Author: stephen

Sunday August 6 is Day 52 of our trip, and a perfect day to cruise. The winds are light, and the sky is clear, so we head out for our next stop: an anchorage at Stairs Island near Pointe au Baril, 30 miles south.

Because the weather is so fine, we opt to go out into the Bay from Byng Inlet, then head south on the outside in open water, a route which avoids all the shoals and rocks that clutter the inside, protected channel, necessitating as they do a great deal of close – sometimes extremely close – maneuvering, especially round Hangdog Reef. So off we go, and come back inside again at Pointe au Baril, the next inlet to the inside, a distance of 30 miles.

Continue reading “The Last of the Bay Days”

It’s July 29, a Saturday – although it’s hard to remember what day it is when you’ve been on a boat for 44 days straight – and a beautiful morning as we’re off for the short trip from Hotham Island to Eagle Island, a favourite of many, but big enough to take all. We pull up the anchor – it has snagged and this is our first time having to coax the anchor out of the clay – but by 10:30 we are joining several boats there, and anchor in 18 feet of water in good firm holding. Shortly after, Tim and Rhonda also show up in Rhonda Jean and anchor nearby.  (The key to boating in the North Channel in high season is to get to an anchorage you like the sound of around 11 am – that’s 11:00 hours to us mariners – when vessels who are moving on have already left, or are about to, and those on their way there have yet to appear.)

Continue reading “An Eagle, a Sturgeon, a Bucket of Blueberries, and a Little Current”

At dock in Gore Bay Marina after two days of wind and rain from the North East, Tuesday, July 24 dawned with a lovely sunrise and the promise of at least one day of decent weather. We had decided that this would be the start of a week at anchor in three coves in the Whaleback Channel north and west of the Benjamin Islands – enough of this marina stuff. (We weren’t going to aim for famous Benjamin Islands themselves, since their very fame has made them overpopulated by all kinds of boats, making it party central, and, besides, the holding is not very good either.)

We had as our destination Longpoint Cove on the north shore of the Channel, 25 miles North West of Gore Bay. In fact, this was to be the furthest north and west that we would be travelling on the whole cruise. Time was marching along, and we would turn East after this stop. It was Day 40, and we had travelled 600 miles so far.

Continue reading “Anchors aweigh”

Day 32 is Monday July 17 and we complete our 4 hour crossing from the Bustard Islands to Killarney at 8 knots – there’s no avoiding open water on this stretch –  in favourable conditions (a Northern breeze), at the start of a six-day period of good weather (at last). Killarney is the gateway to the North Channel, and is a most popular stopover.

Continue reading “The North Channel”

Leaving the Trent Severn Waterway at Port Severn, we started the second leg of our cruise. Behind us was 330 miles, 45 locks, canals, lakes and rivers, a marina or two, several towns, twenty one days – fourteen of them overnight at locks, four of them “weather days” when we didn’t move on because of wind or thunderstorms or rain, or all three.

Now we were going to make our way up Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, following the small craft channel north as it hugs the east coast of the Bay, with many twists, turns and convolutions to avoid the lurking granite rocks, but also giving protection, most of the time, from the prevailing westerlies which, with a prolonged blow, can make the open water rough indeed. It would be about 175 miles or so to Killarney, the entrance to the third leg, The North Channel.

Continue reading “Georgian Bay rocks”

On Friday, June 30, Day 15, we were up – in light rain – for the Lake Simcoe crossing to Lake Couchiching. First, we had to lock through Lock 40 and 41, in the company of Magic Jeanne, and then through the swing bridge at the entrance to the lake, at which point in time a prolonged rain squall hit, cutting horizontally into our bow, along with lumpy waves and very poor visibility. For the first time, the radar was essential to our safety, rather than being an interesting toy. We hammered on, for 1 1/2 hours, and the weather had calmed down by the time we got to the Narrows at Orillia.

Continue reading “The lake was angry, my friends”

Tuesday, June 27, Day 12. We leave luvverly Lovesick Lock to cross the lake to Buckhorn  for the first lockage of the day at 9:00, by which time the weather clears, and we’re through into Buckhorn Lake, then Pigeon Lake, to Bobcaygeon, where we tie up for lunch.

Continue reading “Lovesick to Lake Simcoe”

Day 7 saw us continue up the Waterway to Hastings (Mile 51.1 and all that), with the prospect of two nights on the lock wall to weather out another round of constant rain and thunderstorms. Here we were joined by several other boats, including four long distance loopers (from Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Grimsby, Ontario). Time to stock up on groceries and LCBO, but not a town that found a place in our hearts.

Continue reading “Weather or not…”

Day One of the Summer Cruise is Friday, June 16 – somewhat later than envisioned at the start of the planning process – as we depart Loyalist Cove Marina, headed for a weekend in Picton, Prince Edward County, where we will meet up with friends for an afternoon, on our way to Trenton and the start of the 240 miles of the Trent Severn Waterway which in turn will lead us to Georgian Bay and The North Channel of Lake Huron. We put the first 23 miles under the keel.

Continue reading “True North heads North”

May and June send water levels to heights not seen in decades, and it affects all those living or visiting the Thousand Islands and other boating areas, such as the Trent Severn (which happens to be our portal to our summer cruise).

Continue reading “Water, water everywhere…”