hope this helps
As I said above make sure you study the Ports book thoroughly. It is invaluable in finding anchorages, marinas and services along the way instead of hunting around. It’s hard to say 100% of her advise is correct, but I did not find any inaccuracies in any advise she gave and we just could not have made the trip in the time we did without the book.
There are two ways to get up to Killarney, either Kokomo “we’ll get there fast and then we’ll take it slow” as we did, or take your time going up and back. We took 1 ½ days to get to the town of Killarney. 6-7 hours from Penetang to Kilbear / Kilcoursie Bay and then 12 hours to Killarney cutting across from Point au Baril. Just after we arrived at the docks at The Sportsman Inn, a couple of guys pulled in that had spent 12 hours coming from Wiarton. After that we took a couple of days to explore Baie Fine before takling 3 days to return home. As I said, the Ports book is very accurate in her description of the Killarney and surrounding area. we wanted to see The Pool at the end of Baie Fine, having been in this area many years ago on canoe trips. If you’ve never been to this area it is probably the best for scenery etc. From the Pool you can hike up / over to a couple of other lakes in the Killarney Prov. Park, ( Baie Fine and the Pool are also in the park as well as part of Collins Inlet. Topaz Lake and OSA Lake which are on the trail, which is a canoe portage that I’ve been on, are very clear and you can see 20 – 30 ft. to the bottom. That is due to them being acid lakes which is naturally occurring from the rocks. The second night we were in this area there were many boats anchored along the narrow inlet leading to the Pool as well as anchored in The Pool itslef. The bottom of this water had weeds growing up to just below the surface so was not swimmable. We opted to stay out in the many coves along Baie Fine. You could see further and the ridges make for an awesome backdrop for anchoring. We dropped the anchor in 35 ft. of water on the north side and backed into shore and tied up 50 ft. away from shore and still had 35 ft. depth. I didn’t want to swing around and end up too exposed to the main body of water. The south shore has a better view but you have to watch the wind directions overnight to avoid being bounced around. Check the forecast and pick a spot that will shelter you from the winds that night. We headed over in the dinghy and sat on the rocks on the south shore and had afternoon cocktails to enjoy the view. You can also hike up any of the ridges in the area. we picked a spot that looked relatively easy and hiked up to 900 ft. elevation above the bay for a differnet view of things.
Beyond Killarney there is lots to explore, but you will probably need more than two weeks to see much, unless you go hard up there and back leaving you close to a week up there.
On the way back we went through Collins Inlet ( search for my post on the T-storm that ran over us in there) It is around 6 miles long and at times only 150 ft. wide with rocks 50 ft. above you along the shore. Depth at the Eastern end was not a problem given that Huron / Georgian Bay are 7-8” above last year and close to 12” above chart datum.
We anchored in The Bustards in one of the eastern Bays. Exactly as described in Ports. A lot of boats in the larger bay but ours only had 5-6. We stayed clear of the cottage to not crowd them and to give ourselves some privacy. Lots of interesting small inlets to explore in the dinghy.
Between Point au Baril and Byng Inlet you might as well stay out of the channel. It runs along the shoreline between rocky shoals and is fully exposed to the main bay. Most boats opt to head out and run north/south in the open water.
Another nice anchorage was on the East side of Shawanagan (sp?) Island just above Franklin and north of Parry Sound. Several nice bays and being Crown Land you can go onto the rocky shore to stretch your legs.
Kilcoursie Bay / Kilbear Park is another good anchorage. A very long beach to walk along and towards the eastern end a high rock along the shore that is a very popular spot to watch the sunset. The park also has a new interpretive centre but I have not seen it yet. If you use the Park during the day there is a day use fee box on shore.
Further down, Beckwith Island, just behind Christian is another worhtwhile anchorage. Clear blue wtare, sandy bottom and shallow for a ways out. Only 15 ft. several hundred yards from shore. Check the wind forecasts and go the the East side with the normal W or NW or S winds. You can go to the west side for great sunsets if the wind comes from East. Beckwith is also within range of Collingwood for a weekend destination if you’ve never been.
As I said above study the Ports book ( I can’t sat this enough). Make sure you have all the strip charts for the inside route and the larger charts to get in and out to the small craft route and for sailing out in the open.
If your in the small craft route, stay in the small craft route and only venture beyond with caution. We heard 3- 4 Maydays on our 1 ½ weeks for people abandoning there vessel after hitting a rock. We also came across a barge with a 36 ft. power boat in tow with gas pumps pumping water out to keep it afloat.
Let me know if this is what
. 