PARRY SOUND, ONTARIO TO BAYFIELD INLET, ONTARIO

Thursday, July 30th to Friday, July 31st, 2015

Day 360-361

Miles Traveled on Friday: 48

Total Miles Traveled: 5458

  Thursday we stayed at Big Sound Marina in order to do laundry and wait out some high winds predicted to be over 20 mph.  We got a glimpse of Parry Sound, which we will have to travel on when leaving the marina.  The sound did not look very inviting.

view of Parry Sound from land - glad we were docked at marina

  Friday there was still some higher winds predicted, but, not as high as Thursday and not until later.  We awoke early and left by 7:00 am to be off of Parry Sound before the wind began to increase.  Parry Sound was much more inviting this morning when compared to the prior afternoon.

Parry Sound - calmer water for our travel day

  Even though we are encountering more open water, there are still some narrow channels to navigate between some of the islands.  The one pictured below was called Canoe Channel.

Canoe Channel

  We noticed one tree that stood out from all the rest.  It was very straight, taller, and greener than all the others.  We had been advised that some of the cell towers have been disguised to look like tall trees.

tree or cell tower

  Another interesting landmark is the Point Au Baril Lighthouse.  Built in 1889, it is a very picturesque lighthouse.  The name of the area derives from the days when fisherman placed a barrel on shore with a lantern on top to guide them into the harbor.  Hence the name Point Au Baril, or "Point at the Barrel".

Point Au Baril Lighthouse

  As the morning progressed, so did the wind. We were about to leaving the protection of some of the islands and take on the channel near Hangdog Reef.  As we approached, we noticed the white caps and waves crashing around the reef.

white caps off of Hangdog Reef

  
  We proceeded ahead and wove our way through the windy small ships channel amongst the rocks and shallows.  It was one of the longest 3 mile stretches we have experienced.  Half way through, we thought that tackling this on this windy day was probably not a good idea.  We made it through safe and sound.  Fortunately, at the end of this channel was protected water with less wind and much calmer seas. 

  We proceeded to our planned anchorage in Alexander Passage.  After dropping the anchor, we noticed a large rock under the water to close for comfort.  Also, we were not getting as much protection from the wind as we had hoped for.  So, we pulled up anchor and backtracked about three miles to a better protected anchorage without a large rock in the center. 

  We had planned to be at anchor around lunchtime since the wind was going to increase in the afternoon.  We ate lunch and then tried to relax after the experience of Hangdog Reef.  The rest of the afternoon, Dan fished, Angie worked on the blog, and Seahorse took a must needed rest.

  That evening we watched as the full moon rose in the sky.  We later learned from Dan's sister, Patty, that this was a special full moon known as a Blue Moon.  It was the second full moon in the month of July.  The next time this will occur is in January 2018.

full moon at Bayfield Inlet anchorage