We took the dinghy out to do some fishing and to let Lucy go to shore. After one pass through the little harbor without any hits on the lure we came back to the boat, pulled anchor and headed out at 10 am. At about 11:30 am, we were approaching Sans Souci (means “without care or fear” = no worries) on Frying Pan Island and the famous Henry’s Fish Restaurant – famous if you’re from Georgian Bay anyway. Actually, Henry’s was recently rated one of Saveur magazine’s top 100 favorite people, places, and things in the world of food and drink. Before we arrived at the dock, a small seaplane flew over us, landed nearby and taxied to Henry’s. Talking to Paul, the owner, he said the place is usually crazy with seaplanes, water taxis and groups of boats all coming in for lunch or dinner. When the place is busy, they have five or more valets parking the boats. Henry’s is actually a federally registered airport and is served by five commercial airlines yet it reminded us of P.M. Park back home. Paul told us that the closest road is 16 miles away so the only access is by boat or floatplane. Our fresh yellow perch dinner was excellent!
We continued on the small craft route for the rest of the day, weaving through the rocks and watching for markers. We were beginning to see signs of building thunderheads around us and the winds picked up. Fortunately, we made it to our anchorage in Hopewell Bay near Nadeau Island without difficulty. We were very surprised that there were no other boats anchored here on the first Friday night of the Canadian holiday season. School lets out for the kids on June 25th, Canada Day is July 1st, and the Canadians take every opportunity to get out on the water during July and August.
As we were writing the journal entry for yesterday, we were trying to come up with the right words to describe what we were feeling. There was a quote on Henry’s Fish Restaurant’s menu that captured exactly what we were trying to convey – “the sense of remoteness”. The quote is from Charles Comfort, Georgian Bay Legacy, 1951:
“About these harsh, barren islands there is an undeniable fascination, possibly inherent in the manifest struggle in their line, perhaps in the sense of remoteness and stern resistance to the encroachment of man – a morning of serene calm may change to an afternoon of calamitous seas. It is a region of great beauty and fierce contrasts; it can be stirring or contemplative. It is always provocative . . . It seems natural that this region would attract adventurous spirits.”
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