Tuesday August 29: Couchiching Lock -

We had left Big Chute relatively early Sunday since we had to be off of the blue line.

It was going to be a short ride to the Lost Channel - only a little over 5 miles. Peter and Cheryl had spent a couple of nights anchored there a few weeks ago and indicated it was a nice place to spend a day.

Using the paper charts we located the Lost Channel. Turns out it didn't seem to me to be much of a "lost" channel as there were plenty of cottages and homes along the shores!

We continued until we finally reached the end of the channel (there was a dam there!), turned around and made a left into the very nice bay at what was almost the end of the bay. Only one other boat anchored for the night - very peaceful and a nice place to again go kayaking.

Two boats were tied to the shore on point. One was a covered pontoon boat and the other oddly enough was a travel trailer - complete with a push-out - sitting on a flat bed with 3 pontoons! Not a bad way to have a relatively nice houseboat with minimal work and expense!

It doesn't look like a great day but it really wasn't bad.

Steve went on an extended kayak around the point to check out the dam. Didn't see much other than a turtle or two.

We just can't figure out where all of the small fish and minnows hang out because the places we've been seem ideal but they just aren't around.

Steve did try fishing - a couple of tiny - like 5 inches - bass and that was it.



Time to water the batteries. It's on the calendar for the 1st of the month and usually gets done promptly. Even used distilled water as instructed. Having just bought 3 new batteries before we left gives a bit of incentive to keep them healthy!

Early in the morning with the engine not hot is the best time. And no problem with it being hot these days as it's been in the low 50's. Steve has even taken to wearing his heavy jacket - toasty warm he tells me :-)

We had to backtrack to the main waterway Monday morning. It was quite cold and of course our breakfast place on an island - the Waubic Inn - was closed on Monday.

Pretty sure it was, so not terribly disappointed. I made a note on the chart so we would remember for sure for next year :-)

Back through the Severn River part of the waterway - narrow cuts through granite rock. Very pretty but I'm sure very difficult to dig at the time the canal was built in the early 20th century.

The destination was the lower end of Swift Rapids - very different experience than being at the top.

We're the second boat back on the right of the picture Steve took from the top of the largest conventional lock on the system (it's a long staircase walk to the top!) to get the picture!

Sadly we didn't have any firewood as we could have used it. Cool and windy. Man, would a fire have felt good!!

While at the top of the lock, Steve watched as the workers loaded a shaft from one of the turbines from the power plant. It appeared that a couple of the blades had a sizable chunk out of them!

No sun in the morning either.

And, no, I wasn't cooking breakfast or making coffee. I was just wanting to be near the propane burner to catch whatever heat I could!

It has got to be time to put this boat away and get south to warmer climates!

But the day did warm up as the sun finally burned through the clouds.

Our thought was to anchor in Deep Bay on the way to Couchiching Lake and Orillia. We've passed this bay many times and every time it seems I think - we need to check that out.

The charts showed a rather shallow, narrow entrance - which kind of put me off from wanting to check it out. But finally we went in - very slowly.

Not sure but I assume it was seaweed since the depth finder was registering 3 feet or so (in theory we draw 4' with the engine down).

More kayaking in nice shallows with a huge beaver hut. No fish around. So we spent a nice few hours and decided to continue on to Couchiching Lock. Going to be cold again tonight.

We picked the side that would have sun in the morning and that worked out very nicely even though it wasn't until 9 or so that the sun hit us. Steve was up early and started the generator early so we could run the small heater to warm up the boat.

I was never so happy to hear the sound of the generator!!

Last breakfast ashore - we were headed for Orillia for six nights before putting the boat up for the winter .....

Sunday August 27: Big Chute Railway

We spent a second night in Port Severn - it is getting to be just downright cold! It was time to pull out an extra sleeping bag at night with the low's in the low 40's.

Really don't know where this summer went as it seems it was never really the typical summer up here.

The passcode for the wifi here is WhatSummer17. So it's not just us wondering if summer was really here this year!



Steve was fishing below the falls here and spotted this family of merganser ducks. The crest on the male (left duck) didn't show up very well but they are very unique looking ducks.

Always fun to see.

Besides there were no fish to be seen so might as well take pictures of the ducks :-)

Cold in the morning? Definitely! Mix air temps of 40's with water temperatures of 70's and fog is the result!

Steve had to walk down to see what the fog over the dam looked like but it had started to dissipate by the time he thought to check it out.

And by the time we had breakfast and got moving, it was a nice sunny day - but still very cool air so fleece and jacket to drive.

Destination was below Big Chute - the marine railway. Steve had fished at the very end of the blue line below the railway so the idea was to pull to the blue line after the lock was closed for the day.

In the meantime we were traveling less than 6 miles for the day so we detoured  to a nice looking potential anchorage (always planning for next year :-) ).

Mmm... right depth for fishing - might as well anchor and throw in a line, right?

It turned out to be a really nice day.

The best part? It was a bass hole!




Again, without a net! I can't imagine what he'll pull in next year!

So we ended up with enough fish (this one plus two other smaller ones) for two dinners. Great fun for sure!!

The plan for staying below the marine railway worked nicely. What didn't work was the fishing - way too much seaweed. I'm not sure how long ago Steve tried fishing there but it really was ok as we had enough fish for two days anyway! The kayaking around was good. So calm. Not very much to be seen though - mostly rocks :-)

When the lock opened at 9 the next morning, we were ready to go. No hanging around on the blue line allowed (designated tie up for boats wanting to go through the lock) so we went through even though we were the only boat there.

Which of course meant we were in the front of the railway. It's interesting to see the cables working and the different tracks (for the front and back wheels of the railway car) which makes the car able to maintain a horizontal position relative to the ground.

For background and historical information on the Big Chute railway, click here.

When my family traveled here in the 50's, our boat was transported on both of the original railways at Swift Rapids and at Big Chute! People had to walk up and down over the hill while the boat was being transported and there was no 'leveling' of the railway car - it just went up or down at the same slope as the hill. The boats must have been held down somehow or they would have slid right off!

Tonight we'll head to the Lost Channel - and see if we can find it :-)

Thursday August 24: Port Severn!

Wednesday on our dock at Beausoleil was more of the same. Lots of wind, on and off rain. So much wind blown water that the fixed part of the dock in front of us was under water.

Near as we can tell, the water in Georgian Bay is a foot or two above normal and the wind blowing more water our way didn't help any!

We were still at Tonch Point East – which apparently is a popular spot for the group camping. The first day is was a group of 6 to 8 year old boys and girls.

I have to say you couldn't pay me enough to be a camp counselor under these conditions (or any for that matter :-) ) but the kids were having a ball!

One of the girls caught a frog near the dock and was happy to show it off for Steve. I mostly felt sorry for the frog but they were handling it very carefully so I'm sure it was a happy ending for all concerned.

Steve was off again for a hike around the island in-between the rains. The best discovery was the location of a hemlock forest – who knew?!

But it was a very nice combination of hike/bike around to the west side of the island. How bad were the waves really? Were we foolish to stay again and not venture out? I mean the weather reports are very often misleading.

We decided that staying was definitely the way to go.

It's hard not to notice how much the trees lean away from the prevailing westerly winds – a very typical picture/painting of Georgian Bay.

Finally today it seemed the winds had died down but it still was not the day I expected to see. Heavy clouds and more wind than we wanted.

Decision: needed to go back to Honey Harbor, have breakfast and check the internet weather again.

Breakfast was good, library was closed - but the day was shaping up to be a good one.

Fueled up at Picnic Island and headed out onto the bay with a destination of Port Severn.

By the time we arrived, the day was blue skies with puffy white clouds -)

Good place to be for a couple of days.

We'll make our way back to Orillia - there are a number of places we've been wanting to try for anchorages. Maybe more fishing opportunities for Steve :-)

Tuesday August 22: Beausoleil Island

We left Parry Sound Sunday morning after saying goodby to Peter and Cheryl. We may see them yet on the Trent but for now they are headed further north in search of the elusive pickerel that Peter has heard is to be found in the Sawanaga River.

Our destination is south – back toward the Trent. Time is closing in on when we'll leave the boat and head back to Ohio. We ended up anchoring for the night in the Missasaga Provincial Park area. Lots of anchorages around the region.

The travel is again great – what a beautiful area in which to boat. Nothing like it – anywhere. Period.

The place we ended up was a small bay off of the main channel into this area. Somehow we thought we 'd sneak back to the back of the bay but there were already three boats tied together behind a small island so we ended up just dropping the anchor in the outer bay.

Steve of course had his fishing pole in the water first thing! And crazy enough pulled in a 2 ½ foot northern pike! Fun to catch for sure but it was way more fish than two of us could eat so back it went.

It was actually amazing that he was able to get it in the boat with no net. Just sort of slid it onto the swim platform and then pressed his foot on it to hold it down.

He kept adjusting the rear anchor working to have to boat over what he later called “the bass hole” until he ended up with a two to three pound bass that sadly escaped :-( But did catch two nice sized bass which became our dinner!

Definitely have a collapsible net on the list of things this boat needs though. Trying to get these fish up into the boat without any net is quite an accomplishment :-)

It was a beautiful sunset …...

Looking over Frying Pan Bay

Monday was an early start – the winds were coming in so we headed to Frying Pan Bay. Even though this small bay is a busy place, we still enjoy staying there. It was a weekday so there ended up being just us and one other boat on the south end of the bay.

Legend of Fairy Lake

It's a great place to hike. Steve loves to hike around Fairy Lake. It has a fun legend about it. Beautiful lake.

Legend part 2

He also spotted the largest beaver hut ever – about 10 feet across. Funny how many beaver huts we have seen this year and yet no beavers to be seen!

The islands formed by the legend. Beausoleil on the lower center and Giant's Tomb Island on the upper left.

Overlooking Fairy Lake.

Large beaver hut

Tuesday we were up early again as it was maybe time to head quickly to Port Severn as the weather was really predicted to get nasty. Idea: let's head into Honey Harbor public dock – which has a library with internet – and check the weather before deciding where to go.

A plus: the general store has breakfast! One look at the radar and the decision was made: get to a dock and get tied up!! By the time we left and made it a short 3 miles to the nearest dock on Beausoleil Island, it was raining and the wind was up.

Only two boats at this dock. When we originally tied up the wind was coming broadside pushing us into the dock - by the end of the day it was coming from the opposite side and keeping us off of the dock - way better!

So the wind is predicted to be with us for all of today and tomorrow. Not going anywhere until the wind and Georgian Bay calm down. 

Predictions for the waves on the bay: six feet!! In the middle of Georgian Bay of course which we don't have to be on. Don't need to be anywhere where there are even 3 footers ;-)

Guess we'll be here at least another day ......

Saturday August, 19th: On to Parry Sound

We left Port Severn on the first of what would turn out to be almost 5 perfect days of weather. And this on Georgian Bay - which in our experience is extremely unusual. Typically the forecast is for "high wind warning" for both northern and southern Georgian Bay. Guess we got lucky this time around!

Our first anchorage was less than 20 miles from Port Severn - a place called Hockey Stick Bay (not the official name - just the name given to it by boaters!)

It's pretty easy from the aerial view how it got it's name. We were tucked back in just at the end of the bay - perfect! The only excitement was when our anchor chain decided to part ways with the anchor line - which was tied to the boat!

We quickly were blown toward four boats anchored and tied together behind us. It was a very fast - get the engines started and move back away. Turns out the u-bolt broke on the anchor chain. Fortunately we had a trip line tied to the anchor and Steve was able to us that line to pull the anchor back onto the boat - or it was going to be some diving in 14 feet of water to try to recover the anchor! Re-anchor -this time with Randy/Cindy anchoring also. Good for the night and no tangles in the morning.


Again on Monday the waters were so calm! Steve rode for a while on the front as the water is so clear and the rocks so near the surface, that it's fun to watch as we are in the channel and the rocks surprisingly close to us.

The destination was Twelve Mile Bay. We've anchored there numerous times but it is always a great place.

This time, while kayaking, Steve spotted a black bear walking along the rocks south of where we were anchored.

The rocks that are kind of fuzzy in the picture below? They are underwater :-)  No boating near the rocks!

This time we decided to put a rear anchor out so there would be no twisting of anchor lines. Worked great - Steve used his kayak to put a float on the line (so other boats would be aware of the anchor line).

And then the big boys came - three of them! Probably 55 or 60 feet. There was still plenty of room for the 15 boats in for the night. The kayaking was great again - and the weather holding so we decided to stay a second night.


Fun for the day? Trying out Peter's new 'lounge chair' - blow it up and good to go. Cindy looks pretty comfy ......

And another thing I can do with my new hands: clean fish :-)

Steve was happy!

Wednesday night was our final day out before heading on to Parry Sound to beat the rain and cool weather due in Thursday night.

Nice anchorage by Derbyshire Island. Again a  great place to kayak plus more fishing.

Anchoring out is so different up here than in Florida as the scenery is crazy nice. Granite, so many different colors and lots of trees. Just beautiful......

And so here we are in Parry Sound - for the third day! Lois went home, Sandra came for a couple of days, Randy and Cindy have gone home. Sounds like things are starting to wind down ......

I really should have been taking more pictures .... just having too much fun I guess.