Crossing the North Channel to Georgian Bay

The weather has finally decided to cooperate!  We departed Thessalon on Monday en route to Meldrum Bay.  Before departing the marina, to our pleasant surprise, we spotted a moose swimming in front of the break wall trying to get to a small island.  He had a tough time climbing out on the rocks and continued to swim until we lost him in the early morning haze.  Assuming he made it.

Bullwinkle in the water

Meldrum Bay Marina, etc

At the B&B looking at our
boat at anchor

In 2009, while doing the Great Loop, we were "stuck" in Meldrum Bay on the North Channel for 4 days due to strong westerly winds.  Meldrum Bay consists of a small marina with shabby docks, a Bed and Breakfast with a great restaurant, and a country store that has one of every item on the shelf.  We were marooned here with 6 or 7 other boats but we made the best of it due in large part to the other boaters.  Because of the fond memories we had of this less than ideal experience, we decided we had to make the journey into the Bay just for a revisit.  We anchored outside the marina and took the dingy to shore.  Not a lot has changed although the "marina" office has been condemned and a new office has been built on the shore.  The B&B and the general store are pretty much unchanged although the store has a new owner and now has 2 of everything on the shelves.  Better than last time, we only stayed one night, departing early on Monday for an anchorage that we missed on our last trip.

The Benjamin Islands are part of many islands that make up the northern shore of the North Channel.  Most of these islands are make of pink granite rock carved in the ice age and created by mother nature that is now officially declared a National Beauty Spot  by Canada.  Obviously, because of the granite rocks, we needed to be very careful as we made our way to a cove separating north and south Benjamins.  It is really hard to describe how picturesque this setting is and the pictures below will only depict part of the beauty.  We came for one night and stayed four!

We reluctantly left our anchorage for Little Current on Manuitoulin Island - a small community that caters to the boating community.  We will re provision - get our land legs back - and depart for more anchorages west of here before arriving in Killarny at the beginning of the Georgian Bay next weekend.

Sunset in the cove

Lucas likes to sit on the bow of the dingy while riding

Notice the boat tied to the granite

Mother nature at work

Overlooking the anchorage from the top of the rock

Knot Busy on anchor - rock in background
is where we took previous picture

Sunset

Flora on top of granite

One of the many granite islands