More Travel News From the Gillespie's - In Georgian Bay

The Osprey Adventure continues across the North Channel and into the northern part of Georgian Bay.

Saturday, June 28 2008 in Britt, Ontario at the St. Amant's Waterfront Inn and Marina located in the Byet Inlet. We are at 45 46'.293N 80 34'.046W. We have been here since Thursday, relaxing and enjoying sunshine. Today we are awaiting a storm front to pass before we continue south on the east side on the Bay. We plan to spend tomorrow night in Snug Harbor before we reach Parry Sound.

The weather and the sunset was quite beautiful in the small town of Blind River. We were able to do a little fishing after we enjoyed a delightful dinner at the Marina Cafe. The whitefish, bread pudding, and butter tarts were all fantastic!!!

The next morning we got up to a beautiful sunny morning and we decided not to leave too early since we were only planning on a 25 mile run to our first anchorage. Just a little while into the trip, the weather clouded up and storm fronts started our way. Luckily the winds were not up so we kept our plans to anchor out. We found a real nice spot called Oak Bay that was very close to Fox Island and the Benjamins. We did not want to cruise on past these beautiful islands and we were hopeful that this front would pass by overnight.

After entering Oak Bay, we set the anchor with 2 other trawlers. All were inside waiting out the rain, but we had to get our poor dogs to shore. Mika, the Brooks' special friend, had all the right clothes for the weather. Finally the rain stopped and we admired the beautiful spot we had picked. Linda and I went fishing with Terry and Bill stayed with the dogs and read his boat. Later Bill and Terry went fishing. We had a couple of hits, but mostly enjoyed the views and looking for eagles and beavers. The sunset was beautiful and the early morning sunrise brought a loon close to our boat.

We awoke to a beautiful, sunny morning, with no wind. It was gorgeous as we traveled around Fox Island, the Benjamins, and the Clappertons on our way to the small town of Little Current.

Little Current is a very quaint and enjoyable village. We fueled, caught up on laundry, reading ..... We left the next morning in sunshine, passing the lighthouse at Strawberry Island.
The day continued to be very nice as we travel through Baie Fine Fiord, the Landsdowne Channel and crossed from the North Channel into Georgian Bay. We decided that the weather was so good we would continue on and stay on the hook in either Collins Inlet or Beaverstone Bay. We found a great anchorage in Beaverstone Bay in a location called Muskrat Bay. Bush Pilots were seen flying around Killarney taking fishermen out to remote fishing spots. Lunch in Killarney was quite good at Huberts Fishery. People come from all around for their fish fry.

That night we anchored out in Muskrat Bay. The boys had a challenge getting the anchor to stick so they set out 2 anchors.... front and rear. It was quite the rock hopping place.... especially fun to dingy the dogs ashore for their business.

On Thursday morning we left Muskrat Bay and headed for Britt... We had cloudy skies but good seas. There were several challenging and very narrow... quick turn passages..... Rogers Cut and Cunningham Passage... These kept Bill on his toes. When we got to Britt... he was ready for some rest.... Me Too!!!!! Britt is a quiet and quaint community... no trinket shops just a very nice area with nice people... We also enjoyed an excellent restaurant - The Little Britt... for breakfast and dinner. It is also a B&B. We also have enjoyed the fishing and eagle and otter spotting. The flowers are also beautiful... I have enjoyed spring flowers since April... What a treat.

Tomorrow we leave for Snug Harbor...

From Washington Island, MI to Blind River, Canada North Channel June 22, 2008

From Washington Island, WI to Blind River, Ontario... North Channel Bound..... We have made great progress from Michigan to Canada and the start of our travels through the North Channel. The weather has finally turned our way and we hope it keeps going that way. It still is not real warm, but the skies are sunny and the wind and seas are calm.

(View from Harbor at St. Ignace)

Check us out on Google Earth. Today we are at Blind River... 46.10.682N 82.57.939W

George and Ginny Clark continued traveling with us from Fish Creek, WI to Leland, MI. We had a beautiful day traveling from Fish Creek to Washington Island (Detroit Harbor). We borrowed the harbor car and toured the island... The highlights in Detroit Harbor were sandwiches at the Albatross, steaks at the Shipyard and a beautiful sunset on Father's Day... June 15. The next morning we awoke to rainy skies and west wind. We decided to make the Lake Michigan crossing and it was a good decision. The Lake was smooth and the crossing was easy. It was a short trip for George... he saw the beginning and end... but slept through the rest.. We arrived at Leland in rain and cold.

Leland, MI (Fish Town) was a real nice, quaint town... Dinner at the Blue Bird was wonderful and the view of the river was very relaxing. The next day... George and Ginny left to stay at a hotel overlooking the rapids in Leland and to prepare for their drive back to Cincinnati. All had a great cruise under exciting weather conditions.

As George and Ginny left, Linda and Terry Brooks joined the Osprey Adventure. On Wednesday, June 18 we left Leland and headed to Beaver Island. The seas continued to be flat but somewhat cool and misty. Once at Beaver Island, we rented a car and traveled around the island... It was amazing the wildlife that we saw... over 50 whitetails, beaver sign, muskrats, otter, mergansers, and loons. We also saw the Island Highlights - Large Rock, Huge Tree and Historic Lighthouse.

The next morning, we left for St. Ignace and the crossing across the Mackinaw Straits. The winds continued to be with us... Good seas and cloudy, misty skies. St. Ignace was a nice harbor and the weather warmed up and the sun came out. We were ready to move onto Canada in the morning.As you would expect... both Bill and Terry were dying to fish. They talked with the fishermen in St. Ignace and we put out lines as soon as we left the harbor. We got a Lake Trout and a King before we crossed into International Waters. The skies were sunny and seas flat.

On our way from DeTour Habor, we saw a strange site... A boat pulling a septic tank truck on a barge... That is a job I would not want. we couldn't believe it but the truck driver was sitting in the truck ready to go once he got to land...

As soon as we cleared customs in Thessalon, we got in the search for fishing licenses. All four of us got on bikes and we went a couple of miles in search for the Outpost. It had not opened for Spring... This was a major crisis since the boys needed to start fishing. Luckily the harbor master, Ron, took pity on the boys and called a friend to take us about 10 miles to another small town - Little Rapids - to get fishing licenses. After discussions with local fishermen, we went out... but didn't catch anything that night, however when we left this morning we immediately started to fish again. This time we got 2 Kings. All of the fish we caught had 1 to 2 Lamprey Eels attached, which dropped off in the boat. The fishing was not the caliber that we became accustomed to in Waukegan, but it was still fun. Linda fixed the King for dinner... it was wonderful.

Blind River is a nice harbor and the day is beautiful. We are all working on a little tan. It is nice to be out of sweats and jackets for a little while. We will be entering Whalesback Channel tomorrow and plan to anchor out over night and hope this nice weather continues. We have started to see large rocks and a lot of loons.

AND we continue to add lots of excitement to our passengers.... maybe it is the ultimate of relaxation.... whose to say....

Travel to Fish Creek Wisconsin

Well we have been on our adventure for 11 days and have made it from Waukegan to Door Country. We arrived at Fish Creek yesterday. Our travels with the weather conditions has been much slower than expected, however we are all managing it well.

When we left Waukegan we traveled for 3 hours to Racine. It was our intention to make it to Milwaukee or Port Washington but the fog was so thick it was not fun and the weather conditions seemed to be getting worse and not better. We ended up staying in Racine for 5 days until we could get out. We experienced heavy fog for 2 days, then tornado warnings, heavy winds and rain for the next 2 days. Over 9 inches of rain fell. However Racine was a great harbor to be delayed in. Good eating - inboard and off board - and a lot of very friendly people.

We had a lot of time for reading, resting, relaxing and eating....

We then left Racine and traveled to Sheboygan. Sheboygan was a beautiful harbor also. The following morning was sunny and seas were calm so we left Sheboygan and traveled to the small town of Kewaunee. The harbor was quaint and the homes were beautiful. Bill even took the opportunity to try salmon fishing before we entered the Kewaunee Harbor. We fished for a couple of hours but did not have any luck. So much for plans for a salmon dinner... oh too bad.... we had to go out to eat!!!!

We got up early and left Kewaunee, hoping to out run winds and storms and make it to Sturgeon Bay while waters were fairly calm. What a surprise.... Lake Michigan had 3-5 footers out of the south west. It was pretty rough and we were bounced around quite a bit. The short trip of 20 miles seemed to take much longer than 3 hours. We all were happy to stay in Sturgeon Bay for a couple of days and wait out the bad weather predicted for Thursday. The weather forecast was right - we again had tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and winds.... Thank goodness the worst weather was a little south of us. Kenauwee had it a lot worse than we did. It was probably good that we left when we did. While in Surgeon Bay, Bill and George tried perch fishing.... got a couple of small ones but the pending storm made fishing a little challenging.

Yesterday morning we woke up to a beautiful morning. Finally we got sunshine and could wear shorts and tee shirts and put long underwear and sheatshirts away.... hopefully for longer than 2 days. The trip across Strugeon Bay was smooth and beautiful. We arrived in Fish Creek around noon. It is just a beautiful town.... we have had perch and ice cream and experienced real Door County Cheery Pie for breakfast. The Wisconsin meat market brats are fantastic and the shops and quaint and full of all kinds of treasures. Ginny Clark and I have controlled ourselves in shopping... mostly looking. Tonight we have plans to experience the famous Door County Fish Boil for dinner.

It is our plan to leave Fish Creek in the morning and travel to Washington Island. We will spend the night in Detroit Harbor waiting for good waters on Lake Michigan to cross to Leland, MI. If the waters are good we will cross on Monday. Bill has been talking with all the fishermen and has plans to fish for Walleye on our way to Washington Island. I may even talk him into a visit to Sister Bay on our way.

The trip has been good so far and we are learning to be patient waiting for good traveling weather... More to come once we get to Leland, MI....

The Days up to leaving Waukegan Harbor - June 2, 2008

For the last four weeks we have been preparing for our depature from Waukegan Harbor and the beginning of our Great Loop Adventure. Finally we are ready to go and are anxiously awaiting our friends from Cincinnati - George and Ginny Clark to start our trip. If the weather goes our way we will leave mid-morning on June 4. During the month of June we will travel from Waukegan through Door County, WI to Mackinaw Island, MI.

We have certainly enjoyed our last month in Waukegan... friends, fishing, family visits and trip preparation. In addition we have been lucky enough to spend that last 2 weeks on the new floating docks close to all our friends. They are great.

Even though the weather has not been great - still feels like very early Spring - we have manage to do quite a bit of fishing and Bill never came back empty handed... All our friends at home and in Waukegan have benefited from his fun. We even had our son, Jeremy, up for pre-trip fishing with our grand daughter, Avi. Jeremy caught fish and she feel asleep.

In addition, Avi and I went to the American Girl Store with her doll - Molly .... we had a great time together. Taking her on the train and taxis was a lot of fun. We especially enjoyed our lunch and the play.


Looking forward to sharing more of our travels with you.