Kim’s Korner:
While at Beausoleil Island, David looked at the alternator which was only putting out about 11 volts. The alternator had been worked on in Jacksonville and the installation had been poorly done as David found un-crimped connections which had come loose the day we left Jacksonville. He looked it over again while here and found a wire that needed some tightening. Since an electrician was coming to look at another boat, David had him look at the alternator and since we had an old spare as well, he took that to check it out to see if it would work or what it would take to make it work.
We moved to Bay Port Yacht Center in Midland while we waited for the alternator. Guess what? The alternator put out about 14 volts that day – coincidence? While we waited for the electrician and our spare alternator, we had a new town to explore. We enjoyed fantastic ribs at Dillon’s Wood-Fired Pizza with Anne and Tim before they left the next morning – we would catch up with them at some point. We also had a delicious dinner at The Explorers Café during our stay. Midland is known for their murals – the worlds largest is there painted on the side of grain silos in the harbor – very neat! We biked on the Trans-Canadian Trail again and after some really big hills ended up in Penetanguishene, another interesting town on the Georgian Bay.
The electrician returned with a newly refurbished alternator since the old one was no good. The next day, we left for the Ladas Bay anchorage. The Georgian Bay is just gorgeous! The rocks turned to calico – black, orange, and white and have ridges in them from the glaciers that formed them. When the sun comes out, the water is clear and blue.
Our friends, Bob and Gail, on The Good Life happened to contact us and we realized we were very close to one another so they came to the same anchorage. We hadn’t seen them since the Statue of Liberty. At Ladas Bay and then Hopewell Bay the following night, we explored in our dinghies, had dinner and played chicken foot – it was good to catch up with them. I saw a loon land very close to us and Gail got some amazing pictures of it! We visited Henry’s Fish Camp for pan-fried pickerel and haddock. Henry’s is world famous and can only be reached by water or air. We were lucky enough to see a seaplane takeoff while there.
At Eureka Point anchorage, we caught back up with Ivanhoe as well as the other boats we’ve been with on and off since we entered Canada. We dinghied over to Ojibway Hotel, an old historic hotel that is open 70 days a year, for ice cream, walking trails and a few groceries. We returned here several times while we were waiting out the rain.
We finally got to use our kayaks! It’s been since January since we last used them due to the fact there really hasn’t been any opportunities to use them. If the weather is good, we are usually moving with Overtime. If the weather is bad, the weather is bad for kayaking as well. At least the kayaks are up out of our way so it isn’t like we are tripping over them all the time. What a place to get to use them – the Georgian Bay! David located what he called “The Land that Time Forgot”. I thought he was crazy as you had to paddle thru grass and lilies but it was beautiful once you got through all that! And just a little buggy. We also paddled over to what the locals call “The Hole in the Wall” – a narrow channel that small boats can use where locals gather on two very small beaches and jump off the cliffs into the water.
We moved to the Bustard Islands and anchored for two nights, again waiting for the rain and winds to pass. This anchorage is another beautiful setting with a dozen boats anchored here. David had to do a “Mediterranean style anchorage” here where he dropped anchor and then tied the rear of the boat to a tree to keep the boat from swinging 360 degrees, allowing more boats to anchor in an area. After a dinghy ride to explore the immediate area, we enjoyed dinghy-tails (tying all our dinghies together) with other boaters.
After 8 nights at anchorages, we headed to the Sportsman Inn Marina in Killarney to provision before heading out again. On the way, we passed through Beaverton Bay and Collins Inlet which were absolutely beautiful! I took so many pictures – sorry for them all – and I didn’t include a fraction of them. Killarney, originally known as Shebahonaning (“narrow channel”), is indeed a narrow short channel that is bustling with boats, sailboats, dinghies, kayaks, sea planes and helicopters. To provision, we used our dinghy to tie up to the docks of the different stores where we needed to go. Such a different world than I am accustomed to!
The next day, we headed to beautiful Covered Portage Cove for two nights of anchoring. We hiked to the top of the cliffs where a gorgeous view awaited us. The water is an emerald green. We picked wild blueberries, swam and hiked up the other side the second day to an observation deck which overlooked the cove as well. This has been our favorite anchorage so far.
I almost forgot – the alternator is still putting out 14 volts. It must have been the wire that David tightened.
Pictures:
20170716 Midland
20170719 Ladas Bay, The Archipelago, Ontario
20170720 Hopewell Bay, The Archipelago, Ontario
20170721 Eureka Point, The Archipelago, Ontario
20170725 Bustard Islands, Ontario
20170727 Killarney Ontario
20170728 Covered Portage Cove Anchorage
Picture of Chattanooga
Monday, July 31, 2017
Monday, July 17, 2017
Kirkfield, Ontario to Beausoleil Island
Kim’s Korner:
We have covered some miles in the last month and all these small towns and locks are running together! We have had to traverse some extremely narrow channels. Before we enter, David makes a Securite call over the radio which announces which channel we are entering and which direction we are heading and to please announce yourself if that will be a problem. Then you just hope that if anyone is in the channel, they’ll let you know. We’ve also had some very shallow canals to travel – these are man-made, cut out of rock and are very narrow as well. Currents make things even more interesting. This area is rock, rock, and more rock – no more soft sand as in Florida. Several of our fellow loopers have missed a buoy, hit a rock which caused damage and has had to wait on repairs. It’s definitely scary but the area is beautiful at the same time.
The last two locks on the Trent-Severn were interesting. The Big Chute was definitely the highlight of the Trent-Severn. This “lock” actually puts you onto this “chute” which lifts you out of the water, over a road and back into the water on the other side. They really have it down to a science and seems hum-drum to them but for me - I definitely had an adrenaline rush after it was over! The last lock is very small and only one boat our size can fit in it at a time. We were warned as we waited on the blue line that when you leave the lock, we would be in very swift currents and have a very narrow channel to go through. We were to give a securite as we left the lock as the channel was not big enough for two boats to pass each other. Oh my gosh! We hit that current and it was like riding a slalom course through that channel – wheeeee!!! David’s arms were sore afterward from having to keep Overtime between the buoys. Crazy!
We are officially off the Trent-Severn Waterway and on Georgian Bay which is supposed to be a beautiful cruising area. It is nice to be done with locks for a while. Our first stop is Ojibway Bay on Beausoleil Island which is a Canadian National Park. It is beautiful here and we have a gorgeous view from our aft deck! This park has docks in several places and we are tied to one of the docks along with six other boats – no power or water. There is an outhouse – that’s about it. We got here just as the rain started – ugh! More rain! I also was disheartened to learn we had lost one of our new fenders – at least we are done with the locks for now.
There is a huge mix of houses here. Near the bigger towns, you will see the big, expensive homes. But most of the time, you will see these awesome small cottages, many on their own island. We assume many of these cottages have probably been in the family for generations. Many of them are only in use during the three months during summer as these lakes freeze during the winter. We have had several 60-degree mornings and we still see kids out swimming while we are wearing our fleece.
Wildlife – I’ve been hearing loons early in the morning while I’m just waking – they have a wonderful song. I finally saw one and have seen a few so far. Just as we got into the Georgian Bay, Anne spotted an osprey that had just caught a huge fish – so huge, it couldn’t fly with it. The osprey had the fish pinned on a rock with a seagull only a few feet away just waiting. It was very interesting to see – I only wish we knew how the story ended. I also spotted a deer from our window who had come to the bay to drink water around dinner time – so neat! I took pictures from inside the boat so as not to scare him. We are hoping we might see some black bear and moose – we’ll see!
We started out on a hike to Fairy Lake and after only 500 yards, turned back for our thermacells. Bugs, bugs and more bugs! And they were biting! This was really the first time we had used the thermacells and they worked great! I could hear bugs near my ears and things flying into me but nothing bit – whew! We passed Chimney Bay – a popular anchorage – and saw kids swimming and skiing. We continued to Fairy Lake which was beautiful! A momma loon and her chick were swimming – a hawk flew over and the momma let him know real quickly to just keep moving. We returned to the boat for docktails. We even learned that Ray and Leise are good friends of Rob and Glenda, friends who are doing the loop and who we traveled with for a while – it’s a small world!
We also got our dinghy down and took a ride – we finally had a sunny day – Yay! We haven’t had the dinghy down in months and it was great to use it again. We went to Picnic Island for ice cream and checked out Honey Harbour. We’d heard about Canadian weekends on the water and boats and people were out in droves on this sunny Saturday
We have covered some miles in the last month and all these small towns and locks are running together! We have had to traverse some extremely narrow channels. Before we enter, David makes a Securite call over the radio which announces which channel we are entering and which direction we are heading and to please announce yourself if that will be a problem. Then you just hope that if anyone is in the channel, they’ll let you know. We’ve also had some very shallow canals to travel – these are man-made, cut out of rock and are very narrow as well. Currents make things even more interesting. This area is rock, rock, and more rock – no more soft sand as in Florida. Several of our fellow loopers have missed a buoy, hit a rock which caused damage and has had to wait on repairs. It’s definitely scary but the area is beautiful at the same time.
The last two locks on the Trent-Severn were interesting. The Big Chute was definitely the highlight of the Trent-Severn. This “lock” actually puts you onto this “chute” which lifts you out of the water, over a road and back into the water on the other side. They really have it down to a science and seems hum-drum to them but for me - I definitely had an adrenaline rush after it was over! The last lock is very small and only one boat our size can fit in it at a time. We were warned as we waited on the blue line that when you leave the lock, we would be in very swift currents and have a very narrow channel to go through. We were to give a securite as we left the lock as the channel was not big enough for two boats to pass each other. Oh my gosh! We hit that current and it was like riding a slalom course through that channel – wheeeee!!! David’s arms were sore afterward from having to keep Overtime between the buoys. Crazy!
We are officially off the Trent-Severn Waterway and on Georgian Bay which is supposed to be a beautiful cruising area. It is nice to be done with locks for a while. Our first stop is Ojibway Bay on Beausoleil Island which is a Canadian National Park. It is beautiful here and we have a gorgeous view from our aft deck! This park has docks in several places and we are tied to one of the docks along with six other boats – no power or water. There is an outhouse – that’s about it. We got here just as the rain started – ugh! More rain! I also was disheartened to learn we had lost one of our new fenders – at least we are done with the locks for now.
There is a huge mix of houses here. Near the bigger towns, you will see the big, expensive homes. But most of the time, you will see these awesome small cottages, many on their own island. We assume many of these cottages have probably been in the family for generations. Many of them are only in use during the three months during summer as these lakes freeze during the winter. We have had several 60-degree mornings and we still see kids out swimming while we are wearing our fleece.
Wildlife – I’ve been hearing loons early in the morning while I’m just waking – they have a wonderful song. I finally saw one and have seen a few so far. Just as we got into the Georgian Bay, Anne spotted an osprey that had just caught a huge fish – so huge, it couldn’t fly with it. The osprey had the fish pinned on a rock with a seagull only a few feet away just waiting. It was very interesting to see – I only wish we knew how the story ended. I also spotted a deer from our window who had come to the bay to drink water around dinner time – so neat! I took pictures from inside the boat so as not to scare him. We are hoping we might see some black bear and moose – we’ll see!
We started out on a hike to Fairy Lake and after only 500 yards, turned back for our thermacells. Bugs, bugs and more bugs! And they were biting! This was really the first time we had used the thermacells and they worked great! I could hear bugs near my ears and things flying into me but nothing bit – whew! We passed Chimney Bay – a popular anchorage – and saw kids swimming and skiing. We continued to Fairy Lake which was beautiful! A momma loon and her chick were swimming – a hawk flew over and the momma let him know real quickly to just keep moving. We returned to the boat for docktails. We even learned that Ray and Leise are good friends of Rob and Glenda, friends who are doing the loop and who we traveled with for a while – it’s a small world!
We also got our dinghy down and took a ride – we finally had a sunny day – Yay! We haven’t had the dinghy down in months and it was great to use it again. We went to Picnic Island for ice cream and checked out Honey Harbour. We’d heard about Canadian weekends on the water and boats and people were out in droves on this sunny Saturday
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Bobcaygeon
Kim’s Korner:
We keep meeting up with this small cruise ship that cruises on the Trent-Severn Waterway. It was built to fit into the smallest lock and we finally got to see it lock through. The front bow folds up (see picture) to fit into the lock and the top half of the pilothouse lowers to fit under bridges. The cover over the back deck also folds down. You can barely see the captain in the pictures with his head protruding, through a hatch, above the lowered pilothouse roof to maneuver the ship under the bridge into the lock. The top of his head was inches from the bottom of the bridge – I wonder if he gets hazardous pay. It was very cool to watch.
We made it to Bobcaygeon and made the most of the town during the afternoon. First was the Kawartha ice cream factory – yummy! Then it was laundry, grocery shopping, tourist shopping, docktails with about 8 other looper boats that we’ve been running into every other day or so, and grilling out dinner. It was a long day but we accomplished a lot.
We keep meeting up with this small cruise ship that cruises on the Trent-Severn Waterway. It was built to fit into the smallest lock and we finally got to see it lock through. The front bow folds up (see picture) to fit into the lock and the top half of the pilothouse lowers to fit under bridges. The cover over the back deck also folds down. You can barely see the captain in the pictures with his head protruding, through a hatch, above the lowered pilothouse roof to maneuver the ship under the bridge into the lock. The top of his head was inches from the bottom of the bridge – I wonder if he gets hazardous pay. It was very cool to watch.
We made it to Bobcaygeon and made the most of the town during the afternoon. First was the Kawartha ice cream factory – yummy! Then it was laundry, grocery shopping, tourist shopping, docktails with about 8 other looper boats that we’ve been running into every other day or so, and grilling out dinner. It was a long day but we accomplished a lot.
Friday, July 7, 2017
On to Buckhorn
Kim’s Korner:
July 1st is Canada Day and corresponds to our July 4th. There were lots of food, festivals, and fireworks around the area. We spent our last day in Campbellford riding our bikes on the Trans-Canada Trail which took us through some beautiful country and farmland. We saw chipmunks, rabbits, cows, sheep and a hole in the ground filled with eggs – not sure what animal had laid them. It was a great day even though more rain came in during the afternoon – the water is raging here with really strong currents.
We left for Hastings on a beautiful and sunny Monday morning. We locked through six locks (one with a frog and turtle) during our 15-mile day and were hot and tired when we arrived at the top of lock 18. Many of these locks are less than ½ mile from each other so it really keeps us busy the entire time we are moving. Each lock has a small park associated with it and they are really very nice areas. Each side of the lock has a mooring area which has a blue painted line which is the line of boats which will enter the lock next. The rest of the mooring area which is not painted blue is available for an overnight stay or even just day usage. A few locks offer power but all have restrooms that the lock master will give you the code for when you pay him for a night’s moorage. The fee is very reasonable and these lock parks have lots of locals who are riding bikes, picnicking, and fishing. School is out (end of June) so the kids are everywhere having a great time!
July 4th, we headed for Peterborough which is a bigger town than we’ve seen since we started the Trent-Severn. We had so many Canadians wishing us a Happy Fourth of July – it surprised me that they even knew – it was such a nice gesture! We moored at the bottom of lock 20 and took off on foot to lock 21 which is the infamous Peterborough Lift Lock. Built in 1904, this lift lock is the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world and the largest unreinforced concrete structure. It is like two sheet cake pans side by side – as one side goes up, the other side goes down. Only eight of these lift locks exist in the world and we will be lucky enough to lock through one more while on the Trent-Severn. I include pictures here of our walk there – you will see more when we actually lock through it in Overtime. Peterborough also had a Boater’s World store which I took full advantage of. These locks are much smaller than we are used to so they pack boats in like sardines and we have found we need all six of our fenders on one side to adequately protect Overtime while locking. Not only do we need to protect her horizontally but also vertically so we have to place a few fenders high and a few low. This is great as long as we can always lock and moor on the starboard side or the port side, but you know the saying “Nothing’s Ever Easy” so between tying up to the blue line to wait on a lock, actually locking through, and tying up to moor for the night, I was swapping fenders constantly and NOT a happy camper as a lot of times, I had only minutes notice to do this. So I happily spent some money at Boater’s World for some additional fenders and supplies 😃. Now I have fenders on all four of Overtime’s corners and 4 on one side which I can easily move to the other side as needed.
The next day we took off for Young’s Point. We locked through the Lift Lock – it was very cool! The actual movement only lasted two minutes. We did 7 locks this day and can’t tell you how many times I said to David – “I’m so glad we bought those extra fenders!” The locks are getting busier and busier now. When exiting a lock, the canal can sometimes be very narrow with boats lining each side. Sometimes I wonder if we’ll even fit! I just keep my mouth shut and watch David work wonders. Then there are the rental houseboats that we are now seeing and have been warned about for months. Avoid them at all costs - people rent these houseboats, don’t know how to drive them and will basically play bumper boats with them. Even the lock masters use loud speakers to warn boats waiting on the lock to “get your boat poles ready to protect your boat” – the lock gates open and out comes a rental houseboat. It’s actually pretty humorous – but kind of scary at the same time - just totally different experiences than I’ve ever even known existed! We are also running into the fact that this area is very busy with locals as well so everyone is jockeying for a place on the wall to stay for the night. The lock master will call ahead to see if there is room at a lock ahead of you – of course, there is no guarantee the spot will be there when you arrive but it does help knowing if you might have a chance. We were searching for an anchorage since every lock around us was full. At the next lock, the lock master informed us that some boaters had left the bottom of Lock 27 – we arrived exhausted (again) but the spots were still there when we arrived – thank goodness!
There is a trading post right at Lock 27 that Anne and I had wanted to go to. We’d heard it was a must but we arrived at 6:00 PM which was closing time. Since the locks as well as the store both open at 9:00 AM, Anne and I were there waiting for the store to open. It really was a neat place – they had furniture, clothing, housewares, and snacks – really nice! I found David a Canadian t-shirt (yes, for those of you who know David well – it was a Life is Good t-shirt too) and for myself? It was Kawartha mocha and chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone for breakfast! Oh – life is good! So we paid and rushed back to the boat to lock through. Yes, Anne and I were finishing up our ice cream cones as we locked through – I bet we weren’t the first to do that! Today was a beautiful journey through Stoney Lake which reminded us of the Thousand Islands in NY. We got separated from our buddy boat, Ivanhoe, at one of the locks due to the fact only one of us would fit with all the other boats that were waiting. They went on ahead in order to scope out any available wall space – they got in on upper lock 31 (Buckhorn, Ontario) and started talking to other boats to see who was leaving when in order to make room for us. They found a houseboat that would be leaving in a few hours so we luckily got a spot at lower lock 31 and with the help of the lock master, locked through and made it to the vacated spot once the houseboat left before anyone else got there. Let me explain – there was power available at the upper lock - not so at the bottom of the lock. We plan to stay here two nights due to rain (again). It’s good to get the blog caught up again!
July 1st is Canada Day and corresponds to our July 4th. There were lots of food, festivals, and fireworks around the area. We spent our last day in Campbellford riding our bikes on the Trans-Canada Trail which took us through some beautiful country and farmland. We saw chipmunks, rabbits, cows, sheep and a hole in the ground filled with eggs – not sure what animal had laid them. It was a great day even though more rain came in during the afternoon – the water is raging here with really strong currents.
We left for Hastings on a beautiful and sunny Monday morning. We locked through six locks (one with a frog and turtle) during our 15-mile day and were hot and tired when we arrived at the top of lock 18. Many of these locks are less than ½ mile from each other so it really keeps us busy the entire time we are moving. Each lock has a small park associated with it and they are really very nice areas. Each side of the lock has a mooring area which has a blue painted line which is the line of boats which will enter the lock next. The rest of the mooring area which is not painted blue is available for an overnight stay or even just day usage. A few locks offer power but all have restrooms that the lock master will give you the code for when you pay him for a night’s moorage. The fee is very reasonable and these lock parks have lots of locals who are riding bikes, picnicking, and fishing. School is out (end of June) so the kids are everywhere having a great time!
July 4th, we headed for Peterborough which is a bigger town than we’ve seen since we started the Trent-Severn. We had so many Canadians wishing us a Happy Fourth of July – it surprised me that they even knew – it was such a nice gesture! We moored at the bottom of lock 20 and took off on foot to lock 21 which is the infamous Peterborough Lift Lock. Built in 1904, this lift lock is the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world and the largest unreinforced concrete structure. It is like two sheet cake pans side by side – as one side goes up, the other side goes down. Only eight of these lift locks exist in the world and we will be lucky enough to lock through one more while on the Trent-Severn. I include pictures here of our walk there – you will see more when we actually lock through it in Overtime. Peterborough also had a Boater’s World store which I took full advantage of. These locks are much smaller than we are used to so they pack boats in like sardines and we have found we need all six of our fenders on one side to adequately protect Overtime while locking. Not only do we need to protect her horizontally but also vertically so we have to place a few fenders high and a few low. This is great as long as we can always lock and moor on the starboard side or the port side, but you know the saying “Nothing’s Ever Easy” so between tying up to the blue line to wait on a lock, actually locking through, and tying up to moor for the night, I was swapping fenders constantly and NOT a happy camper as a lot of times, I had only minutes notice to do this. So I happily spent some money at Boater’s World for some additional fenders and supplies 😃. Now I have fenders on all four of Overtime’s corners and 4 on one side which I can easily move to the other side as needed.
The next day we took off for Young’s Point. We locked through the Lift Lock – it was very cool! The actual movement only lasted two minutes. We did 7 locks this day and can’t tell you how many times I said to David – “I’m so glad we bought those extra fenders!” The locks are getting busier and busier now. When exiting a lock, the canal can sometimes be very narrow with boats lining each side. Sometimes I wonder if we’ll even fit! I just keep my mouth shut and watch David work wonders. Then there are the rental houseboats that we are now seeing and have been warned about for months. Avoid them at all costs - people rent these houseboats, don’t know how to drive them and will basically play bumper boats with them. Even the lock masters use loud speakers to warn boats waiting on the lock to “get your boat poles ready to protect your boat” – the lock gates open and out comes a rental houseboat. It’s actually pretty humorous – but kind of scary at the same time - just totally different experiences than I’ve ever even known existed! We are also running into the fact that this area is very busy with locals as well so everyone is jockeying for a place on the wall to stay for the night. The lock master will call ahead to see if there is room at a lock ahead of you – of course, there is no guarantee the spot will be there when you arrive but it does help knowing if you might have a chance. We were searching for an anchorage since every lock around us was full. At the next lock, the lock master informed us that some boaters had left the bottom of Lock 27 – we arrived exhausted (again) but the spots were still there when we arrived – thank goodness!
There is a trading post right at Lock 27 that Anne and I had wanted to go to. We’d heard it was a must but we arrived at 6:00 PM which was closing time. Since the locks as well as the store both open at 9:00 AM, Anne and I were there waiting for the store to open. It really was a neat place – they had furniture, clothing, housewares, and snacks – really nice! I found David a Canadian t-shirt (yes, for those of you who know David well – it was a Life is Good t-shirt too) and for myself? It was Kawartha mocha and chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone for breakfast! Oh – life is good! So we paid and rushed back to the boat to lock through. Yes, Anne and I were finishing up our ice cream cones as we locked through – I bet we weren’t the first to do that! Today was a beautiful journey through Stoney Lake which reminded us of the Thousand Islands in NY. We got separated from our buddy boat, Ivanhoe, at one of the locks due to the fact only one of us would fit with all the other boats that were waiting. They went on ahead in order to scope out any available wall space – they got in on upper lock 31 (Buckhorn, Ontario) and started talking to other boats to see who was leaving when in order to make room for us. They found a houseboat that would be leaving in a few hours so we luckily got a spot at lower lock 31 and with the help of the lock master, locked through and made it to the vacated spot once the houseboat left before anyone else got there. Let me explain – there was power available at the upper lock - not so at the bottom of the lock. We plan to stay here two nights due to rain (again). It’s good to get the blog caught up again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)