Preparing for the trip

Captain Jerry has been making the final preparations to North Star, our 32 foot Cape Island down east trawler. We are anxious to leave our landlubber lives behind and begin our long awaited journey around the Great Circle. Join us as we travel 10, 000 kilometers: through the historic Trent Severn Waterway; the pristine waters of Georgian Bay; the North Channel of lake Huron; and hop from beach to beach on lake Michigan. We will visit Chicago and begin our trek along the rivers: Illinois; upper Mississippi; Ohio; Cumberland: Tennessee; Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Black Warrior. We will have transited through 68 locks at this juncture. We have chosen the inner route from Mobile Alabama to Tarpon Springs Florida and the shorter Ocheechobee Waterway to reach the East coast of Florida. We will skip over to the Bahamas to wait out the winter before heading North on the Atlantic Inter Coastal Waterway.
The 10 years of researching and planning are finally at an end and we invite you to come along on our adventure.























Saturday, July 16, 2011

Parry Sound

We travelled 14 miles from our anchorage at Copperhead to Parry Sound Town Dock on a calm waters and sunny hot weather. Just perfect! The scenery is really beautiful along this stretch of Georgian Bay with less rock and more trees.
We were able to get a pump out, top up our water and take the Sobey shuttle from the town dock to the Sobey grocery store.  Canadian Tire is next door to Sobeys so we were able to fill our propane tank. The shuttle takes you back to the boat all free other than a donation.  Very good service here in Parry Sound.
We got on our bikes and went to explore the town.  It is small and quaint.  We found our usual antique/junk shop and of course the Beer Store.
The Captain of the Chippawa, a 65 foot ex Maid of he Mist tour ship, called us on the VHF radio while we were on our way here to compliment us on our boat.  To our Newfoundland folks, this boat is not unusual but it is in these parts. When the tour boat came in we went to meet the Captain who gave us directions to a nice anchorage.  It is at Huckleberry Island in Sawdust Bay (N45 24.530 and W080 07.365').  There is also a dock with picnic table but we were too late for that one.  We are anchored along with a sailboat.  Those folks came to chat last night in their kayaks. They have been boating in the North Channel for 37 years.  There is no place like it apparently. I am looking forward to it but it is hard to believe it can get any better than this.
We thought we would stay today but it looks like a leisurely breakfast and a short cruise somewhere else to anchor.  There are so many beautiful spots there is no reason to stay at the same one two nights when the weather is so perfect for carrying on. Not sure where we are going yet, it looks like we are just following the pointy end of the boat today.

No fish here in Sawdust Bay
Less rock and more trees on the way to Parry Sound

Parry Sound

Sawdust Bay Anchorage

Sawdust Bay with mist in the morning 14 degrees
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