Friday Harbor, the Hub of the San Juan Islands!

Friday Harbor is a picturesque town and the largest small town in the San Juan Islands; you could say it’s the hub of commerce for the islands. This was our third time staying in the harbor. It has been said that the boating community is a small world, our slip just happened to be right next to Herb and Willy from Willy’s Tug, Tim and June, on Circle T, from California were also docked nearby. Both are Ranger Tug owners we know from our cruising time in the PNW – most recently when we all joined the Ranger Tugs 2013 Desolation Sound Cruise. Because of meeting up with these boaters, we got to experience a couple of things while in Friday Harbor we wouldn’t have, had it not been for Tim’s “Local Knowledge.” Perched on the bluff above the marina sits a Lions Club – with Tim’s membership all six of us were able to take advantage of a scenic, and a very happy, hour from the club’s porch with the added bonus of touring their very informative military museum before we left.

Friday Harbor’s famous mascot, Popeye, the one-eyed seal, has a statue in the park, overlooking the harbor, dedicated to her (above). She hangs out in the water surrounding the little fish market on the dock and will beg for food from people buying fish from the market.

Willy and Herb (below), on our way up to the Lions Club.

That night, after drinks at the Lions Club, before we parted to return to our boats, Tim suggested we meet on the dock the next morning and he would take us on an expedition of sorts to a favorite breakfast spot of his. He knew of a local restaurant we’d never heard of before and said it would include a walk, so we’d be sure to get our day’s exercise in as well. We had no idea where we were going, but at the appointed time we met on the dock and off we went, walking up through town toward the airport. Tim, being a pilot, has flown in and out of the airport in Friday Harbor and has more local knowledge than the rest of us. As it turned out our long walk was rewarded with a fantastic breakfast at the little-known, to outsiders, Ernie’s  Cafe, abreast of the airport runway. We never would have found this restaurant on our own.

It was drizzling all morning, so our walk, up, around the building, and through little out-of-the-way paths, to the restaurant was a little wet, but we got to see some beautiful critters slink their way out of hiding to soak and take advantage of the damp ground (below).

Finally, we arrived, the guys were way ahead of us and as you can tell from their gait, eager for a big breakfast. Looks like I should have had Chili #4 (below).

One thing that was plentiful during our trip this summer was yellow jackets. They were everywhere it seemed, always flying into our boat or hovering outside. Ernie’s had bee catchers hanging over their outside deck.

Apparently, the restaurant is named after aviator and author Ernest K Gann.

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First stop, Grace Harbour – Striking out on our own to explore Desolation Sound –

We left Gorge Harbour mid-morning to find yet another perfect boating day awaiting us. History states that Captain George Vancouver first sailed the waters of the Sound in 1792, thinking the landscape remote and forbidding, he named it Desolation Sound. We think he must have had a run of bad weather to have taken such a gloomy stance on such a diverse and stunningly beautiful area, but we’d have to admit that the name has a certain draw to it.

With Cortes Island behind us we headed for Desolation Sound Marina Park, a large dedicated group of islands, along with a bit of mainland BC, set aside as a marine park in 1973 for the benefit of recreational boaters, campers, and hikers. Our goal for the first day out was to head to an anchorage in Grace Harbour, a well-protected cove a large sheltered bay located in Malaspina Inlet, surrounded by Gifford Peninsula. We heard about it from another boater.

As we made the turn at the southern tip of Cortes we were greeted with an incredible sight as we motored on, hills growing into peaks and eventually a few snow-capped mountains way off in the distance.

Grace Harbour’s inner bay, where we anchored, is surrounded by forest and is almost entirely landlocked. We enjoyed a pleasant dinghy ride around the harbour, met a few of our neighbors, grilled some fish for dinner, had a few stimulating games of dominoes, and watched a beautiful sunset grace the harbor.

Two new items this trip out, we bought a set of new, wood, folding chairs for extra seating in the cockpit and we added a spool with a line for stern tying. Another Ranger Tug owner had made the suggestion to attach it to the bimini railing and it works perfectly there, can’t wait to try it out.

Grace Harbour was a photographer’s dream subject tonight.

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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 long for Lisa and me.

Spanish Marina is a good central location to launch a trailered boat into the North Channel.

Spanish is a great spot to launch a trailerable boat. Great facilities and everyone is friendly and helpful. The boat ramp is one of the steepest we’ve encountered (see below) but it all worked out once we got it rolling. It seems every ramp is different, I always do a walk around, at a new-to-us ramp, come up with a plan of attack and convey it to Lisa, so we’re both on the same page, before we start the process.

We arrived in Spanish late in the afternoon, around 4:00, and still had lots to do to get ready to leave in the morning. The biggest job was getting the dinghy and motor down to the boat from the truck, inflating it, and mounting the motor. (We are still investigating the right dinghy mount for the boat, so in the meantime, we deflate it and stow it in the bed of the truck while we’re towing the boat over land)

Soon after dark, we went to bed secure in knowing we were absolutely ready to begin our exploration of the North Channel.

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There I said it! For those who have been, it is most likely one of your favorite 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 River/ Sault St. Marie to the northwest. Manitoulin Island separates the North Channel from Lake Huron to the southwest. An interesting side note is that Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island… in the world.

Inside the confines of the North Channel are thousands of islands, interesting rock formations, small waterside villages, well-protected coves for anchoring, including a variety of wildlife such as bears, moose, birds, otters, and beavers, and yes, some snakes all living in or near the crystal clear water. For cruisers like us, who like to explore and check out new anchoring possibilities, the North Channel has endless possibilities to engage a boater. Endless only to the point that, since the boating season is so short in this part of the world, it is necessary to return year after year for the magic to continue.

This summer, we planned a two-week cruise in the North Channel. This will be our third trip, the first in our Ranger Tug, Kismet. We started by trailering our boat north from Traverse City to the Mackinac Bridge, then east through customs, reaching our launch spot in Spanish, Ontario, a few hours after crossing the border.

Stay tuned over the next several weeks, there’s more to come and lots of photos to bring back memories for those who have been or provide inspiration for those yet to come.

The post The Crew of Kismet is North Channel Bound appeared first on Trailer Trawler Life Blog – Cruising USA & Canada.

When leaving Key West by water, and heading east to Marathon, there are two Intracoastal Waterways (ICW) route choices. There is the unobstructed, direct route of Hawk Channel which runs parallel to the Keys and cuts into Florida Bay at Marathon. Hawk Channel is somewhat protected from the coral reefs that separate it from the Atlantic Ocean; this is the most popular route because you don’t need to worry about dodging shallow water.

We’ve taken Hawk Channel several times but have never taken the route less traveled, the Florida Bay ICW. One of the reasons the route north of the Keys to Marathon is not preferred is because of the shallower water depths. With a 2.5-foot draft on our Ranger Tug, we felt we’d have plenty of water below us. Besides we were up for a new adventure, and we wanted to take a route we’d never done before. Our objective was to slowly cruise the 30 miles to Marathon by anchoring out for a couple of nights enjoying one of Mother Nature’s many gifts.

For a short bit, were escorted by a school of dolphins who were playing tag around our boat in the white sand-bottomed crystal clear waters of the Keys.

Our first stop was an anchorage behind some mangrove islands in Jewfish Basin where we were serenaded by birds and saw plenty of rays. We took time to have a little lunch before we went to explore the surrounding islands by dinghy.

Breakfast on the back deck this morning (below)

On the second day out, we re-entered the ICW to head to Porpoise Key and our second night’s anchorage. Porpoise Key sits just off of Big Pine and No Name Keys, within seven miles of Marathon. So, I guess we averaged 10 miles a day for the three days it took us to get to Marathon, that’s the way we like to cruise, slow enough that we can absorb our surroundings – this time we enjoyed the crystal clear and shallow waters around the many scattered islands on the Florida Bay side of the Keys.

The Seven Mile Bridge provides a pass from the Florida Bay side to the Hawk Channel side. You can access Marathon by either side but this time we’ll be picking up a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor, so we have to go under the bridge, turning to the east, to get there.

One of our favorite harbors to enter, this channel into Book Key is a boater’s visual delight.

We grabbed this mooring ball for a two-night stay in Marathon. We had some friends to meet and work to catch up on before we reclaim our truck and trailer (which Jim drove up here a week ago) and take our boat out of the water to head north.

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