Moon River Falls - Georgian Bay

Another day that we were at Henry's Restaurant with the big boat, we took an all day dinghy adventure tour to the Moon River Falls. This is something we tried to get to a few years back (twice), but fate held us back and the trip never happened.

 So fast forward to 2011 and another attempt. I'm happy to report that not only were we successful, but I have a bunch-o-photos and video to share with you :-)

Believe it or not, but the round trip was 30 miles, so we had to make a pit stop at Woods Bay Marina on the way down for a fuel top up. As a matter of fact, I was a little concerned that our on board fuel tank wouldn't be able to get us there, so before leaving I 'borrowed' a small gas can at LeBlanc's (on the same island as Henry's) to fill and have as a spare for the trip. And when I say 'borrowed', I really meant 'rented' to the tune of $20. Plus fuel to fill it.
Note to self: bring small gas can from home to have for trips such as this. Believe it ;-)

A shot of the docks at Woods Bay. Almost all small, outboard powered boats here for the local cottagers. Biggest ship in port that day was a 340 Sundancer;

The store at the marina sold fuel, some groceries and the all important LCBO wares. Probably why it was so busy this day;

Not sure if this was a bad omen or not, but we spotted this turkey vulture on shore as we were making the final approach to the falls area;

Here we are. A popular spot for folks to dingy to;

Wow! Sure was a pretty sight;

This shot looks like a Group of Seven painting. I mentioned to Anchor Girl that this setting looked almost like someone built this to look as pretty as possible. I think 'someone' did and it was put there for us to enjoy.
 Thank you.

Nice shorts buddy;

Pretty, eh?

Preparing to get some really cool underwater videos to share with you;

Like a little kid playing in the water;

Here's the dinghy where we parked it on the rocks. As you can see, we had to pull it up on the rock shelf to leave it while walking around. When it came time to leave, we had to work out our quick exit, as there was lots of big rocks just under the surface behind the boat. So the plan was for A.G. to push the dingy back while I dropped the motor and started it.
 All good until she shoved us off and jumped into the boat - WITHOUT SITTING DOWN! Of course, I was looking back to get the outboard in the water and start it. When I pulled the cord, she was still leaning into the boat and - you guessed it - got the full force of the back of my hand right in her face!!
 S  M  A  C  K  !!!!!! Right in the kisser :-)
 I guess that vulture we saw earlier was a bad omen (for her at least). . .

Here's some wonderful and masterfully edited video of the Falls;



Heading back to the big boat, we spotted a young bear swimming across one of the channels. You can see it here in front of a Sea Ray. I was in radio communication with the folks on the boat to make sure he saw it and didn't hit it or startle it any more than it probably already was;

Here's one last photo we got of it before a couple of jerks raced up to within a 100' of it, full speed ahead in a centre console fishing boat to grab some photos. Fortunately the fuzzy little guy was able to get to shore and quickly disappear into the brush before those goofs got right up to it;

Back at the Boogaboo boat for a lovely evening on The Bay;

The Waubuno - A History Lesson

WAKE UP! We haven't even started with the history lesson and some of you are already nodding off . Stay with me, this is gonna be fun ;-)

  For this year's Georgian Bay summer holiday review, I figured we'd look mostly at places that we visited for the first time, as I know you don't want/need to see all of the same old, same old. Right?

 That is, unless I got some particularly nice shots at Henry's again that are simply too nice to pass up. Or Parry Sound. Well, you get the idea. . .

 So, since we are already on the subject of Henry's World Famous Fish Restaurant, when we were there this year for a few days, we took a dingy ride over to Wreck Island to check out the remains of the wreck of the side paddle wheel ship, 'Waubuno', which was lost in a gale on the night of November 22, 1879.
 The significance of that date is two-fold, as it's 132nd anniversary is only days away (from the date of this posting) and the 22nd of November is also the date that President Johnathan Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated.

Photo Credit: http://www.southchannel.org

 We're going to start with this historical plaque which is actually located in Parry Sound,  well north of the wreck site. The reason for this is that the the Waubuno had been heading for Parry Sound on it's fateful last journey when it was lost;

 This anchor from vessel is located next to the historical plaque in the park, which is ironically  in a place called 'Anchor Park'! How cool is that, that they were able to find a park with a a name that suited the anchor / Anchor Park relationship ;-)

On to the wreck site. Another bit of irony for those of you taking notes - the wreck is actually just off of 'Bradden Island', which is right beside Wreck Island;

Here's a shot of the remains from the surface;

 Here's a long shot of the resting place, showing how close it is to shore. The red circle is where the bow of the boat is - the only part of the boat that is sticking out above the water's surface;

I was amazed to see how much has survived after 130 + years;

Looking back westward from the wreck site towards the open Bay, one can see the two giant rocks that protect the remains from the full fury of Georgian Bay.
 So, how did it get here, you ask? Remember that the water level has dropped roughly five feet (!!) in the past 20 - 25 years, and the gale that caused it's demise would have resulted in a storm surge of three or more feet, so the ship would have been able to easily clear (or be pounded on) those rocks back in the day;

More cool shots;

The bow of the ship, currently above the surface level;

The keel of the ship;

 Here's some really cool underwater video;

Edmund Fitzgerald Anniversary

Just a quick note that today (November 10) marks the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald - an event made infamous by the song by Gordon Lightfoot. The song somehow always reminds me of Georgian Bay. . .  Wonder why that is?

 Here's a cool compilation video I found of the event, with Gordon providing the haunting musical accompaniment;

Speaking of shipwrecks and Georgian Bay, there is another upcoming anniversary - that of the loss of 'The Waubuno'. In the next couple of weeks I'll be putting up some cool underwater video I took when Anchor Girl & I visited the resting place of the ship, back on our summer holidays. 

 
In the meantime, here's a couple of still shots that I grabbed from said video;

Come Fly With Me Over Georgian Bay

Glad to see that this weekend we go back to Daylight Savings Time and enjoy longer days again. Sure is going to be nice to have sun past 7:00.

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Continuing our grand voyage on Georgian Bay.

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After a couple of nights in Wani Bay, we continued northward to Henry's Restaurant and a little surprise I had waiting for the Big Guy.

 Here's a final shot from our anchorage here (this time around;-)

 But before we go on to Henry's, I have a couple of videos I wanted to share that I took of the spectacular sunset & captured from the dingy while on Wani Bay.
 Listen to the comment on how this bay built just for me. . . What a nice guy :-)




 Look at that sky!! Another stupendous sunset!



 Henry's is located on Frying Pan Island and on the south east approach to the island is a store/fuel dock called LeBlancs. Here we are, topping off the tanks.
 I'd like to thank Mr. Analus for his help with me learning the new boat and being there as an extra set of hands on docks like this and an extra set of eyes when under way;

LeBlanc's Store on Georgian Bay

We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack;

Henry's Restaurant

OF course, they parked us right next to our sister ship, so I was obliged to compare notes with the crew of 400 Sedan, 'D ' N ' R';

A look back off our stern at the - you guessed it - rocks and trees.
 Beautiful;

Secure on the docks at Henry's for the night . . .  Or two;

 Boogaboo, Water Wings and Maple Leaf;

Scotty (Captain Butterball) arrived just in time to leave the waterways and hit the airways.
 Yes, that's a video camera that I'm holding. I have a 13 minute video compilation of our flight that is posted below these next few photos;

The boys are ready to take off on a flight over the Small Craft Route!

Of course, before departure we had to sign our lives away and absolve Georgian Bay Airways of liability if the flight ended badly. I wonder if that form would survive, if things were to go really bad;

Buckle Up;

 The ladies seeing us off;

 Taxiing away from the dock;

 And we're off!

Take a close look at this photo and you can see the markers in the water.
 This is Starvation Bay & one can see how close you are to the rocks lurking just below the surface while transiting this area. Be sure to watch your charts;

This is looking east, up Twelve Mile Bay. Wani Bay is is just about a mile up;

Wani Bay. We had been anchored here only a few hours before & now we are flying over it.
Pretty cool;

A close up of our anchorage at Wani, tucked in behind that tiny island at the top;

Lots of rocks and stuff to avoid, eh?
Ya, ALL of them!

 Our docks at Henry's;

Snug Harbour Lighthouse;

This is the 550 passenger Island Queen cruise ship, which comes out of Parry Sound. We would end up being followed by this vessel - the largest cruise ship in Canada - later on our trip through this very picturesque passage;

 The Captain of Water Wings earns his air wings;

 The Small Craft Route looking north with Frying Pan Island to the left (west);

Check out these next two phots.
 This first one is taken from 'far away', showing all the hazards to cruise around;

And this next one is 'close in' of the lead boat in the above photo;

Echo Bay;

I believe this is just entering into Long Sault, west of Parry Sound;

 O'Donnell Point (you can see the big lighted marker (center left);

 Big David Bay;

 Le Blancs;

Those two guys. The one on the right just acts like a little boy some times . . .

 One last pass over Henry's before bringing it in for a landing.
See the plane's shadow?

Splash Down!

  Safely back on the ground, it was time for a cold drink in the hot sunshine;

OK, so it was quite hot & Captain Butterball may have had one or three too many right after the plane ride;

Ya, he was flying again in no time;

Analus checking out Mr. Burke's Brackets;

Scotty seams to be in better shape now after his swim;

On the morning of the second day, we were all preparing to leave with the Maple Leaf pulling out off the docks first.
Problem.
Turns out the shaft came right out of the carrier and he lost all thrust control of the boat. Good thing they were still close enough to the dock to throw a line and get pulled back in safely.
So, we spent the balance of that day repairing it, including multiple dives to slide out and re set the drive shaft. A fun thing to do in 8' of water, on a floating dock;

Von Analus preps the shaft dog for the reassembly;

Ultimately, the boat was able to carry on, but we ended staying an extra night at Henry's.
Not a bad prospect - I'd be happy to spend two or three days here anytime!

Especially with my new boat ;-)

We treated ourselves to dinner at the restaurant one evening.
Here, Analus takes his turn signing their Guest Book;

The next day Anchor Girl & I headed up to Parry Sound to do some shopping - our first major one since getting into Canada. Remember that this was already week two for us on our big adventure.

Passing through Two Mile Narrows.
But Paul, you must be thinking, these two shots show you heading OUT of Parry Sound. What's up with that?
Well, the day after we got there, we started to head back to the Sans Souci area to once agian hook up with the Water Wings/Maple Leaf crews and check out another anchorage. Alas, as it always seams to be in boating, the best laid plans don't always pan out. We had anticipated stopping by LeBlancs for a pump out , but their system was down. So, we spun the boat back around and headed back to Parry Sound for the second time on this trip.
Why does this sound like our 2009 trip up this way . . .?

A really neat shot of Water Wings coming into the harbour as a float plane lands seemingly right in front of the boat;

Nice docks here - and LOTS of water pressure!

Water Wings and the Maple Leaf;

A look to the east from our boat;

Loose something down there, Scotty?

I got this shot from the fly-bridge. Another fantastic sunset!

This was the morning we were leaving Parry Sound (for the last time in 2010).
Kinda looks like we got some fog rolling in . . . . .

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Next time we head south through a new route of the Long Sault and a return anchorage at Wani Bay before taking the Big Boy to it's new home on Lake Simcoe.

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