This week we broke away from the pack of other loopers a bit
and struck out on our own over to the west side of Georgian Bay. Our stops this
week were two nights in Tobermory (marina), Club Island (anchor) Killarney
(marina) and two nights at Covered Portage Cove (anchor).
We had an early morning departure from Killbear for the long
trip over to Tobermory. The weather was great, a 10 knot wind from the east
that set up a gentle following sea for us the whole way. After being in the tight
quarters and crowded waters of the canals and the 30,000 islands, it felt great
to be out of sight of land with no boats on the horizon for a couple of hours. Tobermory
is at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula and is home to two different Canadian National Parks, the Bruce Peninsula National Park and the Fathom Five Marine Park.
The water here is clear Mediterranean blue and rocky cliffs and steep sided
islands rise vertically from very deep water. When we pulled in to the
municipal marina, the town was packed to the gills with tourists from Toronto
there to hike on the Bruce Trail or to ride the glass-bottom boats to see
historic shipwrecks and tour the unique geological formations of Flowerpot
Island. We stayed two days to take it all in – the girls took the ferry over to
Flowerpot Island, and I did some snorkeling on the wrecks in Big Tub Harbor.
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| Heading out to Georgian Bay from Killbear |
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| Beautiful morning for a crossing |
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| Ahhhh the open water again |
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| Bella keeping a watchful eye for dolphins |
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| Flower Pot Island shot from BellaGatto. See the old man's profile? |
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| Flower Pot Island |
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| Big Flower Pot shot while visiting Flower Pot Island |
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| Hiking the Bruce Trail |
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| Overlook from the Bruce Trail |
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Bruce Peninsula Provincial Park visitor center
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By the next day we could see the weather was fixing to close
in a couple of days with 25-30 knot winds and some rain, so it was time to git
while the gittin’ was good for the North Channel. It is about 50 miles from Tobermory
to Killarney and about half way there is an anchorage at Club Island where we
headed for the night. The bay at Club Island is roomy and well protected from
every direction but the east. The holding is a bit iffy with a gravel bottom
with muddy patches, but we managed to get a good bite in time to do some
exploring before dinner. In one corner of the cove we found an old wood
shipwreck and did a bit more snorkeling. The only good landing spot on the
island is the remains of an old gravel mining operation, mostly just rock piles
and poison ivy, but good enough for a landing spot for Bella.
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| Christy and Jonathan returning from snorkeling the wreck |
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| Chicken Marsala on the hook |
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| Mining spoils |
The next day we had fair skies and light winds for the 30
miles to Killarney, the gateway between Georgian Bay and the North Channel. We
were still pretty well provisioned up and pumped out from our stay in Tobermory,
but we got a slip for the night anyway at the Sportsman’s Inn Marina, had a
great fish and chips lunch at Herbert’s Fish Market, and got tucked in to our
slip for the coming rain squalls and wind tonight.
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| Killarney General Store |
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| Just a float plane cruising by |
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Touring Killarney
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The next morning the rain let up around 9:00 and the wind
was not forecast to really start blowing again until the afternoon, so we got
squared away and beat feet a whopping three miles over to Covered Portage Cove
(CPC). CPC always ranks in the top ten when some cruising magazine ranks the
best anchorages in the world, so we didn’t want to miss it – and with good
holding and 360 degree protection it is also a great place to ride out the next
couple of windy days. CPC is indeed SPECTACULAR….surrounded by towering white
quartz cliffs and pine trees. The wind is howling, and all we get is a little
gust now and then. There are some hiking trails that go up the cliffs for
sweeping vistas and blueberry picking, and Bella is in dog heaven. I think this
is the first anchorage where we have ever spent more than one night on the
trip, and I could stay forever.
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