If you recall the last post of our 2011 summer holidays selection, you will remember that the Boogaboo crew was just pulling away from the docks at Killbear Marina.
As you can see, we were greeted by a very pleasant, sunny morning with nice conditions for doing some traveling;
I thought it would be nice to head a bit farther north, as we had never been this far & my wanderlust drew Boogaboo upward. And, like I said, it was a loverly day for cruising;
Look at that, yet more rocks and trees ;-)
I'm only funin' with ya. I love the scenery up here and wanted to share lots of photos of same;
Looking off to the starboard side of the boat, this set of buoys marks to west side of 'Canoe Channel'. Although narrow, it looks like we might have been able to pass through safely but the chart has an advisory for this spot that vessels over 40' shouldn't attempt it.
Probably just as well that we didn't attempt it. As you'll see in an upcoming video that we had a narrow enough passage a couple of days after this was taken;
Looking north again towards 'Regatta Bay' and the Snug Harbour lighthouse;
A look back over the shoulder to see our trailing path.
Please remember to click on ANY of the photos to get a full sized view for ALL the photos;
The Snug Harbour lighthouse comes more into view. Check out the jagged, rocky ledges. Beautiful;
Take note of the black stripe painted on the 'front' side of the building. This is done purposely as the entire building acts as a range marker for vessels heading in from the big part of The Bay;
Here's a video from our passing of the lighthouse;
This was a pretty common site - a cormorant sunning itself, wings spread on the rocks. It's a shame that these goofy animals seem to be taking over Georgian Bay just as they have Lake Simcoe;
We spotted this sign, all by itself on a rock at the top end of Franklin Island. I'm sure some guy would love to have that old Shell sign for his garage. Or Ebay;
Again we are witness to one of my appendages, indicating some sort of milestone on our boating travels. This time it signifies not only the turnaround point of our adventure, but the farthest north we have so far ventured on Georgian Bay;
I had to capture the spot on my chart plotter. This will continue to act as inspiration for me to go past this point ;-)
On our way back south, we encountered this little curiosity - a dear swimming across the Small Craft channel between the mainland & Franklin Island;
Here she is coming ashore on one of the tiny channel islands;
A quick jaunt across & she was back in the water, heading towards Franklin Island in the background;
And wouldn't you know it - I caught this neat little event on video;
One of the mini lighthouses on the bay. This one is no longer in service, but still makes for a good day beacon and a nice pic;
Crossing Parry Sound (the body of water), I filmed the captain being really serious as Boogaboo IV blasted across the waves;
Back in Parry Sound, we spotted this vessel coming into port & I thought it was a great lakes fishing boat It was similar in style to what we encountered the summer before in Lake Huron when we brought Boogaboo IV home from the US of A.
Turns out it is a scientific research vessel. Better that than having to worry about more errant fishing nets on the open water;
I was playing around with the camera and grabbed a couple of cool shots of one of the float planes coming in for a landing behind our slip at Big Sound Marina;
There is always lots of float plane activity at Parry Sound, as it is a good spot for the locals to pop in for fuel, food & whatever else they may need - just like us boaters;
Yea, it was a classic, hot summer evening when I took this shot. The view of the A/C water coming out of the side reminds me of how warm it was outside & how comfortable it was inside the boat;
A nice shot of the sun glittering off the side of the boat;
I wasn't sure what view looked better (sideways or topways), so I'm sharing both.
SWEET SUMMERTIME;
Anchor Girl relaxing and taking in a beautiful summer evening;
Check out the sharp angle of this guy coming in for a landing;
Yep, more video. This time it's the planes coming & going;
Ahhhh - Summertime :-)
Ice cold beer on a hot summer evening on the boat. It don't get any better, my friends;
Yes it is;
Morning comes & it's time to head out. The very lovely Anchor Girl tends to the lines & fenders as we leave the gas docks for a pump out.
On our way back south and back to Henry's;
As it was such a beautiful and calm day, I decided to take the long way around, through Parry Sound (yes, the body of water), around Parry Island and through this gorgeous slice of heaven known as 'Long Sault' (pronounced Long Soo);
The water is incredibly clear through here. Not sure if that's a good thing though, as you can see ALL the rocks and some of them look like they aren't as deep as the charts would suggest;
Yes, it was this tight;
After clearing Long Sault, we pass to the south west of Parry Island and continue southbound on the main small craft route;
We enjoyed a wonderful sunset evening, secured at Henrys for a few nights.
One last look at the 2011 Georgian Bay adventure coming up. . . .