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Richardson's is a must-have for the entire area, however, it will be important on a trip like this to buy the actual charts for Bay of Islands, and McGregor Bay, at least.

Last summer for McGregor Bay, I borrowed a chart and still managed to mangle a prop and shave some gelcoat on an uncover. I was in the furthest backwaters of the bay though, really exploring!

Anyway, I just ordered a new GPS for the boat (Garmin 2210) and will be buying my own copy of the full paper charts from the Canadian Hydrological Service this spring.

RE: Launch point: either DeTour or Tobermory are fine with me - Tobermory is a little further for me to trailer and is a 60 or so mile run up to Little Current, while DeTour is more like 110 miles to Little Current, with a possibility for nasty Westerlies and associated seas on a return run (there are places to hide, it's just that it will add 30 or so miles to the trek). Call me undecided on launch point for now. I still need to scare up a crew member once we get a date set...perhaps Pat will tag along in his Revenge.

Re: McGregor Bay. The best bet on charts is to let someone else lead! Seriously though, when you get to the top of McGregor Bay (Iriquois bay or North Bay, depending on the chart), you won't believe it. it's like you entered a whole new lake (340 feet deep in places) and is truly a spectacular area. I just missed bidding on a cottage up there a few months ago...keeping my eyes peeled from here on out...

Dave