Parry Sound

Stats

Day 2: Echo Bay to Parry Sound, 3 hours, 19 K

            Parry Sound to Fitzgerald Bay, (just before Snug Harbour) 2 hours, 13.8 K

            Score:  Jeff 42 Susan 53

Day 3: Fitzgerald Bay to  Sandy Bay, (just past Britt) 6 hour, 39 Knots

            Score:  Jeff  22 Susan 115

Sticking to our philosophy of  remaining flexible, enroute we decided to deke into Parry Sound for lunch.  We’d never been there by water and thought, what the heck.  We took the main channel in and docked at the town-run dock named Big Sound.  They charge $5.00 for a three-hour visit and it’s very easy to find and get into.  We had a nice walk around the lovely town of Parry Sound, grabbed a quick lunch and Jeff picked up some needed supplies at the hardware store.  After lunch, we put a few miles behind us and in the late afternoon pulled off the channel into the “formerly” quiet Fitzgerald bay, surrounded by cottages.

Unfortunately, Jeff figured out how to hook up the old intercom/hailer that came with the boat.  Which is why I called it the "formerly" quiet Fitzgerald Bay. The intercom is great, letting us talk to each other when one is below in the cabin while the other is up top driving.  The hailer is the unfortunate part.  The hailer allows us to talk to other boats through an unbelievably loud outdoor speaker mounted on the front of the boat.  Anyone who knows Jeff can imagine how much trouble he could get into with a hailer.  He spent the next hour or so entertaining himself, me and the surrounding cottagers.  No wonder boaters get a bad reputation from cottagers!  Don't worry, it only lasted for a few moments and we were anchored far from the cottages.

Some of the new-found uses of the hailer include: singing objections, in an operatic voice, to other boaters passing by whom we feel are a little too close or bringing up too much wake; random rude noises; scaring birds by shouting “bang bang”; belting out the theme song to Gilligan’s island while making a bouncy passage over rollers on open water.  He’s like a kid on Christmas morning!  The fun never stops!  It also makes a great, deafening air-horn sound which, of course, comes in handy.  The possibilities are endless. Oh, and I’d be remiss in mentioning, Jeff’s not the only one.  I’ve got a pretty mean soprano when necessary.  We’ve been having a hoot with it!  Sometimes, literally.

On bow watch, looking for rocks through canoe channel

Our backyard in Fitzgerald Bay

Our third anchorage was on Sandy Bay, a very remote, quiet wilderness area.  We dinghied into shore and climbed around on the rocks.  It was very pretty with great holding and we had it all to ourselves.  We were hoping to see some wildlife, as rumour has it that bears have been seen, but no luck.  We enjoyed a quiet evening sitting up top listening to light rain pinging on canvas.

Climbing around on rock in desolate Sandy Bay. 
Note: Look closely.  See my caveman sitting outside his cave?

If you look closely, the dude fishing on the dock is skeleton.  He has a beer in his hand too!