Lake Huron and The Marvelous North Channel

[xort]

cs

excellent report, thanks

[scottbr]

Xort, Marianne Cove is in Baie Fine, NW of killarney.

Dave, we were there Aug. 2 -3. We're actually anchored in about 30 ft. of water. Dropped the anchor and backed into shore and tied off to a tree. We went right down into The Pool, being our first trip up there in our boat. We canoed Killarney years ago including one 2 week trip that took us over the portage past Topaz Lake that ends in The Pool. To us, The Pool was disappointing with all the weeds just below the surface. I had been scoping the coves as we headed in and returned to this one. I had checked the wind direction and the north side of the bay was protected.







The view from the south shore is much better, where you can see the rocky ridge, but it was too exposed to the NW wind. This year we'll check the south shore. This was our afternoon cocktail view, we headed over in the dinghy and let the dog run on the rocks while we enjoyed a beverage and snacks.

[scottbr]

Originally Posted by patrickrea

I can't believe they let people take out the kayaks and such into the channel between Royal Island and the Del. Same goes for the PicNic Island rental boats. The traffic is unbelievable through there on a Saturday. I'll have to get a picture of it for the other people around here. At least they moved the kayaks around the corner by the Boat Club.

Ahhh the Do You Wanna Inn. I (barely) remember some great parties there when I was 15-16. Having just turned 40, I can't believe the things we did. At the time, I learned most of my night navigation skills after 1/2 case of beer. Never did hit anything under the influence (except a sandbar in the Little Dog channel).

I wouldn't want to take anything small in the channel in front of the Del. or even the beach area over by the Boat Club. The channel in front of the Del. is the busiest in Canada?

It's always amusing when a few kayaks would pull up to our friends cottage on the inside of Mermaid, looking for directions back to the Del.

[namlak]

We are planning a trip to the North Channel from the Midland area and wonder how people select routes to get there? Fast preferably.
Any hints?

[scottbr]

Originally Posted by namlak

We are planning a trip to the North Channel from the Midland area and wonder how people select routes to get there? Fast preferably.
Any hints?

Where are you in Midland..... we're at Baymoorings

Fastest route is to go out past Giants Tomb and turn right...... only 90 nM from Giants to Killarney..... only 15 hours at 6 knots.


All depends on how fast your boat is and how long you want to sail / motor in a day. We left Penetang on a Thurs. am, motored ( no wind) to Killcoursie Bay ( Killbear Park) left at 7:00 am and motored in the channel up to Point Au Baril and headed across to Killarney, arriving in downtown Killarney at 9:00 pm after being chased around the bay by a late afternoon thunderstorm ( see my pic farther back in this thread). Wind was from the W NW at 10 - 15 knots so we made good speed ( 6.5 knots) and could head directly at Killarney.





Many others choose to stay closer to shore and take 2-3 days up the inside channel or sail out in the Bay and head in to the islands to anchor.

We spent 3 nights in Baie Fine and took more time coming back, stopping in Collins Inlet, Bustard Islands, Shawanagan, then home. Total trip was 9 nights out.

Other options would be to head across to the Bruce Peninsula and up from there.

Best advise is to get the Ports book and study it well, sure saved us a ton of time and guesswork. Also get the strip charts and larger charts to find the routes in and out of the islands and check for updates. They've added a couple of routes into the channel from the Bay.