North Channel Adventure A personal watercraft trip out of the Little Current area to McGregor Bay, Bay of Islands, and the North Channel to Spanish via the McBean & Whaleback Channels. With visits to the Benjamin Islands, La Cloche Is., Bedford Is., and Sheguiandah. Sailboat racing out of Bayfield, Ont. with Brian & Irene Hall over the past few years, and listening to their description of the various locations they have explored in the North Channel piqued my interest in this vast boating area as a PWC destination. In particular Brian s charts for McGregor Bay (#2206) dated 1997, and Bay of Islands (#2207) dated 2001 were particularly beguiling. I had thought all the waters of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay had been previously charted and sounded. Upon investigating this intriguing fact let me to the Town of Bayfield s namesake, Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield (1795-1885). After the War of 1812, the British Royal Navy commissioned this dedicated cartographer with the long and arduous task of charting and sounding all of Lake Huron, including the 30,000 islands of Georgian Bay. I just imagine Admiral Bayfield s excitement at around island 25,000 or so! He finished the surveys of Lake Erie in 1818, Lake Huron in 1822, and Lake Superior in 1825. He then turned his attention to the St. Lawrence River and the Maritime provinces. Of the 215 Admiralty editions of charts issued to 1867, approximately 114 or 53% of the total were attributed to Bayfield in whole or in part. One of the Charts I used (Georgian Bay to Clapperton Island, # 2286) was mostly comprised of Bayfield s writing and drawings dating back to 1822 with the depths expressed in fathoms. The newer sections were revised in 1885! From Brian s descriptions of his favourite sailing grounds in McGregor Bay I knew I had to take my PWC group there. Narrow passages, some rapids, lots of rocks, etc. Just our kind of adventure, although our fibreglass repairman is getting a bit tired of us! So plans were put in motion to travel to the town of Little Current on Manitoulin Island. We booked passage on the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun ferry with service from Tobermory to South Bay Mouth on Manitoulin Is. The relaxing 1 hour 45 min. ride was enjoyed by all as the night before had been spent at the watershed concert in Walkerton.
We brought along all our camping gear (tents, sleeping bags in dry bags, cooler racks, folding camp stove, etc.), and with no firm plans arrived in little current around noon. A visit to the town s Information Centre led us to a truly enchanting nature experience. The Ojibways of Sucker Creek operate the Endaa-aang ( Our Place ) eco-tourism venture. Their mission is to help offer visitors re-establish their connection to the natural world in the context of regional aboriginal traditions. Gladys and he brother Fred set us up on the remote Island called Bedford. Our solar powered cabin, complete with a composting toilet, offered a spectacular view of the La Cloche mountains with the Sister Islands in the foreground. The dawns were particularly beautiful. We were even able to spend a night in one of the teepees they have to offer.
They local marina is very well appointed with floating docks and ramp. Bedford Island is only a few miles from Little Current by boat, where you can even get groceries delivered to the town dock.. We decided to go for a reasonably short ride to Baie Fine (about 30 miles), with a forecast of 25 Km per hour (13 knots) winds, diminishing. On the return trip we were faced with wind gusting to 62 Km per hour (32 knots) producing the nastiest steep faced waves I ve yet encountered. The 2 meter waves produced much spray and lots of air time! The wind strength may have increased to the near gale force (28-33 knots) due to the channelling effects of the land masses. Our gear did not fail us. Full wetsuits, gloves, goggles, PWC pants, PWC boots, etc. kept us reasonably comfortable. I did experience some difficulties with reading my GPS, which is clipped to my steering console. We managed to locate the Strawberry Is. Lighthouse after some initial confusion, and eventually make it back to safer waters. In these challenging conditions there is a large advantage to be in a group to provide that extra margin of safety in case of a unit failure.
The next morning Tom s PWC was partially submerged due to a crack in his bow. This had been previously repaired, however the pounding opened the wound up again. The bilge pump cleared out the unwanted fluid, and a stop to a marine supply store provided us with a short term fix in the form a fibreglass putty stick that filled in the crack to make the unit seaworthy again. This day s excursion would take us to the north side of La Cloche Island past Dreamer s Rock where the young native would go to fast and receive their vision. La Cloche was named by the early French voyageurs after they heard the natives beating on the rocks to send signals. To them it sounded like bells. On my chart there was a very narrow passage that would allow us to travel up into Birch Island. Our new native friend, Fred felt it would be passable for our PWC s. He was right, however just. There was a very strong current and quite shoal water. This allowed us to circumnavigate La Cloche Is. with a stop for lunch at Whitefish Falls. Daybeacons along with some buoys mark safe channels through numerous small islands in this aptly named area of Bay of Islands.
The next day was a dream. Minimal wind, blue skies and lots of sunshine produced one of those rare days that make boating so additive. Even more so as our trip was in September when one could encounter less than ideal weathre. We headed off in a westerly direction for the town of Spanish. This would take us through the McBean Channel next to the La Cloche hills, then on to an excitingly narrow cut off Arnold Pt. on Aird Is. to eventually access the Whaleback Channel. The run up the Spanish River was interesting with its marshy grasslands. Certainly a change in scenery from all the rocky formations we had been through most of the day. One of the more picturesque rocky areas was the Benjamin Islands. One rock we named Turtle Rock based on its obvious appearance.
The Benjamin Islands are a popular anchorage for boaters. It is quite secluded, and well protected from the prevailing westerlies. We spend hours exploring the narrow passages and inlets. Hiking ashore was also enjoyable. The rocks were quite smooth in appearance, and the clear water provided good visibility for exploring by PWC. It seemed that it would not be possible to top the incredible scenery we had been experiencing. However the next day s adventure was to McGregor Bay. It proved to be even more wonderful than Brian & Irene s descriptions. McGregor is not so much a Bay, as it is a series of interconnecting narrow channels that allow one to circumnavigate the large centrally located McGregor Is.. That is if one can make it through the Russian Pass. This was exhilarating. The passage was so narrow we were forced to drag our PWC s through it! Rocks all around, and quite shallow water.
I had poured over the charts for the area with Irene before we left and again the evening before. There are no Aids to Navigation in McGregor Bay (except for white bleach bottles). One must rely on the charts to locate the underwater hazards along with a keen lockout. Travelling up through the narrow cuts with the beautiful white cliffs of the La Cloche mountains in the background made us want to take a picture at every turn. In a testament to the dangers inherent in this boating destination, we assisted a fellow boater, who clipped his outdrive off a submerged rock (it was clearly marked on my chart), to safety. And he was a local! It would seem that no further presentations from the natural world in this mystical location would be possible. One could not imagine anything more awe-inspiring than the
enchanting scenery we had all witnessed over the past few days. Then, as if to reveal all of Manitoulin s special beauties, the northern lights appeared in all their radiance. There were great streaks of light, some with colour. Wisps of light would float through the dark night sky. After our necks became strained we spent the next hour lying on the grass outside our teepee looking up into the night sky with exclamations of Ooh! Ahh! Wow! It is no wonder that the North Channel area is touted amongst boaters as their number one destination. I ve been to the Caribbean numerous times before, and would have no difficulty in claiming the North Channel superior in terms of scenery, clean water, pristine shorelines, and abundant charm. As long as the comparison does not include winter travel!