Today we left the last lock of the Trent-Severn waterway and arrived in Midland, Ontario, at the Bayview Marina to have the boat hauled out.  The props were removed and sent off for repair, and the boat was put back in the water without props. We were tied to the dock with power and we were definitely going nowhere. Of course then it started raining heavily. The marina offered us a van to use, so we took advantage of the offer and visited a beautiful Jesuit church nearby called the Martyr’s Shrine. It sat up on a hill overlooking the bay with beautiful grounds and statuary. Made of stone with two tall spires the Church was beautifully resplendent with an all wooden interior and stained glass windows.  A very spiritual place.

When the props came back 4 days later, we were hauled and we cleaned the bottom with thier power-washer. It was rather fun doing that. We took turns manning (or womanning) the powerful hose.

August15^th we cruised a short distance to the town of Penetanguishene (which means place of white rolling sands) and stopped at Hinson’s Marina. While we were in Midland, we negotiating a deal to trade our two old dinghys for a new dinghy. We still had the one dinghy with the unrepairable puncture from Turtle Bay aboard and the other one was becoming somewhat unreliable. We struck a deal with an inflatable dealer at the marina. First we had a really fast and breathtaking ride in it, and that was where the fun ended for a while. We were in Penetang for a total of 6 days, having our wench and davit arm modified to handle the heavier dinghy. Fortunately, since we were his customers, and they have a deal with the marina, we didn’t have to pay for our 6-day marina stay. 

August 21^st we anchored in Port Rawson and the winds picked up to 20 knots, so we hung out and watched the Olympics, listened to the Loons with their mournful love calls, then off  to San Souci the next day to a pretty, secluded, anchorage.  Gingerly, we lowered the new dinghy and took a long ride to Henry’s, a restaurant on a small island famous in these parts for fish and chips. The fish was very good, but we are beginning to wonder if famous also means the only place to eat in a hundred miles. Off again the next day to the dock at Pointe Au Baril where we could pump out and wait out some bad weather that was coming. Our stop-over proved to be very fruitful in that we met two very nice couples the three nights we were there. Phil and Judy stopped by and said they were from Colorado, but came up here every year to a cottage, and that Judy’s Mom lived in Oceanside, CA and they stayed with her 3 mos out of the year. They had just stopped by to see if we need a car ride anywhere and gave us some local info, very friendly.  

The next day before dawn a storm hit and dropped several inches of rain in a short time and then was gone by mid-day. Phil and Judy came by in their small runabout boat to see if we were still there and offered to take us on a little boat tour of the area nearby since they knew it so well. They had friends who lived in the old lighthouse out on the point, so they took us there to meet the woman who had lived there 29 years and raised 6 kids there. Her husband had been the lighthouse keeper for many years and after he died and the lighthouse became a small museum she was allowed to reclaim it and live there.  We climbed up the steep stairs to the copula and stood outside in the wind and admired the view. The old barrel with the light atop from which Pointe Au Baril gets its name is visible from the rooftop. Then we cruised to a beautiful old hotel with a copper roof named Hotel Ojibway on one of the inlets. All of the lodges and cottages in this area have been here for many, many years and stay in families for generations.

The last 5 days in August and now into Sept. have taken us thru the Georgian Bay from Midland to Killarney and up into the North Channel of Lake Huron including stops on Manitoulin Island at Little Current, Gore Bay and Meldrum Bay. Manitoulin Island is reportedly the largest island in the world in a fresh body of water.

The morning of Sept. 4^th, we weighed anchor and headed out into the hazy North Channel once more. It was warm, about 85, and the flies and mosquitoes must have decided it was a good day to come out too. We haven’t had much of a problem with them because it has rained so much and been rather cool, but today they seem to have joined us for our trip out into a wide portion of the Channel since we seem to be the only boat out here. We rounded the end of a point and hunkered in close to a line of trees to protect us from the wind, before dropping anchor for the night. We are a couple of miles from the town of De Tours, Michigan and about 40 miles from Mackinac Island, Michigan, our destination for tomorrow.


Les's Inukchuk, Oh, well


Point Au Baril Lighthouse

Into the North Channel


North Channel Anchorage


Readying to leave for Mackinac Island
Next, back to the U.S., Mackinac Island and Lake Michigan.