A Day in Killarney et al.

August 6th, Wednesday

 Pink Granite on the right...

 White Quartz on the left.

It doesn’t get much better than sitting in the middle of a Lake listening to the end of the day sounds around us. We could hear Coyote calls high on the granite cliffs, the freshwater seagulls crying, which is a bit incongruous, considering we associate seagulls with the Ocean and beach. It isn’t a pleasant cry, that’s for sure.

There were other bird sounds, such as a woodpecker hammering…how DO they do that without beating their brains out?? And the odd squawk from something else. Waz really wants to see a Bear! I say…Be careful what you wish for!! Not to be a kill-joy, or anything J

Our dinner finished, we decided to do a quick recce up the coast, just north of the boat in Baie Fine. It is significant that the port or left side of the bay is white quartz cliffs…great crags of them… and the starb’d or right side, going up the Baie, is rounded pink Granite. It is more thickly forested in that side of the bay, also. The trees that cling precariously to the white quartz faces seem to have found any little pocket of soil in the crags to put down roots. Quite remarkable!

 

Kenny Rogers is playing on the stereo as we watch the light dwindle, at just 8.30pm. It won’t be dark for almost an hour, so we will enjoy the view from inside…mozzies and flies are outside, and can stay there! 

We arrived in Baie Fine after a late start from Killarney. It was incredible the way the docks cleared out this morning, starting just after 7am. By 10am, there were only a small handful of boats on the George Island Docks. Motor yachts and sail boats alike had cleared out, either east or west.

 

 

We needed a pump-out, which was one reason for our late start. We had to time our crossing the Killarney Channel with the fuel dock being vacant.

 

 

Let’s just go back to the night before, shall we?

 

 

Around 5.30pm, the dock hands started making preparations for an approaching thunderstorm. We hadn’t been monitoring the weather station, so we didn’t know about it until we heard the words uttered by one of our dock mates.

 

 

We helped them rope all the George Island docks together…essentially roping across the back of all the boats. We just hoped that the whole dock system wouldn’t disappear down the channel, complete with 25 boats!

They apparently had a disaster, some 10 yrs previously, when one of the docks did indeed float down the channel with a large boat attached. Not a pretty sight, I am told! Since then, they take precautions aplenty.

We could see the thunderclouds in the distance, and hoped they might just skirt around us.

A small side note here…

The Village of Killarney is one of the oldest towns in Ontario, dating back to 1615 when Champlain and Brule first explored these waters...That’s it! Waz is reading from a brochure, so I thought I would give you that little bit of history!

 

As I said, thunderclouds…but they were all around us, despite the clear blue sky overhead. Boaters were having docktails down the dock from us, and I was out picking wild blueberries and Raspberries, next to the dock…being careful where I put my feet in the soft undergrowth, mindful that snakes are in the area. I wasn’t too worried about Bears… not on my watch!:)

 

 

 Waz waited while I picked the fruit on this side of the fence and dock. the handkerchief in question holding the berries is in his left hand.

 

We put all the berries into one of Waz’s and carried them back to the boat via the end of the dock where the TinkerBell Bell is, and sat awhile watching the comings and goings on the water, in this very busy little town.

The thunderclouds changed our blue skies to dark blue/ grey, and at the first sprinkles of rain, we hot footed it back to the boat. We had shut all that needed shutting, before we went out walking. We had been told there is a track around George Island, but we didn’t find it, I’m afraid. Too bad, because we both needed some exercise.

My lunch over at the Sportsman Inn was less than satisfactory. Waz enjoyed his chicken burger and fries but the Nachos with beef that I ordered were enough to feed two or three people. Totally unreasonable amount of food. When I observed this to the waitress, her rather trite comment was “well, at least you get value for money!”...sheesh! That’s not the point. Charge less, and give less food! Needless to say, I didn’t eat it all, and came away feeling pretty disgruntled. Ok...I’m really NOT hard to please. I just like good food done well. Nothing fancy, just thoughtful! Consequently the food sat heavy for the rest of the day…penance? Lol J

With a dwindling pantry, but some cold cooked bratwurst in the fridge, I offered to make an onion/apple/sausage casserole (stove top kind)…Waz had the brilliant idea to make curry! It was late already, and cooking rice would take an hour. I decided on curried sausage risotto, instead. It was yummy, and there was enough left over for tomorrow night.

The Ginger/ Date dessert with the wild berries and cream was delish, and there is just enough left over for tomorrow night as well!

I am told that US customs or border patrol might confiscate any citrus…this is the latest scuttlebutt…so when that dessert is finished, I am going to make a lemon/sultana (Golden raisins) cake using the same basic recipe. Can’t wait!

 

What happened to the thunderstorm? Well, it was going on while we were eating, and afterwards, with lulls here and there…torrential rain, lots of thunder and lightning but not much wind…the odd gust, which is what the Marina staff feared the most. It was over in a flash, and out came some more bright blue sky with some pretty fantastic yellow/orange/ white puffy clouds, as the sun was setting. It got dark quickly when another rain cloud came over and it rained again. It was night time already.

Nothing like a bit of drama in the camp!

Sunset in between the storms

 

I had to sit and finish the 4 blogs I had prepared in Word (like this one) and put photos to the blurb…It is the photos that take time uploading, especially when every other person in town is on the same wifi connection. Hohum! We couldn’t get a secure connection, so Waz was up at 4am the night before, uploading documents for business, and doing some banking also. He came back to bed afterwards, and slept in.

He went to bed before 11pm, while I finished uploading the pics…which took forever…all the while trying to finish my Scarpetta Novel….I did…at 1.30am. Am I nuts? Lol

I haven’t pulled an all -nighter for a long time, and I didn’t need to be late to bed last night but…

My brain, consequently, was full and whirling. It must have taken me at least another hour to turn the mind computer off so that I could sleep. I was tired too!

It was nice to know we didn’t anticipate a 7am departure, this morning. The air had cleared and it was a lovely morning, if a bit hazy. The light is hazy all day, it seems…hence the poor photo quality, much of the time.

 Leaving the Killarney Channel we went south around the way we had come into the harbor, turning west around this point.

 Coming up Frazer Bay into the entry to Baie Fine, this home could be seen for miles. At one time we thought it looked like an ocean liner, on the horizon, and couldn't make out what that would be doing on the lake. There is an ocean liner (lake liner?) that plies these waters, now, but alas, it was only this cottage on an island.

We didn’t have far to go today, which was nice. We have enjoyed these little trips that enable us to get to our destination early, and to enjoy the rest of the day en location.

Finding a place to anchor was the challenge…well, the second challenge, actually. The first was getting through the narrow entry to Baie Fine. I was determined to pilot the boat through the narrows and shallows to overcome my shakes, in that regard, and I did it! Phew! Moving right alongJ

We didn’t go far up the bay, to anchor. Someone else had gotten there before us. It turns out they were here for two days already, so we have tucked in beside the yacht that got first dibs on the best anchorage. One problem….the water we have had to anchor in is 56 feet deep. We have all but about 30 feet of chain out, right now.

 

 

The chart says 12 feet…but we haven’t found that yet…it must be very close to shore. We initially anchored with our stern very close to the shore, but noticed that the shore was getting closer…hmmm…must be dragging. Time to start her up and re-anchor. The bottom is clay, apparently, and the second anchor is holding well. The wind was coming out of the south, which was a pity….it also wasn’t forecast, but we know about them, don’t we!

The water is so crystal clear, and after I dipped my hand in the water, this afternoon, declared it warm enough…well, almost…for a swim! I didn’t!

After lunch we took naps. Old people do these things don’t they? J We needed it!

We are fairly exposed to the rest of the Bay, so all these boats that zoom up and down the Bay at great knots, create lots of rock and roll. It woke me up. Best get something done, while Waz naps.

I had been wanting to try and get some of the nasty marks off the gel coat…I think I have said this before…and Soft scrub is the only thing to do it. So armed, I went out back on the cockpit to clean. Having cleaned I then had to wipe and re-wax. It took a while, but I like doing these things…although some places are more slippery as a result…not necessarily a good thing, on a boat. Clean, yes! Shiny…gorgeous! J Deadly? Yep!

After a dinner of leftovers (curry) and the last of the ginger dessert with blueberries and cream, we went for a blatt in the dinghy. It is fun being so close to the water when we often feel so removed from it being on the fly deck most of the day.

 

The hills are silhouettes in the view, as I look out the windows. The sun has set and the moon is ¾ and rising. The cool night air is coming in through the windows…time to close them, me thinx. A lovely end to the day.

We caught up with ‘The Crowd’ at the docks in Killarney. If you have followed our progress though from Trenton to here, you will remember I talked about The Crowd of 6 boats proceeding together. Well, there were four left, at Killarney. That crowd broke up again, with Rick and Elaine in ‘12 Stones’ departing at 7am for Drummond Island, as fast as they could…accompanied by their friend Steve, who is in a Camano Troll…just a little trawler, and on his own, but for the other boat. Rick is so OVER all the rocks, shallows and narrows, he can’t wait to be outta here. I know the feeling, but am also happy to go where Waz has planned. I don’t want to miss some of the other opportunities we have in these parts.

Joe and Connie in their Cady Krogen Manatee, and John in the Catamaran (not a sail boat), have gone through the North Channel route to Baie Fine. We should touch base with them tomorrow. They will all miss the company, having come such a long way together. These folks all got along so well.

The first day we were in Killarney, we had occasion to chat with the owners of two boats docked alongside. Our next door neighbors were Greg and Kathy in a Regal 36 (ish..a fast boat). On their starb’d side were Paul and Jackie in a 59ft Sea Ray….with their two Aussie Shepherds (dogs, like border collies, just not black and white) and an old Spaniel. I had to have loves with the year old Shepherds and of course the Spaniel, which was a real sweetie.

We got chatting, and later on Jackie joined Greg and Kathy in touring our boat. The latter couple were thinking of buying up, and just loved our boat….we told them to hang on a few months, she might be for sale, lol.   Ok…dont get any funny ideas…we have a long way to go yet before we think about anything like that.

Waz is being most distracting…he has the mozzie racket out and is frying them at the rate of knots. We obviously didn’t close the door soon enough, tonight. I’m outta here…so, goodnight.