Author: Jackie Schanz

We pull the anchor and confirm just how abundant the aquatic plant life is in these waters! We head toward Heywood Islands and find a nice cove to anchor for the night. After a quiet and peaceful night on the hook, we cruise back to Little Current. The weather is overcast and gloomy, but just…

We pull anchor at Turning Island and decide to cruise through Collins Inlet. The area is pretty much uninhabited, with pine trees and granite cliffs lining the waterways. Occasionally, we see campsites and a lone hunting/fishing cabin, all of which must only be accessible by a boat or a sea plane as there are no…

Georgian Bay (5,792 square miles) is a bay within Lake Huron (27,012 square miles). It lies totally within the Canadian province of Ontario. Due to its large size, it is often nicknamed as the “sixth great lake”. Locals, however, refer to it as 30,000 islands. Known for its rugged shoreline, sand beaches, windswept pines, and…

It is a bright sunny day as we pass under the Little Current Swing Bridge. We pass by the lighthouse on Strawberry Island. The closer we get to Killarney, the smokier it gets. This map of the wildfire smoke explains it all as we head right into the center of the red eye! This is…

We arrive to Little Current, named as such due to the swift currents of the water running between the narrow passageway which connects the North Channel and the Georgian Bay. Little Current is the largest community on Manitoulin Island, which just happens to be the largest freshwater island in the world measuring 1068 square miles….

We find a small cove by Dewdney Rock which is already inhabited by two other boats. We drop anchor and are good for the night. The views in this little cove are just beautiful! We dunk the dinghy for the first time. The performance and stability is not quite what we expected. It will get…

So, back on board, we could only view our destination by looking out our windows into the marina. Finally, after several hours, the border patrol agents arrive. Apparently, they had to drive 1 1/2 hours from Sault Ste. Marie to confiscate our contraband. 😱 Our last experience with Blind River was watching the sun go…

We cruise through Lake Huron, pass De Tour Village, up the St. Mary’s River into the Potagannissing Bay. While close to Canada, we will still be in U.S. waters. From here, we will enter the North Channel and spend a week, or more, exploring the waters. On our way, we pass several wooden boats on…

We will spend two nights in Hessel. On our first night, we are lucky to score a reservation at the Les Cheneaux Culinary School, which is located right across from the marina. We spend our one day in Hessel actually leaving Hessel on bikes. We rent bikes from a great outfitter near the marina and…

Mackinac Island is most famous for not allowing any motor vehicles on the island. (Although we did see motorized emergency vehicles.) Since it is beautiful weekend in August, the island is super crowded. So crowded in fact that NO rental bikes are available. This is our third visit to Mackinac Island and the busiest. Bicycles…