Our 16th Anniversary today!

We wove our way thru the winding channels to Midland.  This is where we are going to keep the boat while we go back home for a week.  It's nice and secure there, security gates and 715 boat slips! No frills but a good home for Blue Moon for now. 

Dave and Jim gave the teak two coats of fresh varnish and it looks beautiful. Lin did all the towels and bedding laundry so when we get back the boat will be all fresh. 

I can't say enough about Jim and Lin.  Besides being our forever dear friends, they were awesome to travel with. Helping get that boat through all those 45 locks, cooking and cleaning, reading charts and keeping us on course and varnishing and fixing something all the time. Putting up with Dave and I!  Jim spent quite a bit of time in the engine room trying to get the auto helm working properly and darn if he didn't do it!!  They live in Florida 9 months of the year but live on their gorgeous Chris Craft in Sodus in the summers.  Lin is a very experienced travel agent.
linda@loristravelservice.com if you needs expert travel assistance.

Thanks again you two!!!

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary and what a fun, crazy trip it has been!  We have three adorable grandchildren; we still have crazy dreams and make each other laugh.  What more could you ask?  Love you honey!

 

So we left Blue Moon in Midland and rented a car and drove the 3 1/2 hours home to Pt. Breeze.

Carmen is spending Friday night with us so we are a happy Ganny and Grandpa!  I'm picking up Aja tomorrow from Steve because for some reason I miss that grouchy old cat.

 

Plan on returning to the boat next Tuesday and John, Karen and Brandon will be joining us a few days later for our Georgian Bay North Channel, Mackinack Island and trip down Lake Michigan to Chicago by Labor Day portion of the Great Loop.

On the hook for two days. O.K., now what do we do???

After South Bay Cove Marina we went to a place called Longuissa Cove.  Recommended by another boater of course.  It was idyllic and there were other boats on the hook there for the night; that gives me some sort of false sense of security but I'll take it.  We got the dingy down and Dave actually tried fishing!  He took the dinghy and even though he did take the radio he didn't answer channel 16 when we were trying the hail him to see if he was o.k. (because HE WAS OUT OF SIGHT OF COURSE)  So I tried the cell phone--nope, I even emailed his iphone.  Nothing.  I was getting pretty worried because it was getting late in the day and the dinghy had some sort of engine issue with water in the fuel and wasn't running all that great.  Finally he comes sashaying back and I wanted to strangle him once I knew he was o.k.  Kind of like when the kids came home way past curfew.  Fear for their safety changes to anger is an instant!! He said he must have bumped the radio and it went off channel.  We all gave him a stern warning to be more careful with communications next time.  Oh, and no fish.

This is what it looked like there off our stern.  The loons were playing around the boat.

 

 

 

 

Chef Lin threw together another amazing dinner and we settled in to watch the Johnny Carson DVD.  I grew up watching Johnny Carson with my mom, even on school nights because I had no set bedtime.  Brat!   Carson was King.  Jimmy Fallon has a shot but he ain't there yet.

 

Next day we decided to spend another night in the same anchorage but here's the problem.  What do 4 hyper,super busy all the time people do on a boat all day??   There was no internet connection so we were already going thru withdrawl over that so you can read-try not to eat all day-read some more-clean something-watch another movie-and oh yeah, since the boat has a bit of teak on it you can always sand and varnish something.  So that's what we did part of the day; sand the teak rails to ready them for varnish.  Poor Jim and Lin didn't know they had signed onto a slave ship for two weeks!!

 

 

 Later Dave and I took a little dinghy ride around the cove and realized that it might be good to invest in a hand held gps because you might not be able to find your way back to the mother ship out there.

 

Watched some more Carson and I think we all went to bed when it was still daylight because we had exhausted trying to find something to do!  This decompressing is going to take some work!

 

Next day Benji had had it and said it was time to move on!

 

So we pulled up anchor, said good-bye to the loons and headed for a marina in Midland, Ontario.

 

 



 

 





Roller Coaster Ride...the Big Chute

Finally on to the Big Chute.  Back in 1904 it was an engineering marvel and it's still doing what it's supposed to do.  It has two sets of parallel rails ,one for the front tracks and one for the rear set of tracks.  The front racks are about a foot wider than the back and the two rail systems vary in elevation in order to keep the whole thing level as the platform travels up, over and down the other side.  Pretty cool!

The stern is hanging waaay out but apparently the lockmasters know what they are doing. Imagine that. 

 

Once down the chute Dave had to navigate through a maze of red and green markers.  It was like threading a needle with the boat.  There was a swift current and actual rapids on the other side of us!

Jeeze!

 



Onto the 45th and FINAL lock. Yaaay!

 

We had to wait for awhile and it was the deepest lock of all.  Once thru, the gates opened and we were in Georgian Bay!

 

Then, it seemed to me that all hell broke loose.  The markers were very close to each other and winding around huge outcroppings and tight, tight little channels.  You wanted to look at the wonderful landscape but did not dare take your eyes away from looking for the next marker.  There is no forgiveness in Georgian Bay.  So many people have told us that and now we see why.  No room for error or you are on the rocks!  The Trent-Severn was a piece of cake compared to this.  It is gorgeous, totally gorgeous.  Beautiful cottages and humble little family get aways.

 

We were looking for a marina called South Bay Cove that someone had recommended.  To get there we had to pass through Honey Harbour; one of the busiest channels in GB, especially on a beautiful July day. 

 

We found it and were pleasantly surprised.  It was one of the nicest marinas we have been to yet.  Even nicer than Hilton Head!  They drove us around in golf carts, brought us a newspaper, had coffee and cookies in the clubhouse in the morning and, more importantly, had a cute ship's store. 

Again, CANADIANS have their act together for boaters!!!

 

I forgot to mention what happened to us in Fenlon Falls that really touched us.  We were tied up to a wall near the roadway.  This cute little old (80ish) couple pulled up and started talking to us about the boat.  This is becoming very common, it is a different looking boat for sure.  They left and a little while later they came back and gave us their Power Squadron Training Manual from 1961! They thought we might need it!  How cute is that?  Inside the book was a nice old map of the Trent Severn Waterway that I plan on framing when we get home.  We failed to get their names so I can't even send them a thank you note.

 

Back in Lost Channel  there was a boat anchored next to us.  Another little old man came over in his dinghy and proceeded to show us some wonderful-not-to miss places in GB.  In fact, he was the one who told us about South Bay Cove Marina.  We never got his name either (bad habit!) but Jim started calling him Ernest T. Beggs from the old Andy of Mayberry show because he did look like him.

 

Boaters are a very helpful bunch of people.  In most cases they will go out of their way to help a fellow boater or recommend places to go.  Precious info in Georgian Bay because it is so vast and a little intimidating.

 

 

 

 

 

ONE MORE LOCK TO GEORGIAN BAY!

We left Buckhorn Lock #31 and went through more-more-can't remember how many-locks.  Captain Dave and Jim were busy at the upper helm.

 

We made it to Fenlon Falls and tied up for lunch at the local pizzeria and went grocery shopping.  We also did a little grandkids shopping.  My favorite!  A thunderstorm started messing with us so we made it to the other side of the lock to tie up onto the wall for the night.  Unfortunately so did every other boater around.  No space.  Luck prevailed when the local cruise ship had a space for us in front of him and he was kind enough to let us tie up there.  We made another really good dinner and again, passed out while trying to watch a movie.

 

Next morning off to Orilla.  We stayed in a nice marina there, again, in the heart of the city.  The Canadians really have their act together for boaters.  Take notice south shore of Lake Ontario!!

 

Someone recommended an Italian restaurant so off we went.  It was O.K.  nothing memorable so we decided that's it,  no more dinners out.  We can do better and have lots of food to use up before we head home next week for a few days.  Hope we stick to it!

 

Benji helps navigate.

 

 

Yesterday was, I think, I toughest day of travel.  The locks were very crowded and there was one long canal that was so narrow that only one boat could go thru at a time.  And this goes on for miles. You have no knowledge that another boat might be coming at you.  You are supposed to use your radio and announce you intentions but this ya-hoo didn't bother to do that so we had a little Mexican standoff for a few minutes but he was nice and backed out.

 

 

Pretty sure we were all glad to get yesterday behind us.

 

 

This morning when we left Orilla we saw this island  of dead trees.

 

Weird.

 

 

We went through the last lock (before the big chute tomorrow) and it was the deepest one yet:

 

We are now anchored up in a place called the Lost Channel.  Sounds ominous but it is beautiful.  There are a few other boats on the hook for the night around us and we are anchored and tied to a tree so we should be fine.  Just gorgeous.

 

 

Tomorrow is the 45th and last lock!  It's not really a lock but some kind of rail system that they load your boat on and move it down.  That should be something.  We ride in the boat while they are doing it.  On the Georgian Bay tomorrow!  We have talked to some locals and they have told us of some places not to miss. 

 

We've been at this for a week now and everything has been so smooth.  We aren't silly enough to think the whole journey will be this easy but take one day at a time and hope for the best.







 







 

 



Benji has been busy.

We left Cambellford after finding the butter tart bakery.  Those things are pure evil.  Should be called fat tarts.  Benji was busy cleaning the boat while we went into town.

We traveled thru numerous more locks to tie up to the wall in Hastings for the night.  While we were lounging on the back deck having a glass of wine a small boat burst into flames a few hundred yards in front of us!!

Apparently he realized he was having a problem and ran his boat ashore and jumped off right before the flames erupted.  So lucky for us that he didn't jump out in the water because the current would have driven this flaming boat right at us !  Geeze!  Sometimes you just get lucky.  The guy was not hurt.

 

This year Point Breeze won the ultimate fishing contest.  Last year Hastings was  the winner.  There must have been a tournament going on because bass boats were zipping past us all morning on the way out of town.

 

We motored onto Peterborough and spent the night at a marina right in the center of town.  They had live music and we did some laundry and had a nice dinner out.  We talked to some locals about where to go in Georgian Bay.  Local knowledge is always better than books or the internet.

 

Our first lock out of Peterborough was a lift lock.  You drive your boat into a giant bathtub full of water and they lift or lower you to the desired water level.  Pretty cool.

 

 

We got thru the lock and decided ice cream was a great idea for lunch so we stopped in Lakefield and found an ice cream parlour.

 

After that we headed for Buckhorn for the night but on our way there something magical happened.  The entire landscape changed dramatically to giant granite outcroppings with beautiful cottages on little islands and small coves and little summer communities.  This is just a small taste of what is to come I think.

 

Once tied up for night Benji thought we should have the champagne that Jim and Lin brought along to celebrate the trip.

 

 

 

I must say that Lin and I have produced some amazing meals from the boat's galley. It's kinda fun to see what we can do next.  The boat is running great and the weather has been wonderful.  Knock on wood. 

 



 

 

 



July 18th ...Day 1

We are off!  We left Thursday @ 7:30 ish in the sweltering heat and humidity.  Our good neighbor and buddy Dick came over to take our picture.  As you can see, Benji is happy to finally be underway.  The lake crossing was nice and smooth, probably 1 footers and that's such a nice ride.
We entered the Murray Canal around lunchtime and the dockmaster held out his little can for us to toss our fee into:

We ate lunch as we traveled through the Bay of Qunite and the entrance to the Trent Severn Waterway in Trenton ,Ontario.

 

We traveled to Lock #1 only to be sent back to a marina in Trenton to check in with Customs.  Funny, we could not find that little bit of info on any signs or  in any of our cruising books.  Oh well,

no biggie.  We then went back to Lock #1 and locked through.  As it was quitting time for the lockmasters we tied up to the wall, went for a little swim in the river, ran the generator for air conditioning and made a really nice dinner than Lin had prepared before we left (stuffed manicotti)  yum.  We tried to watch a movie but we all passed out quickly and called it a night.

 

Up @ 6:00 a.m. (why--I don't know!!) hung out and made breakfast and waited for the locks to open at 9:00 a.m.

 

We met a nice couple who are also doing the loop who just came up from Florida.  They ended up locking through all the locks with us until the end of the day.  They are also going to Georgian Bay and beyond.

 

He is a pic of the lock attendants who have to manually open and close the lock doors.  I felt bad

for them today because the heat was brutal!

 

At one point I looked back at the stern and there was a pretty hefty tree branch being dragged by our boat.  Dave slowed down and kinda backed up and it got chewed up and shot out.  Thankfully it didn't seem to hurt the precious propellers!

 

We were also pretty darn hot but got through the day with LOTS of water.  It was also very windy and gusty and we kept reminding ourselves how lucky we were to NOT be crossing Lake Ontario today.

 

 

We made it through Lock #12 to Campbellford and tied up for the night just as a wonderful refreshing rain shower hit and cooled things off nice.  I have never seen a boat get tied up so fast!  Between the pelting rain and the desire to be through with locks for the day we nailed it.

 

Due to the power outage in the town because of the storm, we had to run the generator while we cooked dinner until the power came back on. 

 

The town is supposed to have a really good chocolate store and bakery so we are planning on hanging around in the morning until those open.  We are just happy that the heat wave is over for now and waiting  in the locks won't be so sweltering.

 

For now it's movie/pass out time.  Each day seems to be a test of patience and just getting through the day!  There was just a loud crack of thunder so I guess it's time to blog off.  Never a dull moment.



 



 

 



One day and counting..........

Tomorrow is the BIG day.  IF all the stars are in alignment and the God of Cruising is smiling down upon us, we are scheduled to leave tomorrow a.m., cross Lake Ontario and get safely into the Murray Canal before the big thrunderstorms hit.  Playing chicken with Mother Nature already!

Carmen gave us a little stuffed animal to take with us on the trip for good luck and to remind us of her.  She named him Benji.

We rented a satellite phone for the Georgian Bay portion of the trip.  I'm afraid cell coverage might not exist in spots there.  There are probably 30 movies on board, 3 or four books, a bunch of new magazines, a kindle and i-books on the ipad.  That should keep us amused in slow times.

There is also plenty of varnishing to do on the rails of the boat.  Although they were all redone completely last summer, the varnish breaks down really fast.   

Our dear friends Jim and Lin are going on this first part of the trip with us and we couldn't be happier about that.  They are very patient and expeienced boaters and don't freak out when things go haywire; which will happen on a boat at any given time for no particular reason!

I will try to post tomorrow once we are settled for the day, hopefully tied up to a wall in the Murray Canal for the night.