NORTH CHANNEL-2012 Archives — Trailer Trawler Life Blog

The Crew of Kismet is North Channel Bound

July 11, 2012
Lisa Favors
•TRAILERING, CANADA-EAST, CRUISING, North Channel

The North Channel is one of our favorite cruising destinations. There I said it! For those that have been, it is most likely one of your favored destinations as well. If you haven't been, the following posts and photos, although very nice, can't possibly do justice to what Mother Nature provides the boating community. The North Channel is located in Ontario, Canada, and resides in a stretch of water 160 nautical miles long at the most northern point of Lake Huron. This body of water is bordered by Georgian Bay to the east, mainland Canada to the north, and the St Marys…

Road Trip… Canada Here We Come – Spanish Marina

July 12, 2012
Lisa Favors
•TRAILERING, CANADA-EAST, CRUISING, North Channel

In light of some of our road trips recently, the one we took today was relatively short. We started by heading north along the scenic route of northwest Michigan. We drove Kismet across the Mackinaw Bridge, through the Upper Peninsula, across the border into Canada, and finally, 260 miles later, we launched her in Spanish, Ontario – right in the heart of the North Channel. We stayed one night at Spanish Marina getting things organized and prepped for our two-week North Channel boating fix, it had been five years since our last visit to this magical Canadian wonderland, way too…

Tying Up to Boulders on S Benjamin Islands

We left Spanish early the next morning and made our way through Little Detroit, a channel so narrow it's customary to make a "Securité. Securité. Securité." call to announce your intentions so boaters, on the other side of the channel, can stand clear. You wouldn't want to be passed by a speeding boat and veer off the center of the channel onto those boulders lurking below the water. S Benjamin Islands – Mooring Cove Available for Kismet. We had one of those magically calm cruising days for the short 12-mile run (approx.) to our first scheduled anchorage at South Benjamin where we…

South Benjamin Island Cove – Three Days of Peace and Quiet

South Benjamin Island Cove – Time to Relax! It's amazing how we can spend a few days on the hook and not get bored. At South Benjamin Island cove, we both had chores to do, organizing our belongings on the boat, we swam in the unseasonably warm water, played games, read books, cooked, ate, and just plain relaxed. This is our big trip of the summer, we're taking it well ahead of our son's wedding in September. Things will be crazy when we get home, so we are enjoying the restful calm right now. Can you think of a better place than…

South Benjamin – Where’s the Beauty?

South Benjamin – It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I reference this because we recently spent time at the Benjamins, South Benjamin specifically, and it is our contention that the rocks on this island are gorgeous, Not to mention the blue beauties Jim found on those rocks. We recently cruised Lake Powell, in Utah/Arizona, the landscape there is ALL rock and water. Both are beautiful, however, the difference between the two locations is dramatic. Lake Powell has very large, rock buttes, plateaus, and mountains, and not much greenery except for Navaho Mountain, whereas…

South Benjamin Island – View From The Top

South Benjamin Island, a Rocky Delight! Topping off our great anchorage find is the incredible view from the top of this South Benjamin Island. This is where Jim found all those yummy blueberries and where we went to stretch our legs and enjoy the view when we felt cramped on the boat. Great weather during our stay here, hot temps with unseasonably warm water for swimming. Life is good for the crew of Kismet tied up to this little South Benjamin Island. We took a long hike on the island that sits in front of the Benjamin's, it protects the…

Covered Portage Cove – The Perfect Anchorage

Covered Portage Cove anchorage – High rocky cliffs and near-perfect protection from the elements. From South Benjamin Island we made our way past Little Current, Strawberry, and Heywood Islands as we skirted south of Frazier Bay to enter Lansdowne Channel on the way to Covered Portage Cove, just west of Killarney, the old provincial outpost that separates Ontario's North Channel from Georgian Bay. We had only dinghied to Covered Portage Cove anchorage in 2007 when we had docked our boat for a few days in Killarney. We vowed then to put it on our list as a future anchorage spot. When I…

Doubling Our Pleasure in Covered Portage Cove

Rendezvous with Freedom's Turn in Covered Portage Cove! Doubling our pleasure comes to mind when we think of our visit to Covered Portage Cove in the North Channel. Not only was it our first time anchoring in this cove, but we also had the pleasure of rendezvousing with friends Charlie and Linda on Freedom's Turn (above). We met them in 2008 while doing our second Great Loop boat trip and cruised several times together, including a trip to Chattanooga and even the Bahamas. With a lot of shared cruising experiences in common, we were excited for the reunion in Covered Portage Cove. We…

Dinghy Ride to Killarney from Covered Portage Cove

Around lunchtime, our second day, we joined Charlie and Linda in a dinghy ride over to Killarney to take advantage of the famous fish and chips at the Herbert Fisheries Red School Bus, located right on the channel in town. The fish and chips are very good, a little pricy but we enjoyed every last bite. SIDENOTE: A Visit to Killarney nowadays does not include a visit to the School Bus Fish And Chips stand. The bus is now gone a relic of the past. Shortly after lunch, we parted ways with Charlie and Linda. They wanted to dinghy back…

Keyhole Island – A Little Peek Into the Northwest Side of Georgian Bay

Keyhole Island on the Northwest Side of Georgian Bay. Georgian Bay is on our cruising bucket list, a trip like this deserves a dedicated stretch of time to explore properly. With that said, we decided to get our toes just a little wet. After we left Covered Portage Cove, we passed through the channel in Killarney for a short, one-day, cruise and anchor in the northwest side of Georgian Bay. Four miles or so east of Killarney is the western entrance to Collins Inlet and a 10-mile run to Mill Lake. It was Collins Inlet, a narrow channel, where we spent…

Meeting Captain & Crew of the Thomas James

Thomas James – Visit with an Exchange of Boat Tours! While cruising through the Killarney Channel, on our way to Collins Inlet, we received a call on our VHF. After switching to channel 68, Bill, the guy hailing us, told us that, as he was standing on the balcony of his channel-side home, he noticed our red Ranger Tug slowly cruising by. He said he was so excited to see the "cute tug" he'd love to have a tour and chat with us about it as he had never seen one in person before. As we were trying to figure out his…

First Time in Marianne Cove

Lots of Room in Marianne Cove Tonight! On our way up Baie Fine, we saw this marker on shore (above). It's a marking for the red buoy – the channel through this area is so narrow they had to mark it on the rock instead of a red buoy. On this day we chose to try a new anchorage (new to us) at Marianne Cove. We've anchored at the Pool (located at the furthest end of Baie Fine) before and enjoyed that area, but we've heard so much about how well-protected and beautiful Marianne Cove is, we decided to stop short of the Pool and…

Day Trip Up Baie Fine to the Pool

Baie Fine, a Canadian fjord, runs east and west up to the Pool. We liked Marianne Cove so much, we decided to make it base camp for a few days. On the morning of our second day, we pulled anchor to take a day trip up the majestic Baie Fine, a fjord that runs east and west. Baie Fine is a total of about 10 miles long, narrowing abruptly for the last two-mile stretch to the confines of its end, "The Pool." We had a clear, calm blue sky day for a slow poke of a cruise making it that much easier…

Back to Marianne Cove Anchorage

Marianne Cove anchorage, is a popular spot among boaters cruising the North Channel. We returned to Marianne Cove anchorage to spend another peaceful night in Canada's North Channel paradise. The view off the back deck of Kismet at sunset (above). Coffee in the morning on the back deck of Kismet while in the Marianne Cove anchorage. Don't I look relaxed? It's a guy thing (above). Early morning chores getting done. I love trying to capture the reflections of the trees on shore in the water (below). Okay, I think I have about a hundred of these photos, all different of course,…

Frazer Bay Hill – View From the Top

Frazer Bay Hill – You Can See Forever! On our second day, back at anchor in Marianne Cove, Jim talked me into hiking up Frazer Bay Hill. He'd heard the view, overlooking the Bay, was spectacular and well worth the "climb" up. Well, it certainly was steep and very rocky, but we were rewarded with a view of Frazer Bay that was just plain stunning. We dinghied a short distance from the anchorage (you can see the sailboat masts peeking out of the cove - top-left) to start our hike up the hill. We followed these faded red…

A Little “Downtime” in Little Current

Little Current – The Biggest Little City in the North Channel! A trip to the North Channel wouldn't be complete without a stop in Little Current, the biggest little city in the North Channel. It's true that Little Current is not only the largest city in the North Channel, but has everything a cruiser might need with gift shops, parks, restaurants, and grocery stores, all within walking distance of the marinas. Little Current is also home to the North Channel's Cruisers Net, somewhat similar to the net we encountered during our trips to the Abaco Islands. We had a great…

Croker Island – A Rocky Paradise

Croker Island – Rocks, Bears, and Blueberries! As cruising trips go this one ranked up toward the top of our list, but like all good things they must come to an end. We left Little Current to make way for one of our favorite anchorages in a popular cove at Croker Island; this will be the last real stop of our North Channel trip. The cove at Croker Island has a high rocky bluff that protects anchored boats from high winds and/or foul weather from the big waters of the more exposed North Channel. While…

Gateway to the Trent-Severn Waterway – Trenton, Ontario

December 3, 2018
Lisa Favors
CANADA-EAST, CRUISING, Trent Severn Waterway

Last Day on the Trent-Severn Waterway for the Crew of Kismet! Frankford was a fun stop and we're glad we spent the night there, but now that the Trent-Severn Waterway is behind us, we are antsy to move on – time to explore places we've not been before. It seems most of our cruises include revisiting a few past favorites along with exploring new territory. This 2018 end-of-summer cruise is no different. We redid the TSW north to south this time, backward from when we did our first Great Loop trip in 2006. Looking back, starting with the Ranger Tugs and…

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