NorthChannel00119

Killarney, Ont

28, 29 July 2014

Killarney is the official start of the North Channel area. It’s a small town with a half dozen marina’s, about 6 places to eat and the normal infrastructure things like a town hall, library, churches, hockey and curling rinks, etc. It’s a combination of tourist and cottage support with a small fishing company. It also acts as a base camp for the Killarney Provincial Wilderness park. The park is one of the largest in Ontario, and has a 40 mile hiking trail that takes you through the LaCloche Mountains.

Yes, we’ve finally hit mountains in Canada. Up until now the islands have been pretty flat, maybe peaking out at 20-30 feet. And while there are lots of bare rocks, there is a lot more trees on the horizon. Very cool.

Lighthouse

Killarney is sort of split into two. At the north is the village of Killarney, at the south is George Island. We decided to stay at the Sportsman’s Marina, they use both sides of the channel. We were on the George Island side. We got tied up and plugged in. To get to the other side you ride Tinker Bell. At one time it was a skiff, but it’s present form is a 15′ pontoon boat. We flagged Tinker Bell down and headed across to the main building.

Sportsman’s has about 100 slips and there is also a small hotel for guests. They have a casual dining place and a more formal dining room. (Need to wear shirts with buttons on them)

We had and early brunch and headed to see the rest of the town. It only took 10 minutes for us to walk to the far end of town, passing two marina’s, the bakery, LCBO, the fish store and the general store. We arrived at the Killarney Mountain Lodge and Marina.

The Lodge is a series of log buildings that were built in the 1950′s. In 1962 “the road” finally made it to town after a decade of building. That year they built a really neat round bar with a round fireplace in the middle. It still has the harvest gold and moss green decorations from that era.

Lodge outside

The walk back was as quick, we did stop at the museum (closed for lunch), the bakery (raisin and plain butter tarts) and the it was back to the boat for naps.

There were loopers at Sportsman’s that we got to talk to like Adagio and Le Hooker. There were also people spending their summer there from places like Michigan and New York.

For dinner we decided to head back to the Killarney Mountain Lodge. We did stop at Sportsman’s to see what their dinner was (pretty expensive), the Pump House, (pizza and wings). The breakfast / lunch place was closed so the clear winner was the Lodge.

It turned out to be a great choice. Susan had pork schnitzel with mashed potatoes and beets. I had the filet steak wrapped in bacon with the same veggies. We did both laugh, in the basket of home made bread was cellophane wrapped bread sticks, neither one of us remembered seeing them in the last decade. It was a good reminder that we were back in a 60′s lodge. The dinner and service was one of the best dinners we’ve had in Canada.

Fireplace

Of course we had dessert back in the round bar. Susan talked to the bartender and got a drink that was creamy and foamy with a great peach flavor. She got some great pictures of the lodge, the pool and play areas with a chess set with 2′ tall pieces! and horseshoes. While we sat there we played the Junior Edition of Trivial Pursuit. Since the game had been printed in the 70′s we were great at it. (OK, that and it was the junior edition). We held hands while we walked back in the twilight to the boat. Just a perfect evening.

At Sportsman’s on George Island is a giant screen, they show a movie every night. We were not able to get the soundtrack on our FM radio receivers so we gave up and went to bed early.

Movie

On Tuesday morning both Susan and I got caught up with doing laundry and getting pictures and posts up on the site. We then headed back into town to get some of the famous Herbert’s fish.

Herbert’s has been around for decades. It’s a location for fishermen to sell their catch. The tiny building has been selling fresh fish and fried dinners for years. We got the box lunch (4 pieces of white fish and fries). We sat out in their outside pavilion at the waters edge. Our tablemates were from Michigan and they gave us a list of places to see on our trip up the North Channel. They also talked about Mackinac Island (on Susan’s bucket list) and things to see and do (like the Hotel Buffet)

After lunch we headed to the Killarney museum. It was an interesting place tracking the history of Killarney back to 1820. My favorite item was the Edison wax tube phonograph player. I’ve seen them before, but all were behind glass. This was out in the open and I could get a close look at it.

Edison Player

We headed back through town and were able to get some great bread at the bakery. Susan also scored a new lure for her fishing expeditions. We got back to the boat and just spent the afternoon relaxing and chatting with our dock neighbors.

After happy hour we took Tinker Bell over to the main dock and headed to the pub that we had passed the day before. We had a simple meal of wings and burgers. I’m not a big fan of breaded wings, but these were really good. They had a very light breading and were crispy. Because there wasn’t a lot of breading they were not greasy.

We had the same problems with the soundtrack on the movie, so we turned in about 9PM.

Sunset

On Wednesday we are off to Little Current.

NorthChannel00058

Collins Inlet and Mill Lake

27 July 2014

Today was a short run from the Bad River to Beaverstone Bay then into Collins Inlet and down to Mill Lake. The water was flat and learning to stay to port on the way out of the Bad River, we were on out way. (Yesterday I had taken the narrow deep channel, to day I took the wide shallow channel)

Our Georgian bay crossing was minor, a 10 knot north wind barely made any waves so we sat in comfort. We slid into Beaverstone Bay about 2 PM. A quick anchor (got it in one!) and a fast lunch had us at the rail casting away in less than 15 minutes.

We had some nibbles, a lot of grass, an of course there was a flock of seaguls heckling us from the edge of Burnt Island. We fished for an hour and decided to move forwards.

We approached the opening to Collins Inlet. It’s a Low Water Buoy, then 4 pairs of red/green spaced about 50′ apart that we made it though. You then turn the corner and you are now in a high walled canyon about 200′ wide and easily that tall. It’s all steep rock and trees sticking to the edges.

It’s like going back in time. Lots of original growth timber on top, smaller trees. But the sheer cliff faces are amazing, like someone came along with a bandsaw and just split the two sides and spread them apart.

NorthChannel00043

There is a fish camp just before the entrance into Mill Lake. Susan tried to call to see what was on the dinner menu, but never got a response. It’ looked pretty rustic, I’m betting the charm matches the food.

We slowly went down the east side of the lake. The two most likely spots had cottages sitting on the water so we passed them up. We ended up at the southern end of Green Island. It’s very grassy and took some effort, but we had a decent anchorage for the night.

Susan promptly cast her next favorite rig into the water in to some very dense weeds. She had to go out in the kayak to rescue it. Since she was already in the water, she did a 2 mile tour of the southern part of the lake. She found some good rocks and another collection of sheer walls.

Tonight’s dinner, since there was no fresh fish, we had hamburgers and corn. Corn!!! We both remember fishing with corn as kids. So it was off to the rail. Hooks baited with corn and then a spoon full into the water. (Can you chum with corn?) After 30 minutes it was pretty clear that Corn wasn’t the way.

So it’s back inside to do blogs, dishes, and catch up on some reading. The sky looks pretty overcast, so I’m pretty sure that there is no Star Show tonight.

NorthChannel200048

90 Days on the loop!

27 July 2014

Today is our 90th day on the trip. At times we go “already 90 days” and other times “it’s only 90 days??”. We are happy for the blog because at this point, places, people, activities and things are running together.

Quo Vadimus: We’ve been gone 90 days, and moved the boat on 46 of those days for a total of 1066 miles. The driving days have not all been long. The shortest trip was 2.9 miles to Lakefield. The shortest time was just over 30 mins to go to Beausoleil Isle, On. We’ve anchored out 27 days so far. We’ve consumed 865 gallons of fuel, almost 5 times that amount in water. Boat is working fine, no major mechanical problems or dings.

Belle: She is adapting to the boat more and more each day. She is more interactive and will come sit with us in the evenings in the pilothouse or on the settee. She has shown more interest in the outside of the boat and now walks around the front deck if we are there. She also likes the flybridge when the boat is not moving.

Susan: has been riding, swimming, kayaking, fishing, walking, she is just plain adventuring here in Canada. And having a great time. We’ve fell into a rhythm going through the locks, we have similar ones for docking an
anchoring. It’s working out really well, we work well as a team.

She continues to crank out some very amazing meals. I’m convinced we eat better out on the water than we do in town.

Foster: planning the next few jumps based on what we’ve heard from other people and the weather. Our original rough timeline had us leaving Canada by 1 August. With all the things that have been added, we should be moving south some time in mid August. Still in time to make it through Chicago by 1 September.

Weather is cooperating, it’s been in the high 60′ low 70′s since we’ve been in Canada. Only a few days of rain delay. We spent extra time in Orilla to be able to go to Toronto and do Canada Day.

Every day one of us says to the other “this is just great”. We’ve met some really wonderful people, gone to some very interesting places, eaten great food. I’m still on my butter tart quest, and I’ve got almost 60 different brews in my craft beer list.

We miss our family and friends at home and will be back soon!

NorthChannel00014

Devil Door Rapids at Bad River, Ont

26 July 2014

We did some more fishing off Harbor Island in the Bustards this morning. No nibbles, but we got to watch the parent of the loon siblings attempt to teach them to fly. The adult would spread and flap their wings and the two siblings mimicked. Not enough to get into the air, but a little out of the water. I’m sure in a few days they will have it mastered.

We picked our way around the channels and were soon heading down the Gun Barrel on our way West. Big difference in the wave action today. Even Belle was pleased with the much smoother ride. In about an hour we were going up the Bad River.

There were about a half dozen boats anchored out. We moved to the back of the cove and made a pass at anchoring. No go, so we made a second pass. I was a little more diligent about backing and the anchor stuck.

We had a great spot, we could see up into Devil Door Rapids. (In keeping with the Bad River theme). It’s a pretty fair sized rapid that people ride up into on their dinks. Ours is a little underpowered with only an 8HP engine and I had heard about an accident the prior weekend where one flipped over. So much to Susan’s regret I decided to pass.

NorthChannel00010

But that left more time for fishing. And I’m sure you read Susan’s post about her 33” Northern Pike. She was super excited. What she didn’t post in her story was that when we first got here she had a strike and she got the fish almost to the boat. But it bit through her line and escaped with one of her favorite lures. So it was revenge time, and she pulled it off!

We watched some other boats attempt the rapids and then watched a boat full of boys do it four times in the next hour. They would have gone for 5 but the engine wasn’t running after they came down the last time, don’t know if it was damage or out of gas.

Susan did her sightseeing tour of the bay, she came back in an hour with all sorts of news and great pictures.

We had one of my favorite dinners. While we ate there was a small cloudburst that cleaned away the mosquitoes for the evening. We did some more fishing, but I think our giant fish friend and put the word out.

In the morning we made one more pass at fishing. I had a strong bite, had him to the platform and then the spit the lure out and headed away. He looked about ½ the size of Susan’s, but I would have been pleased.

We met Loopers from Florida on Le Hooker. It’s the first boat I’ve see powered by outboards. With the improvements in size, noise and fuel mileage, I’m thinking of mounting a pair of 300′s on the transom of the Quo Vadimus and give that a go. Anyway it was a nice chat they are very nice people.

From Susan’s story yesterday: David, Chantal and Max the Wonder Dog came over to talk. They are thinking of doing the loop in their sailboat. I gave them the Looper board information. Hope they go, I think they’ll have fun.

With all our fish gear put away, we headed down the “Bad River” on to our next adventure.

Bad_River_Fish00005

Fish Tales Redux

We’re still wandering around the Georgian Bay, and today we came to a beautiful spot that was highly recommended to us called the Bad River.  As you know, I’ve been on a fishing quest, so as soon as we anchored I threw out a line.  I had a couple of fish on the line, one large one I got up to the boat before my line broke and it got away with my favorite lure.  We broke for lunch, and then I got right back to it with another lure.  As I was casting, a Canadian and his wife came by in their dink, and the man said I’ll make you a bet that you don’t catch any fish from that boat, there’s nothing around here.

Well pay up on your bet my man!  Here’s my 33” northern pike that I caught less than 20 minutes later… from the swim platform of our boat.

Bad_River_Fish00007

I even have a picture of me holding the fish with the guy’s sailboat in the background.

Bad_River_Fish00004

It was close going getting it into the boat – my tackle is really too light for such a heavy fish, and our nets are not big enough!  Foster tried using 2 nets, and they still weren’t big enough!  Fortunately the lure tangled in the net and we were finally able to get it into the cockpit.  After some mild hysteria and trophy photos, it went back in the water – too pretty to eat.

DCIM133GOPRO

The Bustard Islands

25 July 2014

We packed up our fishing gear and loaded the dink back on top of the boat. We headed out of our quiet channel and back onto the Small Craft Channel.

On our way to the Bustards we saw two sailboats, it’s the first two that I had seen since we left Parry Sound. Once we were out of the protected channel it was very windy and there were 3 foot waves. Lucky for us, it’s only exposed for about 5 miles so we shouldered our way through the waves and soon were at the lee side of the Bustard Islands.

This is a collection of a few hundred island about three miles off the main shore. There are lots of little coves and inlets to go into.

My new best friend Pierre had suggested a spot on the eastern end of the island. As we approached, we saw that there was a pretty large sailboat already at the spot. So we motored around to the other side of the island and went to the interior.

Since the island is mostly rock, there isn’t a good base of clay or sand like our other anchorages. We made two passes to try to anchor near Green Island. The anchor just wouldn’t stick. So we moved farther inland, just past Harbor Island to try there. We were successful on the first try.

It was a pleasant afternoon. I spent the day gawking at rocks and reading. For the last few nights we’ve been hearing the loons. Today a family (parents and two babies) floated past. Since they could see each other, they were not calling. (But later on in the evening we did hear them).

The little coves and niches are spellbinding. Different rock formations, shapes and a variety of colors. I can see how the local boaters could spend weeks in here.

Susan’s made pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes with gravy and peas for dinner. Just wonderful.

After dinner we both tried fishing for about 90 minutes with no luck. We both had what we thought were nibbles, but nothing to show for it.

We are both still surprised how late it is before it gets dark. It’s almost 9 PM before we need to give up for the night. And it’s quiet. Except for the loon and a few frogs there isn’t any sounds.

Predictions for light rain overnight has us button up for the evening. On Saturday Susan will go out on the Kayak and we will head for the Bad River about 11AM.

Henvy

Henvey Inlet, Ont

23,24 July 2014

Susan loves to fish, but she is after the big game. I love to CATCH fish, so I don’t really care how big they are, each one COUNTS.

At Wright’s Marina, our dock neighbor Pierre, suggested going into Henvey Inlet. He said it’s kind of fished out for the large pickerel. Because of that, the inlet has a ton of perch. (Pickerel eat perch for dinner).

We took him up on his suggestion. We passed Cunningham’s again, the poor skeleton still hadn’t caught anything. Then on to Roger’s Gut. This is a section of the small boat channel that really was too shallow for boats to pass, and there wasn’t an alternate path. So they blasted a 100 yard section of rock out to allow boats to pass. It’s pretty narrow, about 20′ wide and has four buoy’s marking the corners. But we managed to squeeze through without hitting anything.

Susan and I motored into the inlet about 3 hours after leaving Britt. We passed through the narrow channel that had a cruiser tide up to the vertical rock wall and made the right turn into Pierre’s secret spot.

Since the reason we were here was to fish, I dropped my wormed hook into the water. I caught 9 perch in the space of an hour!!! The largest was 12″, but most were in the 6-8″ range! Yay me! After getting the perch trained that there was food to be had, Susan joined into the action. She also caught a number of perch. We had thrown them all back, in hindsight we should have kept a few of the larger ones for fish dinner. But I was super pleased that my new best friend Pierre had made the suggestion to go to Henvey.

Instead of perch, Susan made pasta with sausages which was also very good.

When we anchor out I get up in the night to check to see how we are doing. About 3AM I woke up, we were where we were supposed to be. Then I looked up.

Stars, billions and billions of stars. It was close to a new moon, so there wasn’t anything bright in the sky except the stars. I’ve always lived in populated areas, so there has been some light pollution. Only the brightest stars have been out. And as we’ve come up the early part of the 30,000 islands the moon (which is pretty bright) has been working it’s way through the full moon cycle.

I’ve always seen the pictures of the “smears of galaxy’s of stars across the sky”. This is the first time I’ve seen them in person. It is really impressive!

The next morning we unloaded the dink and motored around some of the islands. We didn’t catch any more fish, but it was starting to be a blustery day and our cove was pretty windy. So we moved down the inlet to a cove called “The Flower Pot”.

It gets that name from the flowering water lily’s at the end of the cove.

Fishing here was OK, Susan caught two big Sunfish. We have Sunfish at home but they are small, not much bigger than a childs hand. The ones she caught were all most dinner plate sized.

A repeat of the star show from the night before was not in the cards, the overcast sky blocked the view.

Friday would find us on the way to the Bustards in the morning.

DCIM129GOPRO

Britt, Ont

22 July 2014

Every morning at 9AM is a radio program on VHF channel 71 from Little Current, about 60 miles west of where we are. It starts off with the weather forecast. The forecast has a storm with wind gusts to 50km per hour (~27 miles per hour). Not a good day to anchor out.

Lots of cruisers in the area check in and tell their boat name, where they are and where they are going. It’s useful since people can try to catch up with each other. Lots of people were either in the Bad River or heading towards the Bad River. Including us.

The combination of lots of people, small anchorage and lots of wind, added to not being sure of the waters made us think twice. Since there is always “Plan B” we decided to head back 6 miles to Britt and spend the night at Wright’s Marina. So we put all of our gear away and headed out.

On the way out of Sandy Bay we passed a milestone in our trip, we’ve gone 1,000 miles! It was our 88th day since leaving home. It ends up being about 12 miles a day, not much. We’ve only been on the move 42 days, that makes it about 25 miles a day. We’ve spent a lot of time in Canada and we’ve enjoyed every moment of it.

We went past Cunningham’s again, this time we knew to take pictures of the island! The skeleton fishing made us both laugh again. In little over an hour we were at the Wright’s Marina dock.

On my list of things to get done was to get the fuel and oil filters replaced. I also had an oil pressure sensor that needed changed, the bad one bounced the pressure needle all over the place.

While that was going on we could see storm clouds in the distance forming up. We also watched three of the local boats come in. They were all talking about the storm and how they also decided to come in where there was some level of safety. One Captain said they “chickened out”, I said a better word was prudent.

John in the boat in front of us gave an invitation to “Happy Hour”. When I popped out of the boat, I had expected just us, instead there were 10 people sitting in chairs around his boat. Wow. I was told that “Happy Hour” happened every day, just the number of people changed.

So we all sat and chatted for about an hour as the sky got darker and darker and thunder rolled down the river. Susan had expressed interest in going out to dinner so I went to the office to see if I could borrow the marina car. I gathered up Susan and we made the car just as the first few fat drops of rain fell from the sky.

Britt is a very small place, there is one restaurant and one ice cream stand. So it made dinner choices pretty easy. While it poured outside she had the pan fried pickerel dinner, I went with a simple bacon cheeseburger.

While we were at “Happy Hour”, our dock neighbor, Pierre had mentioned Henvey Inlet. Over dinner we talked it over and decided that we would stop there on our way to the Bad River. After dinner we went to the local general store and picked up some extra items for our next week of anchoring out.

When we got back, there was a smaller group eating at the picnic table at the end of the dock. Susan went in to bed and I joined for another hour of conversation.

In the morning I tracked down Pierre and he gave us two spots in Henvy to go fishing and made a strong suggestion that we then go to the Bustard Islands and hang out there, then go on to the Bad River.

Part of being a Looper is the ability to get discounts or special offers. The offer at Wright’s was a deal, a free pump out. Since most of the area is rock, septic services are a challenge. Most marina’s charge $20 and up, so a free pump out was a good deal. Fuel prices were also the lowest we had seen in Canada, it made sense to top off the tanks.

With bills paid, letters and postcards to home mailed, full fuel tanks and secret spots for Henvy, we set out to retrace part of our route.

SandyBay

Sandy Bay, Ont

21 July 2014

(Pictures soon)

We spent an extra day in Hopewell Bay, Susan got more chances to kayak and get more chances to fish.

We packed up and headed out about 10 for one of our longest jumps in the Georgian Bay, about 30 miles. The first part of the journey was nice, we were back behind the islands pretty well shielded from the wind.

There were a few really interesting moves, one was making a 145 right hand turn out around a point. It’s not really well marked, if it wasn’t for the charts you were not going to be able to follow it. After some more island hopping we came across the first part of the Georgian bay that we would get the full force of the wind.

To say Belle wasn’t pleased would put it mildly. She doesn’t like it when the boat rolls or bounces around. And we rolled and bounced around for about an hour while on the outside channel. On the way we met friends on the Mañana and El Cabana. (We have come across them a few times, last time was in Parry Sound. They were returning from a trip to Kilbare)”

We were soon back inside and passing Cunningham’s Paradise. There are statues on the island and skeleton sitting on a chair on the floating dock. Just passed that we made a sweeping right hand turn into Sandy Bay. We traveled to the end, there is a small, but nice beach at the end.

We got anchored and did some fishing. Neither one of us caught anything, even Susan didn’t have any nibbles. But it was a very pretty place to anchor.

Susan whipped up another of her amazing dinners and we spent the rest of the evening reading.

It’s so relaxing here, and it’s great to pick my eyes off a book and look in the rocks.

QVHopewellbay

Fish Tales

When I was a little girl, my father taught me how to fish.  We didn’t go very often, but on at least one trip we caught a pile of sunfish, which I had to clean and scale.  My mother cooked them, bony as they were.  I loved to fish as a young woman in our local streams and ponds, where we caught trout, sunfish, perch, and occasionally a pickerel while ice fishing.  I also fished a little on the nearby Long Island Sound, where we caught flounder and bluefish. I enjoyed it but nobody could call me an expert.

I stopped fishing about 25 years ago, so I was very excited to take it up again on this trip.  I made sure to get us the correct outdoor card plus fishing license that Canada requires. Foster and I shopped for lures, texas worms, and doodads guaranteed to catch (something).  Since it had been so long, I also got some books to help me out on the finer points of jigs, rigs, spoons, crankbait, etc. as well as fish identification.  I wasn’t sure what we were fishing for, just that I wanted to fish again!

Once we hit Canada, we were in the canals for a while and we would both throw out a line at night.  I caught a few very small fish but nothing that anyone would keep for anything but a photo. I knew there were people around us that were catching bigger fish, but they eluded me.  Once we got through the locks into the Georgian Bay area, I started seeing bigger fish, even in the small stuff I was catching, but it was still small – even the little kids were catching bigger fish than I was!

Finally, on our travels, we arrived at a beautiful little bay that was quite deserted and rocky. Someone had set up an inunnguaq – a little rock man that is sometimes used to mark good fishing spots.

inunnguaq

I decided to take the kayak out to one of the shores and do a little fishing.  Much to my surprise, I finally caught a decent size fish almost right away.  I was so used to failure I didn’t even have a stringer with me to save the fish, so I had to improvise by cutting a piece off the kayak rope.  I fished for a little while longer with no luck, but that night we were going to have fish for dinner!

fishday1

I forgot the work that goes into cleaning the fish and found it is also more difficult to hold onto a big fish and chop its head and tail off than the small ones!  We’re anchoring out for a while with a somewhat limited water supply, so I was a bit annoyed at all the water I was using.  I rinsed the fish in several changes of clean water to get the slime off, then soaked it for a few minutes in salt water.  Once I was done with my side dishes (red potatoes and fresh peas), I dredged the fish in flour, salt and pepper, and set it to fry in some olive oil and butter.

I was cooking in the cockpit on my little propane ring because I didn’t want to get the fish cooking smell embedded in the interior of the boat. I had the burner turned up too high, and the fish started to burn a little.  Cooks know, once fried stuff starts to burn it is hard to get it back down in temp to cook it long enough.  As a result, the fish was not cooked all the way through when it came off the ring and I finished it in the microwave.  With that caveat, it turned out to be perfectly cooked once I had it on the table. As intended, the skin and scales came off with the flour crust, and I pulled meat off the bone and served it to us both.  There was enough for seconds, and more left over besides.

Next problem was identifying the fish.  When you’re not used to catching them, it’s pretty hard to tell what you’ve got.  I ruled out trout right away, but thought I had gotten a walleye through comparing the pictures to our pictures of my fish, and the recent memory of what it looked like as I cleaned it, and what was in its stomach (tiny mussel shell and a tiny crawfish claw).  Foster’s son Mike Schucker, who is a fishing maven, corrected me to say it was a small mouth bass.  Looking at the next fish, I agreed with him – because there was a next fish!

The day after our fish dinner, I took the kayak again to another part of the shore and did some more fishing.  I had a fish on the hook within a few minutes, but it jumped off, and numerous other nibbles and sightings in the clear water that morning.  I went back to the boat about 3 hours later and we decided to stay another night so I could continue my fishing spree.  After a little lunch break, I went back to another part of the shore in my kayak.

hopewellbay3

This time I hit a hot spot.  Within 10 minutes I had a fish on the line and landed it.

landingfish

landingfish2

fishday2

It was a bit bigger than the night before, but I thought fish dinner two nights in a row was too much, so I threw it back, after taking a very good picture of it laying in shallow water.  I continued to get more hits, and had three more fish on the line that managed to knock off the hook as they jumped in the air and backtracked into weeds.  It was a great fishing day, overcast and calm.  I spent a couple more hours in that spot, but the fish stopped biting once the sun came out.

I gathered my things and went back to the kayak, and took a little detour through a small channel.  The little detour turned into a two mile kayak ride which took me back out into the deep water of Georgian bay before I came back into our little cove.

All in all it was a great couple of days of fishing, kayaking, and taking some really pretty pictures of our cove.  Here’s a couple.

Rocky Shores

rockyshore4

rockyshore3

Flowers – water lily and wild roses

waterlily

wildroses

The bay

Hopewellbay2

Hopewell_bay

 

HopeIsland100004

Hopewell Bay, Ont

19 July 2014

(Pictures to come once we get Wifi)

We woke to a very calm Parry Sound this morning. Since our goal is to get to Lake Superior on 1 August, we have 15 days to go about 250 miles. So about 17 miles per day.

I got out the chart and marked off the mileage, it took us to Hopewell Bay. Susan wanted some place to fish (since Kilcoursie was all churned up with boaters). Hopewell looked long and thin, with lots of little coves off from it. So it looked like the ideal place. A few of the boaters I met had suggested it, so we were off.

It was another nice ride through lots of the rock islands. There was one long part where we could see out into the Georgian bay to some of the islands that are farther out.

We got to Hopewell Bay, bonus! It was empty! And there are only cottages in the opening, we won’t be in someones front yard. So we cruised to the far end and set anchor for the day.

So it turns out that this is a popular place, 4 hours later and there are 5 other boats with us. Oh well.

Susan loaded up the kayak and headed to shore. She climbed out and started casting in the water. About 20 minutes later she landed a huge walleye. She was super pleased!

For dinner she fried the whole walleye, with boiled potatoes and peas. The meals on the water are some of her best efforts.

We are both going to try to fish later on.

Sunday is a 30% chance of rain, but it does not take long to go 15 miles, so we will try to dodge the raindrops as we go.

4588

Trip to Hopewell Bay, Ont

19 July 2014 Partly Cloudy 66 F SW 10
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
Generator for hot water
10:55 AM Depart Kilcoursie Bay
12:45 PM Twin Sisters Is 1,800 RPM 8.2 kts 4.1 gal 14.4 nm
1:30 PM Anchor at Hopewell Bay
Georgian Bay, Ontario
Summary elapsed 2.3 hr ave 7.6 kts 10.6 gal total 18.3 nm
1182.4 1163.5 816.8 top 8.9 kts 1.73 mpg
Kilcoursie

Kilcoursie Bay, Ont

18 July 2014

(Pictures on the way once we get a good Wifi)

Susan squeezed in a last load of laundry and I topped off the water tanks and did a minor spraydown of the decks. We pushed off from the dock and headed over to Sound Boat Works across the bay to get pumped out and take on some fuel. It was $1.46 per liter ($5.46 per gallon), the cheapest we’ve seen in Canada so I put 100 gallons in. While we were there I got pictures of a 1936 hull that had been completely restored. It’s under a cover to keep all the varnish from melting in the harsh sunlight.

From there we headed down the bay to the “Hole in the Wall”. A friend had taken us there the day before, so I knew that there would be enough depth. It’s pretty amazing to drive through the middle of an island like that.

We headed down the sound to Kilcoursie Bay. We had seen it from the air, it has a wide expanse of sandy beach. We were able to tuck in along the swimming area.

With all the ski boats in the area we didn’t bother to fish. The water was a little colder that I expected, and with the chilly day (72F) swimming was out. But both of us splashed our feet in the water.

Susan cooked steaks and corn on the cob for dinner. She had made ratatouille the day before and heated it up. One of the best dinners on the water.

I got up in the middle of the night to check the anchor. While I was out I got a pretty amazing star show. There is still a quarter moon, and it lit up the cove we were in. I’m a little excited, when we get to Little Current in a few days it will be a new moon and we should see lots of stars.

4588

Trip to Kilcoursie Bay, Ont

18 July 2014 Cloudy/haze 65 F SW 5
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
Fill both water tanks
11:05 AM Depart Big Sound Marina
12:00 PM Depart Sound Boat Works
50 Gal/side $1.46/L, dink gas/oil 2.5 Gal, pumpout
12:35 PM Through the “Hole in the Wall”
1:30 PM Anchor at Kilcoursie Bay
near Parry Sound, Ontario
Summary elapsed 1.5 hr ave 4.5 kts 5.4 gal total 10.7 nm
1179.9 1161.1 816.3 top 8.1 kts 1.98 mpg
ParrySound200254

More Parry Sound, Ont

15,16,17 July 2014

Tuesday was a rain day for us. We did get a chance to walk up the town to see what was there. First was a store with all sorts of Canadian outerwear. They had on-site embroidery, so I got a new hat. It’s one of those with the cloth flap in the back to protect my neck. I had Quo Vadimus stitched into the brim. It has a clip on it, so in theory it should be harder lose. But I think I’ll look like a dork (yea, so what else is new), so it will be boat only wear.

Next was the Farmer’s Market in the town square. It was small but we did get some great smoked meat and new butter tart vendor to try. With our new found love for real paper books we hit the library book sale and pick up some more pulp fiction.

The sky’s looked like they were about to open up so we went to “Don Cherry’s”, an eatery run by the famous Canadian Hockey broadcaster. While we ate great sandwiches, we were entertained by the sales guy in the next booth selling the latest in hot water heaters to a new cottage owner. “Don’t want to sell you something you don’t need but with teenage girls you will appreciate the extra 15 gallons of hot water in the tank”.

Once the sandwiches and the rain was gone we headed down the street. We purchased a shirt for me (I’ve been good, this was the third so far on the entire trip), yet more pulp fiction from a used bookstore, and two more butter tarts. We decided to head back and do interweb related things to take advantage of the Wifi.

Dinner was at “The Bistro by the Bay”. We were seated next to some Canadian boaters we had met, he suggested the mussels. We had the “Thai Curry” broth, it ended up being more of a luxurious soup. It was also a huge portion, we were starting to reconsider our choice of main courses. Susan’s filet came, it was cooked exactly like she likes it with mushrooms on top. Her veggie medley contained white beets, an unusual item but it’s one of her favorites. I had the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, stuffed with sautéed spinach and apricots, topped with a grainy mustard reduction. Super tender with just a touch of pink. We both had the garlic mashed potatoes, creamy with just a touch of garlic. It was one of the better meals we had this trip.

As we passed the Stockey Centre on the way to dinner we saw a crowd forming. I’d asked what was going on and was told it was “Bands by the Bay” and that it ran from 7 to sunset. Since it was not sunset yet we decided to go check it out. The trio Gin Lane was playing. The room was packed but there was room on the deck. Tun, the woman I had talked to was sitting out there. We sat next to Dan, the other Dan, Darla and Tun. We chatted, one of the band members was a family friend. We talked about the band, Parry Sound, a really good pig roast that Darla and Dan help host for 10 years (drat, the last one was this year) and our boat. They were really nice people, it’s like we had been friends for years. Tun is quite the character, but she did say her name was easy to remember, just spell it backwards.

It had cleared off when we got back to the boat and the sun was doing it’s last glow.

On Wednesday we decided to head to Sobey’s market and Canadian tire to return the bike bags. Due to trying to interweb things we got a late start, it put is at “The Bistro by the Bay” at lunch time. Since there were 5 flavors of the mussels we hadn’t gotten to, we decided to stop in.

We had the “White wine cream sauce” once again it was thick and full and flavorful. We had made the smart move of ordering extra toasted bread. We also got the roast beef sandwiches served on Yorkshire puddings. The mussels were as good as the night before and the Yorkshire puddings reminded us of the “Proper English Sunday Dinner” we had in Toronto.

After lunch we headed to Sobey’s. On the way we found great bike bags for Susan’s bike so it was worth what turned out to be a very long walk. We restocked on the essentials (food, cat litter) and caught a taxi ride home.

Unpacking our provisions and getting them stowed away took a long time. We did some more interwebs to get caught up on our postings.

We decided to try “Boston Pizza” that was only a five minute walk away. We sat on the deck and I had a really great small steak and fries. Susan’s half of a house salad was bigger than most house salads that I’ve seen. Afterward we walked and had ice cream, it was Bordon’s, we are out of the Kawartha Lakes area.

Thursday open up cloudy and windy. I walked into town to mail letters for Susan and drop off some of our used books at the library for them to resell.

Around 11AM, Terry a friend from the Bayliner’s Owner Group came over in a 20′ runabout. We got a guided tour of Parry Sound for the next two hours. We ate lunch outside of some of the prettiest places that we have seen on the trip.

Along the way he took us to the abandoned Depot Harbor a town that at one time had 30,000 people. It’s presently just the management offices for a lake trout fish farm that is out in the Harbor and along the side of the island.

I also got great behind the scenes on cottage infrastructure. How they get electric (hydro), propane, fresh water systems, removal of black water, etc. Lots of great stories on what has to be done to meet code. Putting in docks and cairns in the water. Lots of cool stuff.

With all the sun and fun we were pretty beat, so it was a small dinner and some more interwebs. We have decided that Parry Sound wins the best sunset picture award.

I’ve got the List of all the bays and their services for next two weeks.

At this point we are caught up on the blogs and pictures. We will be off in the morning to our next location.

ParrySound200260

More on Parry Sound

15,16,17 July 2014

Tuesday was a rain day for us. We did get a chance to walk up the town to see what was there. First was a store with all sorts of Canadian outerwear. They had on-site embroidery, so I got a new hat. It’s one of those with the cloth flap in the back to protect my neck. I had Quo Vadimus stitched into the brim. It has a clip on it, so in theory it should be harder lose. But I think I’ll look like a dork (yea, so what else is new), so it will be boat only wear.

Next was the Farmer’s Market in the town square. It was small but we did get some great smoked meat and new butter tart vendor to try. With our new found love for real paper books we hit the library book sale and pick up some more pulp fiction.

The sky’s looked like they were about to open up so we went to “Don Cherry’s”, an eatery run by the famous Canadian Hockey broadcaster. While we ate great sandwiches, we were entertained by the sales guy in the next booth selling the latest in hot water heaters to a new cottage owner. “Don’t want to sell you something you don’t need but with teenage girls you will appreciate the extra 15 gallons of hot water in the tank”.

Once the sandwiches and the rain was gone we headed down the street. We purchased a shirt for me (I’ve been good, this was the third so far on the entire trip), yet more pulp fiction from a used bookstore, and two more butter tarts. We decided to head back and do interweb related things to take advantage of the Wifi.

Dinner was at “The Bistro by the Bay”. We were seated next to some Canadian boaters we had met, he suggested the mussels. We had the “Thai Curry” broth, it ended up being more of a luxurious soup. It was also a huge portion, we were starting to reconsider our choice of main courses. Susan’s filet came, it was cooked exactly like she likes it with mushrooms on top. Her veggie medley contained white beets, an unusual item but it’s one of her favorites. I had the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, stuffed with sautéed spinach and apricots, topped with a grainy mustard reduction. Super tender with just a touch of pink. We both had the garlic mashed potatoes, creamy with just a touch of garlic. It was one of the better meals we had this trip.

As we passed the Stockey Centre on the way to dinner we saw a crowd forming. I’d asked what was going on and was told it was “Bands by the Bay” and that it ran from 7 to sunset. Since it was not sunset yet we decided to go check it out. The trio Gin Lane was playing. The room was packed but there was room on the deck. Tun, the woman I had talked to was sitting out there. We sat next to Dan, the other Dan, Darla and Tun. We chatted, one of the band members was a family friend. We talked about the band, Parry Sound, a really good pig roast that Darla and Dan help host for 10 years (drat, the last one was this year) and our boat. They were really nice people, it’s like we had been friends for years. Tun is quite the character, but she did say her name was easy to remember, just spell it backwards.

It had cleared off when we got back to the boat and the sun was doing it’s last glow.

On Wednesday we decided to head to Sobey’s market and Canadian tire to return the bike bags. Due to trying to interweb things we got a late start, it put is at “The Bistro by the Bay” at lunch time. Since there were 5 flavors of the mussels we hadn’t gotten to, we decided to stop in.

We had the “White wine cream sauce” once again it was thick and full and flavorful. We had made the smart move of ordering extra toasted bread. We also got the roast beef sandwiches served on Yorkshire puddings. The mussels were as good as the night before and the Yorkshire puddings reminded us of the “Proper English Sunday Dinner” we had in Toronto.

After lunch we headed to Sobey’s. On the way we found great bike bags for Susan’s bike so it was worth what turned out to be a very long walk. We restocked on the essentials (food, cat litter) and caught a taxi ride home.

Unpacking our provisions and getting them stowed away took a long time. We did some more interwebs to get caught up on our postings.

We decided to try “Boston Pizza” that was only a five minute walk away. We sat on the deck and I had a really great small steak and fries. Susan’s half of a house salad was bigger than most house salads that I’ve seen. Afterward we walked and had ice cream, it was Bordon’s, we are out of the Kawartha Lakes area.

Thursday open up cloudy and windy. I walked into town to mail letters for Susan and drop off some of our used books at the library for them to resell.

Around 11PM, Terry a friend from the Bayliner’s Owner Group came over in a 20′ runabout. We got a guided tour of Parry Sound for the next two hours. We ate lunch outside of some of the prettiest places that we have seen on the trip.

Along the way he took us to the abandoned Depot Harbor a town that at one time had 30,000 people. It’s presently just the management offices for a lake trout fish farm that is out in the Harbor and along the side of the island.

I also got great behind the scenes on cottage infrastructure. How they get electric (hydro), propane, fresh water systems, removal of black water, etc. Lots of great stories on what has to be done to meet code. Putting in docks an cairns in the water. Lots of cool stuff.

With all the sun and fun we were pretty beat, so it was a small dinner and some more interwebs. We have decided that Parry Sound wins the best sunset picture award.

I’ve got the List of all the marinas on the bays and their services for next week. So I should be good.

At this point we are caught up on the blogs and pictures. We will be off in the morning to our next location.

ParrySound200249

Parry Sound, Ont

13-14 July 2014

Parry Sound Ontario – including our photos from the 30,000 Islands flight tour

We woke on Frying Pan Island in deep fog. We decided to do the weekly cleaning, so things got put away, rugs got vacuumed, dusting was done, etc.

By then it was 11 and the fog was lifting so we decided to do the short run to Parry Sound at noon. We were all set, and I was ready to start the engines, when Susan went, “Are you sure about leaving?” I looked up the channel and the fog was rolling back towards us.

Always with a plan B, Susan heated leftover pickerel in the oven and made us great fish sandwiches. Best Filet of Fish sandwich ever, take that McD’s!

By 2 PM boats were starting to make their way into the marina, the fog had lifted. We said goodbyes to Paul and the dock people at Henry’s and pushed off. Frying Pan Island to Parry Sound time lapse

The trip through the South Channel into Parry Sound was very pretty. There were some tight corners but it was an uneventful trip. Once we got to Parry Sound we needed to wait for the swing bridge to open. Normally it’s on the hour, but the Island Queen was coming up at 3:45, so we had about a 30 minute wait. We moved down around the corner to give Susan a chance to do some more fishing. (No luck). When we heard Island Queen on the radio, we moved into position to follow through the bridge.

By now it was a full 25kt wind blowing across the sound. We had wanted to tie on the starboard side, but that was a slip next to a really nice boat. With the wind, I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to do that. So we went out, reset our fenders for a port tie and came back in for a second pass. We did well, pulled into the slip and waited for the wind to push us into the dock.

Once we got tied off and paid, we both jumped onto the wifi. Susan had videos to upload and got them started. I got some posts made and got caught up on the Bayliners Owner Forum and my robot stuff.

When we got to the marina there was a sign for “Wellington’s”, it was too far away to walk, but they offer free taxi rides. Susan pulled the menu and they had four different kinds of schnitzel. We were sold and made the call. In a few moments the taxi arrived and we were whisked away.

We started with the mussels in a Thai Curry sauce. It was great. I need to start learning to ask for more bread upfront, it took the waitress a long time to get us more. Susan’s schnitzel had mushrooms, caramelized onions in a brown gravy. I had pea meal bacon, mushrooms and swiss cheese on mine. Both pieces had been pounded out to make them tender and then lightly battered and fried. Just wonderful!! If you are in Parry Sound, add this to your list of places to go!

Monday started off with laundry, laundry, laundry. We took over the lone washing machine from 9AM until 1PM getting everything washed. As we head into the North Channel washing machines will be hard to find. With all the rock it’s hard and expensive to put in field drain systems. We both have about a months worth of clothing now, so we should make it into the US with no problems.

One of the things we spied in Midlands was an advertisement for Georgian Bay Airlines, they give air tours. I had signed up for their 30,000 island tour. We headed over and filled out the necessary forms and were soon being loaded up into a small Cessna float plane. Our pilot, Jesse, hopped aboard and we were off down the river. Picking up speed we took off and were soon heading north towards “The Hole in the Wall”. It’s a narrow channel that splits “Wall Island” into two parts. We then swung to the east following the Sound out to the edge of the Georgian Bay.

The views were great. Susan had the GoPro running and got some amazing video of our flight The first part is a time lapse of the takeoff and then the pilot handed the GoPro back to Susan for the rest of the flight.

We were able to see into the water, it’s cool and also scary that the rock shelves come right up to the channel markers. The islands are dotted with cottagers, it has to be interesting to live so remote from a town. There is an island with a small pond in the middle, they have built their house around it.

When we got back we made a pass over the marina to see the Quo Vadimus at the dock. We could make out the red kayak and fenders but the picture didn’t really come out well.

Our adventure was soon over and we were back on the water aerodrome headed back towards the Georgian Air Dock. A great day, a great flight!

When we got back to the dock there were four looper boats and we went over to meet them for “docktails”. We met the Lindy and the Sanctuary from Michigan. They are on the last 250 miles of their loop adventure. C.A.R.I.B. II from Florida has been on the move since early April. Serenity, from Vermont is like us, early in the loop. The crew from Meandering that lives in the area came down to offer up suggestions and places to go. They had just finished the loop on 13 June. We all had snacks and beverages and had a very nice time chatting.

For dinner we headed up into Parry Sound for a pretty uninspired meal. Sometimes you win the dinner lottery and sometimes not.

4588

Trip to Parry Sound, Ont

13 July 2014 Cloudy/haze 70 F W 10
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
1:45 PM Depart Henry’s Fried Fish
2:00 PM Isabella Islands 1,800 RPM 8.3 kts 3.0 gal 10.0 nm
3:20 PM Anchor to fish while we wait for bridge
3:45 PM Through Swing Bridge at Parry Sound Island
4:00 PM Dock at Big Sound Marina
Parry Sound, Ontario
Summary elapsed 2.3 hr ave 6.0 kts 8.00 gal total 14.3 nm
1178.2 1159.4 816.3 top 8.6 kts 1.79 mpg
GeorgianBay200072

Henry’s on Frying Pan Island, Ont

12 July 2014
Georgian Bay Pictures

7/12/14 Hope Island anchorage to Frying Pan Island – Henry’s Fish Restaurant time lapse.

Our trip to Frying Pan Island and the world famous Henry’s was pretty easy. We headed out from Hope Island and headed towards the O’Donnell Channel that would put us back on the Small Boat Channel.

There were some intial twists and turns with close quarters, but after awhile the channel opens up and we were soon in sight of Frying Pan Island. We got to the space outside of Henry’s and got put into a nice slip away from the restaurant noise.

After doing our shutdown sequence we headed up for a light lunch. Both of us were still full from our blueberry pancakes. Susan had the “smoked beef sandwich”. Not rare, but it was very tender. I went for the smoked wings since I knew I wanted fish for dinner. Wings were good, next time I’ll order them plain rather than with the BBQ sauce.

While we were eating, two planes landed with people for lunch. The flights are from Parry Sound, our next destination.

After lunch I proposed a walk to the other end of the island (about ½ mile). We got directions from the owner of Henry’s and headed down the trail.

It turned out to be rougher going than we had expected. Our stint on Beausoleil Island had us looking for well trodden paths. Evidently not a lot of foot traffic back and forth. There were a number of mushy spots that we needed to leap from rock to rock. At one point we were not sure where to go, but had been reminded that there was a cell tower behind the other marina. So we headed in that direction and popped out behind the marina.

The lead picture is from our walking trip. There is power on the island and I could see the poles. I was wondering how they dug the holes for the poles. They don’t they dig holes for anchor bolts.

They had Kawartha Lakes ice cream (our favorite!) so we both had a scoop to celebrate our successful hike. On the hike back we were able to see some things we had missed on the way out, like a tree that the woodpeckers had been working to get the insects out of for their lunch.

But we were both very glad to see the Quo Vadimusfloating in the distance. We both took showers with lots of soap to get any residual poison ivy oils from our skins.

After resting and reading, we headed up for dinner. Susan had the pan fried whitefish, I had the lightly battered and fried Pickerel. Both were very good. Not sure what they use for batter, it came out with an almost tempura like crunch. I had baked beans and slaw as my sides, both tasted home made.

After dinner I got a chance to chat with Paul, the owner of Henry’s. He’s had it for 25 years, the prior owner about 15. The place started out as a fishing camp and Henry (the first owner) was known for his cooked fish. Paul has really expanded the place with added docks, the planes flying in and he has cleared space for three helicopters. One of them is on top of the giant rock at the end of the marina pier. He said at one time there would be 50 flights in during a weekend in the summer. He hires a combination of local kids that come by boat and has a boarding house for the rest next to restaurant.

A pretty cool place. I’m glad that we made an effort to stop.

I had posted on the loopers boating forum and the Harbor Host for Maryland, Judy Gill wrote a post about some history of the island.


I recently sent an “off list” reply to Foster Schucker regarding his post about Sans Souci, Ontario which is located 16 miles down the South channel from Parry Sound in the 30,00 islands of the Georgian Bay. In my reply, I told a bit of the history of the area from a cottager’s memory as my family had a cottage on the Northern tip of Moon Island (3 miles from Sans Souci) for many years when I was a teen ager. Foster talked with Paul, the current owner, who verified my account.

It is important to note that Sans Souci marina is located on Frying Pan Island and that Sans Souci island is across the channel from Henry’s! In the 1800’s the Copperhead Lodge and Sans Souci were popular steam ship stops in the 30,000 islands of the Georgian Bay and a half way point between Midland and Parry Sound.

What is now the Sans Souci store used to be Welsh Brother’s Marina and boat yard. In addition to marine engine & boat repair and parts they also sold propane, gasoline and diesel fuel at their store and also delivered these and building supplies to local residents and Summer cottagers.  They also built one two lake boats there every winter, some of which they used for their livery service (water taxi from the islands to town), mail delivery, and work boats used to haul needed items — sometimes towing a barge — out to the islands from Parry Sound.

The original Sans Souci store was located to the Left of Henry’s Fish House (where the Champlain Monument was or still is). For many years, the store at Sans Souci was the local general store for canned goods, some fresh produce, frozen meats, bread, eggs, milk, etc. and also was the local Post Office. Later after the store was moved to the old Welsh Brother’s building, the Sans Souci building was taken over by the Sans Souci & Copperhead property owners association.

The Henry’s building was originally a camp and then became the one room school house for island youngsters in 1st through 8th grade. The children went to school from Spring, through Summer and into the Fall. They were picked up by the “School Boat” at their homes, taken to school and then back home at the end of the school day. High School students were boarded in Parry Sound and went to school there during the normal school year.

Henry’s Fish Camp has been a well known cottagers favorite and tourist attraction for more than 50 years. Famous for its Pickerel aka Walleye Pike (one of the finest fresh water eating fish). So popular, that tourists even drove to Parry Sound and chartered a sea plane to fly them out to Frying Pan Island for a Lunch or Dinner!

For those who are interested in the origin of the name, Sans Souci is French and translated means “without care”, but to a French Canadian being Sans Souci means that: “I simply don’t give a s**t”.

4588

Trip to Frying Pan Island, Ont

12 July 2014 Clear 75 F SW 15
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
Ran generator at night and morning for hot water 816.3 hrs
10:10 AM Up anchor at Hope Island
11:30 AM O’Donnel Channel 1,800 RPM 8.4 kts 3.5 gal 11.4 nm
12:30 PM Dock at Henry’s
Frying Pan Island, Ontario
Summary elapsed 2.5 hr ave 7.6 kts 11.6 gal total 19.1 nm
1176.0 1157.1 816.3 top 10.5 kts 1.65 mpg
katya_transom

On the hook with new friends

11 July 2014

Beausoleil Island and Hope Island in the Georgian Bay, Ontario

Our plan was to head up the “Small Boat Channel” from Port Severn up the entire way to Sault Ste Marie. We had taken a small detour to Beausoleil Island and we were going to reverse course and pick it back up again at Honey Harbor.

The Captain of Katya Lookin’ was headed towards Hope Island, it’s in the cluster of Christian, Beckwith and Hope. His description was it was the “Caribbean of the North”. Emerald Green water, sandy beaches with a gentle slope from shore to water deep enough for the boat. I looked at the charts, it was not that far out of the way (about 10 miles) so we agreed and planned to head over with them.

I wanted to make sure that my repairs on the gears were good and that my handlebar adjustment was where I really wanted it. We decided to make a bike dash to the south end of the island and then swing by the Parks Office for ice before heading out.

We didn’t get very far, Susan noticed that her tire was rubbing. She had picked some sticks up in her spokes the day before and it looks like it had knocked the wheel out of alignment. I of course, didn’t plan ahead and didn’t pack a wrench for repairs. So we walked back to the boat to make adjustments.

We passed a small cemetery on the way. In the 1800′s the government of Canada had relocated the indians that lived around Honey Harbor to Beausoleil Island. It wasn’t a very successful move, with limited game and fishing the indians didn’t survive.

Once our bikes were fixed we settled on riding over to the Parks Office for ice. Susan also grabbed another can of “Deep Woods Off” since we figured there would be bugs on Hope Island. We helped Katya Lookin’ get underway and the did our final pre-launch work.

It was a very nice ride over to Hope Island. We swung around the south end of Beausoleil Island (not much to see, so the missing bike ride wasn’t a big deal) past Giant’s Tomb Island and then to Hope. There was very little wind, so it was a very nice ride.

We spied our new friends and a quick radio check said they were in 10 feet of water. We anchored next to them. They were right the water was very clear, we could see the anchor laying in the sand below us.

We ate a quick lunch and then launched our dink. (I’ll skip over the hour long process. We don’t get much practice so we need to re-learn things every year). We headed to shore and pulled up on the pebble lined beach. We sat along the shore with them chatting for about an hour while the First Mate and Ensign played with the dog at the waters edge. When they headed up for lunch we took a walk along the shoreline. Our goal was the lighthouse around the point. But walking on the shoreline wasn’t as easy as we thought. When we got to the point we realized that we had twice as far to go and decided to head back.

On the way, a yellow seaplane circled around overhead getting lower and lower. It finally dropped into the water and coasted over to a near by sailboat. What a way to get to your weekend retreat!

Susan pulled the snorkel masks out and headed back to the beach in the Kayak. She spent time on the beach snorkeling with our friends. I took a much needed nap to recover from all the running around.

Dinner was simple, one of my favorites “weenie-beans” She slices hot dogs, browns them in a pan then cooks them with baked beans. We both had them as kids, so it’s a good memory.

We gently bobbed around the surface of the cove and Susan attempted to lure fish with fresh worms. She had lots of nibbles, but no takers on the bait.

Over the night the wind picked up and I could hear the gentle slap of the waves. Then a thumping sound. After deciding it wasn’t a large wave I got up and found the kayak thumping on the side of the boat. I increased the painter and it bobbed gently next to the dink.

In the morning we fired up the generator. Susan made blueberry pancakes and pea meal bacon (Canadian back bacon) for breakfast. After a pair of hot showers we were ready to start again.

We loaded up the dink (another adventure since we needed to relear then loading skills) and were ready to head off.

We said our goodbyes to our friends on Katya Lookin’ and headed across the open water.

Frying Pan Island here we come!

4588

Trip to Hope Island, Ont

11 July 2014 Clear 65 F West 10
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
Ran generator at night and morning for hot water 815.0 hrs
10:15 AM Depart dock at Beausoleil Island
11:15 AM Sawlog Point 1,700 RPM 7.9 kts 1.7 gal 7.4 nm
12:15 PM East end of Hope Island 1,800 RPM 8.2 kts 4.3 gal 15.4 nm
12:35 PM Anchor Hope Island, Ontario
Summary elapsed 2.25 hr ave 7.6 kts 9.6 gal total 17.1 nm
1173.5 1154.7 815.0 top 8.7 kts 1.78 mpg
beausoleil_dock

Beausoleil Island

9-10 July 2014

Beausoleil Island and Hope Island in the Georgian Bay, Ontario

Well our thoughts of getting to Beausoleil Island on Tuesday were thwarted by the rain. I was watching the storm and I had visions getting off the dock by 2PM, but then it turned into a real downpour. So we spent the rest of Tuesday napping and reading.

But by Wednesday morning the rain had stopped. It was a little windy but we managed to get onto the main dock to get pumped out and were off across the bay. 45 minutes later we were at the brand new cruiser dock at Cedar Spring on Beausoleil Island, tossing our bow line to the admiral of Katya Lookin’.

Once we were tied to the dock Susan and I broke out the bikes (and the Deep Woods Off!), packed a lunch and headed out to see the island. We headed out on to what we thought was the Huron trail, but instead ended up on a parallel bike trail. One made for BMX bikes, not street bikes. After about 45 minutes we merged into the Huron (packed dirt road) trail and continued our ride north. We reached our next trail, Massasauga, but it was marked “No Bikes”. Chaining our valiant steeds to a tree we continued.

Sight seeing while walking is much easier than sight seeing while trying to keep from falling off a bike and or hitting roots and rocks. We saw all sorts of great nature things like chipmunks, garter snakes, poison ivy, etc. The poison ivy was easy, they have it marked so you know what to look for in the woods. The snakes (tiny baby ones) were sunning on the path, they scooted away when we got close.

The parks department does a good job of keeping the path clear and they have built some nice board walks across the marshy areas of the trail. When there is just the tops of the rocks they have posts with reflective markers on top to mark the trail.

We walked to the area known as The Chimneys. There are a few short docks, some picnic tables and a few tent platforms. We ate lunch with a beautiful view of the tiny bay. It was another of the bright blue sky days in Canada.

We continued north for a little longer to make it to the edge of Fairy Lake, a freshwater lake on the island. There are No Fishing signs up to protect the local fish population. After dowsing with more “Off” bug spray we turned and headed back down the island. The walk back to our bikes seemed quicker since we now knew the way. We stayed on the Huron trail the entire way back to the boat. Much easier biking on the hard path rather than through the woods!

When we got back Susan headed for a nap and I went off to read. After awhile I noticed the Akasha circling around the dock. They were going to try for the end of the dock, but they needed 5 feet of water so it was a little shallow. The Admrial and Captain of Katya Lookin’ and I moved the Quo Vadimus back 10 feet and the Katya Lookin’ forward 10 feet making room for the 48′ Akasha. Akasha is another looper boat, they had started off in Florida.

After chatting with them I went back to my book. Susan was up from her nap and was setting up her own little camp on the dock with her reclinging chair and a small side table. What a way to relax.

For dinner she made us pan fried chicken breasts and veggies. Rather than run the generator, she showed off her camp skills by cooking on the picnic table. Nice to gaze out over the water while eating a great meal. I helped with cleaning up and we were set for the day.

The First Mate of Katya Lookin’ said that she had caught fish from the dock. So Susan and I baited up. She fished off the bow of our boat, I walked down to the far end where Katya Lookin’ was tied up to try my hand there. It was pretty weedy down there and I was getting more snags than bites. I spent most of my time talking to the crew of Katya Lookin’ about their adventures on their boat. Susan didn’t have any success either so we decided to call it a day.

The Captain of Toisich as ur had pointed out a rock formation known as the Giant’s Chair on a point north of us. Friday morning we got up and did some general cleanup around the boat, got the bikes set to rude, packed a lunch and we headed up that way. Now that we had a better understanding of the paths, we were able to stay on solid path (no tree roots) and in an hour we were there. It is a big stone chair that was constructed sometime in the 60′s. First Nations lore has a giant that walked this area, the chair is homage to him.

When we got back we pulled the kayak off the top of the boat for Susan. She loaded up with her fishing gear and headed up towards Finger Point. I worked on the bikes, we were both having gear problems, but my age 14 bike memory soon kicked in and I had them working.

Dinner was bangers with the great caramelized onion gravy that she makes. We had purchased some cheese pierogies in Orillia, that was our side dish. After dinner we socialized with the crew of Katya Lookin’, both the First Mate and the Ensign caught fish. We heard later on that the First Mate had pulled in a large Pike after we we went in for the night.

Off to Hope Island in the morning.

4588

Trip to Beausoleil Island, Ont.

9 July 2014 Cloudy 55 F West 15 kts / 30 kt gusts
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
9:00 AM Pumpout and Depart Brandy’s Island Marina
9:40 AM Dock at Beausoleil Island
Beausoleil Island, Ontario
Summary elapsed 0.75 hr ave 3.5 kts 1.0 gal total 3.1 nm
1171.3 1152.5 813.0 top 7.3 kts 3.1 mpg
Port_Severn00019

Brandy’s Island Ont

6 – 7 July 2014
Port Severn and the last lock in the Trent Severn Waterway

7/6/14 Port Severn Ontario to Honey Harbor time lapse

Today is an exciting day for us, it’s the last lock of the Trent Severn System, next lock is in 30 days!

After breakfast we pulled up the anchor and rehung all of the bumpers. We slowly moved past Starpoint and were soon on the blue line waiting our chance. The Port Severn lock is one of the smallest in the system. They were planning to put us (45′) and a 35′ boat together, it was going to be close quarters.

We got situated, their anchor was next to the cockpit rail on our boat. I could reach out and touch it. On the way down I talked a little to the people while I was hanging an extra fender to keep us from damaging them on the way out the gate.

At the bottom we had to push our nose into the center of the lock so the doors (they swing in) could clear our bow. A few minutes later we were off.

And into what looked like a ski slalom course. There were over a dozen markers showing where the very tiny channel was. Lucky for us there were no other big boats and we were able to get through the area quickly and safely.

Our next challenge was to make the turns at Potato Island Channel another place that does not have room for two larger boats to pass. We waited while a trio of 32′ foot boats came through and then it was our turn. It’s good that I’ve been practicing spinning the boat, we needed to make a sharp left and then a sharp right turn to follow the channel.

On our port horizon was Midland, we were going to Henry’s for lunch. Susan spied a 3 masted boat with full sailes so we chased it down and got some good pictures of it. We then turned north and headed to Midland.

We soon entered into Wye Heritage Marina, the largest marina in Canada. It indeed was huge. We got great slips, about a 5 minute walk to Henry’s. We sat on the deck with a group of motor cycle riders out for the day. When we sat down, they remarked that they would need to clean their language up. I said not to bother we were sailors, salty sailors invented swearing.

We had heard much about Henry’s, it was on the Saveur Top 100 list in 2001. So we had high expectations. Susan had the pan fried pickerel which she said was very good, but not as good as the deep fried pickerel she had at Big Chute. I had what I thought was going to be a cheese-steak, but turned out to be great roast beef with fried onions and peppers.

After lunch we header out of Midland and into the Severn Sound and towards the small boat channel leading to Brandy’s Island. The channel is well marked except for the entrance to the marina. You can’t come directly off the channel, you need to go around the corner and in that way. Once there it’s easy to find things. We were soon at the dock of Brandy’s Island Marina. The manager hopped on our boat with us to direct the way. Our first pass was a little off, I had misjudged the wind and we had to back out and start again.

By this point we collected a crowd. Everyone lined up and as the wind pushed us into the dock they grabbed lines and slid us into place. Very nice and easy.

I checked us in at the marina office and on the way back got a request by the people that helped to see the inside of the boat. So we did a quick clean and loaded 12 guests aboard for a quick tour. Everyone loved the boat, Belle was not amused by all the extra people but she got through it OK.

After a great dinner of Shepard’s Pie I went out to talk to our new boat neighbors for about 2 hours. And as always, in Ontario, the topic became “Butter Tarts”. Basic understanding is that Moms or Grand-Moms make the best one. And a small battle over if you put raisins in a plain butter tart is is still a plain or is now a raisin. There is a faction that sides with the “raisins make a plain tart, just the mix on it’s own is just boring.”

The rain came overnight but it wasn’t as heavy as we expected, but the wind kept us rocking and rolling in our slip.

We spent Monday morning wishing Dave a happy 21st birthday and getting some of these back stories posted.

We are off on Tuesday to Beausoleil Island, we may spend Wednesday there if the weather stays nice.

4588

Trip to Brandy’s Island, Ont

6 July 2014 Clear 74 F South West 10 kts
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
9:20 AM Up anchor – clay bottom
10:15 AM Clear Lock #45 Port Severn – last lock!
Were not ready for the twisty course at the base
12:00 PM Dock at Wye Heritage, lunch at Henry’s South
1:00 PM Leave Wye Heritage, lunch was good
3:50 PM Dock at Brandy’s Island Marina
Honey Harbot, Ontario
Summary elapsed 4.9 hr ave 5.9 kts 14.2 gal total 31.4 nm
1170.6 1151.8 813.4 top 10.6 kts 1.53 mpg
Port_Severn00002

Burrows Bay on the Hook

5 July 2014

Port Severn and Burrows Bay pictures

7/5/14 Anchorage in Burrows Bay time lapse

We decided to try anchoring out for the night, we had not done that since last summer. Since the area we had come through was so nice, we would go back up and find a place to hang out.

First was getting to stores to get some provisions for the upcoming weeks in the Georgian Bay. Starpoint Marina lent us one of their trucks and we headed to the nearest big town 20 minutes away to stock up. 90 mins later we were back at the boat and ready to take off.

We headed back the way we came and took one of the alternate routes into Burrows Bay. We picked a spot away from the other boaters (who would have guessed that this would be a popular place on a really nice Saturday?)

Once we got set, Susan took to the water first in her blue floaty chair. She said the water was a perfect temperature. Once done floating, we took the kayak down (easier than expected) and she went off for a quick tour of the area. About 30 mins later she was back. We put the kayak back (much easier than expected!) We then both tried our hand at fishing. I tried four different sets of lures with not even a nibble.

Susan made chicken breasts in a mushroom cream sauce, fresh corn on the cob and roasted cauliflower for dinner. It was really great eating. It was nice having the generator working to allow her to cook while anchoring out.

It was an early bed for both of us.

But we both got up independently during the night to look at the stars. I was surprised how many more we could see. Susan on her trip was able to find the Big and Little Dippers, so if the GPS goes out, I can use her star skills to navigate.

During the night the wind had stopped, so we had gone to bed facing south. With the current and no wind we swung all the way around and were facing the other way in the morning. A little weird to wake up and see land on the “other side” of the boat.

Big_Chute00056

Over the Big Chute

(Pictures coming soon!)

4 July 2014

Independence Day in the US and our day to ride the Big Chute Railway.

First up was Adam diagnosing the generator problems. Turns out it is a bad contact on the starter switch. I had done some test work, but I was showing voltages in all the right places. He wired a push button, and we pulled the panel light and put the switch in that hole. It’s a little awkward to start but it does work.

We pushed off the dock and headed over to the blue line. A quick check had Belle among the missing. We looked all over for her. I was a little panicked because we had left the back cockpit gate open and I thought she had taken off. Turns out she was at the foot of our bed behind the blanket that was hanging off the bed. Crisis averted.

So we loaded up on the railway car very carefully. We were at the back and then they loaded 4 jet skis in front of us. We had asked if they could take pictures of our propellers and the hull. So the lock master pulled the rail car out of the water and took our camera and got some good shots of the bottom (no damage and the paint is doing well after 850 miles) and even pictures of Susan and I on the boat!

It was then up the short hill and then down the looong hill to the bottom. It’s really neat how the boat stays pretty level for the entire trip. Susan has posted the video of us riding over

The remainder of the trip to Port Severn was pretty easy. There are a few narrow places (see 2:30 and 3:30 in the video) where it’s one big boat at a time. This section of the trip was very pretty, all the little islands with their cottages is very picturesque.

We got to Starpoint Marina and did a bow in tie, but it turns out that their 45′ dock isn’t really 45 long so we had to back out and spin around into the slip. We had lots of help from the dock girls so it was pretty easy.

Starpoint is very nice, they offer to take the trash off, bring you a Saturday paper, and have a gift bag for you. We chilled in the salon for the rest of the afternoon.

For dinner we walked about 10 mins to the Dam Grill, it has a great view of the dam and the lock. We both had steaks, our last attemp had not faired well, but these were well cooked (or in my case not cooked) and very flavorful.

After dinner we stopped and got Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream sundaes. One of the things I’ll miss about Canada is this ice cream. We then walked across the dam and across the lock (one of the smallest in the system and looked at the boats waiting to go through.

After a 10 minute walk back, Susan crashed and I went up to use the fancy low energy washers to do a quick load. The lounge are had comfortable sofas and a 60” TV, so I watched TV for the first time in weeks.

4588

Trip to Port Severn, Ont

4 July 2014 Clear 67 F West 5 kts
Generator Start Switch Bad, put temp switch in place.
Time Location RPM Speed Fuel Distance
10:45 AM Depart dock at Big Chute
Minor delay while we search for Belle
11:15 AM Off the blue line and into the carriage
11:30 AM On our way down! This is very cool!
12:00 PM Burrows Bay 0.8 gal 3.6 nm
3:50 PM Dock at Starport
Port Severn, Ontario
Summary elapsed 3.0 hr ave 3.4 kts 3.6 gal total 7.1 nm
1165.8 1147.0 810.4 top 13.6 kts 2.0 mpg
Big_Chute_trip00002

Big Chute, Ont.

2 July 2014

Locks 43-44 including our trip over Big Chute Marine Railway pictures

7/2/14 Orillia Ontario to Big Chute Ontario time lapse
After a great Canada Day and 12 days in Orillia we did the last pass around the dock and headed out to get a pump out at the next marina up. Once that was done we headed out of “The Narrows” and headed up Couchiching Lake. We were soon at Lock 42. Even with the long break our docking skills were intact!

Next up was Sparrow Lake a combination of river and islands. There are a lot of cottages here and a number of houses that look like year round residences. On the way we saw our Mariposa Landing neighbor, Larry. We stopped to say our final goodbyes and headed to the next lock.

Lock 43, Swift Rapids, is one of the tallest lifts on the Trent / Severn system at 48 feet. It’s unique with two lock walls at the upper end to help with the water pressure. The other locks that go higher are double lift locks.

We were soon down and learned how Swift Rapids got the name. There are sections where it goes from being 60′ wide and 50′ deep to 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep. It’s pretty interesting to go “surfing” the rapids in a 45′ boat.

There is a really nice dock on the upper side of the Big Chute Railway. There were two other boats but there was enough room for us. One of the boats was a looper, Thanks Dad from Florida.

We spent an hour doing some fishing, Susan caught two small fish, but I once again went empty handed. For dinner we walked over to the Big Chute Restaurant. Because of the holiday they were low on their selections of food. Susan got the Big Chute Burger which was good. Coleslaw with an oil/vinegar/sugar dressing was best I’ve had in years. They had hard ice cream, perfect for a Sundae.

We woke on Thursday to rain and a dead generator. I did some trouble checking and was coming up with the correct voltages, but the engine would not turn over. I contacted Terry who lives in the area and he got me in touch with a generator guy. We talked over what the problem could be and decided that our best bet was for him on Friday. Since I wanted to go across Big Chute on a nice day we set it up for him to come to Big Chute.

That gave us a lazy day on the dock, we both read and got naps in. By dinner time the rain had stopped and we walked back over for the fried Pickerel dinner.

After dinner we tried fishing again, but we didn’t get any bites.

Friday weather looks good and after Andy fixes the generator it will be a ride on the Big Chute Railway!