As usual, the Admiral and Lucky were walking early and captured this colorful sun rise over the marina (photo at right).
We left the dock at 8:40 am so we could make the 9:00 am swing bridge opening 1.5 miles away. Our destination today is one of three locations. We hope first to stop at Frying Pan Island for lunch at Henry's Restaurant. This is a very popular tourist spot for both boaters and float planes like Georgian Bay Airlines from Parry Sound. So we are looking forward to seeing if we can get a spot at their dock. We should arrive around 11 am. If successful, we will eat and then travel on to either an anchorage nearby or on to Midland, ON, which is about 35 miles further across fairly open water. We plan to leave the small boat channel at some point to take a more direct route to Midland. Weather/wave conditions will dictate which choice we make.
We were in the small boat channel until well past Frying Pan Island, and the scenery very soon became great once again (photo at left). When we arrived at Parry Sound, I thought that it was in a small bay, but it turns out that much of the land forming one side of the "bay" is actually an island. The small boat channel runs south between that island and the mainland, and that is where we are travelling. As you can see, there was a lot of traffic while we were confined to this single channel. The swing bridge that we passed through connects the island on the right with the mainland on the left.
After a couple of miles we passed the end of the big island on the right and got into more typical small boat channel scenery with islands and small bays everywhere. The smaller boats were no longer confined to the small boat channel so the traffic was less, which gave me more time to enjoy the scenery. Once we passed through the swing bridge we could control our arrival time, and I slowed Lucky Us down a little to make our arrival time a little after 11:00 am.
As we approached Frying Pan Island (photo at left), the wind picked up dramatically from the predicted 10 to 12 mph. The white buildings in the photo are the restaurant complex, and the docks are going to be perpendicular to the wind coming toward us in the channel. I was already running multiple docking scenarios through my mind. Yes, I should have been concerned, but an older man and a young dock hand obviously had plenty of experience in these conditions. I approached the dock slightly upwind and let the wind push us toward the dock. Of course, the wind was pushing us faster than we wanted so I could first slow the bow down a bit and then the stern by using the twin engines. It was not a perfect solution. However, the fenders did their job, and we bounced to a stop without looking too bad (my biased opinion). After turning off the engines and securing the last of the lines, we headed ashore to walk Lucky and check out the grounds. The restaurant had great views, but unfortunately, the winds were keeping the sea planes away so we missed that "entertainment" during lunch. The food more than made up for that as we both had pickerel that was delicious. This stop was definitely worth it! After lunch, it was only 12:30 pm, and yes, we could have stayed for the night (and had another wonderful meal), but we opted to continue our trip. We still had the option of finding an anchorage or continuing to Midland. We decided that in about 5 or 10 miles we would stick our "nose" out into more open water and take a look in order to make our decision.
We were heading along the small boat channel, when we had our first osprey sighting in a long time (photo at right). We had not really noticed that we had not been seeing osprey until we finally saw this nest (if that makes any sense). The range of ospreys in this area extends well north up to include the southern portion of Hudson Bay so we "should or could" have seen some but had not. I mention all of this because osprey are one of my most favorite birds, and I enjoy watching them whether in flight or perched majestically.
The small boat channel continued until much closer to Midland, but it was already becoming a long day so we were about to stick our nose out and take a look at the wind on a much more direct route. So, this is one of our last views in the relative quiet and beauty of this inside passage (photo at left). Once we reach Midland, we will be very close to actually entering the Trent-Severn Waterway and leaving Georgian Bay behind. Fortunately, we will still be seeing some of this beautiful scenery. As a geologist, you might think that I enjoy seeing rocks, which I do, but I really appreciate the combination of colors or textures provided by the water, rocks, vegetation, topography, etc. So there you have it...
It turned out that the wind out on the more open water was less than the "wind tunnel" in the small boat channel. So, we continued outside and took the more direct route to Midland in 8 to 10 mph breeze. Part of our decision was also based on the weather forecast where the winds are supposed to be even stronger tomorrow.
As we rounded a point to head into Midland, we passed this lighthouse that served to mark our turn and at the same time to remind us to avoid rocks near the shore. We have a spot reserved at the Bay Port Yachting Centre in Midland for (at least) three nights,
and we will have a rent car
for 48 hours to get around the town and go check out some of the Trent-Severn Waterway before we travel there on Lucky Us.
There is a large grain elevator complex on the edge of downtown, and it looks like grain probably was exported from here at one time. However, there are no longer train tracks to the elevators, and it would take a huge number of trucks to fill the elevators (?). Anyway, the mural on the side is the reason for the photo at the left. The mural depicts indigenous people, missionary, fort and probably a (Hudson Bay Company) trading post. Now that is one huge mural!
We also got a nice view of downtown Midland as we approached Bay Port Marina (photo at left). The photo was taken when we were less than a half mile by water from the marina, but on land the road bends around part of the bay between the marina and downtown so the land travel is about one mile to downtown. There is what appears to be a marina at the foot of downtown, but unfortunately, that is a yacht club.
Bay Port Yachting Center is a very good, full service marina, but it is isolated from downtown by about a mile. We happened to dock on the very inside slip of a pier (photo at right). Actually, we tied up to the retaining wall so we could step off the boat onto land, and at that point we were just about 30 feet from the (very clean) bathrooms... Also, the town is big enough that the movie theater and big box stores are all outside of the downtown area so having a rent car is almost necessary for us.
As usual, the Admiral and Lucky were walking early and captured this colorful sun rise over the marina (photo at right). We left the dock at 8:40 am so we could make the 9:00 am swing bridge opening 1.5 miles away. Our destination today is one of three locations. We hope first to stop at Frying Pan Island for lunch at Henry's Restaurant. This is a very popular tourist spot for both boaters and float planes like Georgian Bay Airlines from Parry Sound. So we are looking forward to seeing if we can get a spot at their dock. We should arrive around 11 am. If successful, we will eat and then travel on to either an anchorage nearby or on to Midland, ON, which is about 35 miles further across fairly open water. We plan to leave the small boat channel at some point to take a more direct route to Midland. Weather/wave conditions will dictate which choice we make. 
We were in the small boat channel until well past Frying Pan Island, and the scenery very soon became great once again (photo at left). When we arrived at Parry Sound, I thought that it was in a small bay, but it turns out that much of the land forming one side of the "bay" is actually an island. The small boat channel runs south between that island and the mainland, and that is where we are travelling. As you can see, there was a lot of traffic while we were confined to this single channel. The swing bridge that we passed through connects the island on the right with the mainland on the left. 
After a couple of miles we passed the end of the big island on the right and got into more typical small boat channel scenery with islands and small bays everywhere. The smaller boats were no longer confined to the small boat channel so the traffic was less, which gave me more time to enjoy the scenery. Once we passed through the swing bridge we could control our arrival time, and I slowed Lucky Us down a little to make our arrival time a little after 11:00 am. 
As we approached Frying Pan Island (photo at left), the wind picked up dramatically from the predicted 10 to 12 mph. The white buildings in the photo are the restaurant complex, and the docks are going to be perpendicular to the wind coming toward us in the channel. I was already running multiple docking scenarios through my mind. Yes, I should have been concerned, but an older man and a young dock hand obviously had plenty of experience in these conditions. I approached the dock slightly upwind and let the wind push us toward the dock. Of course, the wind was pushing us faster than we wanted so I could first slow the bow down a bit and then the stern by using the twin engines. It was not a perfect solution. However, the fenders did their job, and we bounced to a stop without looking too bad (my biased opinion). After turning off the engines and securing the last of the lines, we headed ashore to walk Lucky and check out the grounds. The restaurant had great views, but unfortunately, the winds were keeping the sea planes away so we missed that "entertainment" during lunch. The food more than made up for that as we both had pickerel that was delicious. This stop was definitely worth it! After lunch, it was only 12:30 pm, and yes, we could have stayed for the night (and had another wonderful meal), but we opted to continue our trip. We still had the option of finding an anchorage or continuing to Midland. We decided that in about 5 or 10 miles we would stick our "nose" out into more open water and take a look in order to make our decision. 
We were heading along the small boat channel, when we had our first osprey sighting in a long time (photo at right). We had not really noticed that we had not been seeing osprey until we finally saw this nest (if that makes any sense). The range of ospreys in this area extends well north up to include the southern portion of Hudson Bay so we "should or could" have seen some but had not. I mention all of this because osprey are one of my most favorite birds, and I enjoy watching them whether in flight or perched majestically.
The small boat channel continued until much closer to Midland, but it was already becoming a long day so we were about to stick our nose out and take a look at the wind on a much more direct route. So, this is one of our last views in the relative quiet and beauty of this inside passage (photo at left). Once we reach Midland, we will be very close to actually entering the Trent-Severn Waterway and leaving Georgian Bay behind. Fortunately, we will still be seeing some of this beautiful scenery. As a geologist, you might think that I enjoy seeing rocks, which I do, but I really appreciate the combination of colors or textures provided by the water, rocks, vegetation, topography, etc. So there you have it...
It turned out that the wind out on the more open water was less than the "wind tunnel" in the small boat channel. So, we continued outside and took the more direct route to Midland in 8 to 10 mph breeze. Part of our decision was also based on the weather forecast where the winds are supposed to be even stronger tomorrow. As we rounded a point to head into Midland, we passed this lighthouse that served to mark our turn and at the same time to remind us to avoid rocks near the shore. We have a spot reserved at the Bay Port Yachting Centre in Midland for (at least) three nights, and we will have a rent car
for 48 hours to get around the town and go check out some of the Trent-Severn Waterway before we travel there on Lucky Us. 
There is a large grain elevator complex on the edge of downtown, and it looks like grain probably was exported from here at one time. However, there are no longer train tracks to the elevators, and it would take a huge number of trucks to fill the elevators (?). Anyway, the mural on the side is the reason for the photo at the left. The mural depicts indigenous people, missionary, fort and probably a (Hudson Bay Company) trading post. Now that is one huge mural!
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