Killarney

Sunday, June 28

The plan today was to go to Killarney with a side trip on the way to the Baie Fine. Baie fine is one of the few fjords in North America, deep narrow water with mountains on either sides. It is about ten miles long and ends in an area called the pool, a popular anchorage for cruising boats. Direct to Killarney would be 20 miles with Baie Fine it would be about 45.

The morning dawned warm, 65, low overcast and a bit windy. By 7:30 it had started to rain and the wind was picking up. It didn’t look good so we took our time, had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and hunkered down for a slow day. Diana crochet and I caught up on some paper work.

By late morning the rain was easing up but the visibility was down to a couple of miles and the wind was from the SE at 15 – 20 gusting to 30. We decided to walk a block to the Anchor Inn for lunch and internet access. We had their soup and sandwich special, the turkey dumpling soup was excellent.

By the time we got back to the boat the wind had lightened and gone around to the west, the visibility was improving. By 2:30 the wind was dying and the sun was breaking trough, so we decided we would do the 20 miles to Killarney. We got off and Diana got pictures of the little boat buoy, I mentioned yesterday that show the direction of the current, the town dock behind us and the bridge as we approached. By lowering our bimini all the way we cleared the bridge without having to wait.

From the Little Current channel we headed for Strawberry Island and its attractive lighthouse. From there it was on to the Lansdowne Channel, a famous passage in this area. Diana got lots of pictures. We saw loons and a bald eagle on the passage. This marks the official transition from the North Channel into Georgian Bay.

Soon we were turning into the Killarney Channel. The channel separates the mainland from George Island. Killarney has been an active boating center for a long time but there was no road access until the 1960s. We tied up on the inside of the fuel dock in the photo. Once we got settled we walked along the main street. Diana got a picture of this church build in 1950, before the road.

We had dinner at Herbert’s Fishery. They serve only fish and chips but the fish is fresh caught white fish cleaned and cooked in the building pictured and served out of an old red school bus. The fish was excellent and they do a big business.

We walked back to the boat and spent an hour chatting with a couple that had come in right behind us. They are headed the other direction, doing the Great Loop. They have a 26 foot Bayliner that is trailerable and spent 5 to 6 weeks doing a section of the loop. This is their third year. We exchanged notes on was ahead for each of us.