Orillia, Ont. to Mackinaw City, MI
July 30 - Aug 6
Nora

July 30    Departed Orillia early (0805) after seeing Tom and Dee off to the Toronto airport.  This was a spectacular day, four locks which included the deepest (47 feet) at Swift Rapids and the most unusual - The Big Chute Marine Railway, lock number 44, was a kick.  They put the boat on a "sled" which is then transports you and the boat on a 6 minute overland journey which drops you 57 feet into the waterway on the other side of a hill.  Quite a ride!  The last lock of the day was at Port Severn, which is also the smallest lock on the system. It could only accommodate one boat of our size at a time.  The exit from the lock was also the trickiest as there was a swift current of about 3 knots pushing us through a narrow channel with a rather sharp turn to starboard.  We anchored for the night at a quiet spot at Starr's Island.

July 31    Followed the Waubono channel through hundreds of islands (30,000 to be more precise) of Georgian Bay (adjoins Lake Huron on the north).  Rocky, beautiful, reminiscent of Maine.  Many island homes, one to an island, and lots of rocks. Overnighted at Killbear Marina, Killbear Cove.  Dinner at their restaurant (German food) was very good.

Aug 1    Inside channel to Point Au Baril, then outside to Byng Inlet.  Overcast turning to fog in afternoon.  A few black flies managed to find us, but they were not nearly as bad as on Leg 4A off the Jersey coast.  Stopped at Wrights Marina a couple of miles up the inlet in Britt, Ont.  The Little Britt House picked us up for dinner, which was excellent - the owner is quite colorful.

Aug 2    Small boat channel for first half then open water for a few hours before returning Beaverton Bay and Collings Inlet enroute to Killarny.  T-storms and high winds forecast did no occur, thankfully.  Killarny is a (very) small town with lots of boats.  Berthed at Killarny Mountain Lodge, a resort which features, canoeing, backpacking, fishing, hiking, etc. Dinner at their restaurant was again good.  (A note on Canadian wines - they should stick to beer - makes Woodbridge look good however).

Aug 3    West from Killarny through Lansdowne Channel to Little Current (swing bridge there only opens once an hour) - an interesting and popular stop, however we had to bypass as it was not on the float plan.  The North Sound begins at Little Current - a wide body of water connected to Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, dotted with islands.  Anchored in a wide open bay at Clapperton Island in early afternoon.  Fortutious as the wind came up to 25-30 knots in the afternoon and it would have been a rough ride. 

Aug 4    While the wind died during the night it came up again in the morning to the 15-20 range, making it a bit choppy.  For comfort sake we ran at the 25GPH speed of 14.5 knots and arrived at Meldrum Bay on the north shore of Manatoulin Island at 1230.  Docked at the Meldrum Bay Marina one of four public facilities in the metropolis.  The others are a restaurant/inn, general store and camping area.  Beautiful, laid back and friendly. Excellent whitefish dinner at the restaurant.

Aug 5     Up the North Channel to DeTour City Michigan, just over the US border from Canada and our first US landfall since Oswego.  Cleared customs by phone.  DeTour is a small town on the upper Michigan peninsula, not far from Sault St. Marie.  Stayed at the DeTour City Marina.  High winds and a thunderstorm in the afternoon and forecast for high winds tomorrow.  Did a bit of varnish work and other minor maintenance in the afternoon.  Dinner on board.

Aug 6    Crossed Lake Huron to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw).  Left early in order to beat the forecast winds and had a fairly smooth ride across the lake.  Stopped at Mackinac only briefly to take a few photos in the harbor.  This is a VERY busy island.  Ferry boats from several locations run constantly, we saw a dozen during the 30 minutes we were there.  (We had previously decided to leave the boat at Mackinaw City rather than the island as they have a 4 day maximum stay at the island.)  Continued on to Mackinaw City where we left the boat at the city marina for the layover till leg 8.  Decided to go on to Pellston after cleaning, laundry, etc. in order to be close to the airport for our early am flight - a mistake.  Pellston is a very small town, one motel, one restaurant (at the airport).  The airport itself serves a number of small communities and is fairly busy.  Dinner at the airport restaurant was not as bad as expected however.  Departed the next day (Monday) for KC.