Captain Led Cruises

Skipper Bud's Captain Led Cruise went to the extreme North this year into Canada's Georgian Bay.  Led by radio announcer Lyle Dean, the group made it's way through many scenic Northern US and Canadian ports.   Familiar stops included Bay Harbor, Frankfort and Roger's City, a customs stop.  Other lesser known ports included Lion Head, Frying Pan Island and Parry's Sound.

Heidi Ho - Captain's Log Crews of six Sea Rays from Skipper Buds journeyed to Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay in late July.  There are many ways to measure the success of such a trip.   Considering that rocks seemed to be stretching out to us from the narrow channels, nobody in the group as much as dinged a prop or scratched a hull on the granite bottom of Georgian Bay.

Getting to Georgian Bay is a long trip—roughly 600 miles from Chicago.  Some of us broke it up with stops in Frankfort, MI.  Others went directly to Bay Harbor for our first official get-together.  No other place we visited matched the elegant dinner and surroundings at the Bay Harbor Yacht Club.   However, our next port of call, Rogers City, MI, will be remembered as the place where the mayor of the town came out to greet us!  Yes, we were impressed again--and we hadn’t even reached Georgian Bay yet. We had been told Georgian Bay is more beautiful than the North Channel.  It is a comparison of superlatives.  Both are spectacular, but Georgian Bay, with its Small Boat Channel, appears to have more protected routes.  The anchorages recommended to us were also well-protected.  Ports were convenient and friendly.   At the beginning, this group had a preference for the comfort, convenience and safety of being tied to a dock.  However, after successful nights in two different anchorages with memorable potluck dinners and stunningly beautiful scenery, it is likely more memories will come from being on the hook.   Other highlights of the cruise included Henry’s Fish Restaurant at Frying Pan Island.  In addition to the good food and efficient, friendly service, several of our group took floatplane rides to view the area from a different perspective.  The tiny town of Britt did not have much to offer, except a restaurant, the Little Britt Inn, whose owner was as colorful as the food was good.  Paying for dinner was on the honor system—nothing written down.  Our cruise of Georgian Bay started at Flower Pot Island at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula with an overnight stop at Lionhead.  The 30,000 islands portion of our cruise (the East shore of Georgian Bay) began with advice and counsel from Ken MacDonald, the general manager of Bay Port Marina in Midland, Ontario.  He and his staff helped us mark our charts so that everybody knew exactly where we were going.  It was valuable and appreciated.  Captain-led cruises are part of Skipper Buds programs to help customers enjoy their investment in memorable ways.  Georgian Bay certainly fulfilled that goal for our group!