July 4th we set off with our beautiful twelve year old grandaughter Sidney, to our summer vacation on Georgian Bay. The trip involved passing through several locks and one marine railway.
Sidney caught on to crewing immediately, no doubt aided by the experience of sailing with her aunt in the waters around Vancouver.
We have done the entire trip in seven hours however decided to take our time and enjoy the experience.
Sidney was a bit unnerved by the marine railway. She and I sat on the bow while Bob drove into the carriage and over the straps that would lift us out of the water. The entire carriage then moves smoothly up over a road and down a hill to the lake below. Looking down from the bow of the boat is a bit frightening the first time and you pray that the slings hold and that we don't slide off the carriage, down the steep slope and into the water.
Photo's: Marine Railway; a boat being loaded
We arrived in Georgian Bay and headed to Beausoleil Island to anchor for a few days. This is a beautiful place with many anchorages and hiking on the island if you choose. The island is owned by the First Nation's people and is available to everyone for camping, docking and hiking.
It is also a rattlesnake sanctuary and therefore, one must remain vigilant when on the island. We were told by the Conservation Authority that the snakes are very shy and avoid humans, however if stepped on they will bite.
Bob and I kayaked (Sidney preferred not to), all three of us practised life-saving (lots of fun), fished and played lots of Scrabble, Crazy 8 countdown and Mastermind. Sidney read the entire second last Harry Potter book and by the end of day 4 was a bit stir-crazy. She missed all her "toys" (computer, phone, tv) and friends and has recognized that being out in the wilderness for a week is not for her at this stage of her life.
One night, while anchored in a little bay, along with several other boats, a big thunder storm came up. Lightening was flashing all around us and all Sid could say was "I'm going to die; I'm going to die!" As the rain pounded on the boat, we noticed that something had changed in the bay. We could see lights moving and eventually we saw that two boats had their anchors ripped from the bottom and were trying to re-anchor. Not a wonderful event since it means that someone had to be out on the bow, in the dark, while lightening flashed all around, resetting the anchor. Everything worked out fine and they managed to settle in for the night without anyone being fried.
When our week with Sidney was up, we drove to Midland where her mother Ria would meet us. Upon arrival at the town docks, Sidney exclaimed "At last......civilization!!!" It was a hoot!
Now...... I would love to share photo's of our time with Sidney however they disappeared from our camera. Isn't that interesting Sidney???? She's at the stage where she hates her photo being taken and had furtively erased them when we weren't looking. Soooooo, we've had to improvise! Here are a couple of photo's taken two weeks ago at our youngest grandchild, Matthew's birthday party. Sorry Sid.....it's the best we could do!
Photo's: Sidney in her brother Sean's visor; Sidney with Jenn
We had a lovely lunch with Ria then off they went, back to the city with Sidney very excited that the newest Harry Potter book and the most recent movie were about to be released.
We looked at the sky and saw black clouds looming, the wind picked up and we made the decision to stay at the town docks. The storms came and went very quickly with brilliant sunshine following each storm however it was the high winds that kept us there for four days.
The following weekend, our friends Yuri and Natasha picked us up in their boat and took us to their lovely cottage on Present Island; a 20 minute boat ride away from Midland. We spent the weekend there and as always, had a great time!
On Sunday evening we were back onboard TULAW and were set to meet Cathy and Ron, a couple we met four years ago while on our way down to Lake Ontario. They keep their boat "Cariblue" in Penetang, the next bay over from Midland and it was decided we would head to an anchorage up Georgian Bay a bit. Cathy is an avid fisherwoman and challenged Bob to a derby.
We followed them up the bay then took over as lead just prior to heading in to the Massassauga Park anchorage. We passed a marker that warns of a big rock; I asked Bob about the depth and he looked at his gauges and replied "40 feet". Immediately, the boat was rocked by a huge thump. Yup, we'd hit the submerged part of the otherwise visible rock and knew we'd done some damage. We hobbled around 12 km to MooseDeer Point Marina to get repairs. Cathy and Ron followed us back and stood watching while we were hauled (with Bob and I still aboard) onto a trailer and, towed by TWO fork-lift trucks, out of the water. Several parts were broken and it became evident that we would not be back in the water for about a week.
Cathy and Ron insisted that we join them for a few days on their boat....a decision they now look back on with some regret.....since they had not a clue just how loudly Bob snores! We warned them; they just didn't believe us.
We went to a beautiful anchorage not far from the marina and spent a hilarious few days with this wonderful couple. We ate so well and laughed so hard.
One night, Cathy decided that she and Bob should start the fishing derby. The mosquitoes were particularly bad and so they should cover up and fish from the dinghy but tethered to the back of their boat. Here they were, all rugged up, casting their lines in a way that looked to Ron and me (who were comfortable inside the screened boat) they would catch nothing but each others eyes! Suddenly they realized that the dinghy was filling with water because the plug wasn't in properly so Cathy began to bail. What a laugh! In spite of sleep deprivation, we had a ball and (believe we) are still close friends.
Photo's: Cathy, rugged up against the mozzies and ready to fish; Bob, Ron and Cathy; beautiful Twelve Mile Bay anchorage
Cathy and Ron left us at the marina after a few days and a huge sigh of relief.
The mechanic at the marina recommended a lodge to stay in until the boat was ready to go. It was a lovely unassuming place at Port Severn and a view from our room, of the boats coming out of the last lock on the system and entering Georgian Bay.
We enjoyed our time there, walking each day to pick up the paper and food in Port Severn.
When the boat was fixed, a driver came to pick us up and take us to the marina, a 40 minute drive away. The staff at Moose Deer Point Marina went way beyond when it came to service.
Craig, our driver was very interesting. He was born on the reserve and until he was a teenager, was completely unaware that there was another world out there beyond the reservation and the lakes and trees that surrounded it. His grandmother opened the marina in 1969 and the opening was attended by Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Craig left the reserve while in his 20's and became a long-distance truck driver until a few years ago when he returned to the reservation.
We left the marina and returned to the anchorage where we'd stayed with Ron and Cathy and the next morning headed back to Massassauga Park to moor for a few days.
We were turning into the channel where we'd had our "boomp"..only this time we were on the other side of the rock, when I looked back down the channel where we'd come from and saw a flotilla of boats coming toward us. We thought we were being invaded! We scurried through the channels ahead of the masses and about an hour after we were moored in a beautiful, and almost empty bay, in they came. 21 American boats and 1 Canadian boat. We sat on deck and watched the activity as the Canadian boat entered another bay close by and dropped anchor. Then one by one, the 21 boats went in and rafted with the first. Every other boat put down their anchor until two hours later, they were all rafted together. What a sight! The Americans were doing the Loop, having come from as far away as Florida in January, up through the U.S. inner coastal waterways, lock systems and the Canadian lakes and locks. They would continue through the Great Lakes and be heading back south within a couple of months to avoid cold weather and the closure of the locks. Total time of the trip is expected to be ten months. We plan to do the same trip one of these years, spending the winter in Florida then returning in the spring.
Photo: U.S. invasion. The middle boat with the dark blue hull is the only Canadian vessel and the boss of all the others! Yaaaaaay Canada!
Once the excitement had died down, Bob was fishing from the swim platform when he asked me what was scurrying around on a rock on the island 100 feet away. I got the binoculars and we couldn't believe our eyes; it was an albino squirrel...snow white! It was gone before we could get a photo however we heard from the park attendants that there are a few around and rarely are they seen. I called it "Phantom" and although we could hear it chittering in the trees, it didn't show itself again.
A couple of hours later, our wonderful friends, and the people responsible for getting us into boating, appeared in the bay. We hadn't seen Warren, Linda, Brent and Dane for about a year and a half and it was a super reunion. Bob and I thought we might be lucky to have them with us for a couple of days since they were just beginning their 10 day vacation, however we were thrilled when we spent the entire 10 days together. We swam, fished, kayaked, dinghied, climbed rocks on islands and played all kinds of games together.
A friend of Linda's owns an island near where we rafted and he welcomes boaters to his beautiful summer home. He has a guest dock that will accommodate up to seven large boats and provides electricity, refrigerator, bbq, table and chairs plus a kayak and paddle boat. Everyone loves visiting Cameron's Island so we overnighted there a couple of times to boost our batteries.
As we were docking there the first time, we were called on the radio by another boater who was passing the island and saw us docking. It was a fellow that Bob had worked with over the years and coincidentally, he was headed to the same anchorage we'd be visiting the next day so we agreed to get together for a visit.
Photo's on Cameron's Island: Warren "The Hulk" Waddell; Sharon and Dana; Ultimate Fisherman Brent; Warren, filleting the fish Brent caught
Photo's: Evening bath; Linda and Sharon; Dana and Brent
Brent and Dana enjoying a couple of hours in front of the tv in the cottage
The next day we travelled a very short distance to Three Finger Bay, a new anchorage for all of us. We found a perfect anchorage with breezes blowing through an inlet between bays, keeping us cool in very hot temperatures. The adults (except Bob) floated around the swim platform, scoring the dives of competitive swimmers Brent and Dana while "big kid" Bob dive-bombed them and generally created havoc.
Photo's: Beautiful Dana; Dana levitating; Brent, Linda and Dana drifting; Picnic ashore
Bob's friend Essa blew in on his high-powered dinghy and invited us for snacks and cocktails the next afternoon. He and his wife Karen were anchored in their own little bay, a few minutes away. He said he would come and pick up Bob and me (since we didn't have a dinghy while Linda and Warren did) and we would all head over to his boat "Sweetie Pie" (gotta love the names we give our boats!). Right on the dot of 4:00 he arrived and off we sailed with Captain Dana given permission to drive his dinghy on the way there and Brent on the way back.
Photo's: Cap'n Dana and First Mate Essa;"Sweetie Pie" in her own little bay
We had a wonderful time visiting them being spoiled with good wine, home-smoked fish and wonderful international cheeses. A couple of hours later, we were racing back to our boats "TULAW" and "Hectic Day"on the dinghies.
Photo's: Warren, Linda and Cap'n Dana;Cap'n Brent, First Mate Essa and Navigator Bob...on the return trip.
After a couple of days in this beautiful place we returned to Cameron's Island for more fun then began our journey back down Georgian Bay to the Twelve Mile Bay anchorage we like so much.
We were joined by friends Chris and Alison and their children Vicky (and her boyfriend James) and Charley. We rafted together and had a really great weekend, catching up on all the news since we had seen them last. Unfortunately, we haven't one single photo of them on this trip. Alison and Chris....if you happen to read this and have any, would you please fire them off via email and I'll add them to the blog.
Photo's: "Hurdles End"; "Hectic Day and TULAW rafting; Warren, like all great Canadians can always find a way to have a beer anywhere!; Armed for battle with the insects
Sister boats, TULAW and Hectic Day as the sun sets
A few days later we all headed back home. It was an incredible time in Georgian Bay, catching up with all our friends and enjoying this wonderful place. We are truly blessed.
In two days we are off to China for three weeks with another group of friends. I expect we will not have time to update the blog from there however will do so when we return.
We wish everyone a safe and happy end to summer (and a great spring to our N.Z. and Aussie friends).
Blessings!
Sharon and Bob
