Down The Chimney (Bay) - Anchoring on Georgian Bay

Had another busy weekend (and week) working late, so I'm gonna have to break this segment into two parts for you. Yes, it's finally here - the next installment of the big Georgian Bay voyage. Please take your seats as I take you back in time - all the way back to July of 2009 as we revisit our memorable anchorage at Chimney Bay on lovely Georgian Bay. Could it be coincidence that we are going down the Chimney at the same time that that big guy in the red suit is heading down the chimneys of the houses of the little boys and girls of boating land? Hmmmm. . . . And you thought all of this has just been random, nonsensical ramblings on my part ;-) So, when we last visited the Georgian Bay adventure, us Boogaboo crew were enjoying the latter part of our 'honeymoon' portion of the summer holidays at Honey Harbour (top photo). Here we are just heading out from Nautilus Marina to continue northward and eventually meet up with our friends; First, a quick stop for a pump out - one of many on this trip, planed & otherwise. Look closely and you'll see 'It's All Good' on the dock. As chance had it we met Dan & Patty there. They had been anchored out at Bone Island but had to come back to Honey Harbour for a new battery; Our next anticipated stopover was an anchorage called Good Harbour. To get there, we had to go off the Small Craft Route and navigate between the mainland (right) and Tomahawk Island (left); This is another one of those unmarked 'Paths of Adventure', with no aids to navigation to mark the way. It is so cool to travel like this, with nothing but your charts and wits to keep you off the rocks! This little side trip was inspired by a portion on the Cruising Georgian Bay DVD. Speaking if which, we were watching some of that DVD on Sunday morning and that led to my remarking as to how many islands are unnamed, which in turn led to another bit of inspiration - having an island officially named :-) Anchor Girl reminded me that someone wanted to do that last summer when we were all up this way. So I fired off an email to the government people to see how one goes about such an endeavor. I think I was thought to be kidding about it, too . . . I'll let you know what I find out. Back to the adventure at hand. Another narrow passage to drive the boat through. I love it! Shallow water and unmarked rocks on both sides. Cool! Some video of this passage; Now, you gotta click on this picture to see the closeup of these rocks, with all the little holes; Turns out that our trip up to Good Harbour resulted in nothing more than a pleasant trip (there and back). We ended up not staying there - the small bay that is Good Harbour was pretty full, so we headed back down to check out a spot from last summer - McCabe Rock on Beausoleil Bay. To get there, we passed through Big Dog Channel; If you don't believe me, here is a highly entertaining video to back my story up; Alas, the anchorage at McCabe Rock was pretty full, so we moved a little farther northward to to very top of Beausoleil Bay to the portion called Chimney Bay - the part you keep coming back here to see! Right? This lovely shot was our backyard view for the next three days and nights. And yes, those three boats sitting there all innocent like are the very same three that we very nearly got to get close and personal with immediately before departing this bay; Here's two minutes and eighteen seconds of what it was like to gently sway back and forth in the light breeze of the evening. Kinda makes you all comfy and longing for the water again, don't it? Only 7 months 'till we're back there again; A morning shot of the north view looked like, facing completely opposite of the preceding photo. Yes, we sway that much when at anchor with no stern line out. Three days, solid as a rock to the bottom. Nice to have a good anchor; Look at that breakfast! All lovingly prepared on the BBQ, too! Yes, I have that much confidence in the anchor that we left Boogaboo all on it's lonesome when we took off for a two hour dinghy ride into Honey Harbour for something or other. I think it was ice cream; But first, we motored down to Wanakita to find Sanja & Arijana relaxing at the beach; Back aboard Boogaboo and playing with the chartplotter (night settings). 102.6 statute miles from home.Way cool! An evening view looking southward and down the length of beautiful Beausoleil Bay; The same view when the moon was overhead in the gathering night sky; And as this evening's night sky has fully enveloped me, I leave you until next time when we finish off this part of the Georgian Bay adventure. More pictures, more videos, more stories. Good night . . .