Little Current, ON

We went to the Fish and Chip bus and the fish and chips were amazing.  The basic order is a 4 piece fish and small fries.  Order at one window and pick up at the next one.  They don't sell drinks but provide vending machines, which after a weekend's worth of business was largely empty. After pick up, we ate at the government docks beside the commercial fishing boats.

Killarney is a very interesting little town.  It was created as a port and did not have road access until the early 60's.  All the stores have their own docks, even the LCBO.

We left Killarney just as some massive power boats arrived.  A Hatteras was supposed to leave but had engine trouble so it still occupied a spot that had been reserved.  3 more Hatteras, greater than 53', and a Marquis 65 were arriving and had to be together. Go figure.

Our first stop is Covered Portage Cove.  A gruelling 3 mile passage.  Actually its only 1.5 miles as the crow flies but the sailboat passage to go around the rocks puts it at about 3 miles. There's and inner anchorage and an outer one.  The inner anchorage looked crowed as we approached so we decided to drop a hook in the outer cove in 15' of water.  We were probably a little close to a CS34 but they did not complain.  We could have tied a line to shore to prevent swing but was not necessary.

Covered Portage Cove

Sansei at anchor.

There's a rock at the entrance to Covered Portage Cove that has an outline of an Indian Head.

We stayed 2 nights here. Water temperature was about 23C so swimming was brisk, but very refreshing on a hot day.  Spent the day putting a couple of coats of Cetol on the starboard teak toerail.  I will do the other side on the next lazy day.

After 2 nights, we hauled anchor and headed out Killarney Bay across Frazer Bay, into Baie Fine, heading to the Pool.

We have talked to many cruisers along the way and many recommended against going into the Pool, but rather anchor in the channel going in and then dinghy in.  The Pool is very weedy so getting a good hold is tricky. We decided that we would go have a look and try to set if it was not too busy.  There were 4 boats anchored.  We managed to anchor and then tie a line to shore.

We walked the hills around the Pool in search of blueberries.  There were some but mostly picked out and the remaining ones were dried out.

After a great BBQ dinner, there's nothing to do but chill and watch the sunset.

The next day we decided to go for a hike.  There is a trail that leads up to Lake Topaz and up the rocks.

Blueberries were disappointing but the view was spectacular.

After a lazy afternoon of swimming, water temperature was 29C, cleaning the waterline, we were settling in for a relatively boring happy hour since there were only 2 boats left in the Pool.  No new boats had arrived so there was no sport in watching the anchoring in the weeds.  However, one of the local cottagers came zooming by looking at something so we got the binoculars out and spotted the plume of smoke coming from the area that we had hiked earlier.  The MNR had been called and they were sending out the water bombers.  After 16 drops of water, the helicopter landed and inspected the site. Fire out.

After dinner, I went for an evening swim, which was rudely interrupted as a school of fish came along and started nibbling on me.  I know they are not piranha but surprising and startling nonetheless.  After dinner, we had another visitor, an 18" snapping turtle, biggest one that I have ever seen in the wild.

Belinda's not getting back into that water.

After 4 nights at anchor, it was time to head back to civilization.  We pulled up anchor with all the weeds, which took extra time to clear. There have been solar flares which causes problems for  satellite signals, including GPS signals and accuracy. At the entrance to the Pool there is a spot on the chart that read 5', but the Ports Guide says that is is passable.  We got in so we can get out.  At one point, the depth sounder read 4.2' but no bumps and we cleared the channel.

We motored south to get to Little Current into a south breeze.  As we turned west we were able to put out some genoa and motor sail.  There is a swing bridge east of Little Current that opens on the hour for 15 minutes.  I did a quick calculation and came to the conclusion that we would not make the 1pm opening.  So we stopped the engine and sailed leisurely over to the bridge and wait.

After clearing the bridge, we stopped at Wally's for fuel and a pump out.  We tied up at the town docks, along the wall. The Town of Little Current has installed 4 spines and finger docks to increase capacity.  There is no longer a need to raft boats off the wall.

Little Current is across from Goat Island.  Belinda has done a lot of legal work on this island, but had never seen the place.

Note the silhouette of the goat.

Off to do some provisioning.