Stats for July 31^st:

Origin:  Killarney, Ontario

Destination:  Covered Portage Anchorage

Distance:  6.1 miles

Speed:  6 mph

Time on the Move:  2 hours +

After soaking up the luxury of Killarney Mountain Lodge for two nights (and fixing that inverter problem!), we were anxious to get back out in nature on the hook.  We have heard rave reviews about an anchorage not far from here at all, and all our kid boat friends were headed that way, so of course we were, too!

 

Boating around here reminds me of scenes from Northern Exposure—wilderness everywhere.  Huge rocks jutting out of blue water.  Cottages and homes built right into the rock.  Every corner brings another breath-taking view.  It is just too beautiful to be captured by any cell phone, so I go back and forth between *attempting* to get the perfect picture and just soaking it all in with my own eyes.

 

We were all on our own schedule heading out of Killarney, so we had friends ahead of us and friends behind us.  We weren’t sure exactly where the group was going to anchor, so we checked out the front part of the anchorage that was more open to the bay and then decided to head through the narrow path in the rocks to see what the protected cove in the back looked like.  As we pulled back there, we saw about 15 boats already anchored (so not much extra room for us), but it was BEAUTIFUL!  Surrounded by high rocky cliffs and clear greenish water.  We decided to see if we could squeeze in amongst all those boaters who were already set up.  Now we aren’t experts at anchoring.  Word is that the bottom around here can be rocky and rough holding.  Lots of Georgian Bay boaters have mastered this trick of tying an extra line off of their stern (back end) and securing it to a tree on shore to secure their holding and to reduce the space you need due to swinging around your anchor.  That looks awesome and all, but seems a tad overwhelming, so we decided to do our best with just one anchor.  On our first attempt, the wind changed instantly and we were spinning pretty close to the rocky shore.  Mike thought about throwing an extra anchor off the back (and actually smashed it into his hand instead) but then pulled it back up right away when we realized we weren’t comfortable being that close to the rocks.  Then there was a second attempt, but on the third attempt we got it right.

Just as the anchor was set and I was taking in the picturesque view of all these boats surrounded by treed rocks, a seaplane came right over the trees and flew right over the anchorage.  It was absolutely perfect.  AND I got it all on video.  (More about why I can’t show you this later).

 

We spent some time getting all the toys out to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.  Colin took off on his kayak to explore the rocky shore.  Hayley and I went paddleboarding to see if we could find where our friends set up.  Mike and Tobin went off to try fishing from the dinghy.

 

We all ended up hanging out at our friends’ boats that had tied up out in the cove that was open to the bay for the rest of the evening.  Good company, lots of boating/looping/parenting talk, friends for the kids to play with, and nature to explore.  It was a great evening with a barbeque and lots of swimming for the kids.  The highlight of the night came right before we left for our boat when the last kid boat family caught up with us after making a long trek from Tobermory that day.

**I would be able to add all of my awesome pictures into this post so you could see the fun and beauty, except phones don’t work so well when they’re 20 feet underwater sitting at the bottom of the Georgian Bay.  Somehow Mike was taking pics of the boys paddling back to the boat from their exploring with MY PHONE when he accidentally dropped it in the water.  The interesting thing is that I didn’t even bring my phone out today.  I left it charging on my bed.  And then once it was on the boat with us, I took great care in tucking it away every time after I took a picture.  Now somehow, it has sunk to the bottom of the sea.  I was ticked, but what could I do?  Accidents happen and Mike was very apologetic.  Our friend Ben even attempted to dive down for it a few times, but 20 feet is a tad deep and dark for finding much.  Now Mike and I are BOTH running on our back up phones we brought with us (just in case!) and waiting for civilization where we can get new ones. From here on in the post, there should be more pictures taken with the back up, but I’m struggling to master the camera on this new/old phone.  Rant over and as soon as I have my own replacement, I will avoid telling this story anymore.  I promise, Mike!**

 

The next day started with a rainy morning that led to a smokey afternoon.  There are wildfires raging not too far from here and many areas to the southeast of us are off limits for travelers and cottage-owners alike.  The authorities are working hard to get the fires under control, but it is rough rocky terrain and very dry.  High winds in the area haven’t helped.  We are disappointed we can’t quite get to all the areas we’d hoped to explore in the Northern Georgian Bay due to the fires, but we have plenty of beauty surrounding us.  This was the first day we could definitely see and smell the smoke.

 

 

 

 

The kids had a great time swimming and tubing before we took a hike up to the top of one of the rocky cliffs.  There is a very steep marked trail that we climbed to get an amazing view of our boat and the North Channel that goes beyond.  Of course, we had to extend the hike on mostly unmarked trails and rock hop about 3 times further.  The terrain was tricky at times, but it was breath taking the whole way.

 

 

 

After the hike we had another potluck barbeque and more swimming for the kids.  Mike gave his second and third haircuts of our trip.  It seems that there is a shortage of barbers close to marinas, so Mike has found a way to fill this niche.  They look great at the end of the cut, but we enjoyed giving him a hard time as we watched every in-between step during the cuts.

The scenery here was stunning.  I feel like I could stay and look at those rocks for weeks and not tire of the view.  But hands-down, the best part of this stop was having 4 looping kid boats together in one place.  Altogether we had 8 parents and 10 kids, aged 4 ½-11 playing and exploring together.  It was great to see the kids make new friends so easily and watch as they thought of new creative things to fill their time.  Uno, island exploring, baking, clay crafts, playing with babies, swimming, jumping from the top of the boats (Hayley and Mike actually did this!!), tubing, boat exploring….never-ending fun.  We are so thankful we could all be together in one place.  Tomorrow, we will go our own way for a short while, but we will look forward to a day soon when our paths will cross again!!