Britt, Ontario to Killarney

Today, (Thursday, 2 August) was a long travel day. We experienced some choppy, but not too uncomfortable water as we crossed the open water of northern Georgian Bay. The day was beautiful and sunny, and it was another breathtaking day on the water.

Our journey today took us through two gorgeous passages—Cunningham Cut and Collins Inlet. We were protected from the winds and enjoyed the scenery as all 22 boats traveled through. There was, once again, shallow water and narrow channels, but that has been the norm so far in the “Small Boat Channel” of Georgian Bay.

Our destination today is Sportsman’s Inn in Killarney. Sportsman’s Inn was an Inn and a large Marina at one time, providing many services. It had closed within the last year, but reopened just a couple of weeks ago under the management of a new owner, providing docking for boaters once again. The Inn and other services, such as fuel and pump outs, are not available at this time, and the docks are in need of major repair. From what we observed, the new owner has a lot of work to do to get this marina and Inn going again.

Killarney is a small town with a population of 430. It is located on the north shore of Georgian Bay, on the northeast end of Manitoulin Island. Killarney was once a busy commercial fishing village but now relies mostly on tourism. It is also a popular boating destination and a great place to provision before heading to the North Channel.

We made it to Sportsman’s Inn late afternoon and the wind and current were horrible. Everyone seemed to have trouble, some more than others, getting into their assigned slips. We made several attempts to squeeze in next to a 45 foot Cruiser and finally got in after a half dozen tries. The wind and the current were pushing us in the same direction, and getting into the slip was perpendicular to the current and wind. The owners of the Cruiser were nervous as were we, trying to get in the slip without hitting the Cruiser or the dock. In the seven years that we have owned this boat, this was the most challenging docking experience we have had. Our objective was to get IRISH AYES into our assigned slip without hitting the dock, or the new yacht next to us, and we accomplished both. It was not pretty, but we made it. All of us in the Flotilla had trouble docking, and the owners of the small boats in other docks enjoyed the entertainment provided by all of us “Loopers,” as we struggled getting into our slips.

Once we settled down from our docking experience, we took the water taxi, Tinkerbell, across the way and had dinner at Herbert Fisheries’ Mister Perch, which is a world famous fish and chips takeout restaurant housed in a bus at the public dock. This is another example of one of those “gold mine” kind of businesses, requiring not much overhead and doing very well. Picnic tables are located next to the bus and we enjoyed our meal while overlooking the harbor.
Our next stop on 3 August is Little Current. Stay tuned...