The North Channel

Day 32 is Monday July 17 and we complete our 4 hour crossing from the Bustard Islands to Killarney at 8 knots – there’s no avoiding open water on this stretch –  in favourable conditions (a Northern breeze), at the start of a six-day period of good weather (at last). Killarney is the gateway to the North Channel, and is a most popular stopover.

After two days of taking it easy, we prepare to leave for our next stop, which is pretty much the extreme opposite of Killarney Mountain Lodge: the 10 mile long fjord of quartzite rock know as Baie Fine, where the only option is to anchor. So we leave dock on Wednesday, July 19, for the 26 mile trip, in breezy but nice conditions.

On arrival, we decide to anchor at the entrance to the very narrow channel at the end of the bay which leads to The Pool – the peaceful harbour at the end – because the anchoring there is known to be extremely weedy, and we much prefer the clay, and, besides, most of the other boats will be anchored there too, detracting somewhat from the serenity of the place.

After two or three unsuccessful attempts at getting the anchor to bite in one “recommended” anchorage, we move on a little and are helped enormously by an Ernest Hemingway lookalike, who leaves his anchored cruiser “Shannon” and gets  into his small aluminum craft to lead us to a perfect place to drop anchor, in 25 feet of water. Which we willingly do.

We thank this man and his wife on the radio for their help, and find that they are Doug and Mona from Michigan, and we later meet them and their dog (the cat stays on the big boat) as they come over in their little fishing boat on their way to catch their supper. They have been cruising The North Channel for 30 years, sailing their boat “Shannon” from lake Michigan to hereabouts, always anchoring out, stopping at marinas only for supplies. They know the waters and the rocks and the fish like the back of their hands, and still spend three months every year here on the water. And they’re 80 years old.

As well as swimming and kayaking, we take the dinghy the ten minute ride to The Pool, and tie up at the old park dock for the pretty strenuous, rocky hike up to Topaz Lake, half way up a mountain (alright then, not exactly a mountain, but a bloody great hill). It’s worth the hike, and we munch sandwiches while we watch various ridiculously healthy and good looking backpackers dive in and swim gleefully around.

After two peaceful nights at anchor, we prepared to leave for points west, through Little Current. The weather seemed to be presaging another turn, and though this was only Friday, Sunday looked a bad day to be out on the water. So we decided to head for Kagawong, a funky little town, for one night, and then to Gore Bay, much bigger and with shops for provisions, to ride out what could be a strong north easterly in their marina.

The extremely small town is extremely small, with a waterfall trail its major feature. And indeed it is a lovely walk.

We planned to leave the next day, Saturday July 22, for Gore bay marina, and had made the booking for two nights. Off we went, and the trip was short and not at all bad, since the wind had not yet started to turn.

We tied up, and found that it was the annual Harbour Day, with a fish fry by the Rotary, and kids games and tents and live music and ice cream and so on and so forth. We met a great couple, Jim and Frances, from Wisconsin who keep their beautiful one-of-a-kind sailing yacht here and spend three summer months on it. Having been doing this for 18 years, they categorically state that it is the worst season for weather they have ever had, with north easterlies coming in left right and centre. They also gave us some great inside knowledge on islands and anchorages hereabouts (The Benjamins).

Sunday, and the storm finally hit, with winds of 20 to 30 knots plus gusting, driven rain, and Environment Canada Strong Wind Warnings. So it was as well we stayed. We did the laundry, caught up on the internet, walked the few blocks to do the shopping, and even visited their museum, with umbrellas at the ready.

It was an uncomfortable and noisy night as the storm continued, only finally abating somewhat come the morning, when the sun came out but the wind kept on blowing. So we booked a third night at the marina. Which is why I am sitting here right now on the bridge writing the blog, with the canvas sounding like a tent in a hurricane. We have invited Jim and Frances over for “docktails” at five, and tomorrow plan to leave for an island to anchor at, the weather being forecast as favourable again.