Little Current to South Benjamin Island anchorage, Ontario, Canada

 We got up in time on Friday to have another great breakfast out at Elliott's Restaurant before filling our water tank and stopping at the fuel dock for a pump out and to fill dinghy gas can. We only used a quarter of tank of diesel so we still need to transfer diesel out of our front tank that has been sitting all winter. It was a calm sunny morning as we headed out to the Benjamin Islands.  It is a huge anchorage with a large, smooth pink granite rock known as the ski slope for hiking to the top for an amazing view of the bay.

Baie Fine to Little Current, Ontario, Canada

 It was a beautiful sunset last night and a beautiful sunrise as we backtracked along the Baie Fine Channel to more open water headed to the town of Little Current. We expected the wind to pick up so we wanted to get there early. We dashed to join another boat going through the swing bridge and then waited to get into our slip at Port Little Current Marina. The city marina stretched all along the waterfront boardwalk down to Spider Bay Marina and the recreational trail that went down to the beach. We immediately headed downtown to enjoy a delicious late breakfast at Elliott's Restaurant. We went back to the boat and got our grocery bags to go to the grocery store and the liquor store. We also found the library to take advantage of their book sale since my electronic books require cell phone coverage to be able to read on my phone. Luckily I brought 4 books with me and was able to exchange them at the little lending library along the way.

Port of Little Current Marina

Ruins

Tour boat leaving the marina

Blueberry Island to Mary Ann Cove and Baie Fine anchorage, Ontario, Canada

 On Monday morning we left Blueberry Island anchorage and headed into Baie Fine thinking it may be less crowded after the weekend. We stopped at what was rated the best anchorage in Mary Ann Cove and we were the only boat. By the evening we had several more boats and the next day we had several more that tried to anchor but left in frustration. We took the dinghy to the old dock and took the marked hiking trail almost to the top deciding not to scramble in the rock crevass to reach the top. The trail was marked with orange ribbons and went across rock scrambles and over downed logs deep in the forest. It was a great hike even though we missed the view from the top.

More rock scrambling

Lush ferns in the deep forest

The last scramble where we stopped

Looking for a view through the trees

The old dock for dinghy landing

Mary Ann Cove anchorage

We stayed the day on Tuesday in anticipation of rain and thunderstorms. A small catamaran came into the anchorage during the rain and put up what looked like a tent since they had very little space in the pontoons and no cabin in the center of the boat. It rained more overnight but not the storms we expected.

On Wednesday we continued on down the Baie FIne channel and stopped to anchor before the channel narrowed to the pool at the end. It was a great spot and we took the dinghy to the pool and found the dock to start the hiking trail to Topaz Lake. The trail is part of Killarney Provincial Park. The trail took us up to the cliff overlooking the turquoise water. We stopped in the shade and had our picnic lunch as we watched folks who had taken the trail down to the water jump off the overhang. We were happy just to enjoy the view. We met some backpackers who were doing the 6 day loop trail through Killarney Provincial Park. By the time we got back to the anchorage there were six more boats in addition to the dozen anchored in the pool. We met the owners of a larger PDQ who stopped by in their dinghy. We decided to get up early and head to Little Current in the morning.

Island house along the way

Looking across to the pool anchorage

Looking down at Topaz Lake

One of Group of Seven artists rendition of Topaz Lake

Our anchorage looking at larger PDQ

Great sunset

Gorgeous sky

Killarney to Blueberry Island in Frazier Bay, Ontario, Canad

 We left Roque's Marina headed for Baie Fine French for fine Bay with a scenic fjord-like cut leading to a pool. There was a parade of boats so instead we headed to the end of Frazier Bay to the Blueberry Island anchorage for a peaceful day with two other boats.

So many striking lighthouses

Hard to capture beauty of the cliffs

Keyhole Island 58 to Killarney, Ontario, Canada

 We left Keyhole Island with some open water to cross before arriving in Killarney. Of the three marinas, Roque's Marina with its local color was our choice. We stopped at Sportsman's Lodge Fuel dock for diesel and a pumpout before heading out our end tie up. The marina is also an RV park with a nice bath house and laundry. We had to stretch a hose to fill up our water tanks and they are floating docks even though they are old. We expected thunderstorms with rain starting Thursday night and continuing through Saturday. We took off for the trail leading to the Killarney East Lighthouse. We stopped at the Sportsman's Lodge waterfront bar for great fish tacos and poutine along with a hard cider served on ice which was refreshing. Google maps routed us through town and then onto Lighthouse Road with a shortcut through the woods and along the rocks to the lighthouse. We followed the road back to the boat and ended up doing over 5 miles. We had great front row seats on the fly bridge of the boat activity through Killarney Channel.

Roque's (Rocks) Marina

The one church in town

Trail to the lighthouse we passed on way in by boat

Turned out to be our boat neighbor at the marina

On Friday morning, we headed to Gatehouse Bakery and Restaurant for a wonderful apple fritter and then full breakfast with homemade bread. We checked out the Grocery Store and stopped at the Liquor Store. We stopped at Herbert's World Famous Fish house for fish and chips which were tasty, We then went by the Big Dipper tourist attraction at the  Mountain Lodge and found the trail to the lighthouse through a different route from before. It was again a rock scramble but a nicely marked path through the woods and  then along the shore. We had a few raindrops and it looked like rain would move in after we returned to the boat but the thunderstorm went south of us. We had happy hour and did two loads of laundry and got a great view of the moon rise.

Unique book exchange

The General Store

Curds and Whey Coffee Shop at Mountain Lodge

The upscale Mountain Lodge

The only wildlife we saw

The Big Dipper

Found the trailhead

View of Killarney Channel

Homemade charm in the tree

World Famous Herbert's

On Saturday we did a repeat breakfast at Gateway Restaurant trying out their pecan roll before the Western omelet. We ended up out on the patio watching the busy weekend traffic show up. We walked around town ending up on the streets that dead ended into the waterfront. We stopped in the Art Gallery and the artist was amazing with textiles, oils and on silk scarves. We stopped in the General Store again and the Dock Shop at the Sportsman's Lodge before returning to the boat for a picnic lunch on the flybridge. We did some boat projects before happy hour and doing a last load of laundry before we head out tomorrow. The bad weather never materialized but the two looper boats next to us had seen the same forecast and came into safe harbour.

Killarney a great stopover