Georgian Bay Day 7-8

August 14-15, 2018

We again woke up to yet another beautiful day on Georgian Bay. Must say we have been blessed by some absolutely beautiful weather. I am sure we will pay the price down the way. Oops, need to back up a bit. The LEAK.  While at anchor yesterday, we found the bilge pump was now operating ever 15-18 minutes... way to much. Frankly, it should never go off. At this point we are going further away from any marina that can haul us and hopefully find and fix the damn leak. I am beside myself with this leak looking at every possible thing that could leak that much water. Lou Ann says maybe it's the wash-down pump we use to wash the chain and anchor as we retrieve it from the bottom. OK, I'll go into the engine room and take another look. The pump was not leaking but what I did see was water dripping from the engine exhaust tube, not enough to cause the pump to run as often as it is. I then decide to remove a panel in the aft stateroom head (bathroom) and sure enough, water was coming in where the exhaust tube exits the boat at the waterline. Can not tell you how happy I was to see that water. After contacting Queens Cove Marina earlier to tell them we were returning for this leak, now I called them back to tell them we found it was able to manage it. The leak is on the starboard (right) side so once I  turned the dinghy, that is mounted on the stern, so the engine was on the port side (left) the water stopped coming in. When we got to Killarney, I put 50 gallons of fuel in the port tanks and since then the pump has not activated. Until we get to the Illinois River, at which time we are leaving the boat for a few weeks, we should be good as long as I keep more weight on the port side. I figure this has been leaking since the boat was new. It only showed up when there was to much weight on the starboard side.

This is the exhaust port on the starboard side.  Where the black flange sits against the side of the boat is not sealed so the water will come in behind it. 











Back to cruising now with knowing the leak is not an issue, our destination today is Eureka Point on Nadeau Island. While we were in Queens Cove Marina we met with the local Looper Harbor Hosts Pat and Lynn. They pointed out this anchorage that is not on the charts and is a good jumping off spot to make the open water run across Georgian Bay on the next day. Have to tell you when you look at the paper chats and the chart plotter you would  think twice about taking a row boat in. They assured us there was plenty of water and NO rocks. Just a little over an hour run, we find the opening at Eureka Point and again slowly make our way into the cove and around the point to the area the Harbor Host said would be best to anchor. When we rounded the final point there was an old Chris Craft already anchored. We were in the process of sizing up an alternate spot when the Chris Craft decide to leave. Now we have the entire little cove to ourselves. Down goes the anchor and we are set for the rest of the day and evening.  Again a beautiful anchorage! Have to tell you its great to swim off the boat in such beautiful warm water. Never did I think the water would be so inviting.

This is the Eureka Point Anchorage.  We dropped anchor where the little pencil line and dot is.  There are no buoys to guide you into this area so it's slow and steady all the way.

We are still cruising north in Georgian Bay. Due to some big forest fires north of where we are, boats have been restricted in this areas. So with the restrictions, today would be our open water crossing to Beaverstone Bay. First time Zoey's Adventure sees open water since we crossed Lake Ontario. We'll cruise off shore for about two hours before we make our turn into Beaverstone Bay. Thanks to autopilot and GPS, we hit our maker right on.

At the very northern part of Beaverstone, just before entering Collins Inlet, surely named after Lou Ann's family, there is a very narrow and shallow channel. Slow and easy and the water was 6 inches higher than normal so the channel was not a problem. Collins Inlet is like cruising through the fjords of Norway, just not as big. Collins Inlet is maybe 125 feet wide and we were told to expect to see lots of wildlife including bear.  Not today, maybe the fires north of here are keeping the wildlife away. About half way through the inlet, we decide to anchor in Mills Lake. After checking one area that had a weedy bottom and poor holding, we moved to a more open area and found a nice place with good holding ground and dropped the hook once again. This anchorage was rather large but tonight we were all alone again after two sailboats left in the late afternoon.

 This is the beginning of  the entrance to Collins Inlet.  We had to wind our way through all the rocks.

 This is our radar screen still approaching Collins Inlet.  For you non-boaters, all the red on the screen are hazards, islands and rocks.

 Once we get past the labyrinth of rocks, we enter the inlet.  It is like this for the entire 5 - 6 miles.  There are a lot of cottages and fishing and hunting camps along the way but are just out of sight from the water.  We encounter quite a few kayaks and canoes along the way and wondered where they came from?

 This is our view from the anchorage at Mill Lake.