This post is dedicated to Sal Napolitano, Ross's dear friend and former partner in the NYPD who lost his battle with brain cancer on July 29th. Though a true landlubber, Sal joined Ross and sons on The Zone for a memorable trip to the Florida Keys. Although Sal was seasick for much of the trip, they spent the rest of the time laughing, reminiscing and eating & drinking too much!
For those of you who don't speak Canadian, "boot" is how they pronounce boat, and apparently in these waters, we have a big one. In fact one sweet old couple replied, "Holy
snapper that's a big boot", when I told them The Zone is 52 feet.
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| Popeye le Sailor Homme! |
Our time in Canada is coming to a close shortly, as we now sit in Spanish, ON, waiting out strong winds before heading to our last few stops in the North Channel, into northern Lake Michigan, and eventually to Chicago, hopefully by Labor Day. We found the Canadian boaters to be so friendly, helpful and incredibly enthusiastic about seizing every single moment of their oh-so-short season in the sun. There were often so many boats, jet skis, dinghies, seaplanes, and swimmers on the waters it looked like all of Canada took the summer off. The staff all along the 240 miles and 45 locks of the Trent-Severn Waterway (TSW) were truly outstanding and provided smiles, helping hands and excellent advice all along the way. They seem to love their jobs and take pride in their country. There wasn't a single time we entered a lock when someone didn't offer to help us tie up AND take genuine interest in our trip, asking questions about where we've been and where we were headed.
And can someone please tell me what they do to make their ice-cream so darn delish?? I'm not an aficionado, unlike Ross, who lives for the stuff and screams for it daily (like a child), but wow, that (dang blasted) Kawartha Ice Cream makes me forget I'm lactose intolerant and just go to hell with myself. Holy Snapper, that's good stuff!
We will always cherish our times in Canada, despite their funny money (loonies and toonies), uninspired food selection (maybe if I wasn't Gluten-Free and liked Fish-N-Chips, I'd feel differently...), crappy wifi, and exorbitant overage charges for our cell phone usage.
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The Cap'n checking out the Peterbourough Lock the day before
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| Entering the Peterborough Lift Lock! |
The Peterborough Lift Lock was quite an experience. It's like putting your boat in a big bathtub, with another one next to it. It works like a pendulum, with one ascending and the other descending, though independently of each other and using hydraulics. Wild!
We stayed in Peterborough, the largest city on the TSW, at Little Lake Marina, where Don, who worked there, was nice enough to drive our bent prop to the shop in Buckhorn for repair. We spent a few days waiting out a storm and shopped, did chores and got our $12 haircuts. (the photos here are the "before" shots. I deleted the "after" ones, um, accidentally.)
We also had some nice meals at Elements and Hot Belly Mama's and ended up renting a car for a day to go back to Hastings to chase down our mail that got held up in customs. We then headed the next day through 6 locks and tied up at the lock wall in Lakefield for the night.
We met a fun couple who were tied up next to us and were traveling with another family. They rented a house boat for two weeks and tooled along from place to place, going through locks, visiting small towns and having a good old fashioned family vacation, dogs and all. Apparently, this is quite a popular trend with Canadians as we saw many, many (too many) house boats along the TSW, going through the locks. They are big and clumsy, don't have VHF radios or require any kind of license or training to rent. Yikes! We avoided them on the water, for fear of a collision or worse, but enjoyed seeing them -tied up-at marinas or lock walls, as they were always filled with sounds of good times; laughter, kids playing, and doggies.
On the way to Buckhorn, where our prop was being repaired, we had to pass through the likes of Stony Lake, pass a rock called The Spoiler, go through Hells Gate and Devil's Elbow, which surrounds the ironically named Fairy Island. As if the rocks, deadheads, and narrow passages, with a few added drunken looking house boats thrown in your path, aren't enough to keep you alert and alarmed; I mean
really, with the names! (Okay, so maybe it's a wee bit hyperbole, but they can throw in some nicer sounding points on the charts, can't they?!)
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| Nice folks, though our prop wasn't ready when we got there.. |
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| In Buckhorn -Ain't she grand? |
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| Because we don't see enough rocks in the water (Buckhorn) |
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| Ross between Adam & Eve |
We left Buckhorn for Bobcaygeon with the promise that the shop would ship our prop to us somewhere on the Georgian Bay once it was fixed.
Along the way we passed beautiful summer homes on the water (they call them cottages, which range from shacks to estates) and had just a relatively stress-free day on gorgeous waters. The weather was stunning, yet again, as was all of our time in Canada, until this week; it was hot and sunny, just the way I like it.
Once they heard we were tying up at the lock wall for a night or two, about four different folks at Lock #32 (Bobcaygeon) mentioned that there's a shoe store there I just
had to check out, and so I did! Bobcaygeon was a fun place to be and it seems we were there at just the right time. First of all, they had a, "Free Lock Day", and who doesn't like "free" after all?Also, the next day there was a boat parade at the next lock, Fenelon Falls and we were amused by the sights going by us all day. The first day, we did our usual town-tour-on-bicycles, including some shopping (4 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of shoes -
score!), lunch, people watching, some chillaxing, and yes, ice-creeeeeam!
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| Oh those Canadians and their sense of humor! |
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| The Queen Mum on her way to the Boat Parade |
On our way to Bolsover, Lock #37, which is right after the Kirkfield Lift Lock, Admiral Idiot here did something really stupid and really dangerous. I saw Ross yabbering away with some other folks in the lock, and I wanted to adjust the fenders on the port side. We were on the starboard side of the lock and the folks next to us were pretty darn close. Instead of interrupting Ross, who could have easily held onto my line while I ran around and made the adjustment, I committed the cardinal sin of locking through.
Thou Shalt Never EVER Tie-Off To A Cleat While Locking. The water rose quickly and before I knew it the boat was listing and the cleated line was too tight to release and had to be cut off with a knife. Thank goodness we always had our knives handy at the locks for just this reason.
I'm not going to make a joke about this, because I could have caused serious damage to the boat or lost a finger trying to undo the knot when it was too late. Lesson learned.
The further we cruised along the Trent Canal towards Severn, the scenery and topography got prettier and prettier!
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| The Trent Canal |
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| Hole in The Wall Bridge. Nuff said! |
The Kirkfield Lift Lock (Lock #36) was much like Peterborough. It is located at the highest section of the canal and is made of steel, not concrete.
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| Kirkfield Lift Lock |
At Bolsover, Lock #37, we stayed at the Sunset Cove Marina.The couple who own and run the marina are the nicest folks and just love Loopers. Joe and his wife fondly remembered our pals, "Brown Eyed Girl", who had passed through a few weeks before us. We loved the scenery and friendly Canadian boaters who asked tons of questions about our trip and offered local insights about anchorages and the best places to provision our boat and eat out...and get more ice-cream!
We left in the morning and crossed lake Simcoe for Orillia. We stayed at Port of Orillia Marina and just adored the town and all it had to offer. Sweet place, great restaurants, nice folks! We replaced one of our bicycle tires, I got a pedicure, we provisioned the boat, and, of course, ate well. We had lunch at "16 Front" and I have to say, it was the best vegie burger on a fresh and luscious gluten-free bun,
evah!
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| Dinner at Cosmo's Ristorante |
We ended up staying four days at Orillia, choosing not to leave in the rain. We left early July 27th and went to Port Severn. But first, The Big Chute, Lock #44:
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| Entering the Big Chute |
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| Exiting the Big Chute |
Though it was truly a unique experience, especially since you can't see over the top when it reaches it's peak, like getting to the top of a big incline on a roller coaster and not knowing when, or how fast it will be on the way down, it was still a little anti-climactic. I guess after hearing about it for five years as we planned the Loop, we had high expectations for big-time excitement. From all we'd heard from Looper pals ahead of us, there was enough excitement to be had in the Georgian Bay (ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS).
Just before the final lock, #45 Port Severn, we docked in the lovely Starport Marina. We were greeted by about ten boaters and marina staff who waved us to our slip and all helped us tie up. We kept looking behind us thinking they were waving to someone else. That place was a godsend in many ways. First of all, they had an available slip, which was major at that moment. We were nervous about going through the last lock, as several of our Looper pals hit rocks and had major damage just after the lock. Also, we were missing a chart and needed a Y-splitter to connect our 50amp power cord to two 30s,which we'd heard was a crucial piece of equipment we lacked and had been searching for relentlessly and unsuccessfully since we arrived in Canada.
Alas, Starport had both AND served you breakfast-in-bed so to speak:
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| We had fun, though a Dam Crappy Dinner here |
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| Love those Canadians! |
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| I love marinas at night... |
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| Last sunset before the Georgian Bay |
Lock #45 went well and we heeded the advice of the lock staff about favoring the green markers. We made it through some tricky turns in between narrow channels of markers and managed to avoid hitting anything. Phew! We also kept in mind some simple, yet incredibly helpful advice we'd heard back in Norfolk at the AGLCA Rendezvous from Rick Johnson (Rick N Roll) who suggested keeping something red and something green handy at the helm to be placed on whichever side was appropriate while in a given channel, and then changed as the channels change. On the ICW, you usually (there are exceptions I won't go into now so you don't fall asleep) keep the red markers on your starboard (right) when entering a channel and the greens to port (left). On the Georgian Bay, this changes and then changes again, and again and can be the difference between enjoying the natural beauty and ending your journey. It's hard enough just staying between the reds and greens and avoiding the rocks, let alone having to rely on your memory as to when the rules change. The changes are noted on our charts and chartplotter in enough time for us to switch our colored reminders.
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| BIG difference which color goes to your right in these tricky waters |
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| I see you, %$#@* MotherRockers |
Our first stop on the Georgian Bay was in Honey Harbour (isn't that a nice sounding place??) at South Bay Cove Marina. Now THIS was a sweet spot. The staff was wonderful, the scenery lovely, great services and a great introduction to the natural splendor of this part of the Canadian waters. Honey Harbour is on the south eastern shores of the bay and hosts the popular 30,000 island region for cottagers, cruisers and outdoor adventurers alike.
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| South Bay Cove Marina, Honey Harbour |
We were hungry to explore and for only the second time on the Loop, we took down the dinghy for an adventure. We met Jan & Bob, non-Looper boaters who we kept bumping into along the TSW. They are cruising on their boat, "Jan's Tern" and headed to Mackinac City to store their boat for the winter. We invited them along for a dinghy ride and had some fun together on a glorious day!
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| Jan & Bob, dinghy-ing along with us |
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| I heart the Georgian Bay! |
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| Sights on our dinghy ride...beautiful, but ya' wanna live on a rock?? |
We had a lovely time! In fact, Ross & I decided to take a dinghy ride to dinner and had some fun.
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| Cap'n Awesome; my Dashing Dinghy Driver |
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| Tying up at the Lake Country Grill |
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| No comment |
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| Prop Graveyard |
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| Sunset dinghy ride home |
Our next stop was in San Souci at Henry's Fish Restaurant & Marina on Frying Pan Island, San Souci
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| Henry's is a must-do on the Georgian Bay. It's got character, if nothing else! |
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| We saw just as many seaplanes as boats! The lunch & dinner traffic is amazing. |
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| This is a photo! |
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| Pre-lunch time. By noon, there wasn't a foot of available dock space! |
One night at Henry's was enough for us and onto Killbear:
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| Heading out for a bite.. |
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| C'mon, I'm hungry! |
While at the marina's restaurant, we chatted with a boater couple from Toronto who spend their summers on the Georgian Bay. They told us of some beautiful anchorages and great, nearby places to ride around on our dinghy, including a cool restaurant on Snug Harbor, "10 minutes away". The next morning, we headed out on the dinghy and found one of the suggested spots to enjoy our time in the sun, relaxing, and watching all outdoor fun-seekers around us. It was just off a beach and park and was loaded with folks enjoying the sunshine with us.
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| Seen whizzing by us.. |
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| Enjoying another Georgian Bay dinghy ride.. |
After a few hours of sunbathing, swimming and living the Looper's dream, we went back to The Zone, grabbed money and a cover-up and headed back out to Snug Harbor for a late lunch. We took a chart with us so we'd have some idea how to find the restaurant through some narrow cuts in waters unfamiliar to us. That turned out to be a great move, as we missed a turn on the way there and were able to turn around and find it based on the chart's day markers. Trying to identify landmarks wasn't helpful, as there were too many, "houses on a rock with Canadian flags", for example.
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| Snug Harbor Lighthouse |
After about a half an hour (not 10 minutes!), we went through the twisty-turny Canoe Cut, saw the lighthouse and found our restaurant!
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| Dinghy-wear |
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| It's fun to pull up to a restaurant on the water! |
After our fun and delicious lunch, we headed back. Just before entering Canoe Cut, Ross noticed some boats anchored out. We saw them on the way in, but now were able to see that they were Loopers, and ones we knew! We cruised over to say hello to Ivy & Bob on "Karma"..
And Jim & Joy on "Jim's Joy":
It was a sweet waterside reunion and we left to head back to the marina full from lunch and happy seeing friends. And that's when the trouble began..I smelled something burning and saw smoke coming out of the wiring harness. Ross didn't smell anything and thought what I saw was water flowing (!!!????), until the engine shut itself off. About the same time, Ross noticed smoke coming out of the ignition. He opened the console and immediately doused it with the fire extinguisher. It all happened and was over too fast for either of us to be scared, though in retrospect all of the, "what ifs" gave us chills. The wiring harness runs next to the fuel line. That thought alone still makes the hairs stand on the back of my neck. Ross tried rowing for a bit until we saw we were going nowhere fast and it was getting late. I called the marina and luckily they were able to come get us and towed us back. Thank goodness Ross brought the chart so we were able to tell them exactly where we were and didn't send them on a wild goose chase. We were absolutely fine and incredibly grateful all around.
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| Not the kind of dinghy ride we had in mind |
The cause of the fire is still unknown and baffling to us. Ross spent hours since investigating, reading the manual, googling and still can't determine the cause. The wires are fried but the engine looks ok. Something likely shorted and we will eventually get to the bottom of it. Meantime, we (he) had to figure out how to tilt the engine up and out of the water- without power - so we could raise it back up to re-mount it on top of The Zone. Captain Awesome determined which two of the many wires operated the tilt piston and voila!
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| He remained in this position for many hours tinkering before success! |
After MacGyver did his magic, he celebrated by making the most luscious beef stew for dinner! (yup, he's a keeper!)
The next day (Aug. 3rd), we headed to Britt to Wright's Marina. Our buddies on "Karma", "Jim's Joy", along with new pals, "One September" and "Carried Away" were docked at a marina down the road. We took our bicycles over, chatted with them and made plans for dinner.
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| Water Lily next our boat |
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| Joy looking joyous, as always! |
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| Judy & Mike (One September) |
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| Backlit & faceless Loopers including us, Jim's Joy, One September & Carried Away |
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| Repaired prop all shiny & new looking! |
We got our repaired prop, left our pals in Britt and headed to Killarney. We knew the weather was going to change and wanted to make some tracks. We had a rough ride to Killarney between the swells, winds, twists and turns. We were fine, but stuff went flying all over the boat. I spent much of the ride cleaning up and trying to re-position things so nothing would get damaged. It was typical of our Georgian Bay experiences; big mess and anxiety leading to breathtaking natural beauty. It was a Canadian holiday weekend (their version of Labor Day weekend), and we were lucky to get a slip at Sportsman's Inn. We were assigned a slip "across the street" at George's Island. It's a less than a minute water taxi ride to the mainland and not a big deal at all. You either wave down the taxi from your dock or ring a bell for one.
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| Taken from the Inn, facing George's Island |
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Right in front of our slip was the screen where they actually show drive-in movies nightly at 9PM
Is that the coolest thing or what?! |
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| We bought muffins & a map! |
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| A hotspot on Killarney |
The Sunday we were there (Aug. 5th), was insanely windy. You can't really see it in the below photo. but the dock pictured, which was right next to us, split in half with that boat tied onto it! Talk about all hands on deck. The entire marina staff plus every available boater came and helped get it back in place and secured. A hinge in the middle of the dock broke. We were eating lunch at the Inn and saw it happen from the window. It took a few minutes for us to get back to our boat as there was no one available to drive the water taxi! Ross secured some of our lines to an adjoining dock to help ease the pressure as all of the docks were fish-tailing a bit with the crazy 40 mph winds. He started a trend as many of the other boats started doing the same thing.
The Zone (the big boot), tied to both docks, along with some of our neighbors.
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| Our "backyard" view |
On Tuesday (Aug.7th) we left Killarney for Little Current. I honestly can't remember much about it other than it seemed a long day's journey to get there through many narrow channels and inlets. There was more of a town than the last few spots, and we met another Looper! Debby & Jay on "Attitude Adjustment" were docked next to us. They were sweet and knew some of our pals including "Marc'sArk" from previous journeys. We left the next morning and didn't get to spend much time with those nice folks.
We arrived Wednesday (Aug. 8th) in Spanish, Ontario:
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Well dear friends, we're all caught up! I've spent two days blogging while my darling Ross has been tinkering about, fixing things, cleaning and thinking about what to cook next. I am truly blessed indeed. I must say, if I can tell you these things, we've spent almost 24/7 together for five months now and we have been fortunate to always find a way to get one another to laugh and ease through the tense moments. Even a big "boot" can get small without a sense of humor.
Please know that we miss and love you, dearest hearts, and that each birthday, (especially my Dad's 85th!), wedding, graduation, team sport, show, bar/bat mitzvah, illness, celebration, that we've missed, pains us. Remember we are always with you, as you are always with us.
