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Destination: Via: |
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It is now Monday
and Day four of our trip, and again we awake to just unbelievable great
weather. We actually got up a little after 7:00 a.m. and were making it a
leisurely morning. The head got plugged up again. Had same problem earlier on the day we left on the trip and had to use a plunger to fix it. Of course the plunger was sitting in my car back at the dock at the marina. So we decided to go back the seven miles to Killarney to get it fixed before proceeding to Baie Fine today. We ate, retrieved the stern anchor line, and left Covered Portage Cove at 10:45 a.m. |
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| It was less than hour back to Killarney and we searched for a spot to stop, and ended up at the Pittsfield General Store docks. We needed a plunger. I remembered seeing one in the bathroom at the Fish and Chips bus. I walked over the two blocks and "borrowed" the plunger, putting it in a bag. Gina didn't have any luck with this plunger, so I hailed the local marine repair service on the radio, and they said they'd call back when their repairman got back from another job. In the meantime, Linda found a plunger at a marine store in town, and this one did the job. So I returned the original plunger, and cancelled the service call. We had shrimp salad again for lunch, and finally shoved off for Baie Fine at 1:45 p.m. | ||||
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Three and half miles further and we turn east to run another two miles before entering the narrow entrance at Frazer Point. It is 2:30, only forty-five minutes since we left the civilization of Killarney, and the GPS we've gone 328 miles on our journey so far. As we slowed down to a no wake zone, The Instead Of went in first. I kept up the speed for just a little longer so we could pass a sailboat that we came up on, and not be too far behind Bill and Mary. Coming in, you stay very close to the north shore and then there are several buoys to mark the route. Just inside the entrance is Okeechobee Lodge which had many special memories for me, having stayed there on a cruise thirty two years ago, back in it's heyday. Now it is a private retreat with almost all the boat docks removed. |
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This
is the renowned Baie Fine which is a nine mile long inland fjord,
regarded as one of the ultimate cruising areas of North America. We
motored at a slow speed and hugged the south wall where it is deep right
up to shore which is mostly tall cliffs. There are no more buoys after a
short ways, and the suggested route on the chart ends, showing to go to
the south side of a small island. Bill went on the north side of the
island and when I radioed him to tell him that wasn't recommended he
commented "the depth seems fine to me".
From this point we head north east about 3/4 mile before turning due south to enter MaryAnn Cove. We pulled in the entrance at 3:00 p.m., giving a wide berth to the reported rocks on the starboard side. The Instead Of went in first, and there were several other boats anchored in the cove, but plenty of room for us. We settled on a spot on the southern shore, and as we slowly idled to check it out, a boater on a 26 foot Sea Ray called out that it was twenty feet deep almost right up to shore. |
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Gina said the heck with putting in the dinghy,
and grabbed the stern anchor line and dove in and swam to shore in order to
tie us up. Actually she just looped the end of the line around a rock.
Instead Of rafted along side us, about 50 feet from shore .It was so calm in
here that the boats never moved.
After we got settled in a bit, we all went for a swim, with the exception of Bill, who was content to read and nap on the back deck. The water here is very clear and fairly warm. Still high temperature and no clouds. We inflated our own dinghy for the first time, as we had been using Bill and Mary's at Mill Lake and Covered Portage Cove. I took a couple of our portable folding chairs to shore, and we enjoyed sandwiches and left over fish for an early dinner. |
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Later, Gina rowed her and I around the cove.
This is where I wish we had one with a motor, because there are some nice
areas around the cove to explore. There is a cottage located here on a
small island. I took some pictures with the digital camera and enjoyed a
cigar. A couple of people in kayaks went by, one with a fairly large
poodle dog on the bow. This is a great spot to sit and watch some of the
boat traffic traveling up and down Baie Fine.
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Our ultimate destination in this area was be the Pool, another seven miles at the end of Baie Fine. But we also wanted to stop here as well. Originally I wasn't sure if this would be just a 'stop' on the way or a place where we would spend the night. We had talked about several scenarios, including leaving one of our boats here and taking one to the Pool. I also thought that if the Pool was too crowded, we could stop back here. Anyway, the timing was such that this ended up being a 'stop', and a great one at that. |
| We turned the generators off after a couple hours and I think there was applause from several of the boats anchored here for the night. Bill and Mary made Pina Colodas, and happy hour began. With the Instead Oft being the bigger boat, the six of us quite often ended up there. The cabin of Bill and Mary's boat also had ample room. We'd start on the back deck, but if the bugs came out, we'd zip up the canvas and go down below. | |
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Later, we got the competitive juices flowing
with a friendly game of dominoes. Some of these games would literally take
hours to complete. We ended up playing tonight until two o'clock in the
morning. The cove was very serene, and the sky was clear. Gina and I left
the front hatch open when we turned in (with the screen intact of course).
It was great sleeping. With no "light pollution" in this neck of
the woods, lying on your back viewing the stars above was very
peaceful
Hank and Linda slept out on the back deck for the night. The table removes to be put in between the benches, and makes one nice size bed. Out here they (thought) wouldn't be bothered by any of my snoring. |
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