Georgian Bay to Byng Inlet
Leaving Beausoleil, we headed for Beckwith island. We anchored there but experienced what I have later learned is called the "Beckwith Roll". Apparently the swells in the bay bounce into this apparently protected bay and roll your boat while at anchor. It reminded me of being back in New York on the Hudson River. While we were here we borrowed Bill and Gail's kayak and went exploring.
The waters here are very clear and remind you of being in the Keys or Bahamas except for the water temperature (much colder).
After our time at Beckwith we crossed back over part of Georgian Bay to go to Frying Pan island and visit the famous "Henry's" restaurant. This restaurant is on an island and is only reachable by boat or float plane. Henry's is a federally registered airport here. We anchored nearby and had dinner at Henry's. They are famous for the Pickeral (Walleye) so that is what we had.
Having our fill of Pickerel for the moment, we headed for our anchorage at Dunroe Island. This small island is just off the Small Craft Route and was a beautiful location. Here is where Stacy had her first real experience with Loons. These birds have the most beautiful haunting calls that echo from the rocky shoreline. We found a pair with two chicks while in the dinghy so we cut off the motor and paddled closer. As we approached the male put on a mighty display that we surmise was to draw our attention away from the female and chicks.
When we stopped in Hopewell Bay we found four other boats already anchored there. Stacy invited all the women aboard the boats to a "Tea" in the afternoon. Some of these women were local so they provided local knowledge of some of the area.
We led the way back through the channels, some of which were barely wider than our boats while Chris towed Bill and Gail through. These were not easy maneuvers considering the conditions but Chris did an outstanding job.
Once inside Byng Inlet we found an anchorage location and put our anchor out. Chuck and Chris pulled Bill along side and we rafted their boat to ours. We determined that the shutdown was probably due to a plugged fuel filter so we changed it and were able to restart the engine.
We then tried to find a new thimble and shackle to splice into Bill's anchor line (the one Chuck had just spliced at Parry Sound) and attach a spare anchor that Chuck had. We were able to find shackles at the nearby marina but no thimble. For the time being, we just installed our spare anchor rode on Bill's boat with Chuck's anchor and all is well again.
Reflecting on this incident, we realized that it could have been a real disaster. The location was the only location that day or the day before where there was enough water around clear of rocks for Chris to maneuver her boat and not so deep that the anchor quickly set for Bill. If he could not have set the anchor or we had been in a narrow channel area he would have quickly been blown onto the rocks and done severe damage to the boat. The decision to cut away the anchor, while heartwrenching, was the correct decision to keep from having two boats disabled. We had enough spares between us to solve the problem for now and we will get a new thimble and re-splice Bill's rode when we get to Killarney or Little Current in a few days.
We have been held up here in Britt (Byng Inlet) for a couple of days because of high winds and rain. The winds are forecast to diminish by tomorrow morning so we will listen to the weather early in the morning and make our decision on whether to leave.
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