We sailed out to Callander Bay on August 6, 2011 from the North Bay Marina.  Our goal was to spend a quiet evening (see earlier blog re: Manitou Islands) somewhere within Callander Bay and then sail back to North Bay the following morning.  When we left (15:15) the winds were light F1 from the NW – N with no waves and very hot.  Our distance to our proposed anchorage was expected to be 15 KM (Google maps).  By 18:37 we had only reached as far as the Three Sisters (check your nautical map).  It had become totally calm.  We improvised for the first time with a camping tarp to give shade to the cockpit which was a welcome relief from the direct sunlight.  A decision had to be made in which to either keep drifting into the mouth of the LaVase River (a famous historical waterway and one of our proposed future adventures) or to motor down to Callander Bay for the night.  Our original goal was to spend a night in our community neighbour’s southern bay so we dropped the sails and dropped the motor.  We had our dinner (green salad, kohlrabi salad and green & yellow bean salad with lemon tart and blueberry oatmeal squares for desert) then fired up our 4.5 Hp motor.  We reached the northeast side of Smith Island by 20:00. 

Along the way we passed the Main Channel Lighthouse and had to give way to the Chief Commanda on one of its evening cruise (we recommend it). 

We made a bit of short cut on the west side of Morrison Island (remember we’re under the motor) to head into the Main Channel.  We checked out a small bay on the south side of Grand Trunk Island (original goal) but found it a little too rich with aquatic plants. We decided to anchor in a small bay on the north side of Smith Island beside the Middle Channel (great spot).  It was sheltered from the waves of Lake Nipissing but still allowed a breeze from it.  The bottom of the bay was clay and with aquatic plants (not great swimming).  We made sure that our anchor was well set in case Mother Nature decided to throw a few dices at us (a past experience lesson).  At this time of year, there were few biting insects but lots of beautiful blue damsel flies who frequented our boat.  A chardonnay 2009 (Ontario) was well enjoyed with the camp chairs that we’ve just recently bought for our boat. The sunset at this location was simply gorgeous.

We arose from our beds at 7:30 am had a wonderful breakfast of local eggs with smoked Thornloe cheddar and home made hashed browns with local onion. We pulled anchor at 9:50 (August 7) with overcast skies and light winds from the east.  We motored from our anchorage to the eastern opening of the main channel that leads from Callander Bay into Lake Nipissing and then we set our sails.  We sailed out to the furthest starboard buoy (green) and then started tacking north back to the North Bay Marina. In keeping with Lake Nipissing’s tradition (wait fifteen minutes it will change) we had N to NE winds 10 to 17 knots.  To avoid the off shore effect (east winds off the eastern shore) we ended up half way to the Manitou Islands (from North Bay) then started to tack back.  Once we were off the shore of the St Joseph Mother House, we could then point directly to the marina (note: there are some several deadheads along this shore, so please keep an eye out).  We arrived at the North Bay Marina at 12:50 and had our lunch (green salad and kohlrabi salad again with Farmer’s Market cinnamon buns) in the Marina. 

This was a simple overnight cruise with great scenery and we recomend it highly.

Happy Sailing :)