FRYING PAN BAY

The objective of the day was two-fold; get to an anchorage which would 1) be protected from the forecasted high winds coming from the south and 2) be convenient to the hiking trails on Beausoleil Island. We left Chimney Bay late morning, heading to Frying Pan Bay, thinking that the weekend boaters would have to be leaving around mid-day and there might be a space on the public dock. Frying Pan Bay (shaped like…, well that’s obvious) has two public docks which can hold about 5 boats each and there is room (according to the cruising guide) for about 10 boats to anchor. We went through Big Dog Channel (which, I’m sure is meant for a big dog, not a big boat - parts of it were very narrow), past Honey Harbor over to the west side of Beausoleil Island. We got to Frying Pan Bay and found at least 6 boats at each dock and 18 boats at anchor in the bay. Nevertheless, we found a little spot off to the side and anchored so Elaine could hike the island. We put out a bow anchor and tied the stern off to a tree on land so we would stay in our own space and not swing.

Path through the forest

We dinghied in to shore and took a hike around Fairy Lake. The trail was a mix of dense forest and exposed granite. The forest part had wooden walkways that mostly kept you away from the carpet of poison ivy on the ground. The only thing missing was handholds you could grab when the mosquitoes ganged up and tried to carry you away. After a few hundred yards on the trail, we went back to the boat and sprayed down with insect repellent before starting off again. We were pretty warm after our hike so we jumped off the back of the boat (yes, even Elaine!) to cool down. Nice and refreshing, as well as not using up our meager supply of water taking showers (the lake is clean, clear, fresh water).

Fairy Lake

In some of my “down time” I have been doing a bit of fishing off of the boat. There’s supposed to be plenty of good-eating fish in this lake, although, so far, all I have caught is a northern pike - about a 5 pound fish with big teeth, lots of bones and poor flavor. Normally one would just throw these fish back in the water after dislodging the lure, but I wasn’t too thrilled about working around those teeth. Luckily, the fish threw the lure as I had him next to the boat, trying to figure out what to do. It reminded me of catching barracuda in the Bahamas and getting them off the line.

Since, by this evening, the forecast has changed, and no high winds are expected, we’ll probably move on tomorrow - not sure to where…