WEEK 18 - Midland, Ontario to Killbear, Ontario

After three days at the marina in Midland and with the help of our guest crew Christi, we got the boat all prepped and re-provisioned for Georgian Bay. Both engines got their oil and filters changed, fresh Racor fuel filters and clean sea strainers. We scrubbed the boat from stem to stern and did countless loads of laundry. Having fun is hard work! Our stops as we explored the 33,000 Islands area of the eastern shore of Georgian Bay were Bone Island (free dock), 12 mile Bay (anchor), Wreck Island (anchor), Port Rawson Bay (anchor), and Killbear Marina (marina).

The Bay Port Marina in Midland was the perfect jumping off point to Georgian Bay. We were able to provision, take in a little sightseeing, meet up with looper friends we had not seen in a while, and most importantly get some local knowledge about secluded and picturesque anchorages during this stopover.

Touring the S/S Keewatin, 5 years older than the Titanic

Midland farmer's market for lots of local goodies

Dino's Deli

Mile high house made corned beef on rye. YUM!!

Ken MacDonald conducting seminar on Georgian Bay

Dinner at the Boathouse with Gregg and Sonia from Golden Daze

The trip to Bone Island was a short 12 miles or so from bustling Midland, but it was a whole different world. Just a couple of miles off the small boat channel was a little secluded bay with a provincial park dock that we had all to ourselves. The only catch was that the shore end of the dock stopped 15 feet before it hit land (due to high water damage I guess) so we still had to launch the dinghy to get ashore. We all had a nice swim in the fairly warm water and took dogs ashore. There wasn’t a trail or anything, and we did some bushwhacking, but the deer flies were pretty bad and we soon gave up. In the early evening we spotted a beaver foraging for dinner behind our stern and we had a beautiful clear cool night with the milky way on full display.

Leaving Bay Port marina for Bone Island

Hiking on Bone Island

Bella cooling of with a refreshing swim and of course a stick 

Jonathan & Bella on shore leave

Stillness of the morning at Bone Island

The next morning was only 10 miles or so to 12 mile bay, where we shared an anchorage with a dozen or so other boats, including some great loopers on the big brother to our boat, an Endeavour 44 named 9 lives. We did some serious hunting for wild blueberries on the shorelines around the anchorage and were rewarded with enough for a batch of blueberry pancakes in the morning. After the hot buggy berry hunt it was time for (what else) a swim, and then cocktail hour on the 9 Lives.

Exploring nooks and crannies in the dinghy

Bilberries!

Dinghy cut in the anchorage with 9 Lives to the far right

The next day was even shorter, maybe all of 5 miles to Wreck Island, named for a hundred-year-old ship that was driven on shore here. Here there was a day use dock and a nice nature trail. After a long walk and another swim, we moved off the day use dock and around the back side of the island to a well protected little anchorage we shared with a couple of Canadian sailboats. We added to our stash of blueberries on the evening dog walk and had plenty for another round of blueberry pancakes.

Hiking Wreck Island

Rocks are part of the ancient Canadian Shield and have been worn smooth by glaciation during the Ice Age

More beautiful rock formations at Wreck Island

The water is so clear

DeeO'Gee on the hike

Our last night we were very near Frying Pan Island and the famous Henry’s fish restaurant, so we delayed our departure to be there in time for their famous fresh pickerel fish and chips. We got there early, and as opening time approached people started streaming in by boat, jet ski, and even a couple of float planes. I’d been reading blogs for years where people gush over a Henry’s lunch, and it definitely lived up to the hype. After lunch we headed up well off the beaten track to Port Rawson Bay where we had sort of planned to hole up for a couple days to avoid the crowds on the big Canadian holiday weekend. Most of Port Rawson Bay is inconveniently deep for anchoring, so the park service installed a bunch of steel pins in the shoreline rock so you could anchor the bow in maybe 20 feet and pull the stern right up to shore and tie it off. It took us a couple of tries to get it right.

Henry's is very quiet upon our arrival

Lunch at Henry's with The Lower Place and Nomadic Spirit

Henry's is a popular place for float planes

Port Rawson Bay (Photo Credit, Christine Ambrose)

Can't get enough of these fresh blueberry (bilberry) pancakes!

Secured with a stern line to the shoreline in Port Rawson

Sunrise at Port Rawson Bay (Photo Credit, Christine Ambrose)

The next morning we reconsidered our plans. We needed to pump the holding tank and fill the water tank, which we could not do in the back country where we were, so we decided to brave the holiday boat traffic after all and head to Killbear Marina. It turned out to be a pretty good call. Killbear is a nice low key little place near a big provincial park and after we pumped out and filled up, I asked if they had any dock space for the night. I was surprised that they did (with no notice on a holiday weekend) so we jumped on it. The girls launched the bikes and trekked over to the nearby park and beach while I did a few boat chores, including replacing our LED anchor light bulb with a new one from the marina’s well stocked ships store.

The threatened Massassagua Rattler in captivity at the Killbear Provincial Park Visitor Center

Killbear Provincial Park campground beach on Kilcoursie Bay

 After checking the weather, we determined that tomorrow would be a good day to jump over to Tobermory on the other side of Georgian Bay, a 70 mile open water run right across the middle of the Bay. Stay tuned for next weeks blog for that adventure!