The North Channel of Lake Huron: Killarney to Drummond, ON

The North Channel of Lake Huron: Killarney to Drummond, ON.

 We will travel the North Channel from Killarney on the right side of the map to Drummond Island on the left side of the map.


Wednesday, July 15, 2015
In Killarney, ON 

Killarney, ON stands across the water from George Island at the entrance to the North Channel of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. Many visitors choose Killarney as their escape from the world, and fall in love with the windswept rocky shoreline.  We found quaint rental accommodations and cottages during our walk along the channel.  The best ice cream around is the Farquhars brand which is made on Manitoulin Island. 

  Our view (from Dream Chaser) of the marina, large hotel, and restaurant with bright red geraniums.

We had a leisure morning at the marina in Killarney.  The marina is full of boats and the boaters are moving slowly enjoying the morning sunshine.  Cooler weather is predicted for the next several days with highs in the 60’s.  After some clean-up and breakfast, we were prepped for departure.

By 11:30 am, Dream Chaser had entered North Channel north of Manitoulin Island and was headed northwest towards Little Current.  We love the pink granite of this area around Killarney.
It's a beautiful day with no clouds, sunshine, and 6 mph winds. As we left the protected waters of Killarney, we saw the big water of Lake Huron off to our portside.  We will be cruising the small craft route which runs behind islands, so no big water today.  The first 2/3 of the North Channel can be covered in somewhat protected waters of the small craft channel.  The 37 miles from Gibson Island to Thessalon is exposed, so we will pick a good weather day for our crossing.

We passed this mine just west of Killareny.  From what we can tell, this is the silica mining operation which began on Badgeley Island in 1970.  In 1911, Gold had been discovered in the area. Lumbering and fishing were big industries until 1900 when the supplies were exhausted.

The North Channel, the northern arm of Lake Huron, is a more remote, wilder version of Georgian Bay.  It runs 100 miles long and about 20 miles across.  It is considered the best fresh water cruising grounds in the world; a fresh water cruising paradise.  There are hundreds of uninhabited islands for exploring.  The one draw back is that rattlesnakes tend to sun themselves on the warm rocks during the day!  The shore is rocky, but small pines have managed to root and cover most of the shoreline.  Reports are that moose and bear can be seen at the waters edge, loons are in abundance, and ducks greet you along the way.  This area has many great anchorages (Portage Cove, Snug Harbor, and Browning Cove), but our destination is Little Current for tonight. 

                  The Strawberry Lighthouse with interesting angled walls and straight widows.

Dream Chaser motored down the Landsdowne Channel where the waters of the North Channel are funneled into a passage only 100 years wide, creating stiff currents as they empty into Georgian Bay.
There is a single lane swing bridge just before arriving at Little Current.   It's reported to be at a height of 18 ft., but looks lower than that.  It's openings are on the hour, so Dream Chaser floated around with three other boats until it began to swing open.  Boaters better not waste time getting through the bridge, because it opens for 15 minutes and if you're late...too bad.  Don't even try to get through!
Little Current is one of the bigger towns in the area and Manitoulin Island’s largest center.

There is a long face dock, but Dream Chaser occupied one of the 40 slips on the floating finger docks on the east end of the Little Current Harbor.  Dream Chaser backed into her slip at the east end without difficulty and was secured.  We were off to explore the area, pop into the shops, and pick up a few provisions.  There are several little shops along the main street next to the harbor. 
After our dinner of grilled turkey burgers, asparagus, and sweet potatoes, we had a nice quiet evening.

This interesting boat pulled in and docked towards evening.

Thursday, July 16, 2015 

                                     Sunrise in the marina in Little Current, ON.

The Little Current public marina was wonderfully quiet throughout the night.  At 5 am, Mary woke up and found that she finally had an internet connection for her computer.  The marina provides fee open Wifi, but due to the heavy usage, it hardly ever works during the day or early evening.  It’s not that there are that many boaters, but it’s the town’s people who mosey on down to the dock and hook up to the marina Wifi. So, with the early hour in our favor, the blog post was completed before the locals had finished their morning coffee and changed out of their jammies.  Wahoo!

By 8:45 am, we were seated in the conference room on the second floor of the Anchor Inn waiting for the live broadcast of the Little Current Cruisers Network.  Starting at 9 am, Roy Eaton, a former principal of Little Current, broadcasts his boaters information program over 71 VHF during July and August.  We were welcomed and given a boater’s gift bag with various bits of boating information from the area.

At promptly 9 am, Roy began with a welcome to the people present and those listening from their boats on their marine radios.  Roy proceeded with detailed weather forecasts for the next week, news of the world, sports scores, business reports, happenings on Manitoulin Island, and upcoming events.  His tidbit of information, today, was a report on a new hotel in Japan run by robots.  So far, the program was entertaining.  Roy moved on to celebrations and special memorials.

It’s not easy sitting through a long session when you have ADHD tendencies!  Steve did OK until the next order of business which was a memorial, and we were feeling sympathetic until we found out that the memorial was for someone’s dog!  Honestly, we thought the mayor or someone important in the community had passed away.  Steve almost lost it!

Next came the boater call-ins.  There were 121 boaters who called Roy on the marine radio, reported their boat name and location, and their names were promptly written down on a list.
Then someone called in that they had found a lost green Croc type shoe on a rock island where a party had been held the night before. The information was repeated again over the marine radio, and there was a pause for the Croc owner to reply.  I couldn’t even look at Steve or I would have lost it!  Thankfully, Steve had already tuned out by the time they began inviting attendees to join their “pickleball” groups.  The Cruisers Network program lasted about an hour.

After the broadcast, we looked around and everyone present seemed to be thoroughly pleased with all the information as if it was vital. We still haven’t figured out why it was import to record all the boats and what bay they were anchored in. ?  When Steve asked a few questions about our route west, he mentioned that we were looking for quaint towns to stop at rather than anchorages in bays.   All seven people looked at us like “what are you doing up here in the North Channel then?”.  Basically, there are a few quaint little towns, but they are scattered, and we would need more time to get to all of them. They celebrate nature in this neck of the woods! Obviously, many people come to this area year after year, like the couple who called in and was celebrating their 43rd summer in the North Channel.  Wow, I love nature, but I can’t imagine 43 full summers anchored in a bay celebrating nature!

We did, however, gain some navigational information in chatting with several wonderful people after the program, and it was great to meet Roy and the people gathered for the meeting.  Roy did a fabulous job of broadcasting, and we have only heard great things about the broadcast.

From the Anchor Inn, we hurried down to the coffee shop, the map store, and the grocery store.  Buddy’s Restaurant (food wagon) didn’t open till 11 am, so there was no temptation to order poutine fries. (french fries with gravy and cheese curds).

By noon, Dream Chaser was on the move, headed west with a destination of Gore Bay, ON on the big Manitoulin Island.  We steered Dream Chaser down the middle of North Channel with winds at 8 mph from the SW. 
Today, we learned the meaning of gunkholing.  During the radio show, this morning, one of the boats that called in was Gunkholer.  Who in the world would name their boat Gunkholer?  Well, it means “going somewhere off the beaten path where you probably shouldn’t go” which fits in perfectly.  The North Channel is a gunkholer’s paradise!  In addition, we learned that the venomous Massassauga rattlesnakes can swim.  The snakes are prevalent in this area!  Don’t forget to don boots for your treks along the rocky shores where the rattlesnakes love to sun themselves.  Also, the Eastern Watersnake is nonvenomous, but they dive under water, climb up into boats, and wrap themselves around the engines for warmth.  So, glad we haven’t been up close and personal with either one of these neighbors!

About 4 pm after about 30 miles of cruising, Dream Chaser arrived in Gore Bay,  a small unique waterfront community which grows in numbers dramatically during the summer months.  This afternoon was our closest call to hitting a boat, and it was NOT the captain or crew's fault.

When we approached the dock on our portside, there was a strong wind from the south  pushing against our port side and away from the dock.  The captain guided Dream Chaser into the designated slip which we were to share with a new Nordic tug.  The tug was on our starboard side of the slip.  The wind was blowing us away from the dock towards the tug, but the captain motored us right into our slip.  Mary threw the lines quickly- bow line to a young female attendant and then mid line to a young guy attendant. Dream Chaser was moved right into position. The young lady at the bow position (obviously new) grabbed the bow line and held it wrapped over one side of the cleat.  You don’t hold a 32,000 lbs vessel (add strong wind) even if you’re a strong guy.  She should have immediately wrapped it tight until the captain could ease (using the engines) over closer to the dock.  The attendant on the mid-line held his also without securing it.  Captain and crew told the attendants to tie the lines off, but they looked blankly back at us.  Dream Chaser kept sliding starboard and the attendants kept losing more line.  Finally, the captain and crew both yelled “TIE THE LINE OFF, NOW!”  Thankfully, hearing our shouts of despair, men from the neighboring boats grabbed our boat lines and tied them off.  We easily worked Dream Chaser next to the dock, fendered her off, and secured her.  Even with protective fenders on our starboard side during our docking, Dream Chaser was inches from rearranging the appearance of that new Nordic tug next to us!  Whew!

We have appreciated the many seasoned dock attendants who really know their stuff, but we have also experienced untrained attendants, like these, who have no idea what they are doing.  Mary often times throws her own mid line on docking because you don’t know if your volunteer will help you or cause problems.  She has thrown the mid-line several times to an eager smiling volunteer on the dock.  They hold the line (but do not cleat it), beginning chatting about something, and the boat begins to drift away because of its weight.

The only reason we have added this into our post is that a captain who is new or in a larger vessel, needs to be reminded that the captain is in charge and you need to make clear what you want done.  You can usually telling quickly, if the attendants know what they are doing. The captain knows his boat.  The docking procedure where you hold the rope under one side of the cleat (that some attendants follow) is only effective with little wind, very mild current, and small boats.  Our young dock attendants froze when they had strong wind, stiff current, and a 32,000 lbs. vessel.

After profusely thanking our neighboring boater volunteers for their assistance, we registered Dream Chaser at the office.  Thinking a nice walk would calm our nerves, we walked the main street of Gore Bay, a block away.  What a lovely little town with little shops to explore.

                                           Pretty wall mural in the town of Gore Bay.

As we walked by the community center built in 1927, we noticed a sign displaying information regarding the town’s summer theater productions.  “The Last Romance”, a romantic comedy, was scheduled for tonight. We located the ticket sales desk inside, purchased the last two dinner tickets for the night, and enjoyed a wonderful evening of h’ordeurves, dinner, and a play.  We had stimulating conversation with our table mates regarding travel, the loop, and areas of interest around North Channel.  Luckily, one lady was actively involved in the economic development of Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island, and the North Channel area, so we received great information.  There were  numerous “red hat” ladies in attendance, and from the roar of conversation at their tables, they were having a fabulous time.  Dressed in purple with their red hats of various design, they were so cute laughing and celebrating life. We had planned to eat dinner at Buoys Eatery across the street (suggested by a fellow looper), but the dinner play was so much more fun!

Friday, July 17, 2015

                                                                The marina at Gore Bay.

At 9 am with misty rain falling, we followed the board walk to the Farmer’s Market on shore next to the marina.  The boardwalk is a terrific walk along the south end of the bay and (if you have time) continues through a wetlands area.  If you’re in Gore Bay on a Friday, don’t miss this market with its wonderful assortment of lovely produce, fresh bakery items & foods, local meats, impressive art & hand crafted items, and local yarn.  In the parking lot, a large truck sells fresh and smoked fish.  We indulged in the fresh lettuce, scones, and kettle corn! 
From the market we headed to the main street to explore the shops which we missed yesterday.  Loco Beanz Coffee House with its motto “ Life’s too short to drink bad coffee” is a popular spot.  With iced coffee in hand, we continued to explore the town with its historic stone buildings, popped in and out of the shops, and enjoyed the town’s lovely flowers.  Too soon, it was time to move on!

 Just before we pulled our lines for departure, this boat cruised into the dock for fuel.  We've seen dinghies, wave runners, and small boats of various shapes carried on vessels this size, but never a sailboat carried on an upper deck!


By 10:30am, Dream Chaser backed easily from her slip and cruised from the bay into the North Channel.  

We cruised by these ruins located to the west of Little Current. We are not sure what this was, but it could be the ruins from the Picnic Island sawmill built in 1886.  By 1890, Little Current had become a dominant Lake Huron mill town.

We passed the Janet Head Lighthouse which was built in 1879 as it peeked out through the trees.

We have triple checked the weather for today, and the storms will pass north and south of our route. We also have 10-15 mph winds on our stern which is pushing us an extra 1/2 mph. We are navigating from the lower helm to avoid the light showers.  The dampness makes the captain’s kettle corn soggy!

The morning is gray and rainy, and we have nine hours to Drummond, our destination for tonight.  The wind on our stern was pushing us along with a slight increase in speed, but the waves were bouncing us a bit making it uncomfortable, so on came the stabilizers.  Yes!   About noon, the captain adjusted our route and cut closer to the south shore which provided more protection from the wind and waves.  Ah!, much smoother.

It was a cool rainy day, and this was our view for almost 9 hours through the window from the lower helm.   

Just before 5 pm,  Dream Chaser (see the boat icon) passed the border line ( shown on the navigational screen.  We called US Custom’s check-in at the Sault Ste. Marie Customs Office, inform them of our location, and gave them our Nexus numbers.  So simple-nothing else required!  We are back in the states!

At 7pm, Dream Chaser arrived at Drummond Island Yacht Haven in the village of Drummond on Drummond Island.  This is a port of entry for vessels coming from Canada.  Originally part of Canada, it was given over to the US after the War of 1812.  We had already called in our arrival, so we docked, secured Dream Chaser, and enjoyed dinner aboard (roast beef, peas, beans, and sweet potatoes).

We have enjoyed our 37 days in Canada with its great museums, French influence, awesome scenery, clear water, friendly people, beautiful lakes, quaint locks, tasty poutine, fabulous Kawartha ice cream, fun celebrations, yummy butter tarts, and even the “Eh”.
But, we are happy to be in the US because of the return to low prices on fuel, items at the store, and meals at the restaurants.  Even though the dollar is strong, EVERYTHING in Canada is expensive!  We filled Dream Chaser with diesel in New York before we crossed the border, and have not had to purchase fuel in Canada.  Dream Chaser is still good on fuel for another 300 miles. 

Soon, we will be passing out of Lake Huron and into Lake Michigan.