July, 2019 – Our first stop in the Georgian Bay, after we exit the final Trent-Severn lock at Port Severn, is at Bayport Marina, in Midland. We topped off our fuel tanks (for the first time since Brewerton, NY), bought a few spares, went to the grocery, and generally got ready to head away from the controlled, linear aspects of the trip to date, into the 30,000 Islands area of the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron.
From some local PR materials: the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay represent the world’s largest freshwater archipelago. Part of the Canadian Shield, the islands are thought to be the eroded roots of an ancient mountain range called the Grenville Mountains. The granite-sculpted shorelines of the islands, exposed by the glaciers at the end of the last ice age, and the windswept white pine forests that adorn the islands, create numerous distinct habitats that support a variety of both well-known and rare species including plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. The uniqueness of the island ecosystem earned the area World Biosphere Reserve status from the United Nations in 2004.
We will detail and explain some of the highlights in individual posts to come, but in the meantime, we were finally able to get some pictures uploaded, that you can peruse to get a general sense of the area.
There are some marked channels (thankfully!) that weave in, around, and between the absolutely overwhelming numbers of islands, where depths can go from a hundred feet to three feet in just a few yards. And the cruising guides, after describing some fantastic anchorage or other site, will say “once off the main channel, post a bow watch and proceed slowly.” <gulp>
So enjoy the pictures at this shared album.