Exploring the eastern shore - Midland to Parry Sound

Penetanguishene (the strangest town name on our journey) lies approximately 10 miles to the west of Midland on the other side of the peninsular.  We decided that this would make for a lovely afternoon cruise and off we went. 

Well not exactly.  I decided that it would be worth stopping at Bay Port’s fuel dock to get a pump-out.  Unfortunately, Bay Port’s rather large fuel dock was poorly organized resulting in no place for us to tie up.  A lone boat was fueling on one side of the dock taking on 300 gallons of fuel – slowly.  So we waited patiently on an empty t-dock.  We later made friends with the people on that boat taking on fuel when we tied up next to them on Penetangiushene’s town dock.

Penetangishene down town with prominent churh on the hill

Later in the afternoon Bob and Jan (Jan's Tern a 45' Tollycraft) accompanied us on a dingy ride east up the bay to scope out Discovery Harbour, the area’s historic attraction.  The theory was to see if it was worth visiting the next day.  We arrived at 4:00 PM, one hour before closing.  We decided to join the final tour of the day.

Discovery Harbour

Discovery Harbour essentially re-creates the days of the British Navy and Military on Penetanguishene Bay, from its beginnings late in the War of 1812 until it was turned over to the Canadian government in 1856. The Penetanguishene Naval Establishment was a result of the War of 1812, declared by the United States in June of that year, against Great Britain. The British Command felt it vital to build a strategic outpost and shipyard to guard the flow of supplies and men north to British outposts and First Nations allies. Eventually, it evolved into a naval and military base to maintain colonial defense. There were no battles fought here.

Diana and Jan at Discovery Harbour

While the docents were in costume they were not in character, such as we experienced when we visited the Mayflower in Plymouth Massachusetts.  Unfortunately they were not very interesting.  The one hour tour turned out to be more than adequate.

Our next stop was Honey Harbor, 13 miles across the bay along the Small Craft Channel. The trip to South Bay Cove Marina took just under two hours on calm water with magnificent scenery. 

Classic scenery on the way to South Bay Cove Marina

We arrived at South Bay Cove Marina at 10:45. South Bay Cove turned out to be one of the nicest of the 116 marinas we’ve stayed visited.  First class restaurant, pristine docks, high line boats and a staff that was super helpful.  Example:  The dockhand moved the cleat so that it would be easy for Kodi to get on and off.

Dock hand moving the cleat to make it easy for Kodi

The route to South Bay Cove at Honey Harbor

We launched the dingy and traveled back down the channel to the Delawana Hotel for lunch, which we ate on their terrace.  Then we explored the grounds of this lovely family vacation hotel.

Delawana Hotel at Honey Harbor

Interesting chass board at the hotel

Delawana Hotel's beach toys

The next leg involved a 31 mile trip to the San Sousi area.  We departed South Cove Bay at 1:45 PM and arrived at our destination, Henry’s Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island at 5:14 PM, some 4 hours later and just in time for dinner.  Beyond dinner, which was okay enough, there was nothing there.  No roads, no town, no place to walk.  But there was a little excitement late in the evening when a wave runner caught fire briefly when gasoline fumes exploded in the boat’s bilge. 

Guided Discovery at Henry's Fish Restaurant

Henry's Fish Restaurant

Supplies arriving by boat in the early morning

Henry’s Fish Restaurant is part of the island culture that we cruised through on the Small Craft Channel.  People travel to their island homes and goods and services arrive by boat.  At honey Harbor the “supermarket” was on the water.

Market on the water

We departed early (8:00 AM) for an easy two hour cruise up South Channel to Parry Sound.  The weather was overcast with temperatures in the 70s and light easterly winds making for a very comfortable ride.

Parry Sound is one of the larger towns (population 6,191) on the eastern shore and the birthplace of famous hokey player Bobby Orr.  This was a together town with a wide range of stores and several upscale downtown restaurants.  We tried Kudos Kafe (not so good), Bay Street (better) and Wellington Pub (best x 2).  They even had a cultural center which was having a music festival with big names.  We stayed three days.

Looking south down the main street

While visiting a terrific used book store with Kodi, we met Cindy and Dave, “puppy raisers” who had raised “Big Joey,” a black "goldador” (a cross between a lab and a golden retreiver) for Southeastern Guide Dogs.  We became supporters of Southeastern when we became friends with Marjorie and Dick Singer during our initial visit to Sarasota in January of 2011.  Marjorie is the Southeastern’s Sarasota outreach coordinator and one of Kodi's favorite people.  She is also best friends with Molly and Jake, the Singers yellow labs.

Written by Les