11 July 2014

Beausoleil Island and Hope Island in the Georgian Bay, Ontario

Our plan was to head up the “Small Boat Channel” from Port Severn up the entire way to Sault Ste Marie. We had taken a small detour to Beausoleil Island and we were going to reverse course and pick it back up again at Honey Harbor.

The Captain of Katya Lookin’ was headed towards Hope Island, it’s in the cluster of Christian, Beckwith and Hope. His description was it was the “Caribbean of the North”. Emerald Green water, sandy beaches with a gentle slope from shore to water deep enough for the boat. I looked at the charts, it was not that far out of the way (about 10 miles) so we agreed and planned to head over with them.

I wanted to make sure that my repairs on the gears were good and that my handlebar adjustment was where I really wanted it. We decided to make a bike dash to the south end of the island and then swing by the Parks Office for ice before heading out.

We didn’t get very far, Susan noticed that her tire was rubbing. She had picked some sticks up in her spokes the day before and it looks like it had knocked the wheel out of alignment. I of course, didn’t plan ahead and didn’t pack a wrench for repairs. So we walked back to the boat to make adjustments.

We passed a small cemetery on the way. In the 1800′s the government of Canada had relocated the indians that lived around Honey Harbor to Beausoleil Island. It wasn’t a very successful move, with limited game and fishing the indians didn’t survive.

Once our bikes were fixed we settled on riding over to the Parks Office for ice. Susan also grabbed another can of “Deep Woods Off” since we figured there would be bugs on Hope Island. We helped Katya Lookin’ get underway and the did our final pre-launch work.

It was a very nice ride over to Hope Island. We swung around the south end of Beausoleil Island (not much to see, so the missing bike ride wasn’t a big deal) past Giant’s Tomb Island and then to Hope. There was very little wind, so it was a very nice ride.

We spied our new friends and a quick radio check said they were in 10 feet of water. We anchored next to them. They were right the water was very clear, we could see the anchor laying in the sand below us.

We ate a quick lunch and then launched our dink. (I’ll skip over the hour long process. We don’t get much practice so we need to re-learn things every year). We headed to shore and pulled up on the pebble lined beach. We sat along the shore with them chatting for about an hour while the First Mate and Ensign played with the dog at the waters edge. When they headed up for lunch we took a walk along the shoreline. Our goal was the lighthouse around the point. But walking on the shoreline wasn’t as easy as we thought. When we got to the point we realized that we had twice as far to go and decided to head back.

On the way, a yellow seaplane circled around overhead getting lower and lower. It finally dropped into the water and coasted over to a near by sailboat. What a way to get to your weekend retreat!

Susan pulled the snorkel masks out and headed back to the beach in the Kayak. She spent time on the beach snorkeling with our friends. I took a much needed nap to recover from all the running around.

Dinner was simple, one of my favorites “weenie-beans” She slices hot dogs, browns them in a pan then cooks them with baked beans. We both had them as kids, so it’s a good memory.

We gently bobbed around the surface of the cove and Susan attempted to lure fish with fresh worms. She had lots of nibbles, but no takers on the bait.

Over the night the wind picked up and I could hear the gentle slap of the waves. Then a thumping sound. After deciding it wasn’t a large wave I got up and found the kayak thumping on the side of the boat. I increased the painter and it bobbed gently next to the dink.

In the morning we fired up the generator. Susan made blueberry pancakes and pea meal bacon (Canadian back bacon) for breakfast. After a pair of hot showers we were ready to start again.

We loaded up the dink (another adventure since we needed to relear then loading skills) and were ready to head off.

We said our goodbyes to our friends on Katya Lookin’ and headed across the open water.

Frying Pan Island here we come!