Day 158 - The North Channel

The last week of our last leg of our Great Loop.  The day was glorious: bright sunshine and in the 60’s to start.  We left Tobermory at 10:40 am, heading north to the North Channel.  This channel is 120 miles long and up to 20 miles wide, from Killarney on the east to De Tour Village on the west, north of Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world.

 

A series of small islands were in our path out of Tobermory.  To our port, Cove Island has a lighthouse at Big Point that marks the main entrance channel to Lake Huron.  To the starboard was a series of islands forming a reef called the Great Barrier.  The water depth goes from 200 feet to 20 feet.  The waves were 1 to 2 feet today so cruising around the islands and shallow spots was easy.

Fitzwilliam’s Island was to our port and we passed others such as Rattlesnake and Rabbit Island.  Dead ahead was Manitoulin Island.  A few cottages were tucked into the trees on the southern shore and we saw the soaring Nabakwaneing Cliff.  At 12:45 pm we entered the North Channel via Lansdowne Channel between Badgeley Island and Centre Island, a few miles west of Killarney.  There were some homes on the islands.  Looking north, we could see the northern shore of the North Channel with its magnificent cliffs.  To the east, we could see the Indusmin Quarry, where heavy machinery is lopping off the top of Badgeley Island.

 

We were hitting some shallow spots again, causing the Captain to slow to a crawl until he found the deep water.  The water was calm and a few puffy clouds appeared in the sky.  At Frazer’s Point we turned to starboard into the stunning beauty of Baie Fine Fjord, one of the few fjords in North America.  The Okeechobee Lodge, once and inn, now private, sits at the entrance of an 8 mile channel through the fjord to the Pool, a basin at the end that is a favorite anchorage for boaters.  The north side is more rock than trees and the south side is the opposite.  We cruised in about 4 miles before turning around.

 

 

It was only a few miles further to Little Current, a town of 1500 on Manitoulin Island.  We passed the Strawberry Island Lighthouse then went under the only bridge from the mainland to the island (getting out the feeler gauge just to be sure we could make it under).  We tied up at the town wall dock at 3:45 pm.  No one was in the marina office to check us in and there was no answer or voicemail when we called.  A young man was sitting on a bench playing guitar and singing, and occasionally someone walked by.  We did find a person at Wally’s Service, a fuel service on the town wall, and we walked over to talk to him.  Wally (at least I assume he was Wally) told us that he had not seen anyone from the marina all day and that “Maybe someone will show up, if not, enjoy your stay”.

 

Town consists of about 3 blocks of stores and a couple restaurants.  The town dock is fairly long and there was a North Channel cruise boat docked there.  A tiny park overlooks the harbor and has a WWI memorial, as I think every Canadian town we have visited does.  The guitar player was still singing – it was over an hour by now.  We crossed the main street and had dinner on the outside patio of the Anchor Inn.  The food and wine were very good, especially considering how remote this location is.  The harvest moon was beautiful as it rose over the channel.