Wednesday August 15: Gilman Bay

We moved a whole 1.59 miles today to a different anchorage. Neither boat left from Steve's pike hole so we passed it up this time around.

The anchorages are getting to be looking pretty much the same though – not that we would complain about the lack of cottages!

Guppy needed a good scrubbing so Steve decided this overcast day was the time to do that. This boat cleans up pretty well but needs a good waxing so the dirt doesn't stick so easily.

Looking great now though!!

The usual afternoon kayak ride to check out the bay nearby and see what there is to see. This gives us options for the next time we're in the area.

Some places – if you look strictly at the chart – aren't someplace you would venture into but kayaking in gives a really good look at whether or not we'd make it in.

Thursday morning: It was a peaceful night and hazy sunrise with an early start to the day. Thunderstorms are predicted for tonight so we changed our destination to be in a better protected anchorage. Time to get an early start so we can get in and settled.

Not so fast though as there seems to be a log caught up in our anchor chain!

Steve jumped in and tied a line to the end of the log to pull it up. But, the chain was wrapped several times around.

Once the log was aboard, it took both of us to actually be able to get enough slack in the chain (which was still attached to the submerged anchor) to get it off of the log. 

Good thing Steve is willing to jump in and do this kind of stuff – I would just be stuck here forever :-)

On the way was a really old style cottage with the wrap around porch and lattice work around the bottom of it. Such fun to see these still remaining and in good condition.

Once underway we continued seventeen miles to an anchorage we'd been to with Yesterday's Dream in 2011 – just a short way off of 5-mile bay, about 5 miles south of Parry Sound – our turn around point.

A perfect place to be sheltered from the storm due in at midnight tonight.

Steve started fishing once we were anchored and we thought the bass jumping around us were kind of thumbing their nose at him as they were jumping not all that far from us.

Turns out it was a beaver! Just warning us away from it's den.

It was pretty easy to see the entrances to the den under the water amid the pile of logs and sticks it used to build the den.

Which of course we then needed to investigate by kayak :-)

It was a large den but the beaver seemed to be not at home – until I happened to see him swimming. 

As I took a picture, he had just slapped the water with his tail! It's no wonder it's such a loud sound! You can see the beaver's tail as it dives under the water after slapping.

The cove we're in has a cottage on the shoreline but we are well back – tucked into the small bay. 

Steve in front in his kayak gives some perspective.

We are expecting a thunderstorm tonight but are tucked in quite nicely :-)

Tomorrow we'll travel the short way to Parry Sound and the land of breakfast places, grocery stores and yet another great Chinese restaurant :-)

Where we have anchored:

Anchorages Tuesday and Wednesday

Anchorage Thursday night

Tuesday August 14: Missasagua Provincial Park

Once through the Port Severn lock Sunday morning, the waters were incredible! Almost no wind and clear blue skies. 

We were headed for Beausoleil Island which is a part of the Georgian Bay Islands National Park – established in 1929. 

Our progress from Big Chute to Port Severn to Beausoleil to Honey Harbor and north can be seen on the map left. 

What foresight on the part of groups of individuals that could envision a place where civilization (ie. cottages!) could not encroach. Same for Ferdinand Hayden the American geologist in convincing Congress to create the first of the US National Parks at Yellowstone.

Boaters and campers flock to this large island. Somehow we thought things might have quieted down since the weekend was over but some of the docks were still full. We opted to just join the boats anchored out as the weather was predicted to be settled.

It was quiet enough for Steve to head out in his kayak. Seems there was a small bay that needed investigated! Sure enough, there was a beaver hut tucked back in the bay. Steve didn't see the beaver but it slapped the water with it's tail three times in an effort to drive Steve away – so he of course left it in peace :-)

A short trip the next morning through Big Dog Channel led to the public dock at Honey Harbor – and more importantly – breakfast!! Just a small area of the grocery store but their sandwiches are quite good!

I like the worm sign but Steve already had plenty aboard :-)

Another perfect day on the water as we headed north with a destination of Twelve Mile Bay – another of the park areas thirty miles away.

The waterway in Georgian Bay (it's called the Small Craft Channel) winds in among the rock islands that are a part of the 30,000 islands. The challenge of course is to watch the chart and/or chartplotter carefully so as not to miss any of the buoys.

The rocks awash in the shallow areas off of the channel would surely ruin an otherwise perfectly great day!!

We found a great anchorage in 12 Mile Bay away from the other boats. This is a very popular place – especially on the weekends – which is why we try to come only on weekdays! Steve of course started fishing.

Seems there was a bass hole right where we were anchored! This is the largest of the ones he caught – I see a fish dinner in my future :-)

Never get tired of the sunset …..

Or the beautiful calm of the morning. Must be time to go kayaking.

It's hard to stop taking pictures. And the rocks above the water show the shore line to just be an extension of the rocks under the water.

Kayaking, breakfast and everything packed up this morning and ready to leave by 11 am. Headed off for the Massasauga Provincial Park area.

Steve had great luck a couple of years ago with a nice pike and several nice bass. Guess where we'll be headed!

The Yankanuk Club established in 1902 was pretty neat. I can't imagine what this area was like at that time. Wild and no markers, I'm thinking.

When we arrived at “our” anchorage, there was already a rather large 50' Carver so we went on around it and the small island back into a small bay. Really nice place – it's yet to be seen if there are any bass or pike in this little bay.

Once anchored, Steve takes the kayaks off of the front (and puts them in the water) and then brings the solar panels out. 

No need to run the generator unless he's going to cook on the induction burners instead of the Coleman propane stove.

As I was quietly reading on the flybridge, a ruckus started along the shoreline that sounded like waves crashing on shore but no way that was happening. It's just too small of a bay for waves to make it this far in off of the channel.

Turns out it's a group? herd? flock? of all things: merganser ducks and they were 'group' fishing! It was amazing how fast they would swim – seemingly cornering the minnows and then feasting on the little fish. But VERY noisy as they splashed and quickly swam along.

I counted 38 of them! Interestingly enough a friend from Banana Bay, Sharon on Stevedore, had emailed me an article about mergansers and how they group 'baby sit'. Made me wonder if this was what was going on as there seemed to be two ducks that were in charge – one in the front and one in the back of the group.

Ironically Steve took a short kayak ride and guess who were all sitting on a rock! One group was down a bit farther but all accounted for :-)

Tomorrow we'll move to another area of the park –

Saturday August 11: Port Severn - Gateway to Georgian Bay!

We left Orillia but not before taking a few pictures of the area. It is such a wonderful waterfront.

Very well designed spaces - both for sitting and people watching and for walking.




One very visible change is the absence of the statue of Champlain - which has been removed primarily due to the deteriorated base. The real question is whether or not it will be returned to this spot.

The statue has been in the park since 1925. The deteriorating base was the original reason for the removal of the statue but since it has become a controversial issue concerning the relationship between Champlain and the indigenous tribes in the area. Not sure what will happen.

It wasn't an early start on Thursday which turned out just as well as when we arrived at Couchiching Lock only to discover a back-up of boats due to a broken cable.

With a packed lock each time down, it took about an hour and a half to clear up the backlog of boats!

McDonald's cut.

From there the Trent waterway follows the Severn River. A beautiful area that marks the beginning of the granite outcroppings that are so typical of Georgian Bay.

This cut is called McDonalds cut - couldn't find out very much of the history of this area other than this was the cut (literally) that in the end connected the Severn River with the final waterway to Port Severn and permitted the completion of the waterway which connects Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay and the western Great Lakes of Huron, Michigan and Superior.

Looking East toward Swift Rapids Lock.

We docked for the night at the bottom of Swift Rapids lock - one of four boats that ended up spending the night there. Peaceful and quiet :-)

As this lock replaced a marine railway and is now the deepest drop conventional lock on the system, the view from the top of the lock gives some perspective of how far down we are! Wonder what would happen if the lock doors broke .....

Saturday was a beautiful day - no wind. This is such a wonderful area and we appreciated the windless trip to the next lock. It's definitely not been like this for many of the trips through here :-)

We wanted to stop at the Waubic Inn for breakfast but there was no room at the dock so we moved on - we knew there was a marina that served a good breakfast at Big Chute - the next lock.



Just about every place buildable has a cottage on it. Not sure what happened to this little place. Snow damage or a tree fall? Probably next year it will be replaced by a newer and better version.






The entertainment of the morning was kindly proved by the marina trying to pull this boat out of the water. The hydraulic trailer was pulled by a semi - but with little weight on the rear 4 wheels, the truck just couldn't get the traction it needed.

Finally, they hooked a good sized pick-up to the semi and managed to get it out. Not sure what the issue was but it was nice for the folks on it that the marina was successful!

Big Chute Marine Railway

Big Chute was, as always, fun to cross. The carriage was coming toward us with 4 boats aboard. We were next in line and ended up in the front for a change.

One boat came behind us and two boats to our left also fit.

This picture shows the path the large carriage takes as we travel down the hill to enter back into the water. This could have also been a large conventional lock, but by hauling boats and transporting them out of the water,  it was an effective barrier that prevented the sea lamprey from entering the Trent-Severn waterway.





We continued on to Port Severn and once again, our favorite spot was available! We spent Friday and today here. The weekend is NOT the time you want to go into Georgian Bay as everybody and their brother will be at the Provincial Park on Beausoleil Island.



In the meantime, Steve fixed my bike. The shifter was VERY hard to shift and even if I managed to get it shifted into a low gear, I had to hold it to keep ir from shifting to a higher gear. Just not the way it should be! Randy and Steve took it apart a number of days ago and then Steve found a bike shop in Orillia that had a replacement shifter that fit.

Good to go :-)

Off first thing tomorrow for fuel and then through the locks to Georgian Bay :-) Also known as the land of no internet - literally!