We weighed anchor on the cloudy morning and threaded our way back through the narrow channel to the Small Boat Channel and headed north.
Here is a chart of the area.
We traveled past the many rock islands until we came to the South Channel and turned east toward Parry Sound. Cruising past more twists and turns and then the 7 Mile Narrows, we then came to the open waters of a small lake with 110 feet of depth. Then we traveled through more narrows until we came to the large bay of Parry Sound Harbor.
Some shots of Parry Sound, the town as we entered from the water. There are also lots of marinas filled with smaller boats which ply these waters.
We tied up at the day dock at Big Sound Marina and met Mari Etta and Ed, fellow Loopers. We shared a taxi with them to pick up some fresh produce at the grocery. We then helped Mari Etta celebrate her birthday by going out to lunch. After lunch we wandered around the Parry Sound Art and Music Festival taking place downtown. Lots of family games with face painting and cooling off with the town’s fire truck spraying water. Music for more adult fair was available close to the marina.
After a quick tour of each others boats, we left Parry Sound to sneak back under the swing bridge and pulled into Menominee Channel to anchor for the night. This great rock wall greeted us as we entered the channel.
Parry Sound today is the only major town in this area of Ontario. So every weekend the cottagers come into town and enjoy the restaurants and buy groceries and other provisions. There are also three sightseeing boats that ferry visitors around Parry Sound to view the spectacular scenery and its islands.
Originally, Parry Sound was a logging and sawmill town and is also the home town of Bobby Orr- of hockey fame.
Parry Sound also is the home base for the fleet of seaplanes that move people and goods between the islands. And the town is on the main freight line moving goods east and west across Canada.
Day 56. On to Huckleberry Island in Parry Sound. Miles 9. Total miles. 3514
Had a lazy morning as we are not going far today. It’s a bit overcast but promises of sunshine this afternoon. We will sneak under the Rose Point Swing Bridge one last time. We clear it by 4-5 inches. It was close!!
Had a pile up of boats waiting for the bridge to open, which is once every odd hour. Was nice to sneak on through and not have to wait.
We headed past the town of Parry Sound and out into the large bay also called Parry Sound.
We soon encountered an unexpected companion in the water - the Viking Polaris cruise ship anchored in the Sound. We watched as they deployed their launches to take people to town and sites in Parry Sound.
We looked up the itinerary and costs, starting at $11,995 per person for 8 days. The cruise begins in Milwaukee and ends in Thunder Bay, Canada. Was quite a shock to see that large cruise ship anchored out in the Sound.
There is a lot to explore in Parry Sound as you can see by looking at the chart below.
The first point of interest was the Parry Sound lighthouse.
Next on our way to our anchorage, we cruised through a mini freshwater Fjord between Wall and Huckleberry Islands. called Hole in the Wall. The granite walls are 40 to 70 feet tall and the water depths in the fjord ranged from 6-40 feet. Was smaller than we expected but was fun to cruise through.
We continued on to our anchorage in a bay of Huckleberry Island and as we dropped anchor the sun came out! Part of this island belongs to the Crown or public land, and part belongs to the First Nation Peoples. We found the totem that identified First Nation land.
After lunch we launched the dinghy and beached it at a campground on Huckleberry Island. Then we took off with our trusty walking sticks ( to scare away the rattlesnakes that frequent the island) to hike to the next bay. We found lots of rocks to climb over and we even found fresh blueberries, but no snakes.
Bill left markers to help us find our way back, which we did with only one slight wrong turn!
Look carefully and you will find Bill in the picture above!
Once back at the dinghy we hopped in and rode over to the next bay appropriately called Boulder Bay because it has a great big boulder in the entrance.
Upon returning to the boat, our boat neighbors dropped by in their dinghy and walked us through their favorite anchorages in North Channel, which is our next leg of the trip. Brian and Irene had some helpful tips on navigating through Georgian Bay and North Channel. Thanks.
Here are some drone shots of our anchorage.
