Beauty off the beaten track

A sailing adventure in Georgian Bay

My wife and I own a Mirage 29 sailboat and have been sailing on Lake Ontario for 20 years. It was time for a change of cruising ground, and we were looking for a spot on Georgian Bay that would get us to the North Channel within a day but still minimize our driving time from Southern Ontario. Our search lead us to Britt, which is situated on the North shore of Byng Inlet midway between Parry Sound and Killarney. Our new home port is at Wright’s Marina, a full service, family run facility where we have met many new boating friends.

This is an ideal location, with access to both Georgian Bay and the Small Craft Channel that meanders through and around the Thirty Thousand Islands. It's a gorgeous corner of Georgian Bay, with pink granite and wind swept pines that gave inspiration to the Group of Seven artists. The small craft channel allows boaters to still move south to Parry Sound, or northwest to Killarney even if the winds have kicked up the Bay.

georgian bay
Nothing beats a Georgian Bay sunset.

If you have good navigation and piloting skills, and are brave enough to venture off the well-marked small craft channel to explore the many bays and inlets, you'll be rewarded with hundreds of well-protected, secluded wilderness anchorages. Your neighbors will be wild. Moose, deer, bears, mink, martin, fisher, and many other species of animals and birds also make these islands and bays their home. Oh, and a few snakes.

If you like Mother Nature, you could cruise this corner of Georgian Bay for a lifetime and never tire of its beauty.

About Jeffrey Froud

Jeff Froud and his family live on the shore of Lake Nipissing, on the property where his parents built the original family cottage in 1957. He has been boating on the lake pretty well all his life, from a row-boat to runabouts, canoes, kayaks, Sea-Doos, a cabin-cruiser and now, mainly a pontoon boat.

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