Day 110 to Noble, Ontario

       We pulled away from the dock at 8:25 am, and our destination today is 49.8 miles to Killbear Marina near Nobel, Ontario.  Once again we are taking the Small Boat Channel, which is the inner route that weaves through islands, and based on the trip yesterday, this will be another beautiful trip. Shortly after we left the dock, we passed the CGC (Canadian Coast Guard) buoy tender Cove Island (photo at right). Yes, she is small, but don't forget that she has to be able to go where we go to place the channel markers. For me, that thought is reassuring.

       The scenery did not disappoint both with the protection and the beauty it provided. However, we did have about 7 miles out on Georgian Bay where it was rough with beam seas in the 2 to 3 foot range so we were constantly hanging on tightly while we were rolling from side to side. Inside in the channel we were well protected and could enjoy the constantly changing views (photo at left). Islands ranging from a few square feet and up.

      Just as we were leaving the protected channel to head outside, I heard a lot of noise and could see some "dots" with lots of spray in the rear view TV camera. Very soon thereafter these jet skis went flying past us (photo at right). They were travelling together and seemed to be travelling along the coast in the same direction that we were headed. We passed them about 20 minutes later as they appeared to be resting in the lee of a small island. In the rougher seas in the Georgian Bay they were taking a beating from all of the waves. The Admiral had a jet ski for several years, and based on my experience, I can assure you that they were working hard to travel in the open water. Jumping wakes is fun when done a few waves at a time, but after hundreds in a row it would definitely not be fun anymore.

       Along the coast we passed the Pointe au Baril lighthouse, which was a real treat to pass so close (photo at left). The light sits on only a two story tower, and it has attached living quarters. In exposed locations like this it must have been essential for safety as well as comfort to have the attached living quarters.

      Back in the quiet waters of the inside passage, I was kept busy at times trying to follow the narrow and quite irregular channel (photo at right). Here Lucky Us is approaching a sharp turn to port (left) and negotiating a narrow passage immediately after the turn. In situations like this we did slow down some, but we had to retain enough speed to maintain steering in those narrow spots where the wind direction often changes abruptly due to the topography and trees. Thankfully, the Admiral takes the pictures in these situations so I can concentrate on steering while also trying to enjoy the view.

      Most of the time the areas appeared to be totally uninhabited, and then you would round a bend and see some "cabins". Well, most of the cabins were not like the one in the photo at the left. The architecture was stunning as the shape constantly changed as we travelled past, and the setting was chosen for maximum visibility. In this case the visibility goes both ways as the inhabitants had great views, but others could also see the house from a lot of different locations. Thankfully, it was not painted in some wild colors like some cabins seen to be...

      The Small boat Channel (or inside passage) is semi-continuously protected by islands. On the Gulf Coast of the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf Intracoastal waterway is often a natural channel between barrier islands and the mainland. Those islands may be very long, such as Padre Island in south Texas, or small and poorly formed so the protection varies. The same is true along the shore of Georgian Bay. The photo at the right shows an example of an island ending and the protection is less from the shallows rocks on the left. Rocks is the key word because the side and bottom of the GICW is general "soft" mud whereas here we are dealing with solid rock, which is very unforgiving if you stray outside the channel. You can see clearly that it is rough in the Georgian Bay in the background, but the water in our channel is quite calm.

      In the photo at the left are the stacked rocks some rock art or a cairn used to mark a "trail"? In this case when you can see the "pile" of rocks from a different angle, you can clearly see that it is rock art, but in the "olden days" similar piles of rock (or cairns) would have marked the channel for canoes or other small craft. The cairns may also have marked supplies that were stored by a trapper along the route to store supplies so that the canoe could be fully loaded with furs for the trip to a trading post.

       The photo at the right we are waiting for some small craft to transit part of Canoe Channel before we enter it. Canoe Channel appears to be a very appropriate name, but once again we had 15 or more feet of water beneath the keel in spite of the narrowness of the channel at water level. At this point we have turned out of the small boat channel to head inland along Canoe Channel to our destination of Killbear marina.

      We also passed this encampment of kayakers on a small island. All of the kayaks appeared to be the same so my guess was that this was part of an organized event, such as scouting or a tour. Anyway, there was lots of activity on shore as the people were obviously enjoying the perfect weather at this well protected location.

      In a short distance we reached our destination of Killbear Marina (photo at left). Given the name and the Admiral's desire to see a bear, I am pretty sure that we would have stopped here no matter how it fit into our travels. We arrived at mid-afternoon, but we had been tempted several times to drop the anchor and launch the kayaks to do a little exploring. However, with a trip of almost 50 miles with a number of slow areas, we had decided that it was best not to prolong an already long day. Even though the post office address of the marina is Noble, Ontario, the marina is pretty remote so there was no Wi-Fi and only limited call phone service at best. However, the marina had a really good ships store as well as restaurant in spite of the remote location. So other than having the night off from blogging, which is hardly a bad thing, we were very well set up here.  We had a lovely dinner on the patio at the marina restaurant overlooking the marina and the channel.The Admiral was ever so hopeful that she would finally see a bear since one was seen early this morning at the top of the Marina driveway.  Eyes peeled! 🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻

      I won't keep you in suspense since once again her hopes were dashed, but as she put it she did see a chipmunk and a deer. I guess that hope springs eternal...