GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP

FRI, DAY 56, DEP INDIAN BAY 10:45 ARR. HENRY’S 12:00. DEP. HENRY’S 2:00 ARR. PORT RAUSON 3:30
AM RAIN SHOWERS, PM SUN W CLOUDS, WIND 10-15SW.
D. 23.0sm/930.2

We timed our departure so we could stop at the world famous HENRY’S Fried Fish Rest. for lunch. The main menu consists of battered fried, or pan fried pickerel, whitefish, or perch. All of it excellent, and served with fries and coleslaw for $15.95 to $18.95. Famous is not an exaggeration. There is a constant parade of float planes, dinghies, runabouts, and yachts stopping by for both lunch and dinner, with slips for about 30 boats for overnight mooring. The ride up the main channel to Port Rauson is about 8 miles off the main boat channel was very pretty. Small lakes connected by narrow natural channels between many large and small granite boulders, along tree covered granite shores interrupted by occasional cottages. It requires very careful attention to buoys and markers to stay in the channel and avoid rocks. The harbor is a federal reserve for boats, with no cottages on its shores. It’s about the size of Waquiot Bay but that’s where the similarity ends. There are no beaches, only rocky and high granite shores. The water is also much deeper, 30+ feet almost right up to the shore, and of course, it’s fresh. We see about 30 boats anchored there. The interesting thing about the local boaters is that they seem to prefer express cruisers in the 30’ to 35’ size. They install extra inverters and batteries, and they all have very nice RIBs with min. 30hp motors. It seems their preferred activity is anchoring out over the weekend and using the dinghy to explore, fish, run to the store, etc. We anchored in about 30’ of water and settled down for the afternoon. I’m always nervous about being at anchor overnight, but even with 15kn winds we were very comfortable and the anchor alarm never went off. About 9PM, I went off, and when I awoke the next morning, we were still anchored in the same spot, which is the way we like it.