Sept 16-17, Bayfield Inlet, ON

We left Parry Sound this morning about 7:30 with almost no wind, heading north toward Byng Inlet, a distance of about 60 miles. Our route took us through the pretty channel around Wall Island that the Island Queen cruise boat based in Parry Suund advertises as a "must see" in the area.

The wall at Wall Island is a tourist attraction

Sunrise

Stones stacked to look like a man. In the style done by the First Peoples (Native Indians) in ancient times.

The route today is through more of the 30,000 Islands area of the eastern Georgian Bay. The small boat channel winds all over the place. It is mostly an inside island passage but there are a few spots outside in the main (unsheltered) Georgian Bay.

Pointe au Baril Lighthouse

At Pointe au Baril as the channel goes outside into the Georgian Bay there is a famous marker (The captain learned later) that is both red and green (red on top, green in the middle and red on the bottom). It marks the entrance to the inlet when entering from the Georgian Bay (green) and is also marking the right side of the ninty degree turn required to go into the north bound channel (red) where the channel goes back inside and through more of the 30,000 Islands to the north. This captain got confused (what else can I say) and took the marker for red (going out the inlet red would be on the left, as it is red right returning from the Georgian Bay) and did not go around the marker keeping it to our right. Instead we passed the marker to our left (cut the corner) and hit a granite ledge hard and just bounced over. Another of those terrifying moments. Our damage check showed no leaks and props and rudders are functioning normally. Our further check shows that when we run the boat at higher speeds, we are experiencing some vibration at speeds over 10 knots. We think that this indicates that we have bent at least one of the props. There is no vibration at 8.5 knots. So we head north going our normal cruising speed of 8.5 knots. Bummer. Famous spot for trouble. Could have been much worse. This boat is a tank!

Narrow marked channel

We navigated things pretty well from then on today including the hard right turn that is almost a U-turn that the channel makes at Hangdog Channel (140 degrees). Both the ninety degree turn at Pointe au Baril and the 140 degree turn at Hangdog Channel require that we reenter the Georgian Bay for a quarter mile or so and are outside the protected areas sheltered by the islands. Then the route takes us back into the sheltered areas for more cruising. A very interesting route. Wind came up in the early afternoon and the waves were building as we approached an area where we have to be “outside” for some 10 miles. So we decided to wait for better weather and found a small boat yard, Thompson Marine at Bayfield Inlet, to wait for better weather. We continue to monitor the bilges and check for leaks. There are none. This yard is too small to pull our boat out of the water to check the damage or change the prop(s).

KOKOMO II at Thompson Marine.

No electric, no internet, but a friendly place to be. Saw an old wooden boat being restored in the shed, a Peterborough, made by the Peterborough Canoe Company, probably before 1950.