Day 157 - Cruising the Bluffs

The chilliest start yet – 43 degrees!  We turned the heat on.  The sky was bright blue and the sun warmed things up quickly.  It was 55 by 9:30 am and going to 71.  There was almost no wind and the Sound was flat when we left at 11:17 am.  We cruised closer to the western shore and looked at the huge homes built on small cliffs.  One had its own break wall and we could see the top of  a large boat docked inside.  A tall tower further up the ridge appeared to have a sailboat painted on it, but we were not sure what it was.  A development of new homes sprawled the shore in front of it.

 

 

 

As we left Owen Sound, Griffith Island was to our starboard and White Cloud Island to our port.  We think it is called White Cloud because you can see the light colored stone of the mainland bluffs that are beyond it.  From our view, it looked like clouds were floating above the island.  A few boats were anchored in the bay. 

 

The conditions on the Georgian Bay were much better today, one foot rollers that turned into one foot waves as we got further out into open water.  The bluffs were stunning, grey-white stone against the deep greens of the trees and the deep blue of the Bay and sky.

 

 

A lighthouse sits at the edge of Cape Croker.  We were getting into a nature preserve area around Winfield Basin, which is a small natural harbor where boats like to anchor.  Ahead of us was Flowerpot Island, a few miles off of Tobermory.  Part of the Fathom Five National Marine Park, the island was famous for 2 limestone structures that resembled flowerpots (there used to be 3, 2 are left).  We did not know what they looked like.  As we grew closer, we could see a couple boats and people near one area so we headed that way.  Yep, the first one was obvious, a tall structure with small trees growing out of the top.  The second was not as clear, but the vegetation on top gave it away.  I took lots of pictures of this beautiful island.

 

 

We turned to port and arrived at Little Tub Harbor in Tobermory at 2:45 pm.  Tobermory was a lumber and fishing port in the 19^th century.  Many historic shipwrecks lie in the clear waters off its shores.  Today it is one of North America’s premier SCUBA diving centers.

 

The boat was docked right along the harbor wall, with shops and small inns on the other side of the walkway.  The town is on both sides of Little Tub Harbor.  The shops featured outdoor clothing, nautical gifts and dive gear.  The grocery store was very close to the boat and we took advantage by restocking our provisions.

After a cocktail on board, we went to the nearby Crow’s Nest for whitefish.  I had mine grilled Cajun style and the Captain had the traditional fish and chips.  The restaurant is on the second floor with a deck overlooking the street.  As we ate, I watched people stream in and out of the ice cream store directly across from us.  Of course we had to stop there on our way back to the boat!