Day 12 Covered Portage Cove/Killarney

Early to bed and early (for us) to rise in The Pool. Had toasted English muffins with Mapo-spread for breakfast. Have to get more when we are in a town here in Canada.

It's cloudy but they are thin and high up.  No sign of rain.  Running the genny to heat water for showers.  Trying to get moving by 9:30.

Had flat water for the trip to Covered Portage Cove.  The trip took a while because of the long ride at low speed until the open water.  We passed a couple light houses along they way and snaped their pictures.

Covered Portage Cove is smaller than The Pool but it has bluffs that are climbable.  We found a good spot to anchor. Only 5 other boats in the cove so plenty of spots to pick from. 

After lunch I set up the dinghy and we headed to a spot where we saw another dinghy beached.  We asked folks who had just come from there and they confirmed it was the only accessible spot.  The rest of the cove is cliffs or marsh.

The trail was not we'll marked.  Someone had tied orange ribbon on trees along a well traveled path.  It was steep and rocky, not easy going, but we managed.  The first bluff gave us a view of the cove and our boat, but the others were more in the center and higher up so we pressed on.  The second bluff wasn't hard to reach, but the third, which offered the best view, was a tough climb.  But from that bluff we could see quite a distance, and got a great photo of the boat.

We got a little lost on the way back but managed to find the ribbons after a little scouting.  On the way back to the dinghy we decided to head in to Killarney instead of spending the night in the cove.  The weather wasn't the best and the forecast called for rain and higher winds.

We packed up the little we had out, pulled up the anchor and headed to Killarney a whole 3 miles away.  After supper we realized we made the right decision when the rain and wind moved in.  It would have been a bumpy night on the hook.

Killarney is a small town with a canal running through it separating the mainland from George Island.  We decided to dock at Killarney Mountain Lodge.  They have fairly new docks and lots of amenities.  The rest of the town has a general store and a couple other shops but not much else.

In keeping with the Change of Plans theme we're taking advantage of our "extra" day and heading to Tobermory for 2 nights tomorrow.

Day 13 Tobermory

Morning in Killarney was pretty early on.  No clouds and just a little wind.  We wanted to visit a gift shop in town that didn't open till 10 am. So we took our time getting packed up and walked in town a little. 

Up to this point we have climbed and hiked and been a little daring.  In the past Charlotte has had a few spills and turned her ankle.  But on this trip she's been bullet-proof.....until now.  Crossing a street, a curb jumped Up and down she went.  Luckily she's not hurt, just sore.

After shopping we headed to the boat to get moving.  It was a little breezy and clouds started rolling in.  We passed Killarney Lighthouse and took pictures, then headed for Fitzwilliam Island thinking we could anchor in some clear water.  But the further we went the more the wind picked up and the bigger the waves.  Fitzwilliam Island was a bust.  Too rough and the bottom looked to be more rock than sand.

We had following seas which is good and bad.  When the waves are 2 to 3 feet coming up from behind, and you're going faster than the waves then you end up going "up hill" on many of the waves.  This actually slows the boat down a good bit.  When it's a 4 foot wave it can cause the boat to come off plane.  Before we got to Tobermory we had 4 to 6 foot waves, some following, some from the side.

After trying Fitzwilliam Island, we headed toward Flowerpot Island which put the waves on our side instead of stern.

Before we got within 3 miles of Flowerpot we realized it was not going to work either and we turned toward Tobermory.  The entire trip was around 50 miles and more annoying than difficult.

The harbor at Tobermory is small.  We are on a 100 (give or take) foot dock, 2 boats behind us, others on the other side of the dock.  There are boats on the sea walls as well.  Between the dive boats, charters and transient boats it's a pretty full house.

After we got docked we scouted around.  There are a few places to eat, maybe a half dozen shops of different kinds.  There is also a good sized grocery store.

There is a ferry dock close by for the  Chi-Cheemaun.  The ferry is interesting because the bow of the ship flips open to let the cars in and out.  We went to watch the ferry unload and load up.  Then we walked to a spot where we could get a picture of the Tobermory Lighthouse.  From there it was back to the boat and then supper at a local restaurant.

Tomorrow We'll look at a glass bottom boat tour and explore a bit more.  Saturday it's off to Goderich and home on Sunday.

Day 14 Flower Pot Island

Onec again, we decided to change plans and spend the day at Flowerpot Island. The harbor master at Tobermory was understanding and accommodating.  They gave us a refund for day 2.  And as a bonus the permit to navigate restricted water was free for Canada's 150th birthday.

We managed to get pictures of Tobermory  Lighthouse on the way out then made the 4 Mile ride to the harbor at Flowerpot Island.  The harbor is very small and shallow (6 feet) and the dock for campers is broken.  But there is a tour boat dock. The plan is to go ashore after lunch to see the flower pots and the light station.

After lunch we scouted around on the dinghy.  We ended up going all the way around the island.  We got waves from some of the tour boats.  As we were rounding the island I spotted a lighthouse on a near-by island.  Something to go look at tomorrow.  We saw the light station but no lighthouse.  The back of the island is just trees but pretty all the same.

After our dinghy ride we stopped at the boat to get cameras and went ashore.  The walk from where we beached to the flower pots is about 700 meters.  The light station is about another 500 meters past that.  The path was well defined. But getting down to the water to get close to the flower pots is a little tricky. Lots of lose granite pieces and water make it a little tough.  But it was worth it.

The walk to the light station wasn't bad.  We found out the the light had been burned down in 1966 when it was decommissioned.  But it was nice to see the pictures and the keeper's house.

We had supper on the boat and planed a sunset dinghy ride. The sunset would be beautiful on the water but we were on the wrong side of the island. By then the wind had completely died and we had an easy ride to a spot to photograph the sunset.

We watched a movie and headed to bed early so we could get up and see the sunrise.  All in all, Flower Pot Island was a good spot to spend the night.

Day 15 Goderich

Over night at Flower Pot Island was very still and quiet.  At 6:30am we got up to see the sunrise and eat breakfast. We packed up and headed to Cove Island Lighthouse which we spotted the day before. It was a pretty light with several buildings. 

Once the pictures were taken we started to turn toward Goderich and realized we didn't get gas.  Ooooops!  So we headed back to Tobermory.  By 8:30 We were headed out.

The wind was brisk around 15MPH and we had some 1-2 foot waves....until we rounded the end of the Bruce Peninsula then we found 4-6 foot waves.  We were headed into them so had to get off plane.  As an alternative we could go to Port Elgin, 50 miles at 10MPH versus the 100 miles to Goderich.  We moved closer to shore and changed course for Port Elgin. 

After about 25 miles of slow going the waves began to taper off and we got back on plane (normal speed of 26 MPH).  By the time we got to Port Elgin the waves were near flat.  It was noon so we stoped for lunch then plotted a new course for Goderich.

The rest of the trip was not bad just long (6 hours versus the 4 it would take in good weather). We made good time to Goderich.  About 2 miles out an Ontario Provincial Police boat waved us to stop.  They wanted to do a safety inspection which ended up with me showing my life vests.  That was all they asked for.

Radioed the marina and headed in.  As we turned into the harbor a boat hailed us to say we were in the wrong marina. I was going by the name Maitland which is the river in Goderich. Both marinas have Maitland I their name.  Backed up, turned around and headed to the correct one.

We got in our well, hooked up, then headed into town.  At check-in I got the name of a good place to eat.  The walk into town was a bear.  The marina is in a valley and there are some stairs leading up to the town level.  Once up there,map in hand we walked around and shopped.

I found map-o-spread at a discount store then we got supper.  After supper he walked to Lighthouse Park then back to the boat to settle in for the night.

Day 16 Home

It's gray and cloudy this morning in Goderich.  We had some rain over night.  The rigging on a sailboat nearby is rattling, but otherwise it's still quiet here.

Our trip is almost done.  All that's left is to get fuel and head home.  It's about 115 miles from Goderich to home.  Plus we may stop at Balfours for fuel and a pump out.  So a 5 hour ride if the wind and waves cooperate.

While our trip didn't go as originally planed it was still amazing.  We got to experience some of the North Channel's beauty and hospitality.

Made an attempt to get going around 9:30am but there were 6-8 foot waves greeting us at the break wall.  So we turned around and went back to the gas dock to tie up and wait a bit.  

According to the weather reports and the Canadian Coast Guard we need to wait till closer to 4pm. The next 4 days were forecasted to be REALLY bad. So we walked to the beach area and had lunch at the restaurant that was the train station in Goderich.  Then we killed a couple hours just relaxing on the boat.  

3:30pm we got moving.  There were 3-4 foot waves near shore but then calmed down to 2 foot about 10 miles off shore.  So the first 10 miles was at 10MPH.  After an hour we got on plane and could do 22MPH without getting too badly beat up.  I knew we were "home" when we could see the Blue Water bridge as a small grey lump on the horizon.

We almost made it to the South Channel Lights in Lake St. Clair by sunset.  But it was dark when we got to our canal.  By 8:30pm we were tied up.  After 886 miles (and 883 gallons of gas) it's time for supper, see the dog and sleep in our own bed.