Day 46, 47 & 48: Anchored in Snug Harbor to Byng Inlet to Bustard Island East

Day 46: September 2: We spent the day on anchor in Snug Haven as the weather was not in our favor. Despite being tucked in we still kept our eye on the anchor as the winds shifted direction and intensified throughout the day. Games and reading were on the agenda for the day! Dinner was grilled pickeral we had bought the day before at Gilly's along with Kawartha salted caramel ice cream. Perfect! Nothing can beat a glorious sunrise or sunset on the water. 

Day 47: September 3: The wind died down overnight and we woke to much better conditions. We pulled up anchor at 7:30 a.m. and started our journey of 40 miles to Byng Inlet in Britt, ON where we had dock reservations at St. Amant's Marina. John adjusted the route on the chart-plotter to avoid much of the rocky areas in the inner channel. We maneuvered our way past some of the tighter spots and headed out onto the "big water" of the Georgian Bay. 

We were cruising in calm waters in a wide open space when suddenly the boat veered off course. Oh no not again! John pulled out his bag of tricks including shutting down and restarting the system etc. He then realized he had absolutely no steering, manual or autopilot! Quite a predicament you've gotten us into Ollie! 

While I was having one of those Oh my God moments, John calmly told me to drop the anchor. He said the automatic pilot displayed a message indicating the rudder was at its limit. This was immediately followed by a troubleshoot message advising us to check to see if the rudder indicator unit was securely fastened and in place. This prompted John to open the lazaret where he found that a pin bolt that attached the hydraulic steering piston to the bar that connects and controls the rudders had fallen out. Once we identified the problem the fix wasn't too difficult as all the parts had fallen off in plain view. John reattached everything, we checked that things were working and away we went. As an added bonus John noticed that the rudder response was greatly improved over what its performance had been over the last few years, leading us to believe the connection had been loosening gradually for sometime. John had accepted the slow response in steering, chalking it up to small rudders on the boat. He's now a happy camper. I always wondered why on earth anyone would build a boat with such small rudders, causing steering to be a bit difficult. 

Although this was not something we wanted to have to deal with we believe we escaped what could have been a catastrophe. Had this happened while we were in a small channel, twisting and turning around rocks, our boat could have suffered major damage. We thanked the man above for small miracles. 

We continued on, heading to the outside onto the bay rather than the smaller channel so to avoid rocks and shallow areas. Hmmmmm. Not such a good idea in my book as the waves began to intensify, building to about 5 to 6 knots and hitting us broadside. We engaged the stabilizers to provide some defense against the onslaught. Of note, we have found a huge difference between the movement of waves here and those at home. It seems there is little relief between rollers, making a humped up day pretty miserable. I was urging the boat forward in my mind, hoping our right hand turn into Byng Inlet would happen sooner than later. 

We finally made the turn into Byng Inlet, a body of water on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, between Parry Sound and the mouth of the French River. It is a widening at the mouth of the Magnetawan River . In the Ojibwe languate Magnetawan means "long open channel" and long and narrow it was. Located in Britt, ON, Byng is considered a "ghost town", once home to one of the largest sawmill operations in Canada. The stretch was beautiful; imagine living right on such an inlet? 

We arrived at the marina around 1:30 p.m. and there was Bushranger, the Loopers from Alabama we had chatted with back in Snug Haven. They said they had just pulled in shortly before we did. They also said when they pulled out of Snug Haven the other day they were planning to cruise for quite a few miles but as they headed out they found the bay to be humped up so they turned back into another anchorage they found along the way. 

A couple of hours after we pulled in Kim and Pete on Squier About showed up. It was great to see a few friendly faces, especially after the rocky trip we all had through the bay. We met for docktails at about 5:30 and shared our mutual hate for the big water when it is unpleasant as well as other stories of mechanical issues which no one escapes. Three Looper boats tied up is always a treat to see.

Day 48: September 4: St. Amant's has very nice floating docks, pump out, fuel and a small market that was quite well provisioned for a marina. Before heading out we took on water, did laundry and picked up a few items from the store. The marina also had Wi-Fi but we had a difficult time connecting. I did manage to get one blog post completed and published and John was able to do some work on a couple of leases before we headed out. 

When we went to the laundry, the sign said a load was 2 loonies and 1 quarter. We had no idea what a loonie was but thanks to Google we found out it is a 1 dollar coin with a picture of a loon engraved on it. Having none, John went into the store to buy some loonies. While he was gone, one of the marina employees stopped and asked me if everything was ok. When I told him John was chasing down some loonies and we had never heard of them he laughed and said one dollar is a loonie and two dollars are a toonie. Get it he asked! TWO NEE.

Bushranger and Squier About both left the marina before we did. Bushranger said they were headed to Bad River and Squier About was headed to Bustard Island. We decided to join Kim and Peter on Squier About and head to the closer anchorage in Bustard Island. 

Before we left we headed over to the fuel dock to get a pump out and buy some gas for the outboard. We spoke awhile with Glen, one of the family members who owns the marina, all about the history of the area. He said there used to be coal and lumber industry here. His family has owned the marina for 35 years and he noted that things have changed; no one seems to want to work. There used to be a great restaurant above the marina store; this closed around COVID and because they couldn't find folks to work they closed the restaurant for good, Glen was quite a character who filled us in on lots of local knowledge; including the fact that he was retiring in the next few months and the place would be for sale.He helped us with our pump out and fuel! He also said if we win the lottery back home we should swing by, stop for a cold one and leave him 2% of the winnings! 

On our way out, we stopped at Wright's Marina, a short distance from St. Amant's to see if they had "diapers" as St. Amant's did not. We pulled up to a finger pier and a woman who introduced herself as Tracy walked down the dock and greeted us. John asked if she had any diapers to which she responded no but maybe suggested St. Amant's might. We told her we had already checked with them to no avail. She then said she had oil absorbents. We told her that's what we meant. John was also looking to purchase a fuel filter so he followed her into the marine store to see if she carried what he needed. Once inside he said the other folks in the store told Tracy that diaper was a marine term for oil absorbers. We had a good laugh wondering what she must have thought when we asked for diapers. LOL!

We made it to Bustard Island East, which was only about 10 miles away, to find Kim and Pete's stern and bow tied to trees or rocks, We found out later that they lost use of the windlass causing them to improvise. Kim managed to jump in the water and tie the lines to shore. What ingenuity. We dropped our anchor and didn't feel like we had the best hold. The chain moved around throughout the night, creating an eerie sound over what we assumed was granite. Despite the chain moving, the anchorage is so small and the water so calm that all went well throughout the night. 

Our dinghy engine has been giving us trouble and tonight was no exception. John continues to try to fix the problem but it continues to stutter and stall and emit white smoke. Pete came over to get us to join them for cocktails on their boat. We were having a grand ole time sharing our life adventures when we noticed a dinghy pulling up to Pete's boat. We were delighted to see our friends David and Sandra from Zendeavor. They are the folks who took some great pictures of us locking through the Peterborough Lock. They were anchored on the other side of us (Bustard Island West). What a fun night with 3 Loopers enjoying each other's company. When it was time to leave, David took us back to our boat. Grateful for another wonderful day.