Weaving Through Rocks!

Wednesday 7/27/11     First business of the day was fuel and a pumpout before leaving Queen's Cove Marina. We only managed to get one item of the two done since the fuel pump started to smoke when they turned it on. Guess it's even protesting the high cost of fuel!
As we headed out to Georgian Bay we crossed paths with Coconuts who had stayed behind in Orillia a few days back. (Actually Pam & Sandy had worked this rendezvous out via text) We set course for Henry's Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island. It wasn't long and we were entering the small boat channel near Honey Harbor and weaving our way through the rocks.

Delawana Inn & Marina in Honey Harbour. (Cheap Fuel!)

Lighthouse along the route.

We worked our way along the channel arriving at Henry's around 2pm.

Henry's

Since we were staying overnight they put us on the fuel dock with our bows nearly touching the shore. Henry's gets several float plane loads of people each day who fly out for lunch from the nearby towns. Having now been there I can't see what the attraction is other than the novelty of the whole place. The food was OK but not as special as I had hoped and other than eat, there's not much to do. Looking back I think I would just stop for lunch and then move on to an anchorage. Oh well, at least we can say we did it.

Nose to the shore @ Henry's.

Thursday 7/28/11     Pam's kind of morning. we didn't leave Henry's until 10am! Must be something about the smell of fried fish wafting through the air that made us all lazy about moving on. Anyway we got going and headed towards Parry Sound for fuel and provisions. The route in is clearly marked but has a few narrow spots with limited visibility of oncoming traffic that require a Securite' warning on the VHF. Our warning saved a dangerous situation from happening at the last tight spot due to an outbound 100' barge which would have filled the entire channel!

Narrows before Parry Sound.

We arrived safely in Parry Sound and took on fuel. OUCH! Then went to the public dock where we tied up and caught the free shuttle to Sobey's grocery store to provision. Once back at the boats we headed down Parry Sound to anchor in Blind Bay for a couple nights.

Waiting for Sobey's shuttle.

Anchored in Blind Bay.

Shortly after our arrival Coconuts had a visitor from one of the cabins who rowed out in a canoe. After visiting for awhile he left and headed back to shore having invited us over to the cottage for cocktails and to meet the other campers. After settling in we took him up on his offer and went over. Seems it was like a high school reunion that takes place every year at the same cottage. Reminded me of the movie "The Big Chill". We spent an hour or so and then headed back to our boats.

"Big Chill" cottage.

Friday 7/29/11     Today was an off day spent changing oil on Coconuts. Waxing on Tourist. And just hangin out in Blind Bay. Nice and peaceful compared to the more open water that was a bit bumpy from reports.

Coolin off in Blind Bay. Clear enough to see my feet!

Saturday 7/30/11     An earlier start to the day at 7:45am found us almost alone on the water leaving Blind Bay. Again we followed the small craft route ending up anchoring behind Stairs Island. Once settled in we dropped the dinghy in the water and took a ride to check out the Ojibway Hotel. A former playground for the rich and famous of the early 1900's it is now the clubhouse for the Pointe au Baril Islanders Association. (http://www.ojibwayclub.com/) We arrived to find they were holding their annual get together complete with canoe races and jousting in canoes. People everywhere. Once a neat old place it now no longer rents rooms but just serves the needs of the islanders.

Ojibway Hotel

Sunday 7/31/11     Shortly after leaving our anchorage we passed by Pointe au Baril Lighthouse and the site of the elevated barrel that once signified the safety of calm water coming in from the bay.

Pointe au Baril Lighthouse.

Elevared Barrel signifying safe passage.

We headed offshore to avoid the tight route through Hangdog Channel which warns boats over 40' not to transit it. We came back in at Byng Inlet and headed to Britt to check it out. We found dockage at St. Amant's Marina and Campground for $1.25 a foot Hydro & water included. Shortly after we arrived the wind kicked up and an arriving boater said the bay that we had transited with ease a few hours earlier had 6' waves on it when he came across!

St. Amant's Marina, Campground, Restaurant, & General Store. Britt, Ont.

Boat cleaning and laundry were on the list of things to do which pushed cocktail hour back a bit. By the time we were done and ready to eat we found the 2 restaurants nearby to be closed at 8pm! Not only were they closed but we were rudely informed by their respective staff's that they were closed! Their loss.

Monday 8/1/11     Can you believe it's August already? We retraced our steps out of Britt and headed for the small boat channel through the rocks once again. Our first obstacle of the day was the 90 degree turns of Cunningham's Channel. Tight turns with no room for error. We held our breath as we made it through this well marked channel. A few miles later it was time to transit the shallows of Rogers Gut. Narrow and not much water, we made it safely through.

Keep red on the right!

We wanted to anchor in the Bustard Island area but found the anchorages full of boats hiding out from the wind so we pressed on across open water to Beaverstone Bay. Once we arrived we tucked in below a rock bluff in 15' of water with a mud bottom. Good holding in any weather condition. Later we took Coconuts dinghy and checked out the shallow channel leading into Mill Lake that we would pass through the next day.
Narrow with a lowest point of just over 5' it looked like we could make it being very cautious. Satisfied we returned to the boats getting a little wet from spray on the way. Cocktails, dinner, and bed. A good night on the hook.

Beaverstone anchorage.
Tuesday 8/2/11     Wanting to move through the shallows before the wind picked up we upped anchor at 7:40am and proceeded towards Mill Lake. Slow and easy we made it through without touching bottom. Into Mill Lake and then a turn into Collins Inlet, a beautiful stretch of water with rocks and trees lining the route.

Collin's Inlet Passage

With only a short way to go to Killarney we took our time and soaked up nature's beauty as we passed by. Even at our slow pace we arrived in Killarney at the Killarney Mountain Lodge at 10:30am. A neat old place that offers the use of the pool and facilities while you are docked there.

Killarney Mountain Lodge

One of the added bonuses were the two amphibious planes sitting there. The red & white plane had just come from Oshkosh where it had taken a trophy at the air show.

Oshkosh Winner

SeaB

We explored the Lodge and had dinner in the dining room followed by time in the bar listening to the one man show of Andy Lowe.  Apparently Andy has been the featured entertainer here for the past 5 years. All in all a fun evening.

Visiting Friends

7/26/11 Tuesday     We arrived yesterday in Victoria Harbour and after doing some boat chores and maybe one of us catching a nap, we were picked up by Bill & Mary. Canadian friends from Legacy Harbour in Ft. Myers. They were very generous in offering us the use of their laundry facilities which Pam made good use of. Later in the evening Bill, with an assist from Mary made Beer Can Chicken, corn on the cob and veggies for dinner. Followed by sitting around the bonfire along the shoreline.

Finished product. Now to extract the can!

Pam & Mary relaxing.

Of course Teddy got quite a bit of attention from the visitors.

Today Pam had a hair appointment which Mary had made for her so it was girls day which left me changing generator oil and doing other maintenance items since Bill was working and I didn't want to sit in a beauty salon for 2 hours. Later Mary gave us the riding tour of the area followed by dinner in Midland. We made it back in time to see Bill before returning to Tourist.

View from Bill & Mary's back door.

It was great to meet up with Bill & Mary on their home turf. We can't express our thanks enough to them for their hospitality. Me in particular because I didn't have to listen to Pam complain about the poor laundry facilities at the marina!

No We're Not Lost!

7/18/11 Monday     Had a nice thunderstorm last night that knocked the power out at the marina for an hour. Right on Que our inverter kicked in and kept our refrigeration going.

Plans for today were to go as far as Burleigh Falls lock and spend the night on the wall. That lasted until we were part way across Clear Lake. It was such a nice day that we decided to pull in behind Tanner Island and anchor. Kind of a tight spot once the anchor was set but enough room to stay off the rocks. We enjoyed the down time and I even broke down and suggested playing a game of Dominoes!

Domino Champion!

All was well until just after dinner when another thunderstorm rolled through. This one brought some strong wind and hail the diameter of a fifty cent piece followed by some heavy rain that lasted until 10pm. We both thought the boat would be damaged. Fortunately everything survived intact. During the storm I sat at the helm watching the rain on the radar, listening to the Canadian version of NOAA which broadcasts in both French & English, and had the keys on just in case the anchor decided to lose it's grip on the bottom.

7/19/11 Tuesday     So today we thought we'd get to Bobcaygeon and Lock 32. Pam was looking forward to it since she had been told there was a shoe store right near the lock. That plan got derailed when we arrived at the Burleigh Falls lock and pulled in to the Blue Line to await the lock opening and found that the storm had knocked the power out for all of Burleigh Falls including the lock. (This lock is not of the manual variety like some of the others.) Estimated time of opening would be noon. OK. We wait. Of course noon came and went and one of the lock attendants walked down to tell us it would now be 6pm. Uff Da! We did find out though that the General Store was operating on a generator so we walked over and bought some cream for Pam's coffee and an ice cream cone for each of us.

Island church we passed on way to Burleigh Falls

Burleigh Falls General Store.

Finally at 3:30pm they restored power so we locked through and tied off to the upper wall for the night where we were joined by the crew of Coconuts. It was a tough day which deserved a cocktail reward once we were secure!

7/20/11 Wednesday     Pam hasn't given up on the shoe store and reminded me of our original plans to stop. We worked our way through the locks along with Coconuts and arrived at Bobcaygeon at 1:15pm in time to get cleaned up and check out the town. It's a nice little town with a few bar/restaurants, the mandatory ice cream shop and of course Bigley's (the shoe store). Shoes, shoes, and more shoes! Plenty to choose from if you wanted to pay the price! To say Pam was disappointed is an understatement. As a consolation we had dinner out at one of the local establishments.

Shoot the gap!

 

7/21/11 Thursday     Hot! Hot! Hot! We left Bobcaygeon at 9:10am and quit for the day at 11:45am above the lock at Fenelon Falls. Of course the decision to stop was made easier because of the recent addition of power outlets on the upper lock wall.

The local sports shop had a sale on water socks so I purchased a pair and walked a block to the beach and went for a swim.

Not exactly Vanna White!

Tourist & Coconuts @ Fenelon Falls

It was so hot the local kids were swimming out to the swing span on the train bridge and jumping off! Try that in the states!

In line to jump off the bridge.

Oh! And Pam found a pair of sandals at one of the local shops! We're all happy now!

7/22/11 Friday     A big day today as we transited the Trent Canal and the Kirkfield Lift Lock. The pictures tell the story of the canal. Shallow and narrow with rocks on both sides waiting to slice into the fiberglass on Tourist. Slow is the name of the game in the canal.

Sign stating vessels over 40' must announce a securite' over the VHF as they enter the canal.

Steady as she goes!

Rocks along the edges of the canal.

We are now descending in the locks which made driving into Kirkfield all the more thrilling. Nice view if your nerves can take it!

Approaching Kirkfield Lock.

View from the front of the lock!

Coconuts coming through the Hole in the Wall.

We ended the day tied to the upper wall at Lock 40 with Coconuts. To our surprise a couple from Midland, Ont. who we had met earlier in our travels, walked a mile from the previous lock with their charts in hand to show us some of their favorite places in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Canadian hospitality at it's finest!

Chart review.

We ended the day with a bonfire in the fire pit beside the lock. Bru & Sandy from Coconuts even cooked dinner over the fire! Now that's roughing it!

Lock 40 pyromaniacs.

7/23/11 Saturday     An easy day consisting of only two locks and some open water running across Lake Simcoe. A beautiful lake that deserves more time on it than we have. Came through Orchard Point and got waked as bad as I've ever been rocked by some muscle head in a 35 Meridian trying to impress his overly inflated girlfriend. Shortly after we pulled into Port of Orillia Marina. A convenient location to town but a little shy on power on the docks. Every time someone new plugs in the breaker pops. As a bonus the bottom is covered with weeds that grow nearly to the surface. We were told that the bottom had just been mowed. I think the only mowing that took place was by boats coming and going. After we were in our slip the dockhands came around and raked the weeds from behind Tourist.

Pitchfork full of weeds @ Orillia

Later in the afternoon we were met by Bill & Mary Toon, Canadian friends from Florida who had driven over to say hello and go out to dinner.

7/24/11 Sunday     We left Orillia at 9am and continued west toward Georgian Bay. Two locks and we were at the Big Chute Railway. Big Chute RR is basically a travellift on rails that you drive the boat into. The staff tightens the slings to steady the boats while they rest on the floor of the rail car. It then travels up, over the road, and down the bank on the other side and deposits the boats back in the water to continue on. Quite an engineering marvel.



Big Chute Railway

Ridin' the Chute

Down the other side.

We pulled in to the courtesy dock above the Chute to walk over and see how this thing operates. It looked

simple enough so we went back to Tourist and marked the spots where the slings should go with painters tape. We cast off and motored over to the Blue line to await our turn. We were third in line behind two smaller boats. When we pulled up it didn't appear as though there was enough room for us. Even so we were motioned in until told to stop. They started to tighten the slings but I quickly protested the placement of the straps since I thought they would be right over our water intakes for the engines. One of the workers got down from his station and looked under the bottom. Once back up he rolled the carriage back into the water and repositioned Tourist so that we wouldn't damage the thru hulls. 7 minutes later we were splashed into the water on the other side of the road. We made a hard right turn and tied up to one of the docks to spend the night. We were joined a short time later by Crawdad and Grianan, two other looper boats.

7/25/11 Monday     We awoke to a rainy dreary day. We have a short run of only 15 miles today but one that takes us through a couple of narrow areas and through our last lock of the Trent/Severn system. Not a good picture taking day. We made it through the lock to find the narrowest channel we have seen to date. Fortunately it was only for a short distance but it required my full attention. To further complicate things, once through the lock the bouyage changes form green on the right to red on the right. That lasts until you go a mile and then it changes back to green on the right if you avoid taking the Potato Channel. A lot to think about when you're looking through rain drops.

Anyway we made it safely through and arrived at Queen's Cove Marina in Victoria Harbour, Ont. where we will be for a couple of nights re-supplying and visiting with Bill & Mary who live nearby.

Lots of Locks!

7/14/11 Thursday     Today we departed Campbellford and continued our voyage. The highlight was transiting the Healy Falls flight locks. Two locks connected to one another each with a 27' vertical lift.

Healy Falls Flight Lock.

We did 20.3 miles today and quit on the upper side of Lock 18 in Hastings, Ont. Once again Pam made me drag our dirty clothes to the laundromat. Oh well. At least my 2 pair of briefs are clean again. Four more days. I feel so fresh!

The glamorous side of cruising.
7/15/11 Friday     We snuck out of Hastings at 7:35am. Only one lock today before we get to Peterborough and 38 miles. We crossed Rice Lake before entering the Otonabee River and continuing on to Peterborough.

Rice Lake.
Our only lock for the day was Lock 19. Once through we tied to the wall and called it a day. Lock 19 was a little different in that it was still made of the original limestone blocks set in place in 1844. The staff was very friendly and proud of their lock.

LeRoy, the lock 19 mascot.

Our moorage above lock 19.

We stayed on the wall at 19 for 2 nights. The guide book said it was a short walk to downtown Peterborough. We chose to drop the dinghy in and go by water. Just around the corner and across Little Lake and we were there. The marina let us tie up for free while we explored the town. Pam was on a mission to find some shoes. Imagine that! Fortunately for the pocketbook, she found none that she liked. Later that evening we returned to the Holiday Inn to listen to Fathead, a blues band that was very good!
Our spot on the wall turned out to be a good choice since we had it all to ourselves for both nights.

One unusual thing we found was a dish called Poutine. we thought we were ordering cheese curds and ended up with curds mixed with fries smothered in gravy. Not what we thought but very good. How can you go wrong with gravy?

Poutine. Styrofoam makes for the best presentation of food don't you think!

Man made geyser in Little Lake @ Peterborough.
7/17/11 Sunday     Time to leave Peterborough and continue on. Only a mile and we were at Lock 20. Great! We're the only boat in the chamber. Another mile and we are at the Peterborough lift lock #21. An engineering marvel and the highest lift lock in the world with a 65' vertical lift. It opened in 1904 and looks much the same today as it did back then. Basically 2 pans of water that counterbalance each other. One foot of water is added to the upper pan to make it lower and raise the other pan. Unfortunately they were only using one of the pans because of a mechanical issue. Both pans still went up & down but only one contained boats. The result was a delay in our travels and an end to our being alone in the locks.

Peterborough Lift Lock video.

Our route took us through 7 locks today. Past Trent University and their rowing team practice area. And through some shallow, winding, and narrow passages on our way to Lakefield for our overnight stay at the marina.

Trent University rowers.

Following Coconuts, a 49' Krogen Express on the way to Lakefield.

Internet reception is great on our Verizon air card. Unfortunately usage in Canada is another charge even though we were under the impression that it was included in our plan. May have to resort to going to the library to get online! On the bright side I'm getting to be a texting whiz! I'm up to complete sentences now. Not lengthy but a sentence! If you want to contact us text Pam.