Drummond Island to Mackinac Island

Thursday 8/24 we left Drummond Island headed for Government Bay anchorage in the Les Cheneaux Islands.  Wasn't too far out onto Lake Huron when we got into some really thick fog.  Good thing we have good electronics!  

We anchored in Government Bay.  There was a beach that Roxie loved.  

The little town of Cedarville was just a short dinghy ride away and we enjoyed dinner at Cattails Cove.  Crazy....I could get Bud Light in Canada, but not at Cattails!  Blue Lite it was!  Cedarville also had a  grocery store where we were able to provision for our trip to Mackinac Island.  

Saturday we got up early and started our way to Mackinac Island.  The lake was calm and the skies clear.  It was a great ride.  

Entering into the bay at Mackinaw.

We stayed 2 nights docked at Mackinaw Island Municipal Marina.  It was so pretty and the marina was very nice except for the wake from the ferries....it wasn't terrible, but it was pretty constant.  The view couldn't be beat and the water.....it was the prettiest water we have seen so far on the trip.  

We enjoyed the many restaurants, shopping, forts and the view from all over the island!  

 

Woke up Sunday to the sound of something really big thrusting it's way into the dock.  Turned out to be a cruise ship, docked right behind us!  

Hike up to the stone arch (207 steps). 

Bike ride around the island.

Visited the forts.

View from Fort Mackinac.

Next will be Lake Michigan!

Gore Bay to Drummond Island

Saturday we left Gore Bay headed to Drummond Island.  We can't believe we have just another week left in Canada.  We decided to drop anchor in Bear Drop Harbor on the west end of Whalesback Channel.  We had heard that it is a good stop to see bears and find blueberries.  Unfortunately, we found neither....but it was a beautiful anchorage.  We shared the anchorage with 6 other boats and there was plenty of room.  

The ride across the North Channel was nice and smooth.

View of Cheers from the island.

What a sunset!

Sunday morning we pulled anchor and landed at our next anchorage, Turnbull Island.  I was a little breezy, but the islands that were clustered around were fun to explore. 

Monday morning we pulled anchor headed to East Grant Island.  The water was calm, light winds with gray and gloomy skies. 

We got to East Grant Island and it pretty much stayed gray and cool all day.  

The next morning we started towards Drummond Island.  This would be our last day in Canada.  It was a great day to cross the lake back into the U.S.  Bill took a picture of the Simrad screen showing the water depth at 107ft and the water temp at 55 degrees!

We made it to Drummond Island, checked back into the U.S. using the ROAM app.  We enjoyed a little bit of sun before the clouds came in and the rest of our stay was rainy and gloomy.  

 

Bad River to Covered Portage Cove

Friday 7/28 we pulled the hook in the Bad River and back out into the open water of Georgian Bay headed to Beaverstone Bay on our way to Collins Inlet.

Once we got back out into Georgian Bay we could see mountains in the distance!  

Beaverstone is a really big anchorage with great protection from the North. 

Roxie and I found wild blueberries!  

Sunday morning we woke up to a sunny but cool 63 degrees with winds around 13mph.  Great morning to have blueberry pancakes!  Yum!

We pulled the anchor after breakfast headed to our next anchorage, Mill Lake Green Island.  This was just an overnight stay before heading into Killarney the next day.  We had made reservations at the Killarney Mountain Lodge Marina for next Saturday and Sunday and are looking forward to spending the week in Covered Portage Cove, which was just on the other side of Killarney.  

We started into Killarney Monday morning, looking for gas for the dinghy, a pump-out and fresh water.  Turns out that Killarney is very busy around 11 o'clock with boats leaving and coming into the marinas.  We hadn't seen this much boat activity since our last trip to Put-In-Bay!   We finally got what we needed and headed to Covered Portage Cove.  

Based on the boat activity, we weren't too surprised when we got to Covered Portage that it was packed full of boats.  So we anchored in Killarney Bay for the night hoping to get into Covered Portage  tomorrow. 

Sun setting over Killarney Bay

Just as expected, Covered Portage started to empty out pretty early and we moved on in.  We got a great spot and stern tied to the shore.  This would be our home until next Saturday.

We had a great week in Covered Portage.  Met so many boaters...most stayed only a night or two.  We took the dingy to Killarney a couple of times....just to ride through, have lunch.  We hiked up the mountain with Roxie and she LOVED it!  Being that we were not in the inner part of the cove, we couldn't get a picture or Cheers. But we did find more blueberries! 

Coming into Covered Portage Cove, your welcomed by the Indian Head rock formation....can you see it?

Top of the mountain.

Looking down into the inner harbor of the cove. 

Pittsfield general store.

Killarney is home of the famous Herbert Fisheries.  The fish is caught daily in Georgian Bay.  It is hands down the best fish and chips we have had so far on our journey.  So much so, we had it twice during our week in Covered Portage!

Storm coming in!

A bunch of dinghy's came in from Killarney and were jumping off the cliffs. 

We had a great relaxing time in Covered Portage and now looking forward to having a couple of days on the dock with access to the amities of the lodge.

 

Parry Sound to the Bad River

We departed Parry Sound on a rainy Thursday 7/20 and arrived in Kilcorsie Bay anchorage.  This anchorage was alongside a national park, which had campgrounds and a beach!  Beaches are rare up here....it normally goes from water, stone to wilderness.   After lunch and a quick nap, we decided to move along since it was still raining.  This would have been a great stop on a sunny day!

We arrived at Snug Haven which was a really nice anchorage.  There were several cottages lining the shore and a little restaurant called Gilly's Snug Harbor, which happen to be known for their fish and chips.  We had planned on having dinner there on Friday, but we ended up leaving Friday afternoon due to the wind forecast.  Shoot!  We were looking forward to those fish and chips!

We arrived at Hopewell Bay where we stayed Friday and Saturday nights.  This bay was pretty secluded with only a couple of cottages and we had the entire bay to ourselves Friday night.  Saturday morning Roxy decided to get a little crazy.....while on her morning potty break; she decided to stretch her legs and ended up on a rock that was across the water from the rock I was standing on.  When she saw me, instead of going back the way she came, she made a direct bee line to me, jumping into the water swimming to me, which was a big surprise because she doesn't like to swim!  So Saturday morning became a grooming day.  Roxy got a bath, brush and blowout and Bill finally let me trim his beard!

Sunday morning we headed out towards Byng Inlet after breakfast.  We have reservations for a dock at Wrights Marine.  On our way we passed Point au Baril Lighthouse. Back in the late 19th century fur traders and fishermen left a lantern-topped whisky barrel on the point to help them find the right passage back in from the bay.  In 1889 a lighthouse was built to replace the barrel, but the barrel still remains on the site! 

There's the barrel!!

We arrived at Wrights early afternoon, The marina was busy with quite a few loopers and we got to chat with a few and get recommendations on must see places in the area. 

At the dock in Wrights Marine

Monday morning we left Byng Inlet headed to our next anchorage. 

Some tight spots coming back in off the bay looking for our next anchorage......which way do we go?

We tried 3 anchorages; Golden Sword, Sandy Bay and Dead Island.  We either couldn't get the anchor to set or the low elevation of the rocks didn't offer enough protection.  We decided to push forward for the Bustard Islands and found a great anchorage in Strawberry Inlet where we hung out until Wednesday morning.  

Early Wednesday morning Bill pulled anchor and we headed to the Bad River.  It's a little tricky getting in, but once your in there is a great anchorage with great holding and protection from all sides.  We've heard a lot about Bad River. Once we got settled, Bill took a quick ride around in the dingy to see what everyone was talking about.  Yep!  There are rapids up those rivers!  Some are so swift that our dingy was not able to get up them! 

This is the entrance to the area called Devil's Door Rapids. This leads to 5 Finger Rapids, which are forks in the French River that dump into the Bad River. 

After work and a quick lunch we hopped in the dingy and we took a little ride.  It's a little gloomy and only 73 degrees today...not sure if its due to clouds or if were getting smoke from the fires.  Some of the rapids look kind of scary and even one of them has a sign advising no swimming.  I'm a little worried to try them.....not sure if they are safe.   

We currently have two other boats in this anchorage with us.  I'm hoping that we will get more boats that come in today........the weather tomorrow is supposed to be 79 and sunny!  Hopefully we can get some folks in here that know about the rapids and which one's are safe to play in.   

Thursday turned out to be a beautiful day!  We packed up the dingy for a long ride and headed for the rapids.  We had a great afternoon exploring and playing in the rapids!   

In addition to the excitement of the rapids, Bill needed to go up the mast to repair the anchor light!

  

Tomorrow we plan to head out in the morning for our next anchorage.......Beaverstone Bay.