We are now in the heart of the North Channel, the most pristine and isolated portion of Lake Huron located in its northwest corner. There are fewer roads and it is farther from towns of substance and thus there are fewer visitors and fewer cottages. It takes longer for boats to get here from areas of population and thus, there are fewer boats as well. We have met many Canadian boaters who have spent lots of time in Georgian Bay to the east, closer to population, who say they want to come here but never have.
Going through the Little Detroit Cut in the North Channel. It is not long, but rather narrow and rocky without good exit points if you meet another boat. Most boats issue a securite on the radio before entering to alert other boats.
There are quite a few Michigan boats here as although there is an international border to cross, it is actually closer to parts of Michigan than much of populated Ontario. The North Channel is actually quite small, only about 160 miles long and at it’s widest point, only 20 miles wide. Once again, it is chocked full of islands but they are all close together.
There are lots of big islands, smaller ones and “rockletts”. This was such a pretty view from the top of South Benjamin Island
A Plethora of Anchorages
As I mentioned there are many islands and each island, or little cluster of islands, often forms an anchorage. Many of them are quite protected, which is lucky for us, as with Fall approaching the common west winds are beginning to come from all directions at different times, and also with a bit more force, making choice of anchorage more important. I talked about Baie Fine in my last post (a part of the North Channel); we were looking for a protected anchorage then and that has continued since. Every stop we make is based upon wind direction.
Our fist spot in the Fox Harbour anchorage. We are just in the picture to the left. Our most successful stern tie. This was a small anchorage and we did not feel comfortable swinging with the other boats there. We had great protection from the western winds that came up overnight.
Earlier in our trip, anchorages were easy to find and we did not have to worry much about the wind direction. Choosing an anchorage is beginning to feel like the Bahamas where movement was constant and always based upon weather.
Rincon is a heavy boat at 70,000 pounds and thus, she rides pretty well at anchor in wind. The winds never got too bad at this anchorage in the Benjamins, but we decided to move after the first night to a more protected anchorage as there were continuing, and stronger, north east winds predicted. There was quite a bit of fetch from this spot.
Where Have We Been?
Since Baie Fine, we have stayed in 6 anchorages and at two docks. At most we stayed for 2 or 3 nights to give us time to explore and also wait out weather. In one instance, the wind caused us to move sooner and at two, we had only intended one day. Let me tell you (show you) briefly about most of them:
McGregor Bay
This is off the beaten path more so than much of the North Channel, although it seems to be being found. We had expected to have it to ourselves, but discovered 6 or 7 other boats in the general area. The pathway in is through a rock “minefield” of sorts. We are learning though that the charts are better than one might have thought and thus, with local knowledge and our charts, it was not a problem.
A pic of part of the entrance to our anchorage in McGregor Bay. The blue line is our charted route. All the yellow dots are shallow spots or rocks which I’ve marked to help us enture not to go there. The little purple anchor at the top is where we were anchored in the West Channel. It turns out it was pretty easy, once you have it charted.
As you can tell from the chart, there are lots of places to explore by dinghy. We circumnavigated two of the larger islands and also visited a community church in the little cottage community of McGregor Bay.
Isn’t that a pretty church on the hill? It was established around 1949 and is only accessaible by boat. There is a cemetery behind the church from the early 1900’s which apparently was illegal. Building the church allow the cemetery to stay. There are a few more modern burials there, although most from the earlier era.And the inside is even prettier. Although Anglican, the parisioners come from all faiths and they have an ecumenical service. There is aThere are lots of islands and two big loops that can be done by dinghy that are quite senic. This was our fist dinghy trip around East Sampson Island
I’m not sure of the origin of the name Russian Cut. It is a narrow, dinghy only cut connecting the Eastern Channel of McGregor Bay with the North Channel. Through here, we continued on our circumnavigation of McGregor Island coming down to the West Channel (where we were anchored) via the Blast Cut.And here is the Blast Cut. We could take Rincon through this one into the upper reaches of McGregor Bay in the North Channel which was beautiful! A couple we met told us this cut was blasted by FDR in preparation for a fishing trip to the area during WWII. Turns out the Blast Cut was on maps well before that, but the story of FDR’s fishing trip to McGregor Bay is worth a read. Regardless of your politics, we were be up in arms over this trip today. A piece of this story is the daily float plane that came with dispatches and mail. The plane caught fire and sunk. You can read about it in the linked story. We’ll come back to it later.
Our anchorage was very well protected from the winds which were blowing. We only experienced them a bit while doing the two little island loops.
And of course, the sunrises were pretty too!
One thing that is entertaining is most of the islands in this area are numbered, not named. Because there are so many small islands, just like house numbers in towns, if emergency services are needed, those services need to know how to find you. I guess if you buy an island you can change it’s name, but many of the names islands also have numbers on the charts.
The Benjamin Islands
The Benjamins are a North Channel hotspot. You MUST visit the Benjamins. They are beautiful, there is no doubt.
Yup, the most crowded anchorage we’ve been in. But, it is fairly large and thus you are not as packed as one might think.The anchorage is lined with these beautiful rocks. They rise up quite and provide good protection from the south, west and north.I had wanted to bring a picnic to this little cove in the anchorage, but we left before we could. It LOOKS like we should go for a swim, but beyond feet dipping, it was too cold for my body.
The locals do not like rocky anchorages. By afternoon, everyone had cleared out, headed for anchorages that would not be open to the coming northeast winds. The winds were not that bad, but we decided to move the next day as it would not be nice dinghy weather.
Hothman Island
This is a pretty spot where a long island creates a bay between the mainland of Ontario and Hotham Island. A 30 minute run from the Benjamins. There is one anchorage with a friendly ex-boater cabin owners who apparently invite boaters ashore. We went to a different spot in Hotham, anti-social people that we must be. We had it to ourselves part of the time and shared it with one other boat (a Canadian couple we since run into again).
Looking to the end of our little Venitia Cove in Hotham Bay. Very pretty and relaxing.Looking to Hotham Bay from our cove. One evening we saw a buck crossing this little ismuth. We had been so hoping to see deer somewhere.Lo and behold, the next day we saw the buck with a doe. Seemed odd to us, a buck hanging with a doe. One post I found said a female white-tail deer is in estrus for 24 – 48 hours. She will hang with the buck until… the moment of “grandeur”, at which time they will part ways. So, we must have seen them during a rather special period in a deer’s year.And their was rain, and wind which was not stron in our little cove. Our little Rincon did not mind a bit.And our cove also graced us with such a beautiful sunset. What a difference a few hours can make!
Fox Harbour
A whole 20 minute run from Hotham. We moved to Fox after 3 days as we’d seen it and were ready to move on. This is a quite small anchorage but we managed to squeeze in 5 boats one night! It is just north of the Benjamins and has much of the same rockiness.
Tucked into our little anchorage behind a peninsula with a stern tie. Rincon in what we call a dinghy garage, a little safe place between the rocks while we took a walk on shore. No trails, but easy walking on the rocks.There were lots of places to take the dinghy from within our anchorage while still in safe, non-windy waters.We don’t seem to be seeing canoe’s any longer, but see groups of kayakers frequently. Not sure if these are day trips, but if so, not sure from where as they are not towns or resorts around and the groups are too big (8 or 10) to all be from a traveling boat.And lots of little green frogs! In little water pools and slightly bigger ponds.I cannot leave out the Sandhill Cranes. We’d heard them and seen one way up on the rocks in the Benjamins. Here, we saw one, at first we thought it was a deer as we just saw it’s back. Then in popped it’s head out. And then a second one. It is so off to see them walking on these rocky boulders. There is a weedy pond on the other side of the boulders, but I don’t really understand the desire to walk along the rocks. They are omnivores so may have been eating lichen off the rocks. A varied diet is good after all.After the first night stern tied, two of the boats left our anchorage and we were able to move to their spot. We were much happier free swinging. One has to jump at anchorages. The dance seems to happen around 10 in the morning, boats leave and others arrive.
Cameron Bight
Another place to wait out the strong south winds. You are getting the pattern, moving from one place to the next for wind protection. We left Gore Bay (one of our marina stops to take on water, do laundry and take out poop) early in the morning with a south wind on our tail. This is the BEST place for Rincon to have wind. She just glides forward. The winds were milder than we had though and so the 2 hour run back north was nice. Cameron is not a North Channel hotspot, but we really like it. Great wind protection, we have it to ourselves and we saw a porcupine while we were anchoring!
We walking was restricted to the rocks along the shore as the forest was too thick for our taste. We’d hoped to hike a little trail further down Arid Island, but it appeared to be a private trail at someones home. Most anchorages have these grassy stands with a few flowers. We keep looking for moose.we did see this 3 inch catfish swimming along the shore. Fisherman came to the mouth of the bight for fishing and I saw one catch a 14 inch fish.The highlight was the porcupine we saw on the shore while anchoring. My first pocupine in the wild!
The Towns
We have visited two towns in the North Channel. Both are on Manitoulin Island, the largest lake island (not in salt water) in the world at 1068 sq miles with a population of less than 13,000 full time residents. It has 100 of it’s own lakes. Manitoulin Island is the southern boundary of the North Channel along with a few much smaller islands. There is one access bridge to Manitoulin Island at Little Current; a one lane swing bridge built in 1913! Otherwise, access is via boat.
Little Current
The gateway to the North Channel and to Manitoulin Island. This was primarily a stop to get groceries, water and pump the poop tank. Although nothing was desperate, when the next town is a couple weeks away, a stop is not a bad idea. If we can do this every couple weeks than all is easy. Getting fruits and veggies is difficult at the few smaller stores along the way.
The Little Current Swing Bridge. It opens on the hour for 15 minutes. One just has to wait unti the top of the hour if you get their early. When the bridge ones there are always 3 or 4 boats that converge on town and 3 or 4 leaving to the east.The groceries were decent and we had a nice chat with a woman in a restaurant about living here. Her son prefers to take his jet ski to work. More fun and sometimes faster than taking the car. It seems no matter where you live, critters can be an issue for gardens. Or was it pre-decorating for Halloween?
We also wanted to visit the Centennial Museum in Little Current. Remember the story about Roosevelt and his fishing trip to McGregor Bay? The mail float plane bringing him daily mail and dispatches that sunk in McGregor Bay was in the museum here. Jim really wanted to see it.
Da plane, da plane! here it is! Upside down. One could not get a sense that it had burned. They had a long timeline and several stories of the Roosevelt visit, but interestingly did not tell the story of the float plane burning or sinking. It was their artifact of the visit though. A little odd. It does tell us it is a UC-43 traveler.
The museum had other exhibits of memorabilia from earlier settlers to the area; loggers, fishermen and miners primarily. The plane was the climax of the visit. It took a taxi to get there and back, but made for a nice morning and a stressful pumpout once we returned to the boat with an hour circuling in the harbour with currents to get a spot at the pump dock.
Gore Bay
We did not need to go to Gore Bay; we had another weeks before really needing a pump, water and groceries. However, the Canadian couple we had met in Hotham said that Gore Bay was quite nice, had several restaurants and a brewpub. After a week in isolation on the hook, a bit of civilization is nice. We visited the brewpub, and had two meals out. Jim also got a haircut which made him VERY happy!
It turns out I did not take many pictures in Gore Bay. We’d had a bumpy ride in with wind on the bow. Gore Bay is quite protected though and the trip was only an hour, so it was not bad for us. The kittens sould not agree. They did have a lovely swimming beach.The Purvis case in daily with fish deliveries. Turns out they own the fish and chips restaurant as well. You may remember a picture of this style of boat that I posted from our visit in Killarney. They are so odd. I also saw a picture of one at the fish and chips restaurant. It turns out they are called fish tugs and unique to the Great Lakes and St Lawrence (although we don’t remember seeing one there)
They replaced wooden fishing boats around the turn of the 20th century, added power and slowy becaue enclosed for safety enclosing the boat to allow operations to happen out of the lake spray. These are gill fishing boats and thus, there are few remaining as gill netting is mostly banned, or highly regulated.
What’s Next?
We have a long week left in the North Channel, moving from anchorage to anchorage searching for protected weather where we can enjoy a spot, use Rinconsito a bit to dinghy around, go ahore and not get rocked around too much. Each time we are anchored and swinging on the hook, we remind ourselves we could not do this without Rincon.
A pic of Rincon in Bell Cove, an overnight stop. This pic was taken by a fellow boater who contacted us and sent us this pretty image. Bell was rather deep, but provide a secure, fairly calm stop for the night.
We’ll cross back into the US somewhere around the 1st of September. And work our way down the coast of Michigan (the eastern shore of Lake Michigan). We’ll haul the boat for the winter on September 30th. We have 40 days of boating left this season.
We’ve been seeing a fair number of mushrooms. Not knowing if they are friend or foe, I just take their pictures.
Comments
Experiencing the North Channel — 7 Comments
It appears, due to water lines on rocks, that the water levels have receded. Is that seasonal or the new normal?
Gosh, it sure looks nice and cool. Are you missing baking in the oven that is now summer in NM?
So was it a snake for sure? I saw the long “line” in the water and at first thought it was a branch till Jim said snake!
The waters have not receeded much at all and are 1.5 – 2 ft above datum. The water line is from previous years. Interesting in that the lichen grows only to the upper water line. Clearly the lichen knows!
Oh yes, definitely two snakes along the edge of the rocks. I have a video with them both sticking their heads out. I wanted to show the Russian Cut more as the snake video did not show the cut as well but did show the snakes.
Regarding baking, I do bake on the boat. Mostly Sunday muffins or scones, but I’ve made brownies and a fresh Ontario Peach Cobbler.
The mushroom pictured is a Painted Bolette (Suillus pictus, also classified as Suillus spraguei), commonly known as the Painted Suillus or Red and Yellow Bolete.
Key Identification Features:
Cap Appearance: Densely covered in coarse, fibrous reddish to wine-red scales over a yellowish background.
Underside: Like all boletes, it has a spongy pore surface underneath the cap rather than traditional gills, typically yellow to dull ochre that turns brown with age.
Habitat & Range: Strictly mycorrhizal with white pines (Eastern White Pine, Pinus strobus), making it very common late summer through autumn across the Great Lakes, Ontario, and eastern North America.
Edibility: Considered edible, though opinions vary on culinary quality due to its soft, somewhat gelatinous texture when cooked.
Uh, yum?
I did put this one into inaturalist and saw it should be edible. But, Not going to try that….
It appears, due to water lines on rocks, that the water levels have receded. Is that seasonal or the new normal?
Gosh, it sure looks nice and cool. Are you missing baking in the oven that is now summer in NM?
So was it a snake for sure? I saw the long “line” in the water and at first thought it was a branch till Jim said snake!
The waters have not receeded much at all and are 1.5 – 2 ft above datum. The water line is from previous years. Interesting in that the lichen grows only to the upper water line. Clearly the lichen knows!
Oh yes, definitely two snakes along the edge of the rocks. I have a video with them both sticking their heads out. I wanted to show the Russian Cut more as the snake video did not show the cut as well but did show the snakes.
Regarding baking, I do bake on the boat. Mostly Sunday muffins or scones, but I’ve made brownies and a fresh Ontario Peach Cobbler.
The mushroom pictured is a Painted Bolette (Suillus pictus, also classified as Suillus spraguei), commonly known as the Painted Suillus or Red and Yellow Bolete.
Key Identification Features:
Cap Appearance: Densely covered in coarse, fibrous reddish to wine-red scales over a yellowish background.
Underside: Like all boletes, it has a spongy pore surface underneath the cap rather than traditional gills, typically yellow to dull ochre that turns brown with age.
Habitat & Range: Strictly mycorrhizal with white pines (Eastern White Pine, Pinus strobus), making it very common late summer through autumn across the Great Lakes, Ontario, and eastern North America.
Edibility: Considered edible, though opinions vary on culinary quality due to its soft, somewhat gelatinous texture when cooked.
Uh, yum?
I did put this one into inaturalist and saw it should be edible. But, Not going to try that….