12 Mile Bay Anchorage

Saturday, August 10th.  Georgian Bay was a bit rough on the way to 12 Mile Bay. The waves were around 4-5 footers but it was only a 2 hour ride to the very well protected spot we were going to anchor in for the night.  When we arrived, there were already 13 other boats anchored.  Lucky there was room for us!

We dropped anchor in the super clear water into a nice mud bottom.  Oh god, I sound like an old sea salt!  It has been pretty easy anchoring so far.  Mud, apparently, is the preferred bottom.  Last night in Go Home Bay the wind was pretty gusty and the boat did some spinning.  I was trying not to think of the anchor slipping but of course I was.  Dave reassured me often that we were o.k.  I eventually fell asleep but had my mom ears working.  We were fine.

Dave already had the second anchor pulled, washed and put away and coffee ready when I finally threw the covers off to a sun filled morning and a very docile bay.  We made breakfast and then moved on thru some very tight channels.

 

 

12 Mile Bay is very pretty and I love having other boats around us.  Some of the boaters came over to visit in the kayaks and dingys.  I can hear children squealing as they jump from their boats into the cold water.  Happy sounds.  I loved hearing my kids yelling Marco Polo as they played in the pool.  Miss those years.

 

 

Casting shrinkage concerns aside, Dave went swimming.

 

 

We took a little dinghy ride but there wasn't as much to explore as in Go Home Bay.  Pretty windy too.  I hope all the boats around us are firmly anchored for the night!

 

Tomorrow we are going to Parry Sound to a marina for a couple days.  We need to re-provision and I need some retail therapy.  On Monday John, Karen and Brandon are going to meet up with us there.  I can't wait to share this amazing place with them.  It is a giant boaters playground.  They are gonna love it!



Go Home Bay--day 2.

Friday, August 9th.  We like it here so much we decided to spend another night.   We took Little Moon around the bay to explore.  We found a perfectly engineered beaver dam.

 

We passed through this narrow passage to another inner bay.

 

I am starting to have serious Georgian Bay cottage envy...

NO-Robyn-NO

 

Benji likes to help me with the charts.

 

 

Dave worked on the varnish some more while I hemmed a couple of comforters for the guest room.  I re-organized my pantry and every now an then would stop and look out at the scenery.  It just takes my breath away.  All this with CSN music playing in the background.  I'm in old hippy heaven here!

 

Tomorrow the plan is to anchor out in "12 Mile Bay".  Love the names of these little bays and coves.  I'm sure there is a story behind each one.  One is called Starvation Bay.  That's an easy one to figure out.

 

 

I'm reading a book (yes Adrianna-he is letting me read!!!).  The ttile is "Empire of the Summer Moon" by SC Gwynne.  It's a fascinating historical narrative about the Comanches who were the most powerful tribe in American history.  I have tried to read similar books but they were too text booky.  This one is more like a factual novel and is skillfully written to hold your interest.  Highly recommend.

 

Last evening Steve was sending me texts from Aja.  Funny stuff!  I think Steve has been getting into Aja's catnip.

 

So, I'm trying not to think of the weeds growing at home and the dust falling on the furniture and the mail piling up at the office (thanks Denis and Linda for helping us out with that).  It is actually getting easier.  I have had a more difficult time adjusting to this new c'est la vie lifestyle than Dave.  Who woulda knew??  But it's pretty cool and we are so lucky to be taking this amazing journey and we know we are truly blessed.

 



 

THIS is what we came here for!

Thursday, August 8th.  We left Midland this morning after we waited for the boat stereo guy to show up to install a new Fusion unit.  After all the old one was 6 months old!  Have to deal with the warranty stuff when we get home.  The unit is also the dvd player and there is NO way we could be without movies in the evenings or on rain days.  So, all is fixed and we have tunes and videos again.

My apprehension about being able to help Dave get us through narrow passages with boat breaking rocks and shallow water all around us was for naught.  We handled the 2 hour trip to "Go Home Bay" like old Georgian Bay veterans.  Sea Tow did not have to be called!  We arrived at our beautiful, impossible to describe anchorage but this is what we saw on the way.

 

We chose to take the more challenging route through the small passages so we wouldn't miss the incredible scenery.  There was a more straightforward, easier route but I'm glad we chose the scenic route.

 

Dave is really surprising me.  Mr. "Type A-gotta go now-no matter what the weather or water conditions :("   is actually slowing down and dare I say relaxing??  He so deserves this trip.  He worked intensely getting the boat ready and I wasn't really sure it would be worth the hassle.  So far YES--It's worth it! 

 

This is what we see off our anchorage in Go Home Bay:

 

YEP!  Worth it!

 

 

Back at the Helm--Rain & Repairs

After a near 2 hour border crossing (due to Canada's Civic Day holiday) and tremendous amount of traffic on the QEW, we got back to the boat Monday night.

The next two days were dedicated to boat maintenance, oil changes and such and rain.  Happy to be at a nice marina with skilled boat techs so we can get this necessary stuff out of the way before we head out again tomorrow.  The weather is supposed to improve too so it all works out well.

Benji helped Dave change the oil.  Can't believe we've put over 100 hours on the boat since last oil change in Rock Hall, Maryland.

I'm sitting here buried in paper charts, cruise manuals, strip charts, an Ipad with Navionics and the boat's gps/plotter trying to get a handle on these 30,000 islands we are in.  Dave calls it Thousand Island on steroids here. (sorry A-Rod).   Looking for the next anchorage.

Our goal is to be somewhere east of Killarney next Monday so when John, Karen and Brandon meet up with us to join the cruise, it will be easy for them to get on the boat.  So happy they are coming with us!!

But, having been spoiled by the easy boat electronics through the years, I have become very complacent with old fashioned paper charts.  Time to get on it.  They never fail you.

That reminds me of 11 years ago; we took our boat from Boca Raton, FL to Pt. Lucaya in the Bahamas.  Beautiful trip.  On the way back to Boca our electronics lost their fix and went dead.  They refused to come back on.  As we were out to sea and could not see land yet, Dave and John got us home by using the old fashioned compass.  Lucky for us they did their homework each night and plotted out the next days journey on the gps AND the paper charts.  Very good habit.

We got back to Boca and there is a very small inlet there.  We had to literally surf back into the harbor.  Pretty scarry but we made it just fine.

A few weeks later, back home, we were watching a Discovery Channel show on the Bermuda Triangle.  They showed a map and darn if we weren't in the Triangle when we lost our electronics!  I'm glad I did not know that at the time!!  Lucky we didn't join the number of lost ships and airplanes there.

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.