be delayed. Randy and Cindy also stopped by with their
boat for a short visit, and after they left, the Zeiglers finally arrived
around 11:30 a.m. and we went up to their drop-off point at the marina to help
them with their luggage. After having
lunch and getting them settled aboard, we all headed back to “The Anchor Inn”
for the “Cruisers’ Net” get-together.
Roy again was a great host, and we talked with the crews of “Pearl” and
“Melinda B.”, AGLCA members that we had previously met in Amsterdam and Oswego,
NY respectively. Afterwards we went upstairs to interview Roy privately for our
up-dates to “Waterway Guide”, and returned back to the boat just in time to
greet Gary Holtze, one of our boat neighbors in Marathon, and two of his
friends, who happened to be staying on our same dock as we in Little
Current. After “docktails” aboard, we
and Andrew and Clare went back again to “The Anchor Inn”, but this time for
dinner! Let’s see – that was our third
trip up and down that hill – and it seemed to be becoming a well-worn path!
7/25/2015
  Our Anchorage at the Benjamin Islands         
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This morning we all AGAIN returned to “The Anchor Inn” for
breakfast at 8 a.m., not only for its great food and reasonable prices, but
also because it was the only location where we could get Internet access. Afterwards, we again headed upstairs for “The
Cruisers’ Net” radio broadcast, and today Roy had even MORE callers than
yesterday! After the broadcast we headed
back to the boat, and shortly afterwards, we got on our way for a 19 mile trip
to the Benjamins, a group of granite
rock islands west of Little Current with
many anchorages among them. We finally
found a beautiful spot between North and South Benjamin Island in the company
of 14 other boats, and we anchored “Reflection” in approximately 47’ of
water. We had a quiet afternoon, and two
young girls came by on kayaks to say, “Hi!”, while we could see other boaters
climbing on the rocks, and some even swimming in the 64 degree water. Later we enjoyed Grilled Pork Chops, garlic
noodles, and vegetables for dinner, and by 10 p.m. we were all in our bunks,
but George got up twice during the night to see if he again could see the
Aurora Borealis as we had in 2009, but it this time it was to no avail.
7/26/2015
Gore Bay
It took a little while to lift up our anchor with the amount
of chain and line scope we had out for the depths of water in the anchorage,
but eventually we were on our way, and we took a tour around some of the other
anchorages in the Benjamins, including the one at Croker Island where we had
stayed on our last “Loop”. Then we had a
wonderful 19 mile trip to beautiful Gore Bay, where we pulled in at Gore Bay
Marina around noon. There Pat spotted a
boat named “Takitez II”, which she remembered from our first “Loop” trip. At that time we even had dinner with the
owners, Joe and Joyce Essery, in Florence, Alabama, so we decided that we would
stop by and say, “Hello”, if they were aboard.
George and Andrew went to check in at the marina office and to scout out
a dinner location, and afterwards Andrew and Clare went for a walk to see what
the town looked like. We all convened on
the back deck later on, and suddenly a small power boat came by, and the captain
yelled to us, “Are you “Loopers”?, and we said, “Yes!”, then he said, “Are you
the boat ,“Reflection”, that wrote the book?”, and we said, “Yes!”, then he yelled , “I own your book!”, and then
George shouted, “Thank you for buying it!”, and we were absolutely delighted
that he came over to see us! Later on we
did stop by to see Joe and Joyce, who were aboard “Takitez II”, and found out
that they still had not managed to finish their “Loop” trip even after 6
years. We then headed out to “Buoy’s
Eatery” for dinner on their outdoor deck.
The place was not fancy, but the aromas coming from their kitchen were
great, and we enjoyed the singing of the restaurant’s guitar player, who came
over to chat with us later. It was one
of those unexpected “magic” nights with terrific food, excellent music, lots of
laughs, and we shared it with wonderful friends in a beautiful mountain
location!
7/27/2015
On our way to Blind River, Ontario
Clare and Andrew
Blind River Marina
"Duck" boat
We left Gore bay Marina around 8 a.m. for a 33 mile run to
Blind River, our last port in Canada.
The winds were out of the west at around 10- 12 mph with wave heights
around 1’, and sunny skies with
temperatures in the 70s. Because it was
a Monday, there was very little boat traffic, and our trip was very
pleasant. We arrived at Blind River
Marine Park before noon, and after a quick lunch, Pat was off to the on-site
laundry, George was planning tomorrow’s route to Drummond Island, Michigan, and
Andrew and Clare were on a bike ride to explore the town of Blind River. They found the “Mustang Bar’ at the “Iron Horse
Restaurant”, that we had enjoyed so much on our first “Loop, but they didn’t
find too much more to see in the town. In the laundry Pat met an elderly woman
who asked her, “Did you just come off that ship?” Pat looked around and then answered, “What ship?”,
and the woman then pointed to “Reflection”.
Pat then told her that our boat was a 48’ Symbol MotorYacht, to which
she replied, “Well, that’s a ship to me!” (It’s all a matter of one’s perception, for in Miami or Fort
Lauderdale we might be considered a dinghy!)
We all had laughs about that later, and then we called a cab to take us
into town, so that we could have a nostalgic dinner at the “Mustang”/ “Iron
Horse”. However, when we got there around 6 p.m., it was closed! Our cab-driver, then recommended “Pier
Seventeen”, which was a lovely restaurant on the water at Blind River. Our dinner was delicious, it was served in a
lovely venue, and we thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the fact that it did not
have the rough “ambiance” of “The Mustang”. After dinner, our same cab-driver
picked us up , and then finally returned us back safely to our “Ship”!
7/28/2015
Drummond Island, Michigan - Back in the U. S. A.
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We pulled out of Blind River around 8:15 a.m. for a 44 mile
trip to Drummond Island Marina. The seas
were relatively calm as we left the North Channel of Canada, and finally we
began to see U.S. flags being flown at the cottages near Drummond which told us
that we were back in U.S. waters after almost 5 weeks in Canada. We now flew our yellow stain (flag) as we
docked at Drummond Island Marina, and within minutes a U.S. Customs official
came aboard, simply asked us a few questions re: meat products, and any items
that we might want to declare. We then
showed him our passports, our vessel’s Documentation Papers, and we were
happily welcomed back into the U.S.A.! A short while later we all got into the marina’s courtesy
car and drove to the nearest super-market, which was crowded and very small,
but we were able to secure some fresh local corn to go with our Barbecued
Spareribs which we greatly enjoyed for dinner that evening!
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