6/20/17: All the cruising guide books we’d read, and everyone we talked to along the way told us that before we leave The North Channel, we had to go see Baie Fine. So we did. And we were awestruck.

Before we arrived at Killarney, we had planned to stop at Baie Fine, and then to Covered Portage Cove, but the weather (again) changed our plans, and we skipped Baie Fine. After arriving at Killarney and talking to even more people, we decided that before we made the trip to Tobermory, we’d see what all the hype was about. It was only a 20 mile journey from Killarney, so we could easily fit it in before Tobermory (although we did decide to skip one anchorage in The Georgian Bay to come see this). We have no regrets.

Baie Fine (pronounced Bay Fin) is a 7 mile long channel with rocky mountains and cliffs on both sides. It’s about 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide. Most people like it to a fjord. You enter this fjord through a narrow gap about 200 feet wide, and very shallow save for one extremely narrow channel about 30 feet deep. The channel is probably only 50-75 feet wide, with submerged rocks on both sides. A little nerve wracking for us first-timers! But the charts were spot-on, and a set of bouys marked the best channel, so we placed our faith in both and headed in. At the very end of the fjord is another, smaller channel that winds back to a place called The Pool, which is a tiny bay only big enough for 8-10 boats to anchor. The entrance to The Pool was even trickier, so we didn’t chance that (Tucker wasn’t here to rescue us)!

It was quite windy when we came in, about 15-20 knots of wind, so we chose an anchorage behind a spit of rocks where we thought we could find good shelter from the winds. They howled out further in the bay, creating whitecaps, but where we were, we saw only small wavelets (there was also a 20% chance of rain, and you guessed it, it rained on us – 4 separate times). We anchored about 400 feet from shore, where towering cliffs rose at least 500 feet above us. And our view of the mountains on the opposite shore was absolutely spectacular. We could see the mountains for miles in both directions. We could not have chosen a better spot. Our only desire, which will never happen, is that we could somehow share what we saw with all of you. If you are ever in this area, it is well worth the time to stop and see it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

We now know why all the cruising guides rave about it, and why everyone we’ve met said we had to see it. We are grateful and thankful that we took an extra day to come here. We will always remember this place.

P.S. Happy 76th birthday to Kate’s dad, Bill!!!

Pics of Baie Fine