7/25/14 Byng Inlet (St. Amant's Marina)

Charis and Adagio entered the long inlet until we reached St. Amant's Marina.  This area is remote and we are finding that we wanted some cultural activity, music festival or something else to entertain us.  The days we are weathered in become long and tedious at times although we find things to do.  I usually practice the dulcimer, knit or read.  Ron works on charts or cruises the internet if we have WIFI.  As long as we have a clear southerly sky, we get TV through our Direct TV connection, but we only get New York stations.  Ken and Ann have only been able to get CNN on their TV. 

St. Amant's Marina is interesting.  It has a well-equipped store, an LCBO (liquor store), beer store, motel, restaurant and trailer park, all owned by the same person.  Behind their facility is a small cemetery and behind that is a lighted grassy area for helicopter landings.  The last building on that road is a small community center.  We asked where the town was and were told "this is it". 

couple we met who wants to do the loop

7/24/14 Killbear Marina to Byng Inlet

Georgian Bay, on the Eastern side of Lake Huron, is home to 30,000 islands.  Some channels are small and navigable only by canoe or kayak.  Others, which are slightly larger, are restricted to boats under 40' in length.  Today, we navigated through one of those--Canoe Channel, while Ken and Ann opted to go outside with their larger boat. 

We had to be vigilant in the small narrow channel, where rocks lie just outside the markers and under the surface.  At times, I stood on the bow and looked ahead for hazards.  Fortunately, we never encountered any problems.

Sites along the way provide diversions for us.  One or the other of us is often taking photographs.
FYI
The days run together---sometimes the only way to know the day of the week is to look at one's pillbox. 

fire tower

 

 

light house

There are many variations in housing along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailing through narrow channels with rocks

7/23/14 Killbear Marina

Today was a lazy day due to inclement weather.  The wind switched from southerly (last night) to northerly today.  It is very windy, but the sky has cleared.  Ron worked on charting and has tentative plans all the way to Chicago.  I knitted a baby blanket for Leah, our new grandbaby to be born in September. 

We joined Ken and Ann for dinner at the marina restaurant where they specialize in German cuisine.  Ron and I shared the rouladen but had our own desserts.

Early to bed tonight, since we plan to leave at 0600 tomorrow for our 6 hour trip to Byng Inlet. 

7/22/14 Parry Sound to Killbear

We are headed for Killbear Marina in Killbear, Ontario, Georgian Bay.  This will be a short day of only 13 miles, but we want to get in port early due to predicted storms.  500 miles west of here they are experiencing 70 miles per hour winds.  We will spend two nights at Killbear which appears to be a very safe harbor.

After leaving Parry Sound, we headed for "hole in the wall".  It is a natural cut with a narrow passage through two land masses.  The tour boat passed us as we left Parry Sound.

Tour boat

Don't worry, be happy!



Charis enters Hole in the Wall

 

7/21/14 Parry Sound

Good news.  Ken and Ann's boat had a minor, not major problem with their transmission.  The linkage was the problem and it is fixed.  The electronics guy looked at our boat today, too.  No significant problem was identified.  Ron found a fuse that had burned out and replaced it.  He then cleaned out the engine room.  So tomorrow, both boats will be underway again.  The weather Wednesday is a possible problem with some wind and rain, so we hope to be in a safe spot by tomorrow evening. 

Tonight we got a ride across the bay in Don and Helen's dinghy.  They are the Canadians who led Ken and Ann from Midland to Parry Sound.  We were joined by their friends Carl and Karen.  We walked into town from their marina and had a lovely meal at a Bay Street Café. 

On the way to the Café, we saw the Bobby Orr Performing Arts Center.  For those who don't remember, Bobby Orr was the famous Canadian hockey player.

beautiful hydrangeas
 

After visiting for a while on Don and Helen's boat, Don took us back across the bay in his dinghy. 

7/20/14 Echo Island to Parry Sound

We are having some problems with our batteries.  After running the generator last night for a couple of hours, we've found that we had no power this morning.  Then the starting batteries did not work either.  We have two separate battery banks, but both seem to be experiencing some problems.  We plan to stop at Sound Boat Works to have them check our batteries on Monday.  We again wound through beautiful small channels, which were very narrow in spots and shallow.  There were other areas that were very deep (140+ feet) and wide.

Osprey nest

There is was 17 foot swing bridge before entering Parry Sound.  Ron went up and lowered our antennae and I drove through without a problem.  If we had been too high, we would have waited for the hourly opening of the bridge. 

As we pulled in to the slip today at Sound Boat Works, we realized that the depth was 65 feet.  Unbelievable when we are used to 6 or 7 feet.

very fragrant milk weed

Sound Boat Works opens at noon on Sunday.  As soon as it opened, the only worker (a female) was inundated with business.  She had boats lined up for pump outs all that way out to the sound and numerous boaters were on the radio trying to get a boat slip.  She raced up and down the dock, pumping fuel, doing pump-outs. answering the marine radio and assigning slips.  Quite a worker!!

Ken and Ann arrived about 3 hours after we got here.  They were able to get here with their malfunctioning transmission.  Occasionally they put the boat in reverse and it doesn't work.  Tomorrow they will have a mechanic take a look.

7/19/14 Anchorage at Echo Island South Harbor

There are 10 boats here in addition to Adagio.  Duke loves the dinghy and often goes out and sits on the swim step, hoping that a ride will occur soon. 

 

 While Duke and Ron were headed toward shore last night, a father and two kids came over in their dinghy and asked if we were loopers.  Canadians on this route are certainly familiar with loopers.  He welcomed us to Canada and gave us some suggestions on places to go.  He felt, as we do, that most loopers bypass wonderful anchorages in Georgian Bay.

Another Nordic Tug came in this afternoon.  Steve is single-handling Atla a 32 ft. Nordic Tug. 

 

 His daughter is currently aboard but will be leaving soon.  He is from Aransas Pass, TX.  His wife does not love boating, so she stayed behind.  Annabelle, the Ranger Tug, which is being single-handled by a woman pulled in to the anchorage today, too. 

 

As of this evening, there are 16 boats here.  The Ontario Parks staff came through this evening to collect $10 from those who have lines tied to shore.  I mentioned that it seemed crowded here, but they said this is nothing compared to the number of boats here on a long weekend. 

While cooking dinner tonight, the power went out.  Ron was quite sure it was the impeller, which hasn’t been replaced since we were on the Potomac two years ago.  He was able to replace it and we recharged the batteries.  In the morning, we plan to head for Parry Sound.  Ken and Ann will be bringing Charis to Parry Sound tomorrow to have their transmission rebuilt.  We also learned yesterday that Ken’s brother from Tarpon Springs, FL passed away.  Our sympathy to Ken and Ann.

7/18/14 Beausoleil Island to Echo Island South Anchorage

0800 we pulled away from the dock at Beausoleil.  We wound around through narrow well-marked channels most of the morning.  There at lots of cottages on islands here.  We wonder if they used generators or have an underwater cable to the mainland.  They must be fairly self-sufficient for the water, sewage, and garbage. 

This area is gunk-hole territory—anchorages abound.   We saw a grocery store/gas station on the water.  This is probably a provisioning store for those in cottages.

While we were underway, we heard a call on the radio from Kadadi to another boat.  We immediately recognized the unusual boat name and called him (John) on the radio.  We had met 3 years ago in Florence, AL on the Tennessee River and at the Rendezvous.  The next time we saw them was on the Chesapeake right after John had broken his leg in a fall from his top deck. We saw them again in Delaware City.  Georgian Bay is their home.  We had a nice conversation with John on the radio.  He even remembered Duke!

We stopped at Henry’s Fish Camp for lunch and ran into Chuck and Margaret on Francesca.  They were heading for Parry Sound for two nights.  We imagine we will meet up with them again. 

Henry’s is an interesting place.  You can come by boat, sea plane, water taxi, tour boat or jet ski.  There were 3 sea planes, a water taxi and a tour boat there during our lunch.

 

 

  After lunch we headed to South Echo Bay.  There were already several boats anchored and two more pulled in right after we did.  Some boats tie their sterns to shore using rings on shore to secure their lines.  We chose to float freely since the water was an adequate depth. 

Echo Island South Anchorage
 

 

neighboring boater tying to ring on shore

 

7/17/14 Bay Port Marina (Midland) to Beausoleil Island

After a free pump-out at Bay Port Marina, we headed for a dock on Beausoleil Island.  Because Ken and Ann were still waiting for their alternator to be returned to the boat, they stayed at Midland.   There was one spot left on the cruiser dock as we pulled in at 1100.  Wood chips are used in the area near the boats on this dock, we believe, to protect from mosquitoes.

 

 

 

 

 

There are hiking and biking trails, cabins, beaches and a ranger station with restrooms and cold showers here.  We were warned in advance that there are “shy” rattlesnakes here.  Garbage bins have bear warnings on them, too.  We hiked to the ranger station and back with Duke.  The looper boat behind is a Blue Jacket 28 (DeDe) which Henry and Diane built themselves. 

 

They are from Virginia.  Diane is a deaconess in the Methodist Church and specializes in finance.  Henry is retired from the electronic communication industry.  There were lots of boats anchored offshore.  We took a dingy ride with Duke to look around.

A sailboat (being single-handled) near the dock was trying to anchor when his anchor line detached from the boat.  A lady on the boat pictured below dove in and retrieved the line but not the anchor.  Later, her husband got their dinghy out and salvaged the anchor and returned it to the sailboat.  Boaters are great about helping one another. 

The docks here were brand new and nice and wide.

7/16/14 Still in Midland

This is our 3rd day in Midland.  The nights have been cool (in the low 50s) and days have been in the 60s.  A cold front moved in a couple of days ago with some showers at night, but clearing during the day.  This weather doesn't stop Canadians from enjoying the water.  Some kids on the dock have been swimming in 70 degree water.  I am bundled in long pants and a jacket. 

Ron and Ken are busily plotting our course for the next week.  Because the magenta line on the chart disappears, it requires some careful planning to make sure we are in deep water and safe harbors. 

7/15/14 Midland

I love mornings when we can sleep late.  Since we had no destination today, that is exactly what we did.  After a late breakfast, Ron and Ken got together with Brian, one of the marina staff.  He assisted the guys in reviewing their charts for Georgian Bay and made some recommendations for good anchorages and marinas. 

After lunch, we again took advantage of the free ride to the grocery store for our last provisioning before we head out.  We plan to stay here a total of three nights, since they offer a free night if you stay two.  Later in the afternoon, I took adavantage of the nice facilities and did a load of wash.

Ann learned about a restaurant in town called the Library, so we plan to try it out tonight.  One of these days, we need to start eating on board.....or.....we will be donating a lot of food to a food pantry. 

Ken and Terry (Roundabout) joined the four of us at the Library for dinner.  They offered a special menu called Barrie Licious with a fixed price for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.  We all opted for something on this menu and we were all pleased with our choices. 

appetizer of berry salad and brie cheese

 

Saying a prayer for Terry, who will head for Niagara Falls by car tomorrow to address some health issues.

7/14/14 Big Chute Railway to Bay Port Marina, Midland, Ontario

 

After a night on one of the "waiting" docks,

 Charis headed for the blue line.  They had hoped to be first in the railway, so that they would have a good view.  Once they were tied up, we headed for the blue line, but the lock staff got on the loud speaker and told us to approach the Chute.  We quickly got in and the slings around the boat were secured. 

Big Chute Railway

 

Charis was told to get into the lock behind us.  When they were in position, there was some discussion about the location of their external bow thruster.  The lock staff was very concerned that it would be damaged if they remained in the same spot, so they were told to back out of the railway.

  Ken and Ann's boat is very wide, heavy and not very maneuverable when in reverse.  In addition, one side of the approach had water rushing into the dam and the other side was very shallow.  Ken was finally able to maneuver the boat to a safe spot while ours proceeded through on the railway. 

The time it takes for a boat to move top to the bottom is about 10 minutes once the boat is secured.  It takes another 10 minutes for the rail to return to the top.  Once down, Ron and I tied Adagio to a dock and waited for Charis.  We were in a great spot to get lots of photos as they proceeded in the railway.

The last lock on the Trent Severn is Lock 45.  It is a very small lock.  Charis went in and tied to starboard.  We went in and tied to port, but we were not side by side.  As Charis started to exit the lock, the cable on the wall to which Ann was attached at the stern broke. It broke so abruptly that she fell backwards and landed on her bum.  She was bruised pretty badly from this fall.
Charis was NOT having a good day!!


Several channels on our way to Midland were very narrow.  There were reds and greens  extremely close together and not on our chart.  I was so grateful that we have a boat that has a beam of only 11'2".  Wider boats are challenged especially when another boat approaches. 

We arrived at Midland at 1330.   Approaching the marina on port side there is a huge mural in town.  We learned later that they have murals around town which commemorate the town's history. Midland Marina is huge. They have 500 slips and indoor storage for 100 small boats.  There are six complexes which house restrooms/showers and laundry facilities.  They employ a full time person to keep the restroom/shower/laundry facilities clean. 

 

Free transportation is provided at this marina.  We took advantage of this service for our dinner at the Boat House.  It was a nice evening on the patio and enhanced by live music.