Day 14 - the Jimmy Hoffa connection
It was a blowy night last night and a blowy day today. Winds blew NW at 20 – 25 mph with higher gusts. It was a good night to be tied up to the dock. The marina was packed at Little Current with boats getting off the lake ahead of the upcoming storm. Winds shifted North this morning and continued to blow as we crossed the 20 miles from LC to Killarney. Much of the trip was cruised for several miles on the well protected small boat channel between the mainland and Centre and Badgeley islands. The controlling depth is six feet so we could never take that route on our sailboat.
Killarney is the eastern edge of the North Channel before you enter Georgian Bay.
Killarney is built on a 1.5 mile passage between the mainland and George Island. It looks like a river town. We are staying at the marina at the Killarney Mountain Lodge. The lodge was built in 1946 by the Freuhauf Trailer Corporation to entertain clients. This lasted 12 years until the Chairman of the Board Roy Freuhauf ran into questionable dealings with Jimmy Hoffa and the IRS. We enjoyed swimming in their Olympic size pool and had dinner in their 1950’s era restaurant.
Killarney was originally settled by a French family and was called Shebaonaning. In 1846 a politician from Toronto visited the town and said the red rocks below the white mountains reminded him of his home in Killarney, Ireland. When he returned to Toronto he petitioned the post office to change the name. The name was changed to Killarney and he never returned to visit and find out how the inhabitants liked their new name.
One of the things that amazes us is the number of boats that have dogs onboard. One 34′ trawler docked near us in Little Current had three dogs. The Bulldog was 9 weeks old when they got it and at 11 weeks they shoved off and trained the dog on the boat. They have been traveling for 8 months. That dog is now 50 pounds will grow to be 100 pounds. Their other dog was 14 years old and about 50 pounds and the third dog was a terrier mix. I just don’t get it.
On Thursday we will travel east for the last time before we turn around and head home by going west and south. We will be changing latitudes all the way home.
We are debating traveling east to a new anchorage that is only 7 miles away up the western entrance of the Colin’s Inlet. There is an anchorage called the Key Hole that we stayed in a few years ago during the Great Lakes Cruising Club’s wilderness rally or stay one more day in Killarney.
This is a photo of our slip at the Killarney Mountain Lodge. The dock is built into the pink granite.
image