The wind had picked up from the east and the Bustard Island anchorage was a lot more breezy than the day before, as well as the sky being overcast and gloomy. We had known that today was not to be as nice as the day before, but had not foreseen how bad it would be as we tried to make our way to Killarney. We untied the stern line at the tree and stupidly I had in all the maneuvering caused the dinghy motor propeller to hit a rock - shattering the shearing pin. Sigh. Perhaps an omen of things to come.


We pulled up anchor which was nice and clean - no mud or clay - and set out westward to the Georgian Bay. The clouds looked dark and low as we made our way out, but the water seemed manageable up until we passed the trio of lighthouses that mark the beginning of the Gun Barrel channel. Very suddenly, the seas got a lot heavier and we had to slow way down. The boat was lurched up and down and then started rolling in what appeared to be 5-6 foot seas - and in a bridge boat the 45 degree rolls exaggerated the motion and caused us great concern. Just as we thought this couldn't get much worse - as we only had 20 miles or so of travel on open water to get to Beaverstone Bay and the Collins Inlet, we spied a funnel cloud and it appeared we were heading right for it (you can see it in the video). In the roughness of the water, it was like riding a bronco to turn the boat around and head back to the safety of the anchorage we had just left, but we managed that white knuckle maneuver - and after 20 minutes or so made it back to the lee side of the outer Bustard Islands.

As we headed into the anchorage we saw as many as six distinct funnel clouds, but none appeared to touch down. We wondered if they did, where would we go? what would a waterspout or tornado do? For about half an hour the glowering clouds passed over the Bustards and then calm. A few minutes later, three smaller pleasure boats came in - and I remarked as they passed - "Wasn't that horrible?" to which they responded "Oh, ya!" and I asked whether they had seen the funnel clouds and they said, "Oh, ya, amazing!" Somewhat of a disconnect from our mood, after we thought we had just averted catastrophe.


As it turned out, these folks were from Parry Sound, and seemed to be used to these kinds of conditions - and just counseled us to go back out later in the afternoon once it had all calmed down - and that they were going to Killarney, they said it would be fine. They said they had encountered the same 2 meter (6 foot) seas we experienced, but they seemed to take it in stride - some 15 adults and 3-4 children, including what looked like 1 year old, as well as a dog. As we tried to calm our nerves and figure out what to do next and what kind of conditions were out there now, they anchored, got out sandwiches and went swimming and cavorting in the water.


As the afternoon passed, the sun came out and it was warm and breezy - so at 4pm we ventured back out to the Georgian Bay, not sure what to expect. As they had told us, it was much calmer - 1-2 foot seas and we made it in 45 minutes to Beaverstone Bay.

Beaverstone Bay is a magnificent basin surrounded by forest that leads up to the Collins Inlet - a 15 mile fjord etched into the landscape that empties out into the Georgian Bay just before Killarney. As the sun came lower in the sky, the water along the Inlet brilliantly lit up the colors of the rocks - a distinct, calming ride past high cliffs - so great a contrast to our experience earlier in the day.


As we finished up the Collins inlet, the rockiness of the water returned but only for 15 minutes or so until we reached Killarney for a tie-up for the Labor Day Weekend