Apparently we are getting repetitive as today closely matches August 2. 2012.
https://rwsdragon.blogspot.com/2012/08/turnbull-island-to-rous-islands.html
The wind didn’t fill in as much, but we are under squall watch and expecting 15+ from the NE during the night. The anchorage remains uninspiring.
There’s plenty of room and depth to avoid the rocks on the way in, but it takes some attention. The centre of this little archipelago is protected all the way round.
We had a nice drift from Beardrop, then sailed past once the wind came up. Another couple of miles and there’s nothing between here and the St Mary’s River.
We scouted Moiles Harbour, but were unimpressed and went on to Beardrop. Entered cautiously following all the guidance. I saw some brief 4 foot readings, but I’m pretty sure that was weed. We will pay close attention to the weather after the excitement when we were last here.
We had a nice sail this morning, with an amazing lift, then motored when the wind died. We had a brief puff of wind in the late afternoon, but Laura had muffins in the oven. It doesn’t get much cruisier than that!
The plot shows our successful exit track. We went quite close to the indicated rock in order to avoid the unindicated rock about half way to the opposite shore. We know it’s there because we found it on the way in, about 4 ft under at datum. Gentle clattering, but still disconcerting…
Definitely worth it as one of the prettiest anchorages ever.
We spent the day travelling from Byng Inlet by way of the small boat channel to Dead Island, then outside the rocks, but inside past the Bustards to the BRC entry.
On our first pass by here three weeks ago, we listened to a grounding saga unfold, as Killarney Rescue towed them off the shoal near the centre of the entry channel. It is important to follow the guidance in Ports and stay further west.
The harbour is perfectly protected with tall woods all around, and there was lots of room when we arrived.
We followed all the way to the end of Baie Fine and up the little channel to The Pool without coming close to grounding. After all the hype it was kind of underwhelming a DC a destination. It’s nice enough, but definitely topped by Bad River. Worth the trip in, but maybe not a must do.
On the first two trips up here we skipped Baie Fine and The Pool because the water was lower and Dragon III’s keel was deeper. In hindsight we might have made it anyway, and that definitely put it on my personal must-do list for this year.
After circulating through the crowd at the Pool, we came back out to a little cove on the south side of Baie Fine, which we now have all to ourselves. It also has a lovely view of the rocky ridges along the north side of the bay.
We got going early from beautiful Baie Fine and the hills were glowing in the morning light. We motored at speed set to make the 11 am bridge swing at Little Current and were right on time. We docked on the wall and went up the hill for a full grocery shop. Didn’t worry about not finding smoked fish, as I figured we could get some from Wally’s.
It turns out you can’t go back again. The tiny perfect marine store in the green shed is gone. The shed is still there, but Rob sold to the city two years ago and now all they have is gas, diesel, and ice. Very sad…
We sailed, then motored when it died, which brought the wind right back up ;-) We’re in much the same spot as last time, but further off the island. Boats are filling in around us…
Along the way we encountered a very familiar looking tug — with the name Heron on the back.
We thought we were about to have an exciting morning, but this squall line de-organized itself into just a bunch of rain, then the mess from Lake Huron went south as we went north.
We sailed up Shawanaga Inlet and took a right at Turning Island. The northern passage gets tight in places, with heavy boat traffic to and from the many cottages. The feel is forested and protected until you suddenly reach the flat, rocky mess of the shore at Pointe Au Baril.
We motored out past the light house (closed like the one at Winfield) into steep waves and 20 knots in the narrow channel between the rocks. It got lighter as we reached down past Hangdog Reefs and took the commercial channel into Byng Inlet.
At almost the end of the inlet we found a secluded anchorage with trains and no cottages.
The day after GBR we had a nice sail with brother John, then back to Kidd Bay on White Cloud for the 4th and 5th. This morning we decided to skip Christian Island, as the wind was coming from precisely that direction, making Parry Sound a fetch. Nick from Moonstruck had shared a favourite anchorage on Franklin, so we decided to give it a try. The latest sonar charts on Navionics made his recommendation seem doable. There was room for a RIB to squeeze out between us and the rocks as we passed through the narrows. I was happy to stop and anchor with a shore tie at the first opportunity to get out of the way.
We are the only sailboat in here tonight. The shallowest reading I saw was 8.5, and that’s referenced to the transducer, so probably closer to 10 actual. We dropped in 11, then tied about 15 feet offshore to keep us in place. The water reads 25C, so very comfortable swimming.
This is one of the prettier anchorages we have been in lately, especially if you prefer granite to limestone. It’s not a secret, as there are plenty of power boats in here with us, but there was still space when we pulled in around 17:00.
We were joined 07-30 in Meaford by very able crew Nick and Marcia to prep for the big start.
07-31 was 10-15 knots from the east, backing towards the north, so it started as a fetch, out around the tank range marks, then a close reach to Cape Rich. We were able to hoist the spin for the second time ever for a fast blast across the mouth of Owen Sound, then down a bit towards White Cloud Island. Once it backed we were well forward of the beam, so we took the assym down from an abundance of caution. Shannon carried theirs all the way to the island and had a few exciting moments. We only passed Frisky when the bottom of their rudder broke off and they dropped their chute. We finished third of seven in our division, exceeding expectations. We had a nice raft party with Jacana, crewed by Allan, George, and Ken who have been doing the regatta forever!
Extra specially impressed with the Frisky crew, who managed to lift the boat and glass the rudder back together overnight in Wiarton. It was as a wonderful surprise to see them back on the line the next morning!
08-01 We started from Little Port Elgin in light east wind that got lighter. I accidentally hit the start button while we were bobbing off Cape Croker and we motored onwards to Lions Head. Even with the course shortened to Jackson Shoal, not even Smiley (Beneteau 40.7) made it within the time limit. The water is too deep to shorten in the middle of the bay!
08-02 Our first race took us from Jackson Shoal reaching down to Barrier Island and a CCW circumnavigation back to the finish. Line honours, but corrected to fourth place 5 SECONDS behind Orange Krait!
The second race was CW around the island, then a beat up to the top of Hope Bay in enough wind we were depowering the main from time to time. We did a bit of a pirouette on the finish line when an unexpected gust dropped out of the sky. Second place! Frisky was not far enough ahead to make their time.
08-03 Last race was a light run out of Hope Bay, then a faster fetch/reach to get above Hay Island, then down to finish in Kidd Bay on White Cloud. Nick did an awesome job of floating the spin around in front while we soaked down, but I’m not sure my choice to go deep was best for VMG. We had some fun playing close to Shannon rounding Cape Croker quite closely, but corrected out to a disappointing seventh.
We motored in to Wiarton for a chicken dinner at the legion, and an unexpectedly good third in our division on a tie breaker with Orange Krait.
The GBR is a lot like EYC, with a cast of characters who have been doing it for years. They are friendly and welcoming, and mystified that we would come all the way from Kingston for their regatta. Don’t tell them we had other reasons to be here 😉
