Perhaps one of the most daunting aspects of our journey was facing Georgian Bay - often known for rough water and fierce winds. We left Victoria Harbour on August 25 and faced moderate winds as we headed up the east coast of the bay. Unexpected was the landscape of massive rocks laid out before us, as far as the eye could see. We spent the day darting in and out of narrow channels, carefully following our charts so as to avoid a collision with said rocks. When we were out in the open water between channels, it was ROUGH. Water coming in over the bow (but nothing to be worried about). Good thing we both enjoy rollercoasters :)
Finally found anchorage for the night and followed more channels the next day, north to Byng Inlet where we were able to tie up to an abandoned municipal pier. From there, we woke early anticipating a very long day through a series of channels between Byng Inlet and Killarney. Upon checking the weather, we discovered that we had a unique window of opportunity to head straight across Georgian Bay on glassy waters with very little tail wind. Thankfully our plan worked out and we had smooth sailing on 'auto pilot' for about 5 hours (better than the 9 we anticipated). We arrived in Killarney around 1:00 pm and had a lazy couple of days in a marina in town.
Today, we left Killarney on smooth waters and found a perfect little anchorage between Strawberry Island & Beaver Island. I ended up quilting most of the afternoon and Eric was busy outside with 'boat stuff'. Dinner behind us and we're enjoying a beautiful warm evening in a quiet, secluded bay.
Tomorrow, we will continue on the north channel towards Little Current, where we hope to visit highschool friends (Sue McIlquham & her husband Ken Barss) for the afternoon. After that - who knows? We'll see what the weather has in store.
