2019 RV/Boat

Back to the world of communication.

After  the last post on Friday, the skies cleared, although there was one last rain cell that gave us a bit of a rainbow to the north of the channel.

Saturday

We arose to find that we had made the right decision to find a dock on Saturday.  A stiff NE wind made it choppy even in the marina…not to mention cold for a July morning and a misty drizzle came and went from time to time.

The gray skies certainly weren’t very inviting.

The buoy in the middle of the channel has a base shaped like a boat so that the bow points into the current flow.  It changes with the wind surges.  The current direction has changed a half dozen times in the first 24 hours we were in Little Current.

So Saturday was a down day and was spent provisioning for the rest of the cruise.  The LCBO and grocery are both relatively handy to the marina location.

Sunday, SUNDAY!!!

Sunday began with a real nice morning.  After a quick breakfast and a trio to the gas dock, we pulled out into the channel for the next leg of our eastern trek.

The attendant at the gas dock said there was 16’ vertical clearance this year under the span.  We’re about 11’ off the water without the fishing rods or radio antenna.  So we took the rods down and lowered the antenna and eased under the bridge and eastward.

Kathy sat on the bow to watch the condition.  She indicated about 4’ of clearance as I passed.  Makes it nice that I didn’t have to wait for the hourly opening…nor will I need to time my return trip to coincide with the top of the hour.

Our cruise today would take us about 30 miles east of Little Current, up the Landsdowne Channel, through the Killarney Channel, across a bit of open Georgian Bay, into the Collins Inlet to an anchorage in Mill Lake.

Kathy doesn’t take the helm too often.  Only during times I need to be doing something else.  She was guiding us out the Little Current Channel while I was stowing lines and putting the antenna and rods back up.

With Little Current behind us, we continued east toward the Landsdowne Channel.

Passing the Strawberry Island light.

A few miles and we were entering the Landsdowne Channel.

We passed several boats here that were leaving a cove along the channel.

The shore is the typical white granite common in this area.

A few more miles and we enter the Killarney Channel.

We plan to make Killarney our first stop on the trip back west, but for today we were just passing through.

We exit the east end of the Killarney Channel.

Heading east we approach the entrance to the Collins Inlet.

The inlet narrows as we move east.

Once I gained a little confidence, I decided the trawler speed wasn’t going to cut it.  Hammer down.

It was a scenic trip through the inlet.

In a few places, it got quite narrow but the depth was always 15 feet or more.

After we had anchored, we took a tour of Mill Lake in the dinghy.

We passed another cruiser entering the lake.

We eventually saw a few of this same boat in here.  I think they may be chartered boats.

Many of the outpost cabins now sport solar panels to provide energy.

We continued up the inlet for a mile or so beyond Mill Lake.  This route leads to Beaverstone Bay and into the northern shore of Georgian Bay.

We were about to encounter a fleet of cruisers so we turned around and lead the charge back to the boat.

Once back to the boat, we discovered the anchor wasn’t holding so we re-anchored and re-anchored and moved and re-anchored and re-anchored and moved and re-anchored and…wait a minute, I think we’re solid to the ground...FINALLY.

The bottom here was a mucky, slimy kind of bottom and the anchor just pulled through it so we had to scout around a bit to find a bottom that was a little more solid.  Turns out it was in this guy’s back yard.

But it didn’t appear to be inhabited and was for sale.

I went out and dragged a worm for a little while up the inlet and actually had a smallmouth bass on for a while.  Other than that, I could feel the tunk, tunk, tunk of something small biting the harness.  I’m going to guess those were gobies.

So as the sun sets Sunday night and the mosquitoes emerge, we conclude our eastern voyage.  Tomorrow the trek begins in a westward direction to the port of Killarney.

Monday.

We rose to another great North Channel morning.

Before we packed up to head west, I took the opportunity to take a lap of the island we were anchored near.

Another fishless outing.  I think timing has played a big part of the difficult fishery.  We've followed the mayfly hatch north fpr the past couple weeks.  

So with the gear stowed and breakfast finished, I have my windlass (anchor winch or wench??) retrieve the ground tackle.

We head WEST on the Collins Inlet, retracing our route from yesterday.

Opening into the Georgian Bay.

It's only a few miles from the channel and we're back to Killarney where we find dockage at the Sportsman's Inn.

It's a hotel/motel/marina/restaurant and is very nice.

A trip down the waterfront gets us to the LCBO for restocking.  It's the major shopping destination here.

On the schedule for this evening is a trip to Herbert Fisheries restaurant for some fresh fish then some LCBO product.  Beyond that, I need some sleep.

Later.