Day 111 off to Parry Sound, Ontario as we approch the southern GeorgianBay

      Today we are heading 11.9 miles to Parry Sound,  Ontario.  We plan on arriving before noon which will be no problem since we left at 8:20 am.  There are several things within walking/biking range (0.8 miles or less one way) including stores, restaurants and a two screen movie theatre, as well as less than 2.0 miles to Walmart, Home Depot, and several grocery stores.  Needless to say, we plan on being busy both walking and biking. We will be staying at the Big Sound Marina, and we plan on staying two nights so we have a full day in town. The city of Parry Sound is on the eastern shore of the large sound from which it derives its name. I forgot to check the depth sounder as we arrived, but the city also has the world's deepest natural freshwater port. We spent much of today's trip in the sound well away from shore so I did not get many pictures until we headed into the bay where the city is located. One of our first sights (photo above right) was the Canadian Coast Guard ship the Constable Carriere that I have seen photographed helping keep areas like the channel in the Detroit River open during the winter navigation season. However, her primary duty would be law (or boarder?) enforcement.

          We passed our destination of the Big Sound Marina (photo at left) as we headed just past it into the downtown waterfront to take in the sights. The first clue about the deep water is that the outer barrier of the marina is actually a floating pipe boom with vertical planks in the middle to knock down the waves, which it did very well. The marina has modern, clean facilities, and it is somewhat isolated since the entrance road is one lane carved out of the local bedrock. The only parking at the office is a few drop off spaces, and longer term parking is past the entrance road. Lucky turned out to love walking along the west break wall where she could scramble over the big rocks to get a drink of water (and occasionally scare some geese).

       We went to the far end of the navigable water, and this Canadian Pacific Railroad Bridge (photo at right)  towers over the edge of downtown on a small hill on the other side. The marina and the downtown waterfront are on the viewers side of the bridge, and the downtown starts just uphill on the other side of the bridge. The bridge is not what I would call beautiful, but it must be a thrill to ride on a passenger train as it passes over the bridge. Otherwise, I found the bridge to be a useful reference point for finding my way around town since it so high.

      The waterfront area appears to be all relatively new, but the tour boat Chippewa III (photo at right) adds a touch of classic old style boating to all of the new. She offers regularly scheduled tours as well as charters for special events.

      The ticket booth for the Chippewa is in this reproduction (?) of a lighthouse (photo at left) that also adds a bit of charm to the waterfront.

       Additional charm was added by the privately owned tug Cambrian (photo at right). Buying and restoring old tugs is a very popular hobby, and we first notice signs for tug events on our first Loop starting in the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and on the Great Lakes. A town will host a weekend featuring parades, races and pull-offs as well as dockside tours of the boats. Many of the tugs will participate in a whole series of these events so it is a popular hobby for the owners as well as the spectators. Most of the tugs that I have seen prepared for these events are smaller harbor or canal tugs, but even the restoration of a small tug probably represents a hobby with a large investment of time (and money).

      The largest boat berthed in the harbor is the Island Queen (photo at left) that offers daily cruises in the 30,000 Islands. Several of the cruise ships on the Great Lakes stop for a day in Parry Sound. One of these is the Pearl Mist, which we first saw during its daytime stops at Mackinac Island. One of the activities for the passengers is a 6 hour cruise on the Island Queen that can get into much smaller channels than can the much larger Pearl Mist. The office for the Island Queen has a wonderful store and an ice cream bar with a selection of excellent ice cream available. In talking to our server I learned not surprisingly that they do a rush hour business when the cruise ships unload and load. They also have a small store that features a selection of very upscale jewelry, sweaters and other clothing aimed at the cruise ship's passengers. 

      Another very popular venue is sea plane rides by Georgian Bay Airlines (photo at right). They also transport freight and passengers into remote cabins and fish camps. One of the trips that they offer is a round trip flight to Henry's Restaurant at Frying Pan Island. For $148.00 you can have a truly special meal at Henry's. This is supposedly a trip that people come from all over to experience, and on some weekends all three planes are busy ferrying diners back and forth. For an extra $30.00 (per passenger) they will add a half hour of touring over the 30,000 Islands. While it was tempting to try this flight, we had already made plans to stop at Henry's when we depart Parry Sound headed for our next stop in Midland, Ontario. Maybe next time... Oh yes, and not to miss a beat they also have an ice cream counter serving the same delicious ice cream as the ice cream counter at the Island Queen.

      The last picture for today is of a classic woody cabin cruiser that was touring the harbor at the same time as we did (photo at left). The short boating season here probably contributes to the large number of classic wooden boats that have been preserved in the Great Lakes.

      When we checked at the marina office, they had a poster advertising  the "Festival of the Sound" going on which is Canada's premier summer classical festival that lasts three weeks. Luckily for us, this is week one. When we got back to Lucky Us, the Admiral went online and secured tickets for the evening performance at the Stocky Center of Performing Arts.  The center is literally the first building outside the entrance to our marina so we just have a few minute walk to get there.

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...

Day 109 to Byng Inlet

      Today we are heading to the Wright's Marina in the Byng (pronounced "Bing") Inlet at Britt, Ontario. After an early kayak trip to shore for Lucky, we departed the anchorage about 8:00 am. We had anchored in 15+ feet of water, and at that depth the weeds did not grow, and when we pulled up the anchor, it was weed free with only a little mud. The Admiral had been expecting lots of weeds so this really brightened her day. We transited Beaverstone Bay at cruising speed since we had already done our sight seeing. They had marked a new channel out of the bay into the more open Georgian Bay, and it was fairly straight forward with plenty of channel markers. Once out of Beaverstone Bay, we got this view back toward land (photo above right). What a surprise this view was! I had no idea that there were mountains (or high hills?) just to the north of Beaverstone Bay. When you are inside the bay, the view any distance beyond the sides of the bay is limited.

      Most of the trip is in the "Small Boat Channel", which is pretty well protected from waves from Georgian Bay, except for a total of about 7 miles outside. It is a 46.1 mile trek, and if Georgian Bay had been too rough, we had two anchorages identified around the 25 mile area where we could stay until the seas died down. As you could see in the first photo above, the winds were on shore with waves of only about 1.5 to 2 feet. These are okay conditions for us, except the waves were on our bean (or side), which meant we did roll some from side to side.

      The trip was busy enough that we actually took no pictures during the trip. This is not too surprising since the rolling motion does require us to hold onto keep in our seats.
      As we approached the Byng Inlet, we could see the Gergaux Island Lighthouse marking the east side of the entrance to the inlet. The lighthouse is three stories topped by the light, and it is a classic structure that served well to guide sailors into the inlet.

      The next photo (at right) was actually the next day (on Day 110) as we departed Byng Inlet, but I thought it more appropriate to include it here to further showcase the beauty of the Gergaux Island Lighthouse. In my continuing love affair with lighthouses this one certainly ranks right up there with a beautiful rocky coast and classic beauty. The light is about 40 feet above the base, and at least basic living accommodations are in the attached structure.

      We arrived mid afternoon at Wright's Marina.  They didn't have a slip with 50 amp hydro so they are letting us use two 30 amps unless someone arrives after us and needs one of the 30s. However, the nice and cool air would suffice to cool us if we loose access to the air conditioners by dropping to one 30 amp so it is no big deal. We have seen many range lights used to guide ships in channels, but the modern system of buoy markings makes the range lights unnecessary for our daylight navigation.  A series of range lights consisting of a lower front light and symbol, which when lined up with the rear light meant that you were in the channel, then at bends in the channel there would be another series of range lights to mark the turn and the new path to follow. These range lights are on land so obviously a turn will be made before grounding on land, and the fact that they are on land means that the do not have to be removed before the channel freezes over and then replaced in the Spring.

      At the marina we met Loopers from 4 other boats and decided to meet up for dinner. They had reserved the marina courtesy car with a driver to take them the half mile to the St. Amants Restaurant, which is above a small but well stocked Grocery. We followed a few minutes later, and we were all seated at a single long table (photo at right). There was a total of 9 people as one man was doing the Loop single handed. We were particularly interested in him since he was travelling in a trawler that was a couple of feet longer than Luck Us. He obviously had use of at least bow thrusters to aid in moving out and away from the dock (and the reverse on arrival at a marina), and he did take good advantage of the dock hands on departure. Upon departure, the Admiral stows our dock lines and fenders, but he would have had to use the autopilot to control the boat while he went below to do these same tasks. He obviously had a system that worked well for him, but we still were in awe given that we have two people doing the same tasks, and we seem to be very busy.

   After dinner we all met up again at the local ice cream shop that was just adjacent to the marina. Another small town oddity was the shop itself. You had to ring a doorbell at the order window and wait for the owner to walk about 100 feet from her house. The wait was well worth it as the ice cream was really "rich" and the helpings were a very good size. After that we all said our good byes and well wishes as we headed to our respective boats for the night. In my final evening walk with Lucky we were treated to a beautiful moon rise. 

    The last photo from the day is another moonrise photo taken a few minutes later when the moon was much more clearly visible. What a beautiful sight it was, and a beautiful way to end the day.

Day 108 at anchor in the Collins Inlet

      The anchorage on the south side of the Collins Inlet proved to be very good as it protected us perfectly from the 10 to 12 mph southwest wind. We were able to open a forward hatch, the center window on the lower windshield and the aft salon door for good flow through ventilation. We ran the generator only for some cooking and some battery charging so it was a peaceful two nights and one full day at the anchorage. The photo at the right shows a peaceful pre-sunrise view from the anchorage. The Admiral and Lucky made a early trip to shore for Lucky. As it turned out, kayaks and trips to shore for Lucky were to provide most of the exercise (and entertainment) for today.

      We checked the weather reports, and they pretty much confirmed what we had tentatively decided last evening that it would be better to stay put for another day. The wind was supposed to shift around to the west and northwest in the afternoon and increase to 16 to 18 mph with some rain and possible thunderstorms. Not a horrible forecast at worst, but we had this sheltered, beautiful anchorage so we were happy to hunker down.
     The day became one of a series of unanticipated events when landing on shore. The photo at left shows the Admiral trying to hold on to Lucky with one hand and beach the kayak with the other.

      Of course, I got my turn at the shore trip. The shore was either bare rock or swamp so we chose to find rocks that sloped more gently up from the shore. This also meant the Lucky has only scattered areas of spongy moss where she could do her business, but she did not seem to mind. The photo at the right shows my "technique for getting the kayak partly under the swim platform so the Lucky can jump off hopefully not dumping the kayak. The only trick is to keep her from jumping too early... Actually, that should read to "try" to keep her from jumping too early.

      As the afternoon began, we started to get some rain, and I was appointed to take Lucky for to trip to shore in the rain. The photo is lousy, but I wanted to show the world how I suffered at the hands of the Admiral. As you may remember, the captain is in charge when the ship is underway, but otherwise the Admiral is in charge so I got the unpleasant duty...
      In the middle of the afternoon we did pull up the anchor and try to move across the inlet to find a more protected anchorage since when the winds shifted to the northwest we were more exposed. We tried several times to anchor, but the weeds on the bottom were too thick for the anchor to dig through them and sink into the muddy bottom. we then headed back to our original anchorage, and as luck would have it, the wind had begun to die down by the time we had finished this exercise. Go figure!

      The photo at the right shows another part of the anchorage colorfully lit be the late evening sun. The near vertical cliff that rise up out the water have taken on a distinctive orangish color. Like I said earlier, it really was a pretty anchorage, and the views changed with different sun angles.
      All was not kayaks today. We ate well, napped, read and even talked... We could have tried to use the satellite, but instead we chose to have a more quiet, non-electronic day. Imagine that?

      Well, today's post ends as it started with a sunset photo from the anchorage...

Day 107 To Beaverstone Bay via Collins Inlet

           We delayed our departure from Sportsman's Inn until 8:00 am when the second dock hand came on duty. In the photo below the red star with white center shows where we started, and the red line shows our approximate path. I had to pull the stern out away from the dock and back between the 33 foot white boat and the finger pier across from it. The gap was about 30 feet, and we are 15 feet wide. If that wasn't fun enough, I then had to turn 90 degrees to negotiate the first corner. We not only had the two dock hands spread out of both sides, but the owner of the white boat was standing on his bow watching anxiously. The red line shows something like our path as then we had to back up 75 feet before turning again to get where Lucky Us is in the photo. In the photo Lucky Us is now continuing to back up to finally exit the marina. We did not touch anything or need a helping (e.g. a push) at all. It was fun to glance up and see the owner disappear once we cleared his boat, and by the time we were safely backing past the fuel sign, the dock hands also gave up and left. If you look very closely, there is a small yellow rectangle near the star. Inside the rectangle are the 2 dock hands walking toward shore and not looking back... By this point, I was really ready to burst with pride (?). That or maybe the reality is that I was on a huge adrenalin rush after making it out without any help.

       Herbert Fish Company is home to what they describe as "World Famous Fish 'n Chips". We ate inside there after arriving at Killarney on Day 105. The white part of the building is the restaurant with a take out window outside and an ordering counter inside. We ate inside as we so often do after a trip on the water. Herbert Fish Company is also a commercial fish company with at least one of their own boats that also docks here. This building complex is fairly new, and the diner part was more famous in the past for having done their cooking and serving out of a converted school bus parked on this site.

      We also passed by the waterside of the local grocery store. The Admiral shopped here yesterday and also bought some locally grown vegetables from a pickup truck and stand across the street. We have finally reached a point if the summer where locally grown vegetables are becoming both very good and abundant. We did not see any truly local stands where farmers were selling their own home grown vegetables.The grocery also has a gas dock where both boats and cars can pull up. Our marina also had a gas pump on shore where they would gas up vehicles. We never saw a gas station that faced a street, and I am pretty sure that we covered all of the remotely main streets in our various walks.

      My personal favorite sighting in Killarney was the LCBO (provincial liquor) store (photo at right). The sale of hard liquor is often still tightly controlled by each province, but the sale of beer and wine often has been allowed in grocery and convenience stores. This LCBO is probably unusual in that it has its own dock in back. As you can see the docking time is limited to 30 minutes. You wouldn't want to keep any customers waiting...

      At the very eastern end of the town and of the channel through the town is the Killarney Mountain Lodge. One of those inappropriate names since there is no mountain here, but the lodge, facilities and grounds are very nicely done. They have a small marina for their own boats (rental and charter) as well as a few guests and visitors. This is owned by the same folks that own the Sportsman's Inn where we stayed, and we supposedly had access to Lodge's pool and hot tub, but it was too far away to be useful at night when we would have used it.

      If you look closely in the picture above, they have a rather unique drive under lighthouse at the front entrance (photo at right). I tried, but I could not get any information about it so I guess that it is purely a functional cover for vehicles loading/unloading at the front desk.  Anyway, Lucky and I had a nice walk around their beautiful grounds.

      The photo at the left is one last look back over the stern at the town and channel. The Killarney Mountain Lodge is just out of view at the right. I suppose that we are still officially in the channel, since we have still not passed the Killarney Lighthouse East, which is just ahead. Yesterday I posted a photo of this lighthouse taken while I was standing on the rocks down near the water's edge. The red is a little faded, but the bright white column really lights up in the sun.

     We continued along the coast for another 3+ miles to the mouth of the Collins Inlet. During this part of the trip we were exposed to Georgian Bay with no islands to shield us so we were lucky that the winds were only about 8 to 10 mph with only 12 to 18 inch waves. The photo at the right shows the entrance into the west end of the channel, which we will follow for about 20 miles to where it opens into the north (upper) end of Beaverstone Bay.

      About a half mile inside the channel there were several, protected anchorages just off the main channel. All of the anchorages had boats in them, but there was room for more. As we were to discover later, the other end of the channel does not have nice anchorages like these. The rocks across much of the entrance were imposing, but we are learning to "look for a brown color" that signals the bottom is close. Often a very narrow passage can have water that is deeper than the passage is wide. However, you should note that I used the word "often" rather than "always". Boater beware!

      The channel crosses one narrow, long lake, but there are many cabins on the lake, which would limit its usefulness for anchorages. Finally, at the other end of Collins Inlet it opens up into Beaverstone Bay. The "water" may widen, but the actual channel is dredged and is very narrow. These red and green channel markers are only about twice as far apart as Lucky Us is wide. We had been hearing boats calling on the radio to alert other boats that they were about to transit this half mile long section from one end or the other. Now we could see the reason for the calls, since we did not want to meet even a small boat in this narrow, winding channel...

      After we exited the narrow channel, we got our first view of the upper (eastern) end of Beaverstone Bay. I had not been here in about 56 years, but it still was as beautiful as I remembered it. Our plan was to explore two places where I had stayed with my family back then before finding a protected anchorage for the night. Many islands ranging from a few square feet to several acres ranging from bare rock to heavily forested.

      The first island that we found was owned by friends from back home in Ohio. It had been in the wife's family for quite a few years, and had a lovely (small) home (photo at right) with a guest cabin that must have been at least 10 feet square... They had only one child, Davey, who was my age so we had a lot of fun together. Boating, water skiing, fishing and exploring were all on our agenda. My first flight on a seaplane was from Sudbury, Ontario about 50 miles to here. As a 15 (?) year old, it was quite a thrill to land and taxi right up to this dock. The channel here is pretty narrow with an island just behind me. The Admiral looked a little worried, but I assured her that, back in the day, the owner of the island behind me regularly brought his 35 foot cabin cruiser in here at night while seemingly quite drunk. So, I was confident that we were quite safe...
      We continued on across the bay to where the Beaverstone Bay Lodge had been (photo at left). We had first stayed there when I was 11 or 12 years old. My brother and I spent long hours fishing the bay in a small rowboat with a 5 hp motor. We were pretty intense, and as a result, we caught a lot of fish. The family "rule" was that we did not keep a Northern Pike" less than 30 inches long so we threw many back. It was exciting landing a large fish on a spinning rod and reel with something like 10 pound test line. The main lodge building with a dining room, lounge and kitchen appears to have been converted into a private home (in photo), but some of the cabins and other outbuildings also remained.

      We had eaten lunch on the boat, but now it was time to stop the "trip back in time" and find a protected anchorage for the night. The admiral had identified three possibilities, but two were surrounded by several cabins and one was too exposed for the predicted southwest winds. So, we made the decision to go back and find an anchorage back in the narrow, well protected confines of the Collins Inlet. The weather report was not great for tomorrow so we might be anchoring for two nights.

Day 106 a day of work and play in Killarney, Ontario

     Ho Hum… Yes, I got to sleep in today. How else should one start a day of rest and relaxation? Our main activities for today included doing laundry and blogging. On the fun side we both took some longer walks with Lucky to explore the town. The Admiral visited the general store for some provisions, and I went through town out to the rather nice Killarney Mountain Lodge and explored the grounds with Lucky. The main street along the waterfront is all relatively new, but across the street most of the buildings would have been here on my last visit some 55 plus years ago. For example, the beautiful stone church in the photo at the right was built in 1950. It looks like they may have used local stone, which seems likely given the isolation of Killarney until the road into town was completed some 12 years after this church was constructed.

       After lunch on the patio at the Sportsman’s Inn, we set off on a nearly two mile walk with Lucky to the Killarney East Lighthouse. The first half mile was along the highway connecting Killarney to the Trans-Canada Highway that was completed in 1962 after my last previous visit here. Before that all transportation in and out of here was by water or air. We turned off on the airport road, and the road soon turned to hard packed gravel and split several times before reaching the lighthouse.  The photo at the left shows one of several small lakes that we passed as we approached the lighthouse, and this one had an abundance of lily pads.

      The Killarney East Lighthouse sits on a very rocky point and makes a magnificent setting (photo at right). After seeing the rocky shoreline, it was hard for me to imagine the light keeper rowing out here from Killarney in bad weather to light the light.  The Killarney West Lighthouse is even more exposed and much further out from town. That was one tough job! According to the Killarney web site, one interesting side note is these lights are useful in the winter to guide snowmobiles on the ice. I had not heard that before about other lighthouses that we have passed.

      Lucky had fun climbing around the rocks and trying to reach the water for a drink (photo at left). There were lots of people (and dogs) walking around the area, and a few people even braved the chilly water for a refreshing swim. As for me, I was not tempted to go swimming even remotely.

      In general, this particular spot with the rocky shore line reminded me very much of some of the New England coast, especially around Newport, Rhode Island.  Anyway, the clear blue skies and bright sun made for a lot of beautiful views. Then it was time to head back to town with, of course, a stop at a souvenir shop and at the ice cream shop on the way back to the boat.

      It is not often that we can truly wear Lucky out, but this walk seemed to have done the trick. When we got back to Lucky Us, she retreated to her kennel under the chart table and hung out her do not disturb sign! That is a sure sign that all she wants to do is sleep, but she did show up at dinner time only to disappear again. Also, shortly after this we said good bye for the last time to our friends on the go fast boats as they departed the marina to head back home to Michigan (photo at right).

      For dinner we had reservations in the main dining room at the Sportsman’s Inn. I had a huge filet of pan fried whitefish with a baked potato and steamed veggies. We really splurged and shared a dessert! This was a great way to close a very nice stay in Killarney. Later, when I took Lucky on her last walk of the day, I saw the movie that they project across the inlet for all to watch. The photo at the left is the best that I could do to capture the movie in the darkness. I had read about this, and sure enough they really do have this fun event. It was kind of like a drive-in theater for boats, but you had to bring your own popcorn… Can't see anything? Well, neither could I. Somehow the write up on the marina web site made it sound better... The sound is broadcast over an FM radio channel.

      Then it was time for bed after a long day.