Days on cruise: 121
Distance traveled: 26.4 miles
Travel time: 3 hrs, 27 mins
Total trip odometer: 2,613 statute miles
After four nights in Covered Portage Cove just west of Killarney on Lake Huron’s North Channel, we finally forced ourselves to pull anchor and move on to the next “must see” place everyone has told us to visit.
Ironically, The Pool, our new anchorage at the north end of Baie Fine (pronounced Bay Fin) is only 1.5 miles northwest of Covered Portage. It’s just that to get there, you have to sail 9 miles southwest down the Landsdowne Channel, 6 miles north on Frazer Bay, then turn east up the Baie Fine, making a giant circle. This spot is what the Cruising Guide says “is probably as close to boating on a fjord as you’ll ever get”. We won’t tell the authors about the Inside Passage on the west coast of British Columbia and SE Alaska! But if you want to see photos of REAL fjords with 1,000 meter mountains rising straight up from the water here in Canada, go to 2008 on our blog and see photos of that boat trip. But this sure is pretty!
So we traveled 26.4 miles to get to the Pool, and it turns out this normally crowded place has only two boats in it tonight, and the other one is around the corner, so it appears we have it to ourselves. Also, reviews from prior years say it is very weedy on the bottom, but this year there are few weeds and the water is clear. No idea why.
The “must do” activity here is a hike up to Topaz Lake, which of course we proceeded to do.
A Provincial Parks employee came up behind us with a propane-fueled ATV, hauling a small trailer full of trail construction materials.
After about 1/2 mile we turned off the main trail and headed up the hill on a side trail to the lake.
At the top of the trail we found the lake, and Ken and Pat from $20Bucks swimming there. They too left Covered Portage this morning. They anchored five miles down Baie Fine and came the rest of the distance in their dinghy.
Here’s Cathryn getting ready to test the waters, and that’s Pat behind her.
There was a family at the lake too. They had three seals, I mean boys, with them. The boys, Tyler, Lachlan and Cameron were all great swimmers and divers, even 6-year-old Cameron, and friendly and well-behaved.
After the hike we returned to the boat, had naps, enjoyed an adult beverages on the sundeck, and Bob grilled shrimp and veggies for dinner. He’s been grilling a lot lately while we’re anchored, as it remains warm and we don’t want to heat up the inside of the boat by cooking. After three fun nights in a row of Looper docktails, we’re ready for a quiet, early night. No cell signal or internet here, so we’ll post this when we get back to civilization, maybe tomorrow, maybe . . . ?
Distance traveled: 26.4 miles
Travel time: 3 hrs, 27 mins
Total trip odometer: 2,613 statute miles
After four nights in Covered Portage Cove just west of Killarney on Lake Huron’s North Channel, we finally forced ourselves to pull anchor and move on to the next “must see” place everyone has told us to visit.
Ironically, The Pool, our new anchorage at the north end of Baie Fine (pronounced Bay Fin) is only 1.5 miles northwest of Covered Portage. It’s just that to get there, you have to sail 9 miles southwest down the Landsdowne Channel, 6 miles north on Frazer Bay, then turn east up the Baie Fine, making a giant circle. This spot is what the Cruising Guide says “is probably as close to boating on a fjord as you’ll ever get”. We won’t tell the authors about the Inside Passage on the west coast of British Columbia and SE Alaska! But if you want to see photos of REAL fjords with 1,000 meter mountains rising straight up from the water here in Canada, go to 2008 on our blog and see photos of that boat trip. But this sure is pretty!
So we traveled 26.4 miles to get to the Pool, and it turns out this normally crowded place has only two boats in it tonight, and the other one is around the corner, so it appears we have it to ourselves. Also, reviews from prior years say it is very weedy on the bottom, but this year there are few weeds and the water is clear. No idea why.
The “must do” activity here is a hike up to Topaz Lake, which of course we proceeded to do.
A Provincial Parks employee came up behind us with a propane-fueled ATV, hauling a small trailer full of trail construction materials.
After about 1/2 mile we turned off the main trail and headed up the hill on a side trail to the lake.
At the top of the trail we found the lake, and Ken and Pat from $20Bucks swimming there. They too left Covered Portage this morning. They anchored five miles down Baie Fine and came the rest of the distance in their dinghy.
Here’s Cathryn getting ready to test the waters, and that’s Pat behind her.
There was a family at the lake too. They had three seals, I mean boys, with them. The boys, Tyler, Lachlan and Cameron were all great swimmers and divers, even 6-year-old Cameron, and friendly and well-behaved.
After the hike we returned to the boat, had naps, enjoyed an adult beverages on the sundeck, and Bob grilled shrimp and veggies for dinner. He’s been grilling a lot lately while we’re anchored, as it remains warm and we don’t want to heat up the inside of the boat by cooking. After three fun nights in a row of Looper docktails, we’re ready for a quiet, early night. No cell signal or internet here, so we’ll post this when we get back to civilization, maybe tomorrow, maybe . . . ?
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