Henry's Fish Restaruant to Parry Sound--Sunday July 25, 2010 to Monday July 26

This part of Canada just gets prettier and prettier.  We depart Henry's to head essentially north and then a few miles east to Parry Sound.  The waterways are as tricky and narrow in places as anywhere we have been.  Our friends Bob and Sue aboard "High Maintenance" departed Henry's shortly after we did and they caught up with us while Pat and I were having a "navigation conference."  We arrived at correct conclusions just as they arrived but it was nice to have someone who knew the waters along with us.  They were also headed to Parry Sound.

34 minutes after departure.  Navigation conference over, this IS the correct route.

The official identifier for Amanda Island.  We noted the time for our log as we passed by.

Passing by what looks like a foot bridge.

Boats ahead, going our way.

More boats ahead but going the other way.  Pass to the left please.

Still in the channel, so far no issues.

A remote campsite

Bald Eagle?

More boats

More rocks

We are getting close.  This is the Two Mile Narrows.

High Maintenance about to come under the Pont Tournament bridge, just at the entrance to Parry Sound Harbor.

Bulldog Sally.  Neat name.  A mixed treat while we were just entering the marina waters, our friends Bob and Pam aboard their boat, the Mint Julep were departing.  The treat was that we got to see them once again.  The bummer was that they were leaving.  Pam had the solar powered flower that we gave them at North Myrtle Beach in her hand for us to see.  We were had enough time to holler greetings back and forth.

View from the forward deck of the Salt Shaker looking into the pass that takes you into the actual Parry Sound.  A note about the Big Sound Marina, more than adequate and beautiful facilities.  But the staff seemed bored.  Maybe it was us.

Pat next to a retired buoy.  I am her retired boy!

Pat pointing our a unique rock feature.

This is the Charles Stockley Festival Performance Hall, co located with the Bobby Orr hall of fame.  You pass this facility on the road from the marina to town.

http://www.stockeycentre.com/our-centre

The main Street, entrance to the town of Parry Sound

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parry_Sound,_Ontario

A typical gift shop.  We resisted the urge.

A local museum

A local eatery

A bit of local real estate trivia.

This is the Parry Sound float plane facility, one of the ones you can catch a flight to Henry's Fish Restaurant.  Pat and I had our fresh supply of box wine (great for storing on the boat) and I took it into the office.  I set it down on the counter and told the office staff I was delivering the order the pilots had placed.  They did not think it was funny but I did.  It pleased me at least.

Boat arriving.  Note the canoe on the nose.

Sunset

Moonrise

Paul and Sue saying goodby to us before our departure on Monday morning..

Canadian Coast Guard boat, the Samuel Risley out of Ottawa, we passed on our way out.

Saturday July 24, 2010 to July 25 Midland Muni Marina to Henry's Fish Resturant @ Frying Pan Island

After a fun evening at Midland Muni, we departed Saturday morning at 0940 for a leisurely ride north along a series of rock lined channels, to world famous, (among locals and loopers at least) Henry's Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island, a distance of maybe 38 miles.

I believe this is the Midland Bay Shoal light.  Obviously it is an important light.

One of the several places to stop, gas up and get supplies.  If you expand this photo you will see that regular gas is $1.20.  Looks good until you realise it is 1.20 a liter so that is about $5.00 Canadian per gallon and since their dollar is currently worth more than ours, once you add in that fact, Gas in Canada is on a relative basis expensive!

I included several of these photo's since the view ahead is always pretty.

This is Delawanda Inn, well known in the area.  At the left side of the building, out of the photo are boat facilities with a big sign---"open to the public" just to be sure there was no confusion.

The "iceberg."  A climbing rock.

Volleyball anyone?



The name of the boat is "15 years."  It has a "for sale" sign.  The 15 years must be up.

Birds in flight.

One of many houses we saw built on a little more than a rock sticking out of the water.

View of the waterway

A view of another section of the waterway.

Beautiful rock with some really determined trees.

Dangerous rock.

Another view of our path.

Arrival.  At 1:37 in the afternoon.  Henrys has a great website.

http://www.henrysfishrestaurant.com/index.php

A view from one end.  The land is all rock.  Steep and rough rock.  This is the best picture I could get without being an acrobat.

There is an air service from Parry Sound, to the north, that brings in people just for dinner.  This would not be inexpensive.  But I can see why the attraction.  We had dinner at Henry's, their classic standard fare--Pickrel and french fries and cole slaw.  Yes, it was really really good.

If you expand this photo, you will see that it says Henry's is 38 miles north of where we left this morning.  Pretty good, I just used my hand spread on the three charts used enroute and counted the number of spreads along the route to arrive at my distance estimate given in the opening paragraph.  Maybe better to be lucky than good.

The Salt Shaker.  The docks at Henry's are quite long but they only have electric power at the shore end.  Good to get there early if you need power.  The dock hands at Henry's deserve special note.  They were skilled at handling lines and assisting in getting the boat tied to the dock.  Very nice fellows as well.

The boat next to us is named "High Maintenance."  Owned by a very nice couple from nearby, Paul and Sue.  Since Sue has blond hair, one of the other boaters asked them if it was her that the boat was named for.  To our surprise she said it was him that was high maintenance.  Paul agreed.  So it must be.

Their boat is also a Rinker, the largest Rinker set up with a single engine.  It is also the largest boat that can be trailered without a permit (most places).   Both of these models are two of the most popular boats produced by Rinker from roughly 2000 to 2007.

Another view of the marina.  Note the float plane at the right.  Some guests were brought in by air.

Another float plane.  The land visible is a small island between Henry's and the channel.

This is from the far end of our dock looking across the waterway.  That is the only house over there.  Not much man made light visible at night.

End of the day, moon after moonrise.  The moon rose over the house in the previous picture.  In the morning we will cast off our lines and motor on up to Parry Sound.





Port Severn, Ont. Friday July 23, 2010 to Midland, Ont. Saturday, July 24

Working on the blog, once again------  And remember, you can double click on any photo and it will go to "large size."

Today, July 23, was my father in law, Joe's 102 birthday.  He is at home with loving, qualified professional care in our absence.  Happy Birthday Joe.

This was our first day out of the Trent Severn since we entered this beautiful canal system on July 10.  The Summer Star and the Salt Shaker are headed across a Severn Sound (adjacent the south end of Georgian Bay) into Midland Bay and then into the town of Midland.  Our destination is the Midland Municipal Marina.

Just out of the Christie's Mill Resort docks.  Nice dinner last night at this upscale location.

This sign identifying the last of the 45 locks in the canal system.  This is the smallest lock in the system which means that they can take fewer boats per lock thru than the others.  Last night they had a large backlog of boats so if it had been our desire to keep on going instead of stopping at Christie's, we would have not made it thru this lock before dark.  Sooo we made the right decision without knowing it.

The Summer Star behind us just out of the lock.  Sally is very happy to be in relatively open water.  No more locks.  You can see the considerable turbulence in the stream.

. 
  Looking ahead at the short but narrow channel leading us out.  There is not enough room for two boats to pass each other and I was criticized on the radio by a opposing boat that did not understand this.  I took my half out of the middle and I am sure he did the same once we were out and he was in.

On the way into the marina, we passed a number of these interesting sailing vessels, also equipped with oars, like a Roman galley ship.  When the sails and the masts were down, each side was lined with these oars and the oarsmen put their backs into it.  These vessels were from a number of countries as indicated by the flags they were flying on their stern.   A number of Scandinavian countries were represented.  They were all participating in training and competitive racing.

At the entrance to the marina, at its right hand side is this big silo complex, with a beautiful painting depicting a meeting between a local native and Samuel de Champlain.  More information about this and other Midland facts can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland,_Ontario .

The marina office.

Finding this beautiful painting was a treat for me.  This is of the long gone Great Lakes cruise ships the SS North American and the SS South American.  When I was a teenager, we lived on Grosse Ile, Mi, right on the Detroit River.  These two ships would pass our house on their way to their destinations with their loads of cruise passengers.  They had the most unique whistles.  They made a musical sound like no other vessel on the lakes.  You would know that one of these ships was going to pass you long before you could see it.

http://wn.com/SS_South_American_Great_Lakes_Cruise_Ship_Video_Tribute

http://cruiselinehistory.com/?p=9336

The pavillion at the marina.  We met lots of Canadians while sitting there and had many an interesting discussion about politics.  It turns out that Canadians are just as passionate about their range of poliical views as any US citizen.

Always an event, as usual in the land of our northern neighbors.

      A ship used for training and demonstration.  It was loaded with young folks.  She looks a bit worn.

                                                         Same ship, other end.

                                                                         Local art.



On our way out of the harbor.  A better look at the painting on the silo.