September 10 – Friends along the way

We’re waiting in Cheboygan, Michigan to be hauled out later this week.  Then we’ll pick up a rental car and make our way back to Virginia.  It has been over three months since we have driven a car, so we’re hoping it’s like riding a bike.

When we started this trip Patti said that we’re going to meet our new best friends this summer.  And we did.  Here is the list:

·         Wade and Suzie on “Shady Lady” in Chesapeake City, Maryland

      ·         C.A. and Sandy on their Monk 36 – “Refuge” in Cape May, NJ
      ·         Paul, Nancy, Ed, Bobi, Larry, Joan our Cape May County best friends
      ·         Don and Connie on their Monk - “Shiffli” from Kingston, NY to Oswego, NY
      ·         Steve on “Miss Hadley” from Waterford, NY to Orillia, Ontario
      ·         Russ and Elaine on “Twelve Stones” also from Waterford, NY to Orillia, Ontario
      ·         Tim on his kayak in Ilion, NY – Tim was traveling the great loop in a kayak
      ·         Curt and Marilyn on “Castaway II” in Minetto, NY
      ·         Judy and Bruce – the harbor/park masters in Minetto, NY
      ·         John and Susan on “Nuclear Fishin” in Oswego, NY
      ·         Don and Kathleen on “John B” on the Trent Severn waterway
      ·         Mike and Laurie on “Green Eyed Lady” on the Trent Severn
      ·         Bruce and Anne on “Happy Hour”
      ·         John on “Endeavour” in Orillia, Ontario
      ·         Larry and Flora on their Manatee – “Panda Bear” our traveling companions from Orillia to Cheboygan
      ·         Harry and Carolyn on “Pour House” (soon to be renamed “Poor House”) on Lock 43
      ·         Bill and Lannie on their Monk 36 – “Seafarer” on Beausolleil Island in the Georgian Bay
      ·         Tom and Barbara on their Monk 36 at their Georgian Bay island
      ·         Jeff and Susan on “Gran Vida” in Little Current
      ·         Kip and Linda on “Rascal” in Little Current
      ·         Harvey and Judy on EOS in Thesallon, Ontario
      ·         Kat and Court on Alaya in Mackinac Island

And many more.  It is the people met along the way that make cruising, and maybe life, that much richer and worthwhile.

Thank you

Last Port of Call For 2014... Bois Blanc Island

We couldn't bring ourselves to end the trip any sooner than we had to, so we stopped at Bois Blanc Island just 5 miles from Fairways' Winter home in Cheboygan.

Only a dirt road, a few homes, a restaurant, an airstrip, & a ferry along with a bare bones marina. That means great biking, woodsy smell & a place to get a head start Winterizing the boat.  And to clean up the boat.

In reflecting on how the trip compared to our expectations: it was more social with almost no career, TV or political discussions which were replaced with tales of adventure, boating strategies, weather & destinations. Very easy to get up a pot luck supper or happy hour. The terrain & boating conditions changed from salt to fresh water, tides to wind driven water levels, sand to rocks, rocks, rocks, placid open water to the swirling water of dam turbulence. Spectacular scenery.

Best of all were the new friends we made & plan to see again this Winter or again next Summer! The beautiful ship's log given to us by our friends from work is chock full of boat cards, cruising data & wonderful memories we hope to repeat.

 Fairways and following seas. Stay tuned. :)

September 3 - Mackinac Island, Michigan

We left Thessalon, Ontario after spending three days there (something like the joke: "we spent a week there one night").  It rained for a couple of days, but we enjoyed it.  There were three other boats there (EOS, Panda Bear and Gran Vida).  We had a great time getting to know them, dinners together, etc.  And the people of Thessalon were very friendly, especially Ronnie who works part time at the marina & is a wealth of local knowledge.

We went to Drummond Island on Sunday to clear customs and then anchored out in Harbor Island.  It was a beautiful night to anchor out, with the full sky of stars and Milky Way.

From there we went to DeTour Village for one night, then to Mackinac Island yesterday.  If you haven't been to Mackinac Island in Michigan, it's a little out of the way, but worth a visit.  The downtown looks like Disneyworld's main street.  There are no cars.  Only horse manure, (a lot of) bicycles, plus horses.  We could smell the horse manure on the way in before we even reached the dock.

We're going to stay here two or three days to ride the bikes and explore the island. There is an 8 mile ring road & lots of park trails with elevation, views, gardens & rock formations.

This will probably be one of our last stops before we go to Cheboygan to start the process of cleaning up the boat and getting our stuff off.  And find a car to visit some of the people we met along the way, plus others we missed.

August 29 - Thessalon, Ontario

We left Little Current about four or five days ago.  The days seem to go quickly, even though we're moving slowly.  We have been at anchor for four days in some beautiful and different places.  Now in Thessalon we're at a dock and can get an internet connection at the local library.

We anchored in three different locations:
Croker Island (a tight anchorage with steep cliffs all around us; a bear came down to the water and checked us out, and a beaver swam around our boat, several times; and Patti baked blueberry scones and I delivered hot scones to our neighbors)

Eagle Island (a big wide anchorage with protection from the southwesterly winds; Panda Bear joined us for the evening)

and Beardrop Bay (beautiful scenery; Patti caught a fish (we think it was a Pickerel))

 

All were beautiful and remote.  The stars at night, are big and bright, and the Milky Way goes from horizon to horizon.  But no northern lights.  Each night at anchor there are no other lights in the area, except for a couple of other boats' anchor lights.

Yesterday we arrived in the Thessalon marina.  It's getting late in the season and fewer boaters are on the water.  We have the place to ourselves.

The US is beckoning, and we're only about 15 miles away.  As soon as the weather clears a little, we'll head south to the US.  It's been a good three months and we're getting itchy to get the boat tucked away in Cheboygan, Michigan for the winter and head home.

August 22 - Little Current (deja vue all over again)

We came back for the Cruisers Net pot luck dinner on Friday night.   They gave you a free night at the dock if you attended the pot luck.  Did I say "free"? Fifty one boats descended on Little Current despite Summer vacations winding down & most of the boats doing the great Loop having migrated out of the Great Lakes by now.

It's a really nice town and we enjoyed coming back to meet boat people of the North Channel.  They seem intent on convincing us to keep our boat up here and keep coming back every summer.

Yesterday Patti and I left "downtown" Kagawong and anchored in Clapperton Harbor.  Not a harbor really, but a large bay that is well protected from the wind.  This time we were alone.  No other boats, no houses or cabins on the shore.  And it was dark at night.

Patti insisted we go skinny dipping.  Normally I'm more reserved than that, but she convinced me.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures.

Today we came back to Little Current and have a great spot on the "wall".  It's across from a flowerbed.  I'll attach pictures.  Soon.

Meanwhile, it's Friday night in Little Current!  Woo hoo! Sounds like a good excuse for ice cream. 

August 20 - Kagawong, Ontario (and rain, rain, rain)

You'll have to google Kagawong to find it.  You can't find it by car if you blink.  Very small and the main harbor is large enough for a half dozen boats.  But it is beautiful on the bottom of Mudge Bay.

Yesterday we left Little Current to come to Kagawong or to anchor out  (40% chance of rain predicted). Half way there the wind and rain picked up, then came lighting and thunder.  There are no tides or hurricanes here but waves can build in the wind across a long stretch of water, in this case West Bay. We were rolling in 3 to 4 foot waves on the beam, so we zig-zagged across the waves and opted for the safe harbor.  Not that we could see very far anyway to anchor.

We learned from the Kagawong museum that our route was the one where Daniel Dodge, the Dodge Motor heir, lost his life falling out of a boat in a storm. There was big drama for Kagawong when his switchboard operator bride of 13 days inherited millions & was suspected of foul play. But they had been on the way to Little Current for medical treatment after he & a friend blew themselves up playing with dynamite in the garage - the garage of the lake cottage sold to him by a Ford heiress for $1. Just when you think you are away from it all...

Today we woke up to more rain and decided to stay put.  When the rain finally stopped we walked up to the Bridal Veil Falls.  On the way we saw a salmon trying to get up stream to spawn.  This is early, they usually start moving up stream in the fall.  If you can see in the picture, this salmon has a Lamprey eel attached to him.  One of the reasons the Great Chute railway is operation - to keep Lampreys out of the Trent Severn system.

Finally the falls in the rain.  Nice spot for swiming if we weren't already a little wet.

August 18 - Little Current, Ontario (the North Channel)

We left Killarney three days ago and anchored out in Covered Portage Cove.  We liked it so much we stayed two nights.  Either that or we're getting lazier.  Pulling up the anchor is hard.
Patti's favorite part about this anchorage is that we had an Indian beside us.  If you look hard, you can see him watching over Fairways.

We ran around in the dinghy, we read, we ate, but we didn't go anywhere for two days.  Hard to imagine.

 

Yesterday we moved the boat and traveled up the Baie Fine (pronounced "Bay Fin"), which is a thin lake-like waterway with mountains (small mountains) on both sides.  Although we had to motor around for a couple of hours to get there, we saw that, as the crow flies, we could probably have hiked to Baie Fine from Covered Portage in less time.

 

After our Baie Fine tour, we moved to a quiet anchorage on Heywood Island (below) and dropped the hook (anchor) and we were alone.  No other boats.  That didn't last long and we were surrounded by sailboats.  We spent the early evening watching them take their dogs ashore & pick blueberries.  We did a little maintenance & swam although the water was cold! In 17 ft of very clear water we could see the anchor chain & our shadow. Fun times in the beautiful North Channel.

Today we made it to Little Current, and we're tied up to the town dock wall.  It's a great small town and we're enjoying a chance to walk around.  Good internet, but no cell phone coverage.  Have to climb the hill to get a signal.

Little Current is the home of the "Cruiser's Net" which broadcasts news, weather & a cruiser's check in each day in July & August at 9 am on marine band, VHF channel 71.  Cruisers relay calls from those who are more remote (out of radio range to Little Current) and share relevant info. It is great to hear where our friends are even though they are not in range of our radio.

August 14, 2014 – Killarney, Ontario

It has been six days since we last tied up at a marina and had internet access:  two nights in Kilkoursie Bay in the Kill Bear Provincial Park, a night on the Alexander Channel in a side anchorage, a night in the Bustard Islands and two nights in Mill Lake, about 13 miles before Killarney. 

Each day we made about 20 or 30 miles progress, through very interesting and winding waterways.  There were rocks everywhere, so careful navigation was important.  There were islands all over, some with trees and others just rocks.  In some places the whole area looks like a moonscape (with water).  Beautiful, foreboding and exposed.  

We picked anchorages carefully.  In one anchorage we had an underwater rock (2.5 feet below the surface) beside us that looked like a small whale that was waiting for us.  Patti is standing on it.

Once we got used to the idea of rocks (or a little more used to rocks), the anchorages were beautiful.  The weather was warm and very low wind.  We were able to explore in the dinghy, swim and Patti fished (no luck).

Then the weather changed two days ago.  We had wind and rain, from the southeast, then the northwest.  We sat at anchorage on Mill Creek for two nights.  We had company though, Larry and Flora Moynihan in Panda Bear (a Krogen Manatee) were traveling with us and we got off the boat both days for happy hour and dinner.  It’s good to have company while cruising.

Yesterday we moved from Mill Lake to Killarney in rain and wind from the Northwest.  Luckily we were traveling west and the waves were reduced by the north shore.  It felt good to get off the boat and walk around. Killarney is small, but has a nice waterfront and is a good break from being on the anchor.

Next is the North Channel.  Another place to explore.  3 or 4 weeks remaining.  The summer has gone fast.

August 3 - 5 - Somewhere in the Georgian Bay

We were having great weather.  We left Sandy Bay on Hope Island with sun and little or no wind.  The Georgian Bay was literally"like glass".  We headed NNE toward the Haystack islands.  It was an easy cruise up toward Fryingpan Island, where Tom McDonald (an accomplished Monk owner) was going to meet us and lead us to their island.  I have never known anyone with an island, anywhere.  So we were excited.

Tom showed up in their motorboat with his son-in-law and granddaughter.  They dropped off Tom on our boat just like the Chesapeake Bay pilots.  Tom immediately said "right rudder 5 degrees, left rudder 5 degrees", just to let us know who was in control. :)  He led us through the islands (and rocks) to their cabin which sits on a beautiful little island.  They have docks behind it that held the fleet:  our Monk and his, as well as a pontoon boat, three run abouts, paddle board, and other floating toys.  It was a great setting and we enjoyed it a lot.  Thank you Tom and Barbara! We couldn't have enjoyed it more.

Patti caught her first "big" fish: a 24 inch northern pike.  This fish was very prophetic since Patti's maiden name is "Pike" (Patti Ann Pike).  She was understandably excited, and Tom cleaned and fried the fish for everyone to share for dinner.  Couldn't have been better.

It was hard, but we had to move on.  The plan was to go to Parry Sound and provision up for the northern and remote (?) areas ahead.

August 1 & 2 – Somewhere on the Georgian Bay

We anchored out two nights after leaving Midland.  The first night was along Beausoleil National Park.  Which is an island and a great park with trails and a lot of people tent camping.  We took the dinghy to shore and walked around.  It was great to see people enjoying themselves who were later going to sleep on the ground.

It was Friday night of a three day Canadian holiday weekend and the natives were restless.  The anchorage was chock-a-block full of boats rafted up with their jet skis and fast dinghies.  We rocked on the anchor until about 6:00 and then they fired up their Honda generators sitting on their swim platforms.  We settled down to a nice evening listening (rocking) to the native music until into the wee morning hours.  Nice calm evening.

Later in the day Bill and Lannie Rourke and their grand-daughter Riley met us at the anchorage in their Monk.  Bill keeps his boat across the bay at Penetanguishene (or something spelled like that).  We had happy hour on their boat and breakfast on ours.  Bill gave us an orientation to the area and (most importantly) encouragement that we could make it through the rocks.  We weren't sure.

The forecast was for calm winds and Bill recommended Sandy Bay at Hope Island.  We left Bill and Lannie and went over to Sandy Bay and, while still busy, it was a big open bay with 90 percent sail boats (and no jet skiis).  The sandy bottom was 10 feet below us and we could clearly see the anchor and chain below us.  We swam around the boat and cleaned the waterline, and enjoyed a calm, dark night on the anchor.  It was beautiful.

July 31 - Midland, Ontario

Today we completed the Trent Severn waterway and entered the Georgian Bay and the land of rocks.  We also went through our last lock today and 72 locks total on this trip.  That's enough locks for one Summer.  The Canadian locks are great in that each has a park with picnic tables, fire pits and rest rooms.  Tying up at a lock for the night, especially in the country locks, is like camping out - not really - we have the luxury of a 36 ft trawler so shared our hot breakfast scones with boat/tent campers.  We had camp fires a few times and met some very nice families.  And the staff that work the locks are great.  All friendly and can't help enough.

The next to the last lock was not a lock at all, but a "marine railway" at the "Big Chute".  The Big Chute is famous in Canada and to anyone that has traveled the Trent Severn.  Traveling it the first time is an adventure, but was easier than most locks.  Just pull in and they lift you out of the water, carry you across a road, down a hill and dump you into the water on the other side.

We stayed overnight at the bottom of the Big Chute last night and came to Midland, Ontario today.  Getting a wash done and preparing for anchoring out this weekend.
Our internet access is going to be spotty for a while, so we'll update the blog again as soon as we can.

July 28 - Orillia - Cold

Forecast is for 48 degrees tonight.  It's cold out there campers.  Makes for good sleeping, although everyone is concerned that the summer may be history.
Nothing exciting happened today (a good thing).  Although we spent time doing what we wanted to do.  I rode my bicycle to the local golf course (up hill), and Patti worked to complete new curtains for the aft stateroom (very nice).  It was good to do our own thing for a few hours.
Orillia has been a good place to relax.  And it has been a good place to spend time with other people.

Maybe that's the best part.  The Canadians have been great.  We always get a nice welcome.  And the other people doing what we are doing are always looking for new friends and new things they can learn.  Patti said that we will meet our next best friends, and I'm sure we all ready have.  Several times.
Tomorrow we move on.  It's always an adventure.  A bit stressful combined with excitement of something new.

July 27 - Orillia, Ontario

67 locks so far and 4 to go.
We left Fenelon Falls three days ago after a little excitement.  While we were tied up to the wall in Fenelon our boat was hit by a houseboat (not a small houseboat & not slowly).


Everyone jokes about inexperienced house boaters, but it's not until they hit your boat that the joke wears thin.  Patti was on the boat when she heard everyone yelling.  It seems there was some confusion about which way to push the throttle to go forward or backward.  They caught at least one bumper and then took out two small pieces of fiberglass.  Not that big a deal considering.  We made a deal with the houseboat company, and left the next morning to get further in the Trent Severn system than houseboats are allowed to go.

We crossed Balsam Lake into one of the narrowest parts of the Trent Severn.  It is several miles of very narrow canal with rocks on both sides.  The rocks seem to be a couple of feet off of the boat on either side.  They recommend calling out on the radio before entering the canal. The theory is that the opposing boats are listening or even have radios.  We made it fine.  Just like going down the Dismal Swamp canal (with rocks).

Then we rode the second lift lock at Kirkfield and "camped" at a country lock with plenty of peace and quiet, and no houseboats.

Yesterday we crossed the largest lake on the Trent, Simco Lake.  Reports are that it can get rough, but it wasn't.  We went to the Orillia Marina, right in the middle of their Beatles festival. There were Beatles bands everywhere until midnight.
We get a free night if we pay for two, so we're staying put.  On Tuesday we'll start out push to the Georgian Bay.

July 24 - Fenelon Falls

Bobcaygeon was nice, but pretty busy and a lot of houseboats.  From a cruisers perspective, houseboats are to be avoided at all costs, with your boat hook ready.  They are all great people, but they get a 20 minutes of video training and they send them out.  Mix in a little wind and watch the fun.  The tourists love it.  They get crossways in the locks and can't figure how to straighten them out.  And many of the houseboats are huge!
But if you haven't experienced houseboats, I recommend them as a family vacation.  And the Trent Severn is a great place to try them out.

Yesterday we moved 15 miles to Fenelon Falls.  15 miles is our daily pace now.  Today we're staying put, and maybe a little golf. Tomorrow we'll do another 15 to the lift lock at Kirkfield. 

We've done 62 locks and are about two thirds through the Trent Severn.

Patti is "practicing" fishing, usually in the evenings, and we're enjoying exploring these small towns.  Everyone is great and very friendly.

July 23 - Bobcaygeon

Great names of the towns up here.
So far 61 locks, and the last two have been busy.  Seems like everyone likes to go to get ice cream in their boats and clog up the locks.  Then there are the houseboats.  Everyone on the houseboats is on vacation and new to steering a box on floats.  As we go further west we're hoping to out run them.

Yesterday we had the boat engine mounts blessed.  They said that a forward lean to the engine posts is not unusual and not a problem.  And, no charge for the inspection.  People up here are great.
Today is cloudy, we're not in a hurry, so maybe we'll sit tight or go a short ways.