Georgian Bay

***   Frying Pan Island to Killarney, ON    ***

We arrived at Henry’s Sans Souci on Frying Pan Island late in the day after an exciting ride on the Big Chute Marine Railway and through our last lock of Port Severn that dumped us into Georgian Bay. A huge bay, known as the 6^th Great Lake, but graced with hundreds of coves and nooks lined with granite.

Frying Pan Island to Killarney, ON

The perfect place for explorers’ who like to be off the grid and have small, keeled boats. You could easily spend the entire summer here and not see it all. We powered up during the long day to clean those turbo’s, until we entered the crazy markers through the granite passages. One cannot afford to stray from the channel.

Welcome to Georgian Bay!

We made our way to the outdoor garage/ patio (that’s all there is) for the fish and chips others have raved about. We love Herbert’s in Killarney, so we were a bit skeptical. We were cruising through the neighborhood, so we tied up for the night. It was a great setting, on an island, with most of the staff arriving by boat and a few taking up residence on the island.

Henry’s San Souci with the Bohonek Family on Live the Dash

The fish and chips were ok, nothing you couldn’t get elsewhere and definitely not iconic status. We also learned their fish was shipped in from Lake Erie. We love Lake Erie walleye, but this didn’t do it for us. Fun fact that took us a bit to catch on to – in Canada they call walleye, pickerel, the same fish and a part of the perch family. We were anxious to get to Herbert’s, as the Herbert’s of the past had darn good fish.

Following our disappointing dinner and a good evening on the dock, we headed to Parry Sound and a marina to wait out storms and wind. We wound our way through the shallow waters carefully navigating and staying in the channel, straying could end in disaster. Parry Sound would be the largest port we would visit in all of Georgian Bay. The impending weather had the marina full of loopers, 14 that we could identify through our NEBO app. We had access to many stores and restaurants including Walmart and Home Depot. We have not seen many big box stores through our time in Canada and certainly not American stores. Parry Sound is also the hometown of Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey legend with a museum steps from the marina, although we did not visit.

Bearly Used Book Store in Parry Sound, ON

Tasha, Emily, and the kids trekked in the rain to the Bearly Used Book Store, a unique store with over 250,000 books. It was not a big place, books were stacked everywhere to the ceiling, on the floor, and all but one area (intake) were in order, a chaotic overwhelming order, but order. The staff members were knowledgeable on their inventory and could take you right to a category, author, or a specific book after a few seconds though. Lauren had specific books she was looking for and they instantly led her to the collection. All a bit overwhelming Tasha found a comfy seat (Tasha has way too many on board she hasn’t opened to shop), and just marveled at the place. She became the keeper of the books that Lauren and Reed found and kept watch over before we checked out. Such a cool store. 

Weather days in a marina have us catching up with laundry, cleaning, routing, and blogging. We stayed on board quite a bit during our stay as it was just plain crappy out. Venturing out for dinner we caught this great rainbow (one of several here). Our captain was captivated by the planes, trains, and rain, all from the boat.

Parry Sound, ON

We are in the land where float planes start to become a regular mode of transportation. This port had a few but once we get to Killarney, they are numbersome. The train trestle was perched high above the river, quite a sight.

The rain stopped, the wind slowed, and we were off to an anchorage in Regatta Bay, where we rafted with Live the Dash and stern tied to a tree on a rock. It was a small Bay and with a couple of other boats and granite everywhere, we didn’t have room to swing and didn’t want to hit the rocks. Peaceful and pleasant, our loop kids Lauren and Reed had their first taste of swimming in Georgian Bay. Good thing these are Minnesota kids, as the cold water is not for everyone. The crystal clear water where you could see the bottom had them jumping off the roof of the boat. It was great to hear the giggles and watch the fun as long as we didn’t have to get in.

Regatta Bay Anchorage

The dinghy was down from our captains stern tying maneuvers on the rocks so we took off exploring the area. There was a restaurant in the area that we checked out and stopped to talk to fellow loopers in the bay near it. We love the boating community and the looper flag sure is an invitation to stop at a boat that you don’t know and strike up a 30 minute conversation while you float beside them. Always welcoming, always learning new things about the loop, and always friendly.

Dinghy to dinner

We returned later to the restaurant, Gilly’s, and had a great meal in the old cabin style building. Upon our return to our anchorage, Jordon built a fire on the rock ledge behind us. Dessert was good old s’mores, a beautiful sunset, and great company around the campfire, until the bugs came out, ugh, the bugs!

Regatta Bay

Our next anchorage found us in Tucker Bay (reminiscent of our beloved golden boy Tucker), a stone’s throw from the cliff jumping, beach, narrow passage Hole in the wall, and a short cruise to the Ojibway Club. The Ojibway Club was a flash back to the grand clubs of old.

Tucker Bay

The Ojibway Hotel opened in 1906 and was a gathering place for visitors, cottagers, and Shawanaga First Nations families for generations.  The main building’s facade has remained mostly unchanged since the last expansion in 1913. The hotel stopped taking overnight guests in the 1960’s and became a community center. Situated on a 42-acre island, cottagers from the area visit daily in the summer for dining, pickleball, sailing, day camp, and social activities. They also have a nicely stocked convenience store and clothing store, as well as several cottages to rent. Accessible only by boat we found it thriving with activity and the docks full of people coming and going constantly. We did not partake in any activities, just enjoyed the surroundings and bustling little island. What a treasure in this cottager community far from any village.

The Ojibway Club

We dinghied through hole in the wall to a quaint beach and cliff jumping area. Hole in the wall is a break in the granite wall that one can take small boats through and connects to two different bays. It’s gorgeous, well hidden, and a hub of activity.

Come along on a dinghy ride with us!

We knew we wanted to return, and we did the next day with our loop kids Lauren and Reed while their parents tended to other things. We swam, built a sandcastle, and just hung out enjoying the refreshing water. This would be the one and only time the Now or Never crew would swim in the cool waters. The evenings have really cooled and the water in this area still had a little warmth due to the shallow and protected area.

Water Day at Hole in the Wall

Emily and Jordon found us, and Lauren and Reed were off to cliff jump.

Lauren and Reed Cliff Jumping

At first, they tackled the smallest rock, then we met a family who were jumping and their teen daughter took the lead and led Lauren and Reed up the granite, through the woods and off the medium cliff. It was awesome and the sheer joy shrill of squeals and laughter rang out loud in the canyon like area. There was one more, high up, the kids got the nod from their dad, and up they went following the teen up the rocky ledge, around trees, roots, and through the woods to jump. Exhilirating. Magic. Reed told us later it was his best day ever on the loop. These kids are fearless water babies!

Returning to our anchorage for dinner together, and reflection on our journey included being graced these last few months with this wonderful family, this beautiful anchorage in remote Georgian Bay, and just lovin’ life. How could we be so blessed to embark on this incredible journey and just be, right here, right now. We do not take this life for granted, realizing how our journey was abruptly halted in the spring of 2022. Thankful we could resume and are enjoy the time of our lives!

Dinner is always good with Jordan at the grill and blackstone

Watching the weather, Tasha is always watching the weather, we pulled anchor and headed to a marina in Byng Inlet to get off the Bay for a few days. It looked like severe winds for the next five days. We found a friendly little marina in the middle of nowhere with the necessities and one general store / LCBO (Liquor store) with beer, and a restaurant upstairs. Again, lots of loopers tucked in here for the blow and we had our own little scooter/bike gang riding off to dinner at the one and only restaurant. We occupied 4/5 of the restaurant with our biker/scooter and dinghy gang. This is where we had our first non-sighting of bears, never saw them, but the remnants of them tackling the bear boxes (trash bins) at night each morning.

Bear Box, Bike/Scooter Gang in Britt – the bear box should be on the boards on the left

The blow wasn’t as bad as predicted, but still not comfortable to be at anchor, there was a break in the weather and the opportunity to make a 50 mile jump to Killarney or stay an additional three days and make it to a fantastic anchorage before Killarney. In just our short day at this marina, four boats came in with curled props or worse. They joined at least six others for the month.

Ouch! Boat vs. Rocks

They all were headed to this “great” anchorage and somehow met the fate of the granite of Georgian Bay. Wait three days and negotiate this area or make the jump to Killarney? We opted to make the run for Killarney, probably our most anticipated stop of the entire loop. It is here you have heard us talk about Tasha’s Dad, Kurt’s summers and Tasha and Dave being able to join him at his favorite oasis, a friends dock on George Island on the Killarney Channel.

We had an open water crossing for the first half of our trip then ducked into Collins Inlet, a spectacular run (slow) through cliffs of granite and century’s old beauty. Hazy, overcast, and a bit cool, the pictures do not do it justice, they never do. This detour added a couple of hours to our voyage, but a couple of hours of sheer beauty and a bit of sheer terror for our captain with a couple of skinny passages. We are so lucky man hasn’t screwed up the beauty of these cruising grounds.

Collins Inlet

It’s hard to articulate the sheer beauty of Georgian Bay (and the North Channel) as there are no words for the breathtaking sights mile after mile. Calm, still, quiet, untouched, the rock and woodlands mixed together with the clear, clean water. There are beautiful places and there is Georgian Bay.

Killarney Lighthouse

We ducked out of the Collins Inlet Channel back into the open bay and around the corner found the Killarney Light house calling us into the channel. A few tears and lots of joy were pulling us in by the lighthouse, past the new conference center at the Mountain Lodge, and to a welcome committee on George Island. We made it Kurt, we made it!

Cheers!  David, Tasha, 

                  & Remy forever in our hearts!   –   Loop Dog for 1 year – cruised 3357 miles

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