Chapter 72: Crossing the Georgian Bay

Log 72
Crossing the Georgian Bay

6:00 AM
Sunday, July 30, 2000
Killarney Mountain Lodge
Killarney, Ontario

Day 91

I’m watching the weather channel this morning, and I can’t believe our luck with the weather on this trip. I just seems like wherever we are at, it’s nice. I’m not sure if this will last the final week, but if not we will have still had awesome weather. (Today is day 91, and I’ll be we have not had bad weather for over 5 days the entire trip)
Today the weather is forecast to be mostly sunny, and about 80. Perfect.
Speaking of perfect, that would sum up the day yesterday. We woke up to a partly cloudy morning, with a light breeze from the east. Terry and I walked over to a small café they had at the marina, and had a large breakfast. It was good to do that, since that was the first time on the entire trip I have taken the time.
We untied our lines at about 8, because we had a lock to go through, and they didn’t open until 8:30, and we wanted to be their first customer, which we were. In fact they even opened a little early, and by 8:40 we were out of the lock, and heading into the Georgian Bay.
Getting into the main part of the bay was a little bit of a navigating chore. The channel wound around rocks in narrow channels, and then around both small and big islands, before we could set out course for the far west side of the Bay, and Killarney. Once clear of the obstacles, we set a course of 322 degrees toward the beacon light at the east entrance to Killarney. (About 100 miles from Port Severn)
The trip across was uneventful, and almost boring. The girls slept part of the way because their Dramamine was kicking in. Terry and I worked on the charts, and basically navigated our way across. I also ran the boat pretty hard coming across. First to get there faster, and also to give it a good workout after having to go slow, and idle all of those hours in the Erie Canal, and the Trent-Severn. (Man it just sounds great to be able to say we have done all of this)
At about 2:30 we entered the mouth of the Killarney Cut, a narrow channel that leads to Killarney Bay, and will get you to the North Channel. We stopped to get fuel (76 cents Canadian for a liter) and then tied up at our slip by 3:30. After a quick clean up we put the dinghy in the water, and explored the channel, and the Killarney Bay. This is really a neat area. The water is crystal clear, and the banks of the water are solid, large red rocks. It makes for some awesome beauty, which I have only seen on a post card, or The Discovery Channel.
For dinner we decided to walk down the channel (Think of this as a channel with boats on both sides, and town on both sides. There are water taxis running around, and in general it has the setting and the feeling of a party area..Which last night it was) for some dinner at a place we checked out while we were on our dinghy ride. The walk, the dinner, and the whole dam thing turned out to be great. It was an absolutely perfect night. Clear and about 75 degrees. (I’m sure they don’t have but a handful of these days here each year) After dinner we took the slow walk back to the boat, and Terry and I looked at the charts for a little bit, while Jeannie checked out what was on the TV, and Deb (I promise this is true) went fishing. (Don’t ask me why…. Maybe she is going through a mid life change)
Bottom line of yesterday…PERFECT!
I’ll keep you posted.

BK

Two other things happened yesterday. My chart plotter quit, and we had to use my small handheld to guide us in. (Which it did with no problem)
And Deb dropped her new digital camera in the sink, (Which happened to have water in at the time) and we still don’t know if it will work or not.
Still a (near) perfect day.