Happy Birthday at Henry’s (Fryingpan Island) 8-4-10

We only spent one night at Bone Island not really because of the snake, maybe a little bit, but more so because Birthday Boy Bob wanted more of an adventure. He is all about navigating and being a Captain so wanted to back cruising again, testing his skills on the small boat channel topped off with a birthday dinner at Henry’s Fish Restaurant.

Although the day was dim and overcast, our 4 hour ride was a very interesting mix of well-buoyed narrow rocky shoal sections (Kerr and Allen rocks, Peacock Island, O’Donnell Point) and wide open areas from Milepost 20-29 where we did get rocked a bit by 1 foot chop from Georgian Bay and powerboats passing us. We tied-up at Henry’s just as the sun was peaking through, the lunch crowd was leaving and Chris, the expert dock master, was there to help us tie-off only 2 feet away from rocks that we had been trying to avoid all day. Bob even found a propeller “cemetery” on shore.

There is a 1 mile walking trail marked by a toupee cairn rock over to LeBlanc’s Sans Souci Marina. It’s a fun place to visit, meet cottagers who come here for provisions and ice cream at the general store and they even had a copy of The Guide to Massasauga Provincial Park Facilities which will be our next stop.

Henry’s is all about service both on the dock and the restaurant. It is easy to see why they won a place on Saveur magazine’s 100 favorite places to eat with their Great Lakes fish dinners. The fish is fresh and tasty and served with Elliot family recipe cole slaw and baked beans. All of this plus a fabulous view of the harbor so we could watch the training sailors climb up the mast of Playfair to do rigging work or watch seaplanes landing passengers for the fly/dine experience. A pretty special birthday for a very special Captain.

Bone Island (Georgian Bay Islands National Park) 8-3-10

We loved our anchoring experience at Beausoleil Island but it was time to push-off and explore other areas. Bone Island is just 13 miles away but is off the small boat (buoyed) channel so you are on your own, weaving through islands, hopefully avoiding unmarked rocks and shoals, but with me on the bow as look-out and Bob studying charts, we did just fine. Sometimes local boaters mark rock shoals with white Clorox bottles and this always gets our attention. We have the PORTS Cruising Guide for Georgian Bay, North Channel and Lake Huron and we recommend it as it gives aerial shots of the islands, anchorages, what to look out for as well as what to see.

The south side anchorage of Bone Island is a smaller basin than Chimney Bay on Beausoleil but it also has a dock for 10-12 boats. We always like to hike and there was just a rudimentary trail here, but here’s a picture of Bob looking at the clear water. You will notice that he is carrying his blue “Buzz-Off” shirt which he uses as a Harry Potter invisibility cloak against mosquitoes. No matter how hard he tries, they always find his sweet blood.

I am not sure what type of pheromones he is emitting but he is now attracting more snakes. We were putting up our rear cockpit bimini and I was looking for a bungee to secure it. I reached in the corner for a black bungee and it moved. Yes, it was another snake that had crawled through our rear cockpit drain. I expected snakes on the Tenn-Tom Waterway down south and someone told me they come down your stern line tied to a tree at Bashi Creek but no snakes there. Here we are in clear cold Canadian water and we have snakes—go figure.

We know the drill now—get the boat pole, get the snake to dance onto it and heave it overboard. I have a question for all you boaters, and this is something that keeps me up at night—can snakes crawl up through any thru-hull—will we find them in the sink or, god forbid-- toilet???? This is our second snake and I desperately need an answer. Please email me at peggy8301@hotmail.com with all of your suggestions. Help!

Loons, Rattlers and Bears…Oh My (Georgian Bay Island National Park) 8-2-10

After six weeks on 3+Canadian canals and over 100 locks, we left the protected and predictable canal waters at Lock 45 at Port Severn after a 2 ½ hour delay to drop 14 feet to Lake Huron on 7-26. You have to start navigating right away, remember that the red buoys are to starboard, and negotiate the shallow, unforgiving, rock-filled Potato Channel with a mixture of buoys that has claimed many a propeller.

After a 14 mile trip across Severn Sound to Penetang and the Looper rendezvous for 3 days, we were eager to explore Georgian Bay Island National Park on Beausoleil Island, a mere 11 miles away but a chance for a more wilderness experience. Although Georgian Bay has 30,000 islands, there is little public land along the shoreline south of Twelve Mile Bay.

Beausoleil Island has 5 well-protected anchorages, hiking trails, beaches and our Park Canada pass covers the expense. We spent 5 days here really relaxing, reading a book per day and gently swaying at anchor in Chimney Bay as well as exploring the other bays by dinghy and by hiking—a perfect day for me. Reprovisioning at Honey Harbour is a 2 ½ mile dinghy ride away at Honey Harbour Centre and make sure to have breakfast or lunch at Honey Harbour Café.

You want excitement—we had that too. A loon couple frequents Chimney Bay. Their love song would often start at 5:30am and I could not get back to sleep until the other answered. Beausoleil Island is the last refuge for the protected eastern Massasauga venomous rattlesnake. Although it is usually timid, local boaters reported that they have seen it on trails and rocks on the hiking trails. It’s amazing how many tree roots look like rattlers when you’re on the lookout but Bob is ready.

We are familiar with black bear in our home cruising area of the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. I even have a bear whistle—actually it’s from my kids’ Snoopy lifejacket in the 1980’s but it has scared a few bear in its time. They have a renegade black bear here on Beausoleil similar to our famous MacArthur “I will return” bear. This one has been moved but keeps coming back, probably motivated by love and food—doesn’t that motivate most of us?

Oh, Oh, I hear a scream from the campground on shore—he’s back!!!