Mill Lake to Snug Harbor via Covered Portage Cove then Baie Fine July 21 and 22, 2014

NOTE: Still no pictures because my Internet connection time is still limited. I will get them up as soon as I can! But we have some beautiful pictures. Tune in again later please!

Left early in the morning, for us that is about 8am. We took the inner channel to Killarney. This winding path offered beautiful vistas. We have seen almost no animals of any kind and very few people. We hear some boat chatter on the radio and occasionally pass some boats. The anchorages have between 10 and 15 boats which doesn’t seem very crowded. So we feel like we have the place to ourselves.

The odd thing is we keep meeting people from Ohio! Of course. No one lives in Ohio. We are all away all the time!!

Our route today took us through Killarney to get supplies then to our final anchorage. This time we worked on better communication with the captain upon docking at the Sportsman Inn. At least we got that right. 

Maeo and I had the fenders out this time before the lines so we didn’t slam into the dock like we did the last time we visited Killarney. Maeo and I went for groceries while Kermit and Paul filled up the water tanks and got a pump out.

The grocery store was at the very end of the little street that is Killarney. The prices were out of this world. We spent $37 on 4 pork chops and 4 small chicken breasts. Honest, if we didn’t need it we would not have bought it. We skipped the crackers ($6 per box), the chips ($4.99 for a small bag) and the peanut butter (8.99 per box). I choked a little when I saw the 2 pound box of store brand mixed nuts for $50. I skipped those too.

At the  bakery we picked up a loaf of bread and 4 more cinnamon buns for $18 – delicious and well worth it! Paul got pop at the grocery and beer at the LCBO. I think the pop was the best price of all – only $.50 per can. Such a deal.

Leaving Killarney was more complicated than arriving. I needed to send a blog. All I needed was about 5 minutes. Kermit and I got into a kerfuffle about the need to just stay in the middle of the absolutely calm channel for five minutes while the blog loaded. Ah well, such is life on the road.

Our anchorage that night was supposed to the at Covered Portage Cove, just around the corner from Killarney, west and a little north. It is pretty enough. We got there and found where all the boats went! This pretty small, protected cove had at least 15 boats anchored. Too many for us. Kermit said he was leaving.

On the way out we noticed some kids hanging around on paddleboards then we noticed the kid on the rock wall about 20 feet up (at least). The other kids shouted at him that we wanted to take a picture so he jumped!! Awesome. I won’t be doing that any time soon!!

We found another nice anchorage around the corner a little more north and west called Snug Harbor. This place really is snug. Fewer boats can anchor there but it is totally protected on all sides except for the small opening. We dropped anchor then had dinner on Miss Nansea. Nancy  made sloppy joes and cheesy potatoes plus everyone brought something. We laughed and talked for a few hours then went home before the bugs came out. Early to bed and early to rise.

The next day, July 22, we left Snug Harbor bound for Baie Fine, pronounced [Bay Fin]. Along the way we turned on the 9am boater broadcast by Margaret from Little Current. One boater reported that Covered Portage Cove (that we left because 15 boats was too crowded) hosted 50 boats on the inside and another 16 boats outside the main anchorage!!! And we though 15 boats was too crowded!!

Baie Fine is a long channel running west to east with a little south turn into what is called “The Pool”. There were at least a dozen boats when we got there. As we sailed into Baie Fine boats were sailing out.

·         Frances Langford – a B grade actress from the 40s who married the guy who created Evinrude motors. She is gone now but she had a summer home in Baie Fine right at the corner where the pool turns a little south. No one home.

·         Lake Topaz – a mile hike to this lake at the top of the mountain. Deep topaz in color, the lake is filled with runover and rain, not spring fed. We went swimming – water pretty warm.

·         Big thunder storm  caused us to cancel dinner. Maeo made pad thai and we went to bed at about 7:30pm.

Still haven’t done the naming ceremony.

·         7/23 to Little Current ONT – this will be our next opportunity to get Internet access

·         7/24 to South Benjamin Island to anchor out

·         7/25 to Kagawon off Manitoulin Island to visit Bridal Vale Falls. This will be a marina stop – another chance for Internet

·         7/26 we head to Little Current then Tobermory then head home. Our target is to be home around 8/1 weekend, weather permitting!