Day 44 and 45: Traveling to Parry Sound & Snug Harbor

 Day 44: August 31: We woke to another beautiful morning. As the sun came up, we heard loons in the distance. They are plentiful up here and are not shy about making their presence known. Between them and the ubiquitous Canadian geese, we are never without the calls of nature.

We pulled up anchor at 8:45 a.m. and cruised out of Chimney Bay, heading back around Beausoleil Island to begin our travel up Georgian Bay toward Parry Sound. We noted the signs on the shoreline in several spots on shore indicating this area is part of the Canadian National Park. When we pulled in yesterday, we saw camping areas on shore and watched small water taxis transport people and their gear to and from the island. We also saw boats tied up at a few docks and assumed they were private. It wasn't until we did a little "google" search did we realize the docks were open to anyone for a small fee. Live and learn!

It was a perfect day for cruising which we were happy about since we wanted to get out of the big open water and travel through some smaller channels where the granite formations could be seen and enjoyed. Although the channels are very well marked, driving through some of the areas can be a bit "white knuckle" cruising. You can look to your left or right and see monster rocks looming with few feet of your boat. The calm conditions made travel less intense and more enjoyable but I'm glad I'm not driving. It's amazing to see not only the tremendous number of granite "islands", but the houses that have been built on some of them. Winding in and out along the route, each view seems more spectacular than the one before it.

While traveling I'm always interested to earn the names given to each area. For example, we passed by O'Donnell Point Provincial Nature reserve, Starvation Bay and Lanoka Island, each boasting stunning terrain, before finding a fantastic anchor spot in Parry Sound. 

Reviewing Navionics I see we are near Depot Harbor. John gets points for finding such a perfect place to stop for the night with one house overlooking the cove, a small boathouse on the shore and not a soul in sight. The word peaceful does not even begin to describe the place or the feeling. We traveled 48 NM in 6 1/2 hours at an average speed of 7.3 knots to get to this heaven on earth.

Day 45: September 1: Where did the summer go? It seems like yesterday we were locking through the Erie Canal in tank tops and shorts sweating under the hot sun as we held the lines in the locks. We turned brown as bears, drank more than our fair share of water, soda and seltzer and couldn't wait to shower at the end of the day.

To recap our travels for July and August before we begin logging September here is a summary:

• We left Westport on July 13th. We locked through the Troy Lock and 22 locks on the Erie Canal. On July 31st we tied up for the night on the free wall between locks 7 and 8 on the Oswego Canal and were looking forward to crossing Lake Ontario. Summary for July: We traveled 469.5 miles in 66 hours UW at an average speed of 7.1 knots.

• We started across Lake Ontario on August 1st on the most perfect day to cross the big lake. After about 1 1/2 hours into the trip the hydraulic steering pump let go, causing us to head back to Oswego. On August 2nd we traveled to Sackets Harbor hoping for some help with repairs. We sat in Sackets Harbor at Navy Point Marine until August 10th to no avail, It was pretty obvious this boatyard had no intention of offering services, however they did not communicate this fact. We finally made the decision to call various marinas to see if someone was ready to come to our rescue. After a few futile attempts, we found just the right person to assist us: John Killius, owner of Henchen marine and Fish Camp was willing to give us a hand. We said goodbye to Navy Point and traveled 7 miles to Henderson Harbor (the best decision we made). John and John K. did the installation and we got UW on August 17th. We crossed Ontario, cruised onto the St. Lawrence River and tied up for two nights at Clayton Harbor Municipal Marina, awaiting the passing of a tremendous storm. We moved on and continued through the Trent Severn Waterway, traveling through 43 locks over 240 miles (there is no lock 29 and the Lindsay lock #33 is not on the main navigation channel).

• On August 31st our journey continued on the Georgian Bay toward Parry Sound where we anchored for the night in a breathtaking cove! Summary for August: We traveled 489.9 NM in 74 hours UW at an average speed of 6.6 knots. 

• Total miles for two months 959.4 NM!

I can't emphasize enough how incredibly incredible this anchorage was. We almost didn't want to leave, the sun is warm, the water is calm and there is no wind. But as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever. We decided to travel to Snug Harbor and anchor in a small cove called Snug Haven. This place was recommended to us by some Canadian folks we met back on the Trent at the Buckhorn lock. They had given us several tips about channels, harbors, anchorages and most imprtantly a restaurant called Gillys located in Snug Harbor. Never turning down a local's advice we pulled up anchor and set our course for Snug. The route took us through a combination of open water and a small channel which afforded us another look at the stunning view. 

We traveled 11 NM in just under 2 hours and dropped anchor in the small cove known as Snug Haven. 

Soon another Looper trawler named Bushranger pulled in and anchored next to us. The folks onboard launched their dingy and drove by us to say hi. They were from Alabama and started their loop in November. They headed to Gilly's for lunch and told us they were planning on staying in Snug Haven for the night like we were. We were hoping to be able to chat once they returned from lunch. 

We made 5:30 dinner reservations at Gilly's which is just around the corner about 1/4 mile from the anchorage. I saw that there was a small shop at the restaurant that carried a few essentials such as milk and eggs. I needed some things so we jumped in the dinghy for the quick trip. After purchasing our items we got back to the dinghy. To our dismay John could not get the engine started. We figured we would have to wait for our new looper friends to return to their dinghy so we could get a tow back to the boat.

In no time at all another boat pulled up and asked if we would be leaving the dock soon as they were hoping to tie up and the dock was pretty full. We described our plight and they offered to tow us. Thank goodness for those angels among us. 

Once back at the boat John got busy trying to figure out the problem.  Thinking it might be water in the gas, he drained the gas from one container into another and emptied the fuel separator (all with my help of course). It seemed to solve the issue enough for us to keep our dinner reservations.

In the mean-time our Alabama Looper friends returned from their lunch, pulled up their anchor and left before we had a chance to visit with them. Maybe we will see them again along the way.

We sat on the covered porch at Gilly's; much like a farmer's porch. We ordered white fish and fries. Upon the recommendation from the waitress, we also ordered a side of gravy for the fries. Everything was delicious! The fish was similar to bass but tastier. 

It just so happened the man who gave us a tow was sitting at a table opposite us having a beer! John went over to thank him again and we sent him over a pint to take to his boat as he had already paid for his drink. When we got back to the boat to settle in for the night the wind started to pick up. We are glad we decided to stay put as tomorrow is forecasted to be windy all day.