Good morning and hello from Killarney, Canada. Since the last post we explored Midland and started and finished our move across Georgian Bay.

We had a long day getting the props replaced and are now all good! We spent the next day relaxing, cleaning, and wandering around Midland. We also had a nice dinner out with fellow loopers.

We ran into town by dinghy and tied up at the town dock for two hours while walking the town.

The area was a huge lumber shipping area.

Another town hall, they all do look alike!

Great dinner out with looper friends.

Had to get a picture of this one, the “ride the buzz” slogan and the car was rattling so badly it sounded like it was buzzing!

With the new props the boat is running great, and we set out to cross Georgian Bay. We spent the last three nights at anchor in some very remote islands in what is called the 30,000 islands area. I have not counted, but there may be more than 30,000. They define an island with the following criteria: must always be above water and must have a tree on it. There are also lots of rocks just below or poking their heads out of the water.

We moved 43 miles from Midland to Port Rawson. This is a large anchorage off the beaten path.

Getting there you really need to stay in the marked channel and avoid the islands and rocks. There are lots of rocks.

Islands and more islands. Auto pilot can’t be used in this area.

Just to the right of the bow was one of the many very narrow cuts I had to drive through. Some were only 50′ wide. We arrived at our anchorage and it was time to set up for the night and to explore the area by dinghy.

We set the bow hook and then took the dinghy to shore to tie a stern line to a spike that is driven into the rock. This area is all park land.

We continue to travel with our buddy boat Resonance and also added Bon Vivant to the group.

Amy, Memphis, and I took off from the group to run to a small island with the famous Henry’s Restaurant. This is about 5 miles away, but always fun to do dinghy rides and see the summer homes on all the private islands. We planned to get a drink and an appetizer but the service was so slow we left 20 minutes after being seated without seeing a server. Business is good for them, I guess.

Approaching the town and Henry’s.

HENRY’S

We arrived back in after the third boat arrived. They do not carry a long stern line, so they rafted off Resonance for the night. They will do this each time a stern line is needed.

We had a great night and enjoyed a potluck dinner before the bugs came out. The mosquitoes come out as the sun goes down. You have to lather up with bug spray or call it a night at sunset.

The next morning, we departed and moved another 45 miles to Hopewell Bay anchorage.

It looks like we are running outside in the open water, but we are not. We are weaving around lots of small islands and dodging rocks!

Our anchorage at Hopewell Bay was great and lots of room so we did not have to tie to shore. We spent the afternoon swimming and relaxing in the warm temps and cool water. Memphis is loving swimming every day. She is really out of shape!

Amy and Christine relaxing on the rocks.

They did have a visitor, but he did not stay long.

The winds died and we had a great night’s sleep on the hook once again.

We also decided to have ROCKTAILS! We all met around 5pm and stayed until just before sunset.

Memphis had enough and really needed a nap.

Back out to the boat before sundown for a late dinner. The sun stays up until almost 9pm.

Pano of the anchorage from ROCKTAILS.

Just caught the sun setting over the trees.

The next morning, we got moving again to the Bustard Islands. We spent the night again on the hook at Bustard Bay Harbor anchorage. We, once again, had to tie to the trees.

We did run outside this day, so we got to clean the engines out a little. This got us there in plenty of time to do a lot of dinghy exploring.

There are a lot of neat lighthouses all around the area.

All set up at the Bustards.

Once again tied to the trees behind us.

Dinghy and swimming time.

Our navigator has to be with us!

Lots of little rock cuts that the dinghy will fit through. We met a couple from Detroit, and they were heading over to an area called the rapids. You can actually run the dinghy up the rapids! Ok let’s try it.

Arriving to the rapids area, doesn’t look bad!

Starting into the rapid’s canals.

Lots of narrow rock cuts but they were deep. 6-30′ deep most of the way.

We would get a good head of speed up and go right up these. This was a new one for Amy and me. Memphis didn’t mind either.

We returned back to our anchorage and had ROCKTAILS again at 5pm. We had a larger group as there were a lot of boats in the area.

All set up for ROCKTAILS.

Memphis wasn’t supposed to go swimming but when someone throw the stick for Moxie, Memphis knew what to do!

Great view of our relaxing spot.

We ended the party early so we could do a 5-mile dinghy ride out to the lighthouses on the point for sunset.

Heading out of the anchorage on the way to the sunset.

The two day marker lighthouses along with the large lit one in the center.

We took George and Christine out with us.

We did not plan well and ran out of wine on the trip.

We did make it back in time to get the sun setting over the trees again from the boat.

Another looper put their drone up and sent us these great pictures of our boats. You can see how close we are to the rocks behind us and you can also see the rock just under water above the boat. You do have to be careful.

You can see the rock above the boat better in this picture.

The next morning it was my job to untie the stern lines from the trees and rocks.

Not always the easiest to get up the rock faces from the dinghy.

We moved once again, but his time to a marina. We are both happy to be in a town and eat a meal or three out.

We moved 33 miles from the Bustards to Killarney. We will be here for two nights to relax and recharge before we go back on the hook for 3-4 more nights.

The lighthouse marking the entrance to the Killarney Channel.

Arriving at the Killarney Channel.

This is a very busy area, as it makes the transition from the North Channel to Georgian Bay. Hundreds of boats a day go through here. We were one of 30 boats that arrived here yesterday to spend the night. They actually have long docks and will double stack the boats in the slips. This is one of the good times to have a big boat so we get our own slip.

We did have to take the dinghy out to get pictures of the sign as it was too far away from the big boat when we went by.

We had a great dinner out at the Killarney Mountain Lodge last night with our two buddy boats and will explore the area today.

I hope you all have a great rest of your week and I will post again when we arrive in Little Current after 3-4 nights on the hook.