Reflections on Baie Fine

Reflections on Baie Fine

Sunday, July 20, 2014

One of the most highly recommended visits in the North Channel is the trip up Baie Fin (pronounced Bay Fin) to the Pool. This is a 9 mile long fresh water fjord, one of the few in the world.  It was about a two hour cruise from Killarney to get there and the waters were calm and winds favorable. As we entered the bay there were a few rocks and marked channels to go through, but then we were in the wide quiet of the fjord with white quartz rocks and trees lining the way.

We anchored in the Pool at the end for the night and some other looper boats, Lindy and Sanctuary, were already there. Their crews came by in their dinghy to say hello for a minute. What a beautiful place to be anchored for the night! I realized that I hadn’t picked up the camera all day. We are at the northernmost point of our trip and are at the western side of the Easter Time Zone so the evening are still very long and it didn't get dark until almost 10 at night.

Captain’s Log: July 20, 2014

Departed: Sportsman’s Club Marina, Killarney 10:10 a.m.
Engine hours: 3.8 hrs.
Actual hours: 3 hrs.  50 min.
Nautical miles covered: 22.75
Arrived: Anchorage in the Pool at the end of Baie Fine 2:00 p.m.
Wx: Wind calm, cool – overcast, fog reported in Baie Fine but burned off as temps rose, nice cruise, no issues

Monday, July 21, 2014

What a beautiful place we are in as we look out over the Pool in the morning.

Mist rising over the pool

Water, rocks and trees - but beautiful at sunrise!
 

Leaving Baie Fine

 

Such a beautiful place - no bugs, no noise, no cell, no internet - but it did have a very grassy bottom where our anchor was sitting. We had watched the day before as the boat Sanctuary pulled up it's anchor and their friends on Lindy came over with their dinghy as they went through the laborious process of clearing all the build up of grass off their chain. Now it was our turn.

John got in our dinghy and I pulled him around to the anchor chain, making sure he was secured to the boat. I used the winch to pull up the chain little by little as he pulled off the grass in huge clumps. It took about a half an hour to complete the job. Fortunately there was no wind so we didn't drift as our anchor came off the bottom. We were soon on our way as we went back into the North Channel - destination: Port of Little Current on Manitoulin Island.

Captain’s Log: July 21, 2014

Departed: The Pool at Baie Fine, 8:30 a.m.
Engine hours: 4 hrs.
Actual hours: 4 hrs.
Nautical miles covered: 22.06
Arrived: Little Current, Downtown Docks 12:30 p.m.
Wx: Clear, light south winds

Tuesday, July 22

There were several other looper boats here in Little Current when we arrived yesterday, including Thanks Dad which we had not seen since Trenton, a month ago. Some of us got together for cocktails last evening and most of the group was up early this morning to attend a "Cruriser Net" broadcast over the VHF radio that boaters listen to. It was interesting to hear all of the boats in the area give their names and location as they checked in with the commentator. At least 115 boats checked in this morning.
They also read the forecast and it was not promising for today with high winds and thunderstorms moving across the area. Everyone agreed that it was a good day to stay in port which gave us a chance to get groceries and explore some of the little shops along the main street.

photos of Little Current to come... picture a small town harbor front with a wide boardwalk, lots of boats that have come in because of the weather, the usual ice cream and fish fry stand, a laundry and post office. The internet connection here is sketchy, weather is still nasty as of Wednesday morning and we are not sure when we will be departing.