Hurricane Harbor Provided Us with an Idyllic Sunset!

Leaving Miami in our wake, we pointed our bow toward Key Biscayne Island. Jim did some research and found this beautiful anchorage, a spot further enhanced by a flaming sunset. The sky was on fire, I must have taken a hundred photos as it morphed with varying shades of sky blues, oranges, and hot red tones.

Soon after we threw the hook into the harbor, we had a visit by local law enforcement. Hurricane Harbor is adjacent to a popular boater’s weekend hang out, located just outside the entrance to the harbor, consequently, there is quite a lot of law enforcement visible in the area hovering ready to maintain order. They must do double duty while overseeing the day spot by patrolling and retaining a presence in the small harbor. They work at establishing a casual and conversational dialog, checking boats for their anchoring plans and intentions, and making sure people who anchor there are not inebriated and will respect the quiet atmosphere of the surrounding neighborhood.

Map and More Info on Hurricane Harbor in Biscayne Bay.

Not too many boats anchored here on this night, we had the harbor almost all to ourselves. Great Spot for the crew of Kismet and looked promising for a good night’s sleep!

The Key Biscayne Police do a good job of patrolling the anchorage. They stopped by for some light conversation. We knew they were at the same time checking us out, making sure we would not be a threat or noisy overnight guests for the permanent residents of Hurricane Harbor. We think the residents appreciate this patrol since the harbor is so close to a popular day anchorage just outside the harbor.

We could not get over the beauty of the sunset on this night. Hurricane Harbor seemed to be on fire.

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Exploring New Inlets While “Hooking” Our Way to Fort Lauderdale!

It’s a very rewarding experience, for us, when we have an opportunity to explore new inlets, coves, and potential anchorages while cruising AND we end up throwing the hook for the night. The previous times we’ve cruised north or south between Stuart and Fort Lauderdale we’ve always traveled past Peck Lake, Lake Worth, Lake Boca Raton, and Lake Sylvia without ever stopping let alone anchoring. We’ve either been in too much of a hurry to get somewhere else or didn’t have the time, all that is different this trip south on the East Coast ICW.

Peck Lake is not so much a lake than it is a very large indentation off of the ICW south of Jensen Beach/Stuart area, it is separated from the ocean by Jupiter Island. We spent a windy night on the hook there with eight to ten other boats, with the crashing sound of ocean waves shifting their way over the sand dunes that protected the anchorage, it was a wonderful place to call home for the night.

The next day we worked our way only 20 miles south to anchor in the northern reaches of Lake Worth. We were looking forward to meeting up with our friend Rick on Wishing Star. Much to our surprise, our paths crossed while we were heading south and he was taking guests north for a day trip. This did give us an opportunity to take photos of his new boat underway. We’ve shared many boating experiences with Rick over the years and were looking forward to seeing him for a short bit as we made our to the anchorage in Lake Worth, close to Old Port Cove Marina where Rick was docked.

We arrived at our anchor spot in Lake Worth and were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Thirty-four more miles, still moving south towards Fort Lauderdale the following day, found us at Lake Boca Raton. My research showed that Lake Boca Raton is a nice little anchorage, it typically has only four or five boats anchored overnight. Like Peck Lake, Lake Boca Raton is an indentation off of the ICW except there is an inlet to the Ocean here. When we arrived, much to our surprise, the cove-sized Lake was filled almost to capacity with anchored party boats, it was a perfect sunny Saturday afternoon and everyone who had a boat seemed to have migrated to Lake Boca Raton. We found a spot to drop our hook and settled in for a very entertaining afternoon and early evening. By nightfall nearly everyone had pulled anchor to go home – in the end, there was only a handful of boats anchored with us for the night.

Last, but not least, on our “hooking” expedition, we continued our southerly journey on Sunday morning and traveled another 17 miles to throw our hook into Lake Sylvia, a very nicely protected body of water off of the ICW in the heart of Fort Lauderdale, the boating capital of the world – only three miles from Cooley’s Landing Marina, where we stayed for a week.

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“Big Water” – Lake Okeechobee and the Rim Route

From our one-night stop in LaBelle, we proceeded toward Lake Okeechobee (or in Seminole Indian language, Big Water), we’ll be taking the rim route around the lake instead of going straight across this time. The Okeechobee Waterway, which includes the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie River, boasts 134.3 nautical miles from west to east and is the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the United States. You can transit the lake by going straight across or by the more protected, though shallower, rim route that follows the southern edge of the lake. We’ve never done this path before and are looking forward to seeing something new. We’ll stop one night to anchor at South Bay Cove, a spot Jim found on Active Captain and heard other boaters talk about. It is located at the southern end of the lake.

It was a very thickly overcast day so we did not get very good photos but when we reached the anchorage we were treated to a smoldering, slowly setting sun that got more intense as the early evening wore on.

To see more photos of Lake Okeechobee (when we crossed it a few years ago), Favors Great Loop Blog.

We went through a few locks today, not busy we were the only boat every time.

The rim route to Lake Okeechobee is lined on one side by this rock bank. They have been working on this for some time.

We got creative tonight during happy hour and used this bottle of hot sauce we found in our cabinet to put on top of some hummus. That and a few taco chips almost made a meal! We got the bottle from Mark Coles, Boating Georgian Bay, last summer during the 2014 Ranger Tugs and Cutwater North Channel Rendezvous in Little Current, Ontario, Canada.

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Two Fortresses Were built to Guard Against Invasions that Never Came, Mullet Key is one of them

As one leaves the Gulf of Mexico to enter Tampa Bay, Mother Nature provides two keys that stand sentinel at the entrance of Tampa Bay. In 1889, Mullet Key, to the north, and Egmont Key, to the south, had fortresses built to guard against invasions that never came, remnants of both forts remain today in the parks that were created in the late 1800s.

Robert E Lee made the recommendation, in 1849, that both Mullet and Egmont keys become fortified. Fort DeSoto, on Mullet Key, was built in 1889 and later abandoned by the military in stages from 1910 to the mid-1940s. In 1962 Mullet Key was turned over to Pinellas County and became Fort DeSoto Park.

In our quest to find new and unique anchorages during our winter cruises, we stumbled upon Mullet Key while doing some research on Florida West Coast cruising grounds. On the charts, it looked like Mullet Key had all the elements we were looking for – no houses or retail establishments and an all-natural environment. Mullet Key looked horseshoe shaped on the chart and its interior appeared to have a well-protected anchorage. We knew there wouldn’t be any large boats anchored there, as the depth into Mullet Key’s interior basin is shallow, however, with our shallow draft, it was a perfect spot for Kismet to anchor.

As we approached the two keys, we began to follow the marked channel into the interior basin where we were treated to a pristine anchorage and we had it completely to ourselves for the night. Mullet Key, being a county park, has all the amenities for camping, RV sites with a small boat launch ramp, and access to nearby fishing. In addition, the remnants of the Fort are available to tour and there is a wonderful white sand beach on the Gulf side of the key. We spent one night on the hook, looking to depart for Egmont Key, located just south of Mullet Key, the next morning.

In the last few minutes before sunset, I went off to explore while Lisa made dinner.

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Redington Beach is located in Pinellas County, west of Tampa on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, the town is only one-mile square and has four parks, five public beach accesses, and a causeway with benches for relaxing and fishing. We’ve stopped here before, it makes a good spot to anchor when traveling north or south on the ICW.

The dolphins were loving our boat action today, they love to swim just under Kismet’s wake.

The anchorage is lined with small homes to one side, a park in the middle, some condos, and several restaurants. We’ve always enjoyed the sunset here as it sets behind the condos to the west.

We dinghied over to the ramp and took a short hike around the neighborhood lining the anchorage. Jim did some maintenance in the engine compartment when we got back from our trip to shore. We thought the exercise equipment (below-left) in the park next to our boat was a thoughtful addition for residents and visitors.

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After a smooth cruise through Mobile Bay, from Eastern Shore Marina, we made a port-side turn into the protected Intra-Coastal Waterway where we soon passed our first tug and tow (above).

The first landmark we see on the ICW is Lulu’s Cafe (below). Not stopping there this time though as we were both in a hurry to get settled into our night’s anchorage.

Returning to Ingram Bayou…

Ingram Bayou is one of our favorite anchorages, this will be our third time stopping here. The afternoon was spent by first hanging by some scarves to block the heat of the sun while we settled into lounge on the back deck of Kismet. We watched a few dolphins herding their day’s catch-up along the shore. After playing a few games and soaking in the beauty of the bayou we retired for a peaceful sleep on the hook.

Morning brought a whole new perspective to Ingram Bayou (below).

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Fox Island Provided a Beautiful Rocky Hiking Trail Lined with Berries

When we left South Benjamin Island we headed for Fox Island, located only about four miles from South Benjamin. We had anchored here once before with our Silverton and remembered how beautiful it was. The landscape is rocky all around the anchorage’s perimeter, offering good hiking and photo opportunities. When we anchored here previously, we were the only boat on the hook in the channel, this time there were several boats already at anchor. Our boat has a very shallow draft, about 2.5 feet, so we can usually get a spot where bigger boats don’t dare. In this case, it was way up almost to the reeds at the tip of the inlet.

We were looking forward to our afternoon hike on the island. Some parts are just challenging enough, we had to figure out how we could continue along without wading through water or climbing up the steep side of a smooth rock. Just over the crest of the rocky shoreline, we were surprised by this little landlocked natural pond (below). It looks like it is home to some very lucky birds, animals, and aquatic life.

Next, we followed the eastern shoreline around the anchorage to see how far we could get before turning back.

We found lots of berries on the island, so we picked handfuls of blueberries and raspberries and ate them while we walked.

When we were anchored off South Benjamin with Mike and Jess, we all took a walk on the outer island, the one that protects the anchorage from the open channel. One thing we noticed while there was an abundance of spiders clinging to the evergreen trees, EVERYWHERE. That is where Mike and Jim procured a few aptly coined “spider sticks” to forge ahead while swiping the air in-between trees for spider webs. Even though we noticed the absence of spiders and webs on the trees, Jim found a spider stick anyways, saying he was protecting his “woman.”

We ended our stay with a dinghy ride through some reeds and rocks, the little channel opened up into a little well that we decided we’d keep in mind for a future anchorage.

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After launching the boat in Spanish, we decided to anchor at Eagle Island.

There we spent most of the late afternoon and early evening organizing and storing stuff on the boat. Since Jim organized the rendezvous, we have boxes and boxes of ditty bag items, printed agendas and books to stow on board. We finally found a home for everything and were able to relax on the back deck to enjoy the last remnants of the sun setting behind the island.

Eagle Island, which is 2.25 miles in length, has a large open bay, but we found it to have good protection and anticipated our first night swinging on the hook in the North Channel. Our plan, as always it seems, is to cruise to a few familiar anchorages and investigate a few new ones and finally arrive in Little Current for the 2014 Ranger Tugs/Cutwater North Channel Rendezvous. A four-day event for Ranger Tug and Cutwater owners.

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Bainbridge Island sits north and west of downtown Seattle – the Eagle Harbor anchorage was our choice for one night on the hook.

On a clear day, you can plainly see Seattle’s skyline from the Eagle Harbor Anchorage, eight miles to the east across Puget Sound.

The city of Bainbridge Island is home to Eagle Harbor, which can be a little confusing. Kind of like New York, New York but in this case it’s Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island! Eagle Harbor juts in from the east shore of Bainbridge Island opposite Elliott Bay. It is two miles long and affords excellent anchorage in 30 to 39 feet, muddy bottom.

After finding a suitable spot to anchor, we dinghied to the city dock so we could explore the town, this being our first visit by boat. We were fortunate in that just a few months before our arrival the brand-new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art opened its doors. We were able to tour the museum’s, well-put-together, inaugural exhibit.

We got a big laugh out of this shark mooring ball. Someone has a great sense of humor.

The Ranger Tug (above) must have been a very early edition of the 25-foot model, it was docked not far from our anchorage.

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What’s nice about Spencer Spit is that one can choose which side of the spit to anchor or catch a mooring ball on.

Spencer Spit, situated on the eastern side of Lopez Island in the San Juan Island chain, is a Washington State Marine Park, which means the area has mooring buoys, beach campsites, and hiking. We’ve never anchored or moored here, so we choose this spot as our days’ end destination after we departed our yacht club friends at Garrison Bay. What’s nice about Spencer Spit is that one can choose which side of the spit to anchor or catch a mooring ball on, depending on the expected wind direction. We had no concerns about the wind that day and spent a calm night on the hook, we never got off of the boat. The next morning it was extremely foggy, but I figured with the aid of our radar, and only eight miles to travel that, it would not be a problem. Boy, was I wrong!

The next morning, I got up a little earlier than usual, while Lisa was still sleeping, pulled anchor, and headed towards Thatcher Pass, where I noticed one of the large island ferries off to my port side. I looked away momentarily at the chart plotter and looked back up, the ferry had disappeared into the blanket of fog – scary, as it was not that far away from us. I decided to return to the anchorage and drop the anchor back down. After waiting a couple of hours the fog finally lifted, and we could see our way through Thatcher Pass and Rosario Strait making for an uneventful and smooth cruise over to Anacortes, WA, where we would attend the Ranger Tugs 2013 Summer Rendezvous.

In an almost surreal moment, amidst the lifting fog, we came upon this little sailboat (below) making its way boldly through Thatcher Pass.

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Thankful for the Shelter and Beauty of Jedediah Island!

The closer we got to Jedediah Island the calmer the waters and our nerves became. As we sliced through the channel, with the powerful push of following seas behind us, we traveled between Jedediah and Bull Islands (both islands are protected by two larger islands, Texada and Lasqueti), making our way to the leeward side of all the turbulence in the straits. Almost magically the wave activity became a non-issue. We immediately found a pint-sized, well-protected, cove suitable to drop anchor, a boat was just leaving so we hovered out a bit until they were off and the anchorage was clear. It took some time but we finally got the boat secure, still fighting residual wind (but in calm water), Jim was able to tie the port and starboard stern off to either side of the narrow cove by using the dinghy to take the line ashore, one to port and another off the starboard side. It felt good to be secured to land, the sign up on the cliff said we were in Sunset Cove – well out of the storm still brewing out in the Strait of Georgia. We waited a bit for our nerves to calm down and to make sure Kismet was firmly settled at anchor before we decided to get off the boat to explore.

After we landed our dinghy we proceeded to wander around, following some well-worn trails. It felt good, to be off the boat stretching our legs. As we continued our walk it seemed odd to us that with access only by boats anchored around Jeddah that the trails were so many and well-worn.

We found out that Jedediah Island is a popular Marine Park boasting about 640 acres of diverse landscape perfect for wilderness camping. The island offers plenty of opportunities for boaters to anchor, with five secluded bays to choose from, creating a safe harborage for visiting cruisers. There are approximately 3.5 km of walking trails crossing the island often leading to one bay or another. The main trail meanders through an old-growth forest, featuring stands of Douglas fir and arbutus. There are many meadows, rocky coves, high cliffs, and sandy beaches to explore; we were delighted by the wildlife we encountered during our walk. All in all, as the day turned from turmoil to light, we couldn’t help but feel we’d stumbled upon something magical… and sacred.

Our first discovery was a decorative display of dried animal bones hanging from a tree, and then we noticed a shell of an abandoned building. The island was originally homesteaded in the late 1800s then bought by Mary Palmer and her first husband Ed in 1949, they visited mostly in the summers, with a few winters spent raising their young sons on the island. Much later Mary, and her second husband Al, sold their business and home in Seattle and moved full-time to the island to farm the land, staying into their seventies (1992). She chronicled her “island time” in her book Jedediah Days sharing intimate accounts of the sights and sounds of the island and how they lived by clocking life by the tides. The island was eventually sold to the provincial government of Canada and dedicated as a Class A marine park in 1995.

After a short walk through the woods lining the cove of our anchorage we came upon an open meadow and immediately noticed what we thought were deer or rabbit droppings, literally covering the open field. You could hardly take a step without touching more scat; luckily it was dry, well baked by the sun. Shortly after that, we spotted four sheep grazing in an open field, once they saw us they ran off. Had they produced all that scat?

The memory of the large waves was finally starting to ease into the back of our minds with our growing excitement over this newly found diversion and the possibility of discovering something even more curious on this mysterious island. Continuing our hike deeper into the woods, we next came across a burial site for Will, a horse who had been left to live out his years on the island, he passed away in 2003. As you can see (below) there have been a lot of offerings to his gravesite over the years, to celebrate his life.

We left Will’s shrine behind and worked our way back toward another bay, but first towards a ridge with a high, shear, rock bluff. Coming up to the crest of the ridge we stumbled upon a dozen or more mountain goats. We all stopped dead in our tracks, we stared at them, and they inquisitively stared back at us. Not wanting to make any quick moves and hoping the curly-horned alpha male goat wouldn’t be aggressive toward us, we stood still and waited for them to make the first move. Lucky for us the goats did what they do best; they all headed for the rock bluff and scaled it quickly to the top. Once they had secured the dominant position they stopped to gaze back at us, intruders to their habitat. It dawned on us at this point that it seemed likely that the mysterious dropping, as the well-worn trails, may have come from this herd of goats. Apparently, the sheep and goats are the descendants of animals left behind when explorers first set foot on Jedediah Island.

We’re not sure what this little formation of branches and tree limbs signified, maybe someone took shelter here, or perhaps it’s another marking of some sort. What do you think?

After completing our hike around the island, we returned to Sunset Cove, where Kismet sat anchored, but before returning to her we walked up around the high cliffs of the cove as a beautiful sunset presented itself warming the wet, moss-covered rocks and illuminated the whole bay with a golden light lingering on Kismet’s bright red hull. The day certainly turned out to be a magical light at the end of a tunnel for us, an event that, if not begun with a display of Mother Nature’s temperamental wrath that day, would have not ended with a visit to this very magical place.

We didn’t see it until we were editing the photos but can you make out the rainbow in the photo (above)?

And now we know why this anchorage is called “Sunset Cove.”

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The Anchorage at Hardy Island is Located at the Base of Jervis Inlet

We were somewhat protected by Texada Island as we cruised 21 miles southeast from Powell River to Hardy Island. The anchorage at Hardy Island is located at the base of Jervis Inlet. We are positioning ourselves for the cruise up to Princess Louisa Inlet, Malibu Rapids, and finally Chatterbox Falls. Entering Blind Bay we found calm waters ideal for anchoring in a narrow, well-protected, cove within Hardy Island Marine Park. As we were scouting for a spot to drop our hook we came across a small black bear strolling by the water’s edge. The bear was just as startled as we were. He immediately hightailed it up the rock cliff and into the woods never to be seen by us again. This would end up being our only bear sighting during our PNW cruise.

The real reason for anchoring at Hardy Island was to position ourselves for the 46-mile run-up Jervis Inlet the next day. We were pleasantly surprised with the beautiful rock boulder island setting with several protected coves, suitable for our late afternoon dinghy exploration cruise.

On our way in this wolf-shaped image jumped out at us (above) as we made our way deep into one of the coves to anchor.

We don’t have a photo of the bear we saw. He was just too fast to run up the rocky cliff and out of our view. The photo above shows the spot where we saw him.

We especially enjoyed seeing these rock sculptures during our dinghy cruise.

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We left Pendrell Sound this morning to motor over to Squirrel Cove. Several boaters recommended this spot as a very well-protected anchorage and since our weather turned a little sour we decided the cove might just be the ticket for a good night’s sleep.

The photo below not only shows a pretty typical type of cruising boat in Canada’s Desolation Sound but some of the huge logs boaters have to contend with when cruising this area.

Squirrel Cove is a popular anchorage for cruisers!

The cove provides a very protected anchorage for a large number of boats and, as a bonus, there’s a small village nearby, Squirrel Cove – we love an opportunity to get off the boat. That’s just what we did shortly after we got settled at anchor; we jumped into the dinghy and headed toward town. The wind had really picked up outside the cove and it was a pretty rough, one-mile ride in our little 7.5-foot dinghy from the Squirrel Cove anchorage to the town of Squirrel Cove.

It doesn’t take much to entertain us, a little walk, lunch off the boat, and a stop at the grocery store for a few supplies or just to check the availability of produce and goods. On this trip out we even picked up some blackberries from a roadside stand. We desperately needed to dispose of some garbage that had been collecting in the corner of the cockpit of Kismet and we’d heard the town dock at Squirrel Cove was the place to drop it off.

The pirate boat (below) sent their tender out to collect a small group of aptly dressed young ladies.

Our trip into the village of Squirrel Cove was three hours tops. As far as getting off the boat, Lisa was good to go for another day, but I was still up for a little more exploration by dinghy, so when I dropped her off at the boat, I continued on to explore the anchorage at Squirrel Cove. As it turned out it became a little more than I had bargained for… I almost missed dinner.

Sometimes a guy just has to get away by himself to explore new territory by himself. I thought this would also offer up an opportunity to return to the boat with stories to share with Lisa, something hard to do when we’re always together. I had heard about an inner lake near the anchorage that is impossible to transit, even by dinghy, at low tide, and also not possible at high tide when the current is creating full-fledged rapids, but my source said that it could be negotiated at or close to slack tide. Sounded like just the sort of challenge for me… just what I was looking for to brighten up my afternoon.

Consequently, I set out to investigate this mysterious channel before slack tide, thinking to myself that this adventure would be worth some spousal separation. Time-wise, I thought a good half hour or forty-five minutes tops would do the trick. As I approached the northeast side of the small inlet to the lake, I could see water filling the approximately 100-foot channel with the incoming tide. I ventured a little closer to get a better vantage point, thinking all would be OK and just as I was processing this thought a kayaker had come through the rapids and continued past me. As I inched closer I realized the shallow, rock-laden, and narrow mouth of the inlet would be problematic for my small dinghy, much less returning against the current. TOO LATE!!! The outboard prop caught a rock, the engine died, and I went for the oars… without control of the dinghy the current sucked me through into the calm interior of the landlocked little lake.

Now what to do, I thought to myself as I restarted my outboard and slowly cruised around the small pristine lake, enjoying the undisturbed natural setting. I May as well take a look around while I was there, but all during that time I was thinking, how the heck am I going to get back out? Nightfall was not far off and slack tide was at least two hours away. Of course, I had not brought my cell phone or portable VHF radio, so  I couldn’t alert Lisa, who was comfortably enjoying our anchorage back at Kismet. It was about this time I spotted another dinghy in the far reaches of the inner lake and decided to head his way. My thoughts were that this guy would have more knowledge of the area than I did and surely would have an exit strategy in place. Subsequently, I introduced myself to Peter, who I found out was in the exact same predicament as myself, he was also stressed about being late for dinner back on his anchored boat and perplexed as to what to do next.

Peter suggested we both raise our outboard dinghy engines to their highest transom elevation, in order to reduce our draft, then we could try to run hard up against the turbulent rapids. We both tried and failed, the current was that strong against our small outboards, besides, if we had drifted into the really shallow rock areas we could have caused damage to the prop and/or the dinghy. Our next strategy included the aid of a friend of Peter’s who had, lucky for us, just kayaked up to the inlet and landed his craft on the outside mouth of the rapids. Peter’s friend suggested we do a three-way relay and pull the dinghies (one at a time), with a long painter line, up through the rapids. At the shore’s edge, one person stood on slippery rocks and steadied the dinghy close to the rock-strewn shore, another pulled the dinghy forward 20 feet, while the third person took the newly created available line up the channel another 20 feet and began another pulling process. We did this relay method three or four times for each dinghy and finally made it back to the anchorage with both Peter, his friend, and I returning to the dry warmth of our respective boats… just in time for dinner.

By the time I got back to the boat, I was pooped, but it was a fun time and makes for a good story.

I was so excited about my little adventure, the next morning before we left the cove, I took Lisa over to the rapids so she could fully appreciate the dilemma I faced the day before.

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Laura Cove Reminded Us of Cruising Ground Closer to Home, the North Channel, Ontario, Canada.

During our three days in Laura Cove, we swam next to the boat every day in the clear, warm water. We hiked a little, and took dinghy rides around Prideaux Haven to explore and visit with other boaters we knew who were also staying in one of the coves for the Canadian holiday weekend. We liked our spot. There were three other boats rafted off the narrower tip of the rock and a few more on the other side but there wasn’t any room for another boat to stern anchor in our vicinity.

We took a dinghy ride over to Melanie Cove, still lots of boats anchored there, as we said earlier it was a lot busier over in that cove than it was at Laura Cove.

On one dinghy excursion around Melanie Cove we came across fellow Ranger Tug owners, Tym and June, on Circle T (above left), and Fred and Diane, on Sunrise (above right). We had all met earlier when we joined the Ranger Tug Cruise to Desolation Sound. Now, a few of us are bumping into each other occasionally as we each take different routes to explore the Sound.

We weren’t the only ones that had a good time in Prideaux Haven. Milt Goodman, Goodship (see plaque above and below), had such a good time he, or a loved one, affixed a plaque to a huge rock in a channel, near Melanie Cove, in his memory. We understand the sentiment completely.

Lots of rocks are visible under the water in Prideaux Haven. This is a scary thought for some boaters but after cruising in Canada’s North Channel, and now Desolation Sound, we are used to the idea of that rock-hard surface just under the hull of our boat; it helps tremendously having a boat with a shallow draft, we can get into many places a bigger boat, or sailboat, with a deeper draft can’t.

We saw this unusual boat anchored in a channel between Melanie Cove and Laura cove. It appears to be homemade out of aluminum.

On our last night in Laura Cove, we had fun watching “Boo,” (below-the dog on the rock) defy ongoing commands that he come back to the boat as it grew dark. He was banished to the rock island earlier in the day by his family (in rafted boats to the right of the rock), It appeared his nose was a little out of joint at having been sent away for a time-out, or perhaps he just liked the peace and quiet the rock afforded him.

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From Refuge Cove it was a short 7 to 8-mile hop over to Tenedos Bay. Once in the midst of Desolation Sound every port, cove, or bay is no more than a day’s cruise from your starting point. This close proximity between points of interest allowed us to take our time, linger longer, leave later, and cruise slowly while still arriving early to any spot on our scheduled route.

Tenedos Bay provided a tree-lined canyon and a well-protected spot just a short dinghy ride to the trail that leads up to Unwin Lake.

Our chosen anchorage provided a tree-lined canyon where we stern tied to shore in calm water. Tenedos Bay is one of the recommended anchorages John and Tracy, on Sea Change, gave us during our chart review in Ganges. Not only does it provide a beautiful, natural setting to anchor, but with a short trip across the bay in our dinghy we were able to hike up to the fresh, pristine water of Unwin Lake.

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Teakerne Arm – A Waterfall and Hike to a Fresh Water Lake

Leaving Grace Harbour, we had a short cruise to Lewis Channel before we made a turn up into Teakerne Arm and another anchorage in the British Columbia wilderness. In the open waters I kept seeing a distinctive peak off in the distance, it seemed to appear from behind and above the waterside hills, fjords, and mountains as if it was following us as we worked our way around Desolation Sound. With a little research, I found Mount Denman (the pointy-tipped mountain in the middle of the photo below – taken from just outside Melanie Cove) to be 6,299 feet high, it rests at the end of Desolation Sound and is considered Canada’s Matterhorn.

At the head of Teakerne Arm, one is greeted by a cascading waterfall spilling into the saltwater away from Cassel Lake, a freshwater lake just above the falls. We continued past the falls and found a small cove to anchor in stern tied to the shore, there were only five boats anchored there that night. The next morning all the other boats left and we had the entire cove to ourselves.

Waterfall (above) at Teakerne Arm

We found a nice spot to anchor and stern tie in Teakerne Arm, only one other boat shared the small cove with us.

The apparatus above is called a “donkey,” it sits here rusted along with many heavy-duty cables, remnants of the logging that took place in this area.

The trail we hiked led us to this smooth rock on the lake’s southern shore, it angled deep into the lake. Someone had fashioned a haul-out rope with knots to make it easier for people to get in and out of the water as the rock is very slippery. We brought aqua socks though and that helped a lot. The water was refreshing and surprisingly warm.

As we were walking back from our hike we saw a blue Ranger Tug (above) hovering in front of the falls probably taking photos like we did (which were just below us to the left in the photo above).

The territory of Desolation Sound was pretty dry during our time there and we saw many of these signs posted (above).

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We like anchoring in McKernan Creek!

After leaving Grand Harbor Marina, we made two anchorage stops before we got to Joe Wheeler State Park. The first, Little Bear Creek (above and below), was a new spot for us while our stay at McKernan Creek was our third time at anchor there. Both anchorages met with our satisfaction and provided a colorful and comfortable night on the hook.

On the move again early the next morning we passed the bridge at Florence, Alabama (below).

To get to McKernan Creek we had to lock through the Wilson Lock and Dam. At 110 feet high the Wilson Lock is the highest lock east of the Mississippi River and relatively easy to lock through. Cruising the Tennessee River during this fall’s Looper migration south brought back a lot of fond memories of our two previous trips south on the Tennessee River during our 1.75 Loops.

We had to wait a bit for the doors of the lock to open, this is the second to last lock we will go through before we get to Joe Wheeler. If you’ve never been in one of these big locks, the photos (below) will give you a reference and perspective as to their size. To tie up inside one of these huge locks for the first time can be a little intimidating but everyone gets used to them after a couple of lock-throughs.

McKernan Creek is always a fun stop. We find this creek well-protected if you can get far enough in. We always feel like we’re in a small lake and enjoy the many cottages that dot the shoreline. It was quiet all night and we feel lucky when one of the residents stops by in a kayak or small boat to say hi. Everyone we have met here has been very friendly.

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Blue Creek anchorage is just past Cuba Landing Marina.

Leaving Pebble Isle Marina we had our sights set on an anchorage we’d never been to before. Twenty miles upriver at MM116 of the Tennessee River is Blue Creek, Cuba Landing Marina is located there. (The photo above, and below, shows the entrance to the marina and the cove we anchored in.)

Having just left a marina we inched our way past Cuba Landing to a shallow, relatively open cove. We found a few more boats anchored there for the night in 5 to 8 feet of water. We’ve never anchored in Blue Creek before, we liked finding such a well-protected spot. We enjoyed a pleasant evening on the hook and felt it has all the characteristics of a good layover stop as one works their way up or down the Tennessee River.

Our anchorage (below).

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We left Duncan Bay knowing we’d travel south on the Tennessee River for only 4 hours, so it wasn’t going to be a long day. Twenty-nine miles later, at mile marker 62.6, we made a starboard turn into Cypress Creek, then another right into the first cove. What we found was an anchorage that provided us with calm waters in very protective, natural surroundings.

Because of our short cruise day, I took advantage of the calm water by continuing my work on the dinghy davit bracket installation (see next post). I like to maximize my downtime by having a few projects in the works, like waxing the fiberglass or stainless, changing the oil, or cleaning sea strainers. There is never a lack of things to do when spending a lot of time on a boat.

Cypress Creek greeted us the next morning with a bank of fog!

The next morning we woke up to find ourselves completely immersed in a thick bank of fog. It was so thick, we could hardly make out where the nearby shore was; being able to see back out to the Tennessee River was impossible. We learned a long time ago that, when river cruising, it’s best to sit tight and wait for the fog to lift if you can’t see nearby land clearly. We were only delayed a few hours, so we sat back and enjoyed the changing conditions; Lisa took lots of photos of the thickly veiled fog as it moved quickly past the sun and we eventually left our anchorage in Cypress Creek.

It’s kind of eery sitting inside a small boat where you can see nothing beyond the windows but a milky, misty veil. Luckily we were not attempting to transit the river at the time. Before long, the fog lifted in Cypress Creek to present a beautiful sunny day. Another great day ahead of us for cruising the Tennessee River.

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Duncan Bay was our choice for a peaceful night on the hook!

Our three-week goal was to travel 250 miles on the Tennessee River while meeting Loopers on their southern migration and concluding our trip after attending an AGLCA Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina in Rogersville, Alabama. With three weeks to enjoy this famous heartland river, it felt good knowing we could really take our time leaving a spot late in the morning or deciding to stop early in the day to relax and familiarize ourselves with a new anchorage.

With that said, we left Green Turtle Marina, on Lake Barkley late morning. We eagerly worked our way the short distance to the Barkley Canal and transited the one-mile stretch to the Tennesse River, coming out at mile marker 25.4. It was a perfect fall day, we had the entire river to ourselves as we turned south in search of our first anchorage.

Prior to leaving Green Turtle, I had researched and made notes of possible anchorages along this 250-mile route. Because we had time, and no deadline to fight or 80-mile travel days to contend with, we could explore the many anchorage possibilities and be choosy in our selections. About five miles south, we pulled into Pisgah Bay for a look-see and although very scenic, we decided to explore further. At mile 34, we pulled into Duncan Bay and found an intimate cove to call home for the night. We traveled a grand total of 11 miles that day. I can’t emphasize enough how relaxing it was for us not to have a set schedule, we would encourage anyone anticipating a cruise on the Tennessee River, to plan well ahead and arrive with enough time to take it slow.

We left home with a bounty of produce, some we picked fresh off plants at home, and others we stocked up on so that we wouldn’t have to worry about finding a store for a while.

We didn’t run into any Loopers our first night on the hook, but plenty of fishermen around to keep us company.

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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 try something new. It’s a favorite of cruisers in the North Channel.

Jim is preparing the long line he’ll soon tie to a tree on the shore behind our boat. Stern tying takes some time, but well worth the effort in the end. By the time Jim is done on shore, he will have taken the rope, that is looped around that tree, to the dinghy and back to the boat. It will be tied securely to a cleat. To untie we just have to untie the rope on the cleat and pull the line into the boat. That’s the easy part.

Just after we got our anchor set and line tied to shore, we met Emily (above). She’d stopped by to say her grandparents were also anchored in the cove on the sailing vessel, Ritual. We know Lisa & Fred because we are both members of the Grand Traverse Yacht Club (GTYC) in Traverse City. It’s always nice when we bump into boaters we know while on our cruising explorations.

We dinghied around the cove one evening to meet some of the other boaters. We met the couple on this sailboat and had a nice chat. How could you not be all smiles and serenely happy spending the night on the hook in a quiet Canadian cove?

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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 time cruising, enjoying the sights of the small summer cottages dotting the rocky wind-swept, tree-lined shores.

Collins Inlet runs between Philip Edward Island, to the south, and mainland Ontario, Canada to the north, making the narrow channel a favorite of boaters because of the well-protected, safe passage from possible rough waters of Georgian Bay and all the good anchorage sites available.

We went as far as Mill Lake, cruising around the lake, scoping it out for future, potential anchorages. On our way there we made note of an anchorage called Keyhole Island, we eventually made our way back to that spot to settle in for a serenely quiet night on the hook.

After pulling anchor the next morning we poked around some more on our way back to the North Channel. Just a short distance west of the westerly entrance to Collins Inlet is where we found Thomas Bay. To enter you need to have good charts, an accurate GPS, and/or good local knowledge because if you make the wrong turn you could end up running aground on some rocks. Once inside we found a paradise of a cove, large enough for up to maybe a dozen boats.

Based on our short visit to Georgian Bay on this day, we are excited to return for a more thorough cruising experience in the near future.

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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 think of the perfect anchorage I conjure up images of a cove with high bluffs, hills, or rock formations on all sides, one that gives good protection from high winds. It would also have a dog-leg entrance to keep out unwanted wave action. If you were to toss in, as an added benefit, sunny skies, a slight breeze on a hot day, and the company of good friends, I think you’d have a pretty good combination of elements, one that matches our Covered Portage Cove anchorage in Canada’s North Channel.

Passing the swing bridge at Little Current (above).

Strawberry Island always provides a visual delight and a great opportunity for photographers to get a Lighthouse dream shot.

This is the dog-eared entrance to the cove (above and below), it’s narrow and very tightly closes the cove from heavy wave action.

Looking out, towards the entrance (above) to the cove as we were cruising in to find a good spot to drop the hook. The shot (below), also looking back towards the entrance, shows how well our anchor spot was protected 360˚ around us.

We dinghied over to shore to take a long hike up one of the cliffs in search of a lookout deck we spotted from below, we failed in finding it, but we had a great hike up and into the woods.

When we arrived we had only a few neighbors, but by our second day, as you can see, many more boats joined us in this well-protected Cove.

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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 whole rocky channel that separates the islands and protects our boat sitting just below in a little rocky cove.

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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 the rock formations on these North Channel islands are more intimate and, dare I say sensual. We love the beauty of them both.

Have you been to one or both places? If not, take a look at both locations on our blog and let us know what you think.

We like to talk about the beautiful blueberries we found on South Benjamin Island when we got there. Enough for several bowls of sweet yumminess. Just like the blackberries we find wild in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a real treat when finding wild berries when cruising. To find anything wild and fresh during hikes while anchoring out for long periods is an amazing treat.

More beauties are found on the rocks. These must have been the last of the yummy blueberries because we never found any more bushes with berries the rest of our trip. Jim was fairly proud of himself, risking bear and mosquito attacks to procure those berries.

Our neighbors. Looks like they’ve settled in here for a while. During their long stay, they get friends to visit and bring provisions with them.

The channel at one end of South Benjamin looks south/southeast towards Clapperton Island.

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