Wild, remote North Channel in Canada is the most spectacular cruising ground we have so far visited. Lake Huron is the central of the five Great Lakes of North America. On its northern side lies Manitoulin Island, and squeezed between this and the Canadian mainland is North Channel, which extends east-west for 80 miles until eventually it leads to Lake Superior. It is the eastern half, from Killarney to Serpent Harbour, to which USA and Canadian yachtsmen flock during the short summer season.

The area is a maze of little islands with strange shapes and deep inlets, scoured by glaciers to bare rock in places but covered with hardy pine trees where they can get a hold. Mountains float mistily to the north. Some are made of quartz, and from a distance they glisten translucently in the summer sunshine, looking almost like snow. There are just a few quaint fishing villages, now given over mostly to tourism. It is a place that would appeal to anyone who likes the west coast of Scotland, but with every advantage. Destinations are closer together, the waters are far more sheltered, and in summer it is hot and the weather more reliable. But it can be bitterly cold in winter, which is why it is so rugged. Local knowledge is essential. We had advice from several people about which places to visit, where you could get even though it looked impossible on the chart, and where you couldn’t go even though it did look possible.

We reached Tobermory in August 2007. Tobermory is the gateway to Georgian Bay and the North Channel. The village is a little cluster of houses around the sheltered cove of Little Tub, at the end of Ontario’s remote Bruce Peninsula. From there it was 40 miles north to Killarney, the entrance to the North Channel itself.

Flowerpot Island, Tobermory.

A hill made of quartz in Covered Portage Cove.

Topaz Lake, at the end of Baie Finn,a perfect Scottish loch, dead straight for nine miles with the quartz mountains crowding in on either side.

The Benjamin Islands are made of the most gorgeous smooth pink granite bolders.

Little Detroit passage. This saves a four hour detour en route to Spanish.

Oak Bay,another beautifully sheltered anchorage, with the narrowest of entrances from the main channel.

Left: the crystal clear air created optical illusions. We watched this yacht sailing through the sky for twenty minutes before it disappeared in the distance. There is an upside-down image beneath. What we saw was clear, unfortunately the very long range photo is blurred.

Right: Drummond Island, in the USA, is made of dolomitic limestone that has strange flecks of red. Local legend has it that these are blood of Indians who died fighting the White Man.

A little to the west of North Channel, but a must-see for any yacht cruising the area, is Mackinac Island. Once a fur-trading post, the island has been a popular holiday resort for 150 years. Dominating the bluff overlooking the harbour is Fort Mackinac. Built by the British in the US War of Independence, it was recaptured in the war of 1812,and held against heavy odds before being returned to the US by treaty. After it was decommissioned in 1895 the island became a national park, the second in the USA.