Rocks to our left, right, and everywhere

We have finally arrived at the beginning of the small craft route up the east side of Georgian Bay and is the part of our voyage we've really been looking forward to. It will be an exercise in precise navigation with no room for error and should be successful if we follow our charts and guides without exception. I will post more information as the trip progresses. The weather still is unseasonalbly cold (not cool) with unfavorable west winds (the norm). It's Al's first day wearing long pants on the trip and we have the heat on in the boat.

Since our last post we anchored twice but only stayed overnight at the last spot. Our intended anchorage on Beckwith Island just wasn't very nice and was not as well protected as we would have liked with the predicted winds. Our trip up from Thornbury was very lumpy and we even had to tack like a sailboat to avoid the dreaded beam seas in order to have a tolerable ride. After an hour of bouncing around at anchor we hauled it in and moved on to Penetang Bay which is only two miles from Midland, ON (largest city in the area) and closer to our next destination in Honey Harbor. As we rounded Asylum Point (yes, named for the asylum on the hill overlooking the point) we entered Penetang Bay. The bay is long and narrow, well protected, and has many marinas and one cool anchorage next to an old 18th century naval base that has been restored. There are even a pair of replica schooners tied up to the dock and only about 200 feet from where we anchored (see photos). After a cool and rainy night we headed out about 10AM.

Tonight we are staying at the South Bay Cove marina in a very popular spot named Honey Harbor. There are many marinas in the area but none as nice as this one. It has Internet, TV, a very friendly staff, and a nice restuarant which we will try out tonight. This area is littered with cabins and is where metropolitan Ontario and many Americans hang out recreationally. Tomorrow we plan tp head to the Frying Pan/Sans Souci Island marina in order to move up the coast a bit in preparation for some upcoming weather. The weather, unfortunately, is not predicted to be very favorable for the next few days so distance may be our plan versus destinations. Our plan is to be finished with this section of the trip and back in Little Current by 7/22 at the latest.