Little Current, Benjamin Islands, Blind River to Drummand Island Michigan

Our prop was returned to us on Friday the 22nd of July allowing us to leave Little Current for the Benjaman Islands on the 23rd. This anchorage is just one of the many many beautiful anchorages in Ontario that families can enjoy while on vacation.  The swimming is great; The water is clear down to 20 feet or more; and the water temperature is in the high 70s!!   The hiking among the rocks is great.
We were joined by a dozen other boats in this bay.  Jayne and I explored the bay with our dingy and then used the dingy to wash the boat.

The next morning we left for Blind River Marine Park which is on the northern side of the North Channel which is a large waterway north of Lake Huron.  We were greeted at the dock by several local people. Tony helped us to dock, and later closed up the boat for coming rain -what a great guy.  Dale offered us a ride to town and back for groceries - another nice canadian guy!

On the 25th we traveled to  Drummond Island Michigan.   The North Channel was rough with waves of 4 to 6 feet; but after 3 hours leveling off to 1 to 3 feet.

The docking was tricky because of wind and current but no one got hurt!
Jayne and I rode our bikes about 5 miles to town where we had a nice rib dinner and after that a banana split.
Tomorrow we head out for Mackinac City where we will spend at least 2 days to tour the area;  our mail is to arrive on the 2nd or 3rd day.
We may or may not take the ferry to Mackinac Island  on one of the days depending on our mail and the weather.


Scenes from the Benjamins







 The Staff at the English Point

 The eaters; a wonderful group of boaters ready to enjoy the moment!

 Mother Nature!

 A cruiseship at little Current

 Our GPS Chartplotter showing our way to Drummand.

 Beautiful!

 Dinner at Drummand

 But a banana split here!

Little Current

Light House at Strawberry Island



Gazebo in town by waterfront




Cruise ship in port from New York area



one of many good lookin' babes

We have been in Little Current to have one prop repaired.  We had clipped a rock in the Bad River anchorage (appropriate name?) and came to the lovely town of Little Current to have the prop sent off for repair.  We sent it on Tuesday;  a slight chance of recieving it today and if not Monday.   We are doing a lot of boat stuff such as changing oil and filters, fuel filters, scrubing the boat, etc.
The 4 block downtown is very attractive and loaded  boaters of all types.  Ate out with 12 people last night; cocktails til 10:30 with Art, Raye, and Hans on their boat; had breakfast with 2 more this morning; will hear a violinist tonight in the park.  The water at the docks is extremely clear with visibility down to 20 feet or more; many kids of all ages are enjoying themselves swimming and diving off the docks.  Boat dogs are everywhere!


Internet service comes and goes and the phone service is non existant.Those are the reasons you have not heard from us for a while.

We will probably leave on Monday to go to the Benjamin Islands anchorage; the Blind River Marine Park on Tuesday and to the US at Drummond Island, Michigan on Wednesday.

We entered Canada on the 23rd of June and will leave Canada on the 27th of July to begin our trip down Lake Michigan.
We will have 8 to 10 travel days in Lake Michigan but with windy conditions the trip could take as long as  three or four weeks. month.

Ray and Susan Mitterrer will join at some point on the big lake.
We will post on Monday

Britt to Bad River Anchorage to Killarney

The route from Britt to the anchorage and from the anchorage to Killarney meant quite a few miles in open water in Georgian Bay and guess what? We lucked out again with decent winds.   Georgian Bay when traveling on it, it seems not to be a bay but another great lake!  
We are seeing fewer an fewer houses and cottages as we go north; the landscape is much more wild and uninhabited with lots of islands and rocks and almost no human evidence.

We have been playing hopscotch will lots of looper friends.  We pass them; they pass us and vice versa.

Yesterday's anchorage was very well protected from winds on all sides; we had walls of rocks and trees everywhere around our boat. This bay is noted for it's beauty and great walleye fishing.  We fished with our dingy for a few hours but didn't accomplish a lot.

The next morning we left for Killarney; lots of pink granite along the way.
We may be staying here 2 nights; or go to an anchorage and then on to Little Current.


the Sportsman Inn Marina




The admiral at work




Our anchorage being shared with another boat




Driftwood bench - the top is one piece!

 No posting on Monday but we will post on tuesday.

Parry Sound to the Regatta Bay anchorage to Britt Ontario

We left Parry Sound on the 13th after going through a fine logging museum and the Bobby Orr Hockey Hall of Fame.   Parry was just begining their 3 week summer fest of classical, Jazz and other types of music but we must go on!
We travel only 17 miles the next day to a beautiful anchorage at Regatta Bay; launched our dingy to do some fishing, not particularly good in this particular bay.  After a great meal by Jayne we retired.  

On the 15th we traveled about 45 miles to Britt through more beautiful rocky landscape.   We drove a loaner car to town to look around at the stores and resturants; this took about 5 minutes.  we decided to eat a salmon dinner on our boat!



Marina at Britt




Interesting cottage on a rocky island



Pointe au Baril Lighthouse
Originally in 1800s a barrell with a light on a point of land to guide sailors(Pointe au Baril)
The light house replaced the barrell in the early 1900s



Local campers, fishermen?



Bigger house on a rock!



at Britt




 Tomorrow we travel 19 miles to an anchorage at Bad River on the way to Killarney Ontario.

From Orillia to Port Severn to Henry's Fish House to Parry Sound

We are finally are back on line in a marina with wireless!  
The folk festival in Orillia was a great way to spend our saturday, seeing a lot of performers and ending with the headliner Emmy Lou Harris.
On the Monday the 11th of July we headed out for Port Severn which marks the end of the Trent Severn waterway experience.  On the way we transversed the famous BIG CHUTE MARINE RAILWAY LOCK which was like a spectacular Disney World ride in slooow motion; check out the pictures!
In Port Severn we met four boating couples on "holiday" from Ontario; they gave us some tips about anchorages etc. which continued to enforce the idea that this magnificant piece of Canada can not be explored in a lifetime.  After  visiting the town and locks we came home to our boat, had dinner and called it a night.
On the 12th we arose early to find that we were one of more than a dozen boats waiting to lock through with a lot of indecision about the weather - do we go to Midland or not? 
We went, but not to Midland (sorry we missed an opportunity to visit Garth and Catherine); instead we went to Henry's Fish Resturant and Marina.  This is a very famous landmark which is considered a must stop by many boaters and writers.
While there we met a Ron and Cie, a really nice couple who have been cruisers for a very long time. We  look forward to seeing them at a future port.
On the 13th we did a short trip to Parry Sound where we met Shawn and Kim  and Don canadians on holiday.   They gave us a lot of local information that will help in our travel over the next week or so.
While in town we met Melissa and her guide puppy in training.  She trains dogs for various tasks such as leading the blind, rolling people over to avoid bed sores, bringing water from the fridge, answering the door, helping people to put on and take off socks, etc.  Amazing!!
Mielissa also owns a used book store in town.




Port Orillio




folk festival





boat houses





Lady Jayne Locker person!



The Big Chute Marine Railway sequence


Coming in








We just about made it!




One of two Tour boats in Parry Sound




A fountain for Humans; Horses and Dogs!




Melissa; the trainee and Bob




Rear view of an old group playing oldtime music

 Tomorrow we will travel only 17 miles on the way to Britt Ontario to anchor out in a beautiful setting.  We plan to use our dingy to do a little fishing. The next post will be on Friday the 15th.

From Bobcaygeon to Kirkfield to Orillia Ontario

The night before leaving I spent a little time fishing; and had a lot of fun catch lots of rock bass and a few smallmouth bass. 
We left dock around 8:30 the next morning headed for Orillia;  on the way stopping for lunch in another quaint town by the name of Fenelen Falls; after walking the mainstreet we got back to the boat to continue our trip.
After going through the lift lock at Kirkfield we stayed on the wall for the night.   This lock is one of two in Canada; the other 6 are in europe.
We entered the chamber; 1 foot of water was added making it heavier than the lower chamber; as a result our heavier chamber went down 40 some feet bringing the lower one up 40 feet (a simple concept and very fast moving).
We met canadians Dana and Marilyn while staying on the wall.  After the lockmaster left at 7:00 PM it was just the four of us in this very remote location!
Next morning on to the Port of Orillia.   The waterway became amazingly narrow and shallow for many miles with no room to pass and lined with sharp rocks on both sides.   We crossed many lakes and one really big one - Lake Simcoe.  We were happy to have had favorable winds when we crossed it.
Orillia is a town of 30,000 with many stores and services which you would expect including Walmart, Home Depot, etc.
This weekend is the area's Folk Music Festival . We will attend the fest all day on Saturday and spend Sunday relaxing and doing a little boat cleaning.


Some scenes along the way

We have not been writing every day because in Canada we can't always get on the internet being that we are dependant on marinas, libraries and resturants for our wireless. 

Monday we leave for Midland Ontario which is close to our looper friends Katherine and Garth's home.  We plan to spend some time with them.