Great Loop Adventures Aboard Next Chapter: How did we end up in Ireland?

Killarney

No not the one in Ireland. In fact there is nothing Irish about the town at all. if it were not for the famous Herberts Fisheries, the Mountain Lodge and Sportsman Inn there would be no Killarney.

The cruise there was 39 miles from Bad river but included a gorgeous section called Collins Inlet. These businesses rely on college students to staff a lot of the service positions.

Most of the college help stays for the summer in the staff housing due to the fact the place is so far from everywhere. To give you an idea, they have a Seaplane and Helo pad right in the center of things.

Not to mention these seaplanes use the narrow Killarney inlet as their active runway. To my pilot buddies, think trying to take off on a runway crowded canoes, dinghy’s, small boats, paddle boards crossing the active runway.

The Killarney Mountain lodge is vintage high end place with a fairly new massive log cabin conference center and high end steak restaurant called the Ranch. I was fortunate enough to be able to score a last minute reservation as I was told they do not take same day

reservations and besides they were full.

I even threw in that it was my wife’s birthday. Funny how well dead US Presidents speak in Canada! Before dinner Sue was able to get some pool time in and I did a hike.

I also stopped by to talk to a Looper friend of mine, Bruce from Nova Scotia. Funny enough they have an accent just like the folks up on Vinalhaven. Not summer jerk Steve Shirley accent but the real locals on the island.

While Bruce and I were talking there was a commercial fishing boat that pulled up to off load their catch of Walleye. PS, if you have not had Walleye you are missing out. We spoke to the young captain who told us about their official boat seagull, Buddy.

Buddy adopted the boat a month or so ago and has not left yet. He stays on the top deck and will not let another bird land. The crew of course feeds him. When they leave port Buddy comes over to the window on the pilot house and watches the captain as they head out to the fishing grounds in Georgian Bay. I thought, “Sure sounds like a BS story to me.” Well when I went past the next morning there was Buddy keeping post. Who Knows.

We made our 6:30 dinner reservations late as some other Looper friends stopped by to wish Sue a Happy Birthday. We were able to hail the water taxi that took us to the dock near the restaurant. The view from the patio was awesome.

Our wonderful girls called in a bottle of wine for their mom to enjoy. We finished the evening near a fire and watched the orange Super Moon rise over the Georgian Bay. On the way back to the boat we heard some music playing and decided to check it out.

It was this 70+ year old guy playing guitar. Somebody made a request for him to sing Purple Rain. Well he did, and he brought the house down! What a night.

The next morning August 12th the plan was to go to Baie Fine but we decided to check out a highly recommended anchorage just 3 miles from Killarney called Covered Portage. Spectacular, it was. The cove was deeply imbedded, nestled between towering white granite cliffs jumping over 200 feet above the water.

Once settled we jumped back on the dinghy and headed back to Killarney to do the Lighthouse hike. The hike takes you thru wooded Canadian Shield and then out onto the pink granite shoreline. The water is Caribbean blue and green where the rocks kiss the surface of the water. Visibility is at least 20 feet. Sue took a quick swim but found the 68 degree water a little too cool even for her. We hung out on the dock and had lunch and then headed back to the boat. Back in Covered Portage we saw a couple of young kids making a shore campfire. We decided to join in and had great conversation. The one senior was interested in aeronautical engineering and new more about rocket propulsion than any 17 year old ought to know. His passion was infectious.

A future rocket scientist in the makes. Their father was lamenting how much provisions three boys can consume. They sailed up from Michigan and did an overnight crossing. What an experience for these young kids. We found our way back to the boat in the pitch dark and were fast asleep.