Chimney Bay, Henrys, Parry Sound

Ahhh...wi-fi and cellphone signal. It's the little things in life. We left Midland, ON last Thursday and spent two nights in an anchorage near Ojibiway Inlet off Beaulisol Island. It was one of those moments when Dave and I look at each other and can't believe that we are experiencing so much of God's beauty. Our anchorage was in a place called Chimney Rocks Bay. After we dropped the anchor we put down the dinghy and went exploring. We took Big Dog Channel (named because a 40' boat could navigate through but not necessarily pass another boat) into Honey Harbor. It had been described to us as being "cute" and a necessary place to visit. Well...not so much. It catered to the "cottagers" and had a general store that sold hardware, groceries, deli items and a lunch counter. Basically a jack-of-all trades store. Next door was a beautiful bakery that sold pizza- which Dave quickly steered me away from. The butter tarts (Jo Ann and Sharon) looked amazing. I barely got into the door when we were turning around and going back out. Oh well- I guess he "saved me"- as Dave likes to say! We went back to our boat using the Little Dog Channel- of which is suited for dinghies and small fishing boats. Boats had to do security calls to come in to the channel as there was no room for two boats to go side by side. Back on the boat we enjoyed fishing but not catching and the peace all around us. I put up my rod and Dave was still trying when I looked up and saw a big black bear. I ran to get the camera but he lumbered away up into the woods. The weather turned very windy that night ushering in rain and lots of wind. The next day continued to be very windy and rainy. We used that time to do boat cleaning and defrosted the fridge/freezer. As soon as we finished cleaning the alarm Dave sets to alert us that we are pulling on and moving our anchor was sounding and we were getting closer and closer to the rock in the middle of our anchorage. In the driving rain we pulled up the anchor and attempted twice to finally set it further out into Chimney Rocks Bay. We spent the rest of the afternoon glancing at the laptop to make sure our anchor was holding. It alarmed around 11:30 that night- and Dave went out to get a reference point to where we were in the Bay and the fog was so thick he couldn't see the boat that was just 50' off of ours. In the morning- the fog was not as thick and the clouds were lightening so we decided to take off.

While we were on the small boat channel, we came to a part of the channel that was so skinny only one boat at a time could go through. We hung back with another boat to wait our turn. Just as we were starting into the inlet- the boat in front turned around and came back towards us. Needless to say, we were both kind of shocked and wondering what was happening. Dave got on the radio to hail the boat to see what was wrong. Right in the middle of this narrow channel, the captain from San Tropez hailed us and said that he recognized our looper flag and would we like him to navigate us through the skinny channels and lead us to Henry's Fish Camp. He said that they were the Harbor Hosts for this area of the Georgian Bay. As you can see in the pictures below- it was quite foggy and any navigational help would be greatly appreciated.  They proceeded to take us into a channel that Dave had not plotted as our route, but we blindly with great faith followed them in through Indian Harbor. When we sat down with Mike at Wye Heritage Marina last week to plot out a route and things to see while on the Georgian Bay- I had mentioned the anchorage in the Indian Harbor Channel- but he thought with our unfamiliarity of the waters it would probably be better not to try and go through this narrow passage. We were so grateful that Bill and Jan led us through this beautiful passage. It remains my favorite cruising area so far on the Georgian Bay. Earlier I had called Henry's Fish Camp and was told that the dock space was first come, first served so we just thought we would take our chances. Bill and Jan are personal friends of the owners and we heard him calling ahead to Henry's telling them he was bringing in fellow loopers and got assurance that they would save space for both our boats. When we pulled in we saw our friends Brian and Ellen on Pearl and after formal introductions and many thanks to the Stover's we all had a wonderful, family style dinner of pickerall, chips, baked beans and coleslaw. There was so much food we split the left-overs with Pearl and said good-bye to the Stover's and Pearl. It was one of those experiences that we have read about Loopers for years- it was a great day.

The fog right before the Stover's on San Tropez started guiding us through. After the fog lifted- it was absolutely gorgeous cruising!

 A picture of San Tropez before the fog lifted

Out of order but this was the island in front of our anchorage in Chimney Bay. The cottagers often identify the islands by painting their names on the giant granite rocks that they are built upon. It is actually very helpful as these names all appear on our charts.

Sunset at our anchorage right after we saw the black bear

Often times the cottagers will take and create figures out the rocks to guard their camps. This was coming through the Indian Harbor channel

San Tropez leading us through narrow turns after the fog had lifted.

That afternoon and evening at Henry's was pure entertainment. We shared the docks with float planes that came in and out throughout the day. They were bringing people to Henry's for a meal that was part of their Fly and Dine package.

Dave went down below to take a nap as he didn't sleep much the night before and this beautiful 42' Monk went by. It is exactly like ours except had a hard top. This is the 2nd 42' we have seen on our trip and we thought they were rare! While he was sleeping I thought I would be nice and walk this trail that the guide books talked about around the bay to the local Liquor Control Board for a bottle of wine and beer for Dave. One of the workers took me to the trail and told me to stay close the water. I asked about snakes and she said yes they were around and then she said, "Are you going by yourself?" I told her yes and asked if it were safe and she said oh yes, I do it a lot. So I started out- got about a fourth of the way there and got a little scared and turned around. When I saw her again- she asked if I was okay and I said yes, but got scared about the possibility of the snakes. She laughed and said that I should have been far more worried about bears than snakes! Oy vey and Dave slept through it all. I was disappointed but went up on bridge as to not wake Dave. Just then a water taxi brought 11 people over for dinner from Parry Sound. I sat there and thought about it- and in my not typical fashion approached him to see if he would be interested in making a little side money. He said sure and that he would be happy to take me. We took the quick 5 minute trip around the bay and he waited outside. It got a little complicated when I went to pay and they didn't accept Visa and all I had was $50 American, $20 Canadian. The older woman quickly said that she would accept that. Well of course she did- with the exchange rate my 3 bottles of wine and Dave's beer was an extremely expensive purchase! I felt bad because I was planning on giving the man on the water taxi the $20 Canadian. When I went out to the taxi- he was so concerned when I told him about the exchange that he offered me cash to go in and get something for me! I laughed and told him the wine was in my backpack! When we returned to Henry's he didn't want to accept any money- as he said he enjoyed talking and hearing about our experiences. What an awesome guy! Thanks Jeff~!

This is one of the large raft-ups we saw in one of the bays on the way out to the small craft channel. Canadians do love their boats and their weekends!

Black squirrels everywhere around here and this picture was not zoomed in- we walked right by the little fella!

This is the Bobby Orr Museum and the Sound Stage for local musicians right by our marina in Perry Sound

Many cool looking salty boats!

FRYDAZE at the docks at Big Sound Marina, Parry Sound. We are going on a Cruise tonight on the boat in the background. It is part of the local music festival this week. Tonight is New Orleans Jazz. Hope the winds die down!

Henry's the morning we departed. We they are open the docks are packed.

You can see how narrow some of the channels we have to go through in this picture. I swear I can reach out and touch the buoys! The red and green are very tight here but if you look up ahead, we are going through that little sliver of water between the trees.

They still have old-fashioned phone booths here! This is in front of a Bell office bldg.

Granite everywhere!

Sunset over Parry Harbor

Oil railroad cars as far as the eye can see. This train pulled cars for about 20 minutes across this impressive old railroad train trestle. Completed in 1907 (1907) by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the trestle is 1,695 feet (517 m) long and 105 feet (32 m) high. The first scheduled train passed over the span in 1908. It's the longest rail trestle east of the rocky mountains.

 Betsy's view from the picture below.

Taking a break at the Charles Stockey Performing Arts center and Bobby Orr Hall of Fame.

Tomorrow we leave for an anchorage in Hopewell Bay. Sorry post was so long but lots of catching up to do. We won't have cell service for at least 3 days so stay safe!