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John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
Very roughly, the route of the ferry follows the line which divides Georgian Bay from the main part of Lake Huron.
Manitoulin Island is joined to the mainland by bridges.
The trip takes about an hour and three-quarters and you can normally turn up within fifteen minutes or so of departure.
The alternative route by road to the east via Sudbury and Parry Sound involves a very considerable diversion. To the west, the alternative route by road involves an enormous diversion: crossing into Michigan at Sault Ste Marie, passing over the Mackinac Bridge, driving down to Flint and Port Huron, and finally crossing back into Ontario at Sarnia.
Meals in the ferry's on-board cafeteria offer good value for money.
I believe that the name of the boat comes from the Ojibway Indian language and means "big canoe".
On the two occasions when we have used the ferry in mid-June we have got on the next sailing with ease, as have other cars only arriving with minutes to spare. However, there may be a need to make advance reservations during the summer school holidays and also during the spring and autumn (fall) when there are less sailings. A correspondent with two cars, both towing caravans, who used the ferry in early October one year reports arriving at Tobermory at noon wanting to make a reservation for the next day and not being able to get one for a sailing before 1:30pm due to the morning sailings being full up.
The ferry runs from mid-May to mid-October. There are more sailings per day in the summer than in the spring and autumn (fall).
Toll-free telephone numbers for information and reservations: 1-800-265-3163 (English) and 1-800-461-2621 (French).
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Most recently modified 8-Aug-03