After a rocky night we untied from “Beachside and headed north towards our destination, Henry’s on Frying Pan Island. Henry’s which is known for fish and chips is one of those recommended stops on the Great Loop. The run is about 20 NM.
We headed north crossing the Georgian Bay and headed into the channel east of Deer Island. The channel was well marked but due care had to be taken to dodge the rocks that encroached on the buoys and channel markers. The water was quite clear revealing what we would collide with if we navigated outside the channel. The small islands were dotted with small summer cabins with generators for power and large compounds with power supplied by underwater cables.
After crossing Twelve Mile Bay and Cone Island we made the final run through the last tight cut between Laundry Bay and Barrel Point leading us into a cove where we arrived at Henry’s Fish Restaurant and Marina. The marina consists of long finger docks stretching into the cove. The docks were attached to the rocky shore with stakes and the outside end anchored to the bottom. The current and win in the cove is very strong making docking fun. They would not allow us to share a dock with Beachside due to our size and weight combined with the wind and current we could possibly dislodge the docks. We had to nose in due to the depth at the rocky shore. The facilities were adequate for a one night stay with only one power cable for us to plug into and only 30 amps. There was a bathroom for our use and we were right in front of the restaurant which was convenient. There is also a water plane station with a couple planes that supplied the area islands and offered short tourist flights. They were quite busy with several departure and landings throughout the day. After settling in we took a long hike with Tom and Diane from Beachside. The hike took us south across the island through heavy brush and an old unused path with mossy covered rocks, downed trees and patches of poison ivy. Our destination was the San Souci Marina that showed a restaurant on google maps. After an adventurous trek with a few wrong turns we arrive only to discover the restaurant was closed. There was however ice cream and cold beer which was nice.
After returning to the boat we made reservations for our party of 7 at Henry’s to savor the “Fish and Chips” that they were known for. Our reservation was early which paid off because being that this is the only show in town the restaurant and marina became swarmed with small fishing boats and dinghy’s filled with island dwellers coming in for happy hour and dinner. The food was good but it may not rate “The best on the Georgian Bay”.
After a great day on the Georgian Bay and Frying Pan Island it was off to the boat for planning and rest.