Day 75 & 76: August 8 & 9. Morning of 8/9/2023 after a perfect latte prepared by Steve on Coda, we had a plan (every morning when we are with Coda, Steve makes custom coffee and we plan the day)! Lil Sudden and Saga were off to Killbear where there was a nice sandy beach to swim and relax; Legacy, Coda and Puffin were off to Parry Sound. We planned to spend the night in Parry Sound, but Coda and Puffin would just spend the afternoon. Leaving Echo Bay, we cast off lines in a well orchestrated symphony; individually releasing lines, pulling anchors and reconfiguring the stern anchors in perfect order It was critical we didn’t get our anchors tangled and manage the swing of those who were still anchored as each boat pealed off the raft up. Time was also off the essence since we needed to arrive at the swing bridge at Parry Sound for it’s 1:00 opening, or be forced to wait 2 hours. The bridge only opens every 2 hours on the odd hour. The symphony began around 9:30 am. La- La-La-Laaaaaa!!!!
We arrived at the swing bridge around 12:30 and hovered until it was time to go through; the pause was a good time for lunch. Although we had our eye on the 1:00 hour, these are also very unforgiving waters you don’t rush through. This was another twisty, turny route. Coda touched bottom once with a quick wrong turn, but corrected quickly and all seems okay. Check out the video below.
The town dock had room for all of us; Coda and Puffin were off to find a place for lunch while we headed to the Bobby Orr Museum. Parry Sound is the largest community on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay with a whopping population of 6900. For that, they get a Walmart! Parry Sound started as a logging town then became a major port for oil and salt. Salt is still delivered today. It’s a busy working harbor with freight trains crossing the trestle bridge, a large tour ship coming and going, construction barges making regular trips to “cottages” on the island or separate from roads and seaplanes taking off and landing… and of course there is the Walmart and a $12 cab ride from the town dock.
Parry Sound is Bobby Orr’s hometown. For those who don’t know, Bobby Orr was the star defenseman for the Boston Bruins from 1966 – 1976 and changed the game of hockey with his style of play as a defenseman, changing it to an offensive position. I can remember watching NHL Hockey with my Dad with Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Derek Sanders, Teddy Greene and Gerry Cheevers playing for the Bruins and their first Stanley cup in almost 30 years in 1970. Gary was really looking forward to this. It was a little less impressive than we had hoped, but worth the trip just the same. We reconnected with Steve & Barbara (Coda) and Tony and Shirley (Puffin) for ice cream (my waistline says we’ve been having a little too much of that) and then bid them adieu as they went to join Lil Sudden and Saga at anchor for the evening.
We opted for a seaplane tour of the area where we actually flew over the bay where the 3 musketeers were anchored and toured the area north of us we’d be traveling on Wednesday – part of the North Channel. It was just the two of us and the pilot. Great to be able to hear her commentary and ask her questions. From the air, its obvious why they call this area 30,000 Islands. Maybe it should be one million rocks! It also gave us a great appreciation for how the heck they build these homes out on islands of solid rock! We ran at about 110 mph almost all the way to Britt where we turned back at the large wind farm.
After our seaplane ride it was dinner at Turtle Jacks, a cab ride to the grocery store and great sleep with the generator off and windows open. After coffee, breakfast and a quick pump out, we were off to Byng Inlet where we will rejoin Coda, Puffin and Sea the USA. Byng Inlet is about a 6 hour run with both an outside (open water) and inside (twisty, turny, rocky) segment. We left Parry Harbor around 9:30 am right behind Thistle and Into the Mystic, although they had a shorter day planned with a stop at Shawanaga Island. We are all stocked up so dinner on board tonight. Gary plans to spend some time in the engine room getting the new contactor installed that Todd and June carried in their luggage. That should solve our stern shore power problem….we hope! Winds were 10-15 knots with a bit of a chop; we came upon Coda and Puffin ahead of us and will follow them into port. It was bumpy for Puffin, who is smaller and lighter than us. We are much heavier and built for this. Off we go!
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