Day 345: Thursday, August 15, 2013

Port to Port: Tie Island (Blueberry Cove)

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile to Mile: We had hoped the wind would die down and allow us to travel towards Killarney but it was not to be. The forecast this morning was for 20 knot winds again which wouldn’t be bad in a protected channel but we have a 16 mile stretch in open water with a long fetch that would make for a very uncomfortable ride. We all decided to stay put and try again tomorrow.

So, another down day, another book (and craft project) done. Later in the morning, I went over to Carina (I kept their dinghy overnight) and Kent put the motor on and we went on a wonderful 2+ hour tour of the little bays and coves near our anchorage. It is a stunningly beautiful landscape. It is amazing to think of how old these rocks are and the processes that carved them into their infinitely variable shapes. Pictures just don’t capture the scale and colors and shapes that you see up close. Kent and Jane have done a lot of whitewater kayaking and canoeing and I think Kent thought we in a kayak – we snuck into some of the narrowest rocky channels to explore the small hidden bays – and we only scraped against the rocks a couple of times (thanks Kent for the memorable tour).

We have been out at anchor so long we are getting close to running out of a few things – we have about 5 liters of drinking water left, a few cherries, a couple apples, cereal and some nuts. We have lots of spaghetti and we can make pancakes, so we won’t starve. We do need a marina soon, though to restock, use the internet for a while, take real, long, hot showers and reconnect with the outside world.

We had another fun happy hour on Spiritus. We brought a special treat – hot blueberry muffins – which we finished cooking on Spiritus. The blueberries were fresh from the woods yesterday. Muffins and cocktails may seem a little strange but, for some reason, out here, it works. There wasn’t a crumb left.

Before we said goodnight, we enjoyed the sight of a pair of bald eagles soaring along the shore along Blueberry Cove (our new name for our current home) looking for food. Even though we are getting a little antsy for civilization, we aren’t looking forward to leaving our little part of heaven here.

In Passing: Hook Island, Eagle Island, Cameron Bight, Dreamers Bay, Passage Island, Serpent River, Spotted Island, Beardrop Island, Berry Pickin Island, Moodle Rock.

Day 344: Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Port to Port: Golden Sword Island to Tie Island

Underway: 7:04 am      Motor Off: 10:01 pm      Miles Traveled: 14      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time picking a bunch of blueberries to share; first time seeing a water snake swimming by shore.

Mile 8 to Mile 22: After a good nights’ sleep – our steadying sail kept us pointed into the wind very nicely – we pulled anchor at 7 am on a cold but sunny morning. We decided to get a little closer to Killarney before the winds kicked up again today and we wanted a little better wind protection. These short days are fun. We were re-anchored before lunch and, in the protection of the islands surrounding us, it was actually warm.

After doing a few boat projects (fix a leak, improve the riding sail and rearrange some things), Kent came over in the dinghy and brought Cindy and I to shore to explore a little and stretch our legs. I found some nice patches of blueberries and Cindy had a baggy so we picked enough for a snack at boat-tails tonight. What a wonderful treat. It almost makes us want to make pancakes for dinner but Jane and Kent invited us over for chili tonight so we will just have to snack on them.

Eddy and Linda came by in the dinghy and I went to shore with them to show Linda where the blueberry bushes were. Linda and I picked a whole pint and I had to drag her back to the dinghy (“but there are more blueberries, we can’t leave now”). She decided to name our little anchorage Blueberry Cove – a perfect name I think.

Kent came over about 5 pm to pick us up for happy hour and dinner (we have our dinghy deflated and on deck because it creates too much drag when we tow it a long way). What a great party. We shared snacks – including freshly picked blueberries – drinks and a bowl (or two) of great chili. Kent and Jane even gave me an early birthday present of a super simple siphon hose for getting the gas in the tank without having to lift and hold a heavy gas can. Just before sunset, Kent serenaded us (as usual) with a long mournful blow on his conch shell. Life is good in Blueberry Cove.

In Passing: Golden Sword Island, Free Drinks Passage, Burnt Island, Queenie Island, Wedge Island, Moose Bay, Dead Island, The Shirt Tails, Strawberry Island, Bustards Islands.

Day 343: Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Port to Port: Golden Sword Island

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time using a steadying sail.

Mile 8 to Mile 8: What a difference a day makes. Yesterday was a perfect travel day. Today was a perfectly awful day. It was windy, cold and overcast. The wind never let up. We all decided to stay put given a forecast for winds of 20 knots with gusts to 30. Why move. Our anchors are holding. We are comfortable and reasonably well protected. We have lots of food. And we have friends nearby to talk to on the radio.

We haven’t had a real down day in a long time. When we stay an extra day at a marina, we always seem to fill the time with projects. We still worked on a few projects but mostly just relaxed and read or worked on fun projects. Cindy finally had time to figure out how to make some nautical woven coasters – it took a while to get the hang of it but she ended up making 6 of them – they look perfect. I read a whole book and had time to write two blog posts, do a little planning, backup some photos and make a steadying sail to help keep us from swinging so much in the wind. Kent helped instruct me how to rig it over the radio (it just so happens he has written articles about the topic before – lucky for us). I just modified and jury-rigged an old piece of sailcloth we had with and it worked amazingly well. Instead of swinging back and forth 120+ degrees, we are only swinging about 20-30 degrees. The boat is a lot more comfortable and stable.

We chatted and laughed a few times with our friends on Carina and Spiritus. It is comforting to know we have friends nearby.

I think we have been in Canada too long – some people (I won’t mention names) thought they saw snow today. Since the temps were probably in the 50’s, it was just mist blowing around but they still used the “s” word. It does remind us, though, that we need to keep moving to keep ahead of the seasons or we may see the real stuff soon enough.

Tomorrow doesn’t look much better than today but we’ll just see what the day brings and plan accordingly. Maybe just a short day to feel like we are making progress and experience another beautiful Georgian Bay anchorage.

Day 342: Monday, August 12, 2013

Port to Port: Regatta Bay to Golden Sword Island

Underway: 6:28 am      Motor Off: 2:45 pm      Miles Traveled: 49       Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 17 to Mile 63 and Mile 5 to Mile 8: After a beautiful, quiet night in Regatta Bay, we left early to put some miles under our boats on a perfect travel day –  bright sun, light winds and temperatures in the 70’s. Spiritus goes faster than us so they dawdled until 7:30 am and caught up with us late morning and continued on past the Cunningham Islands to find a good anchoring spot for the night for us.

Navigating in the small craft route on Georgian Bay is not for the faint of heart. It would be a lot less stressful (and less risk of disaster) to be sailing in the middle of the ocean. The route is fairly well marked but you need to be very careful not to drift out of the channel (rocks everywhere) and be a mind reader in some areas trying to figure out what the buoys mean. We missed one left turn that didn’t make sense and had to take a detour around some more rocks to get back on track. Never a dull moment though.

We did get to actually sail for a couple of hours when the route took us out into the open bay. What a joy to have the sails up again – we added a few points to our speed and the sail kept up steady in the lumpy swell hitting us from across Georgian Bay. Plus we look a lot prettier with our sails up.

  Even though we had a long day (in miles), by early afternoon, we found Spiritus relaxing at anchor in a private little protected bay just east of Golden Sword Island and we soon joined them. The amazing thing about Georgian Bay is you could probably anchor in a different cove or bay for a lifetime of vacations and never stay in the same place twice. Life is too short.

After finishing some boat projects, we all made our way to Spiritus for happy hour and conversation. It is a treat to share the stories of our days and lives with each other. It’s a highlight of everyday.

After happy hour, we stayed on Spiritus to have dinner and play another brutally competitive game of Quiddler. I don’t know what happened – I must have been tired or distracted by the amazing sunset – I didn’t win this time. It didn’t help that in one hand I was dealt a CZQWRTY (or something like that) and I ended up with minus 42 points for the hand. Eddy quietly laid down hand after hand and won just barely beating Linda – a fact he enjoyed sharing with her over and over again. Hopefully I will have a chance to reclaim the title of Quiddler Champion soon.

We may have a down day tomorrow – the weather is supposed to change and kick up some wind and a little rain. Maybe we will get a nap or two for a change.

Day 341: Sunday, August 11, 2013

Port to Port: Starr Island to Regatta Bay

Underway: 8:44 am      Motor Off: 4:24 pm      Miles Traveled: 37/39      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time eating at Henry’s Fish Camp.

Mile 24 to Mile 56 and Mile 10 to Mile 17 : Before we went to bed last night we had planned a short day to Echo Bay, another stop from 2002. But, the more we thought about it, we decided to tack on some more mileage while the traveling is good. So we re-plotted  the course and decided to aim for Regatta Bay, also a 2002 stop.

Aurora led the way (we are the slowest boat) and, after some more weaving and rolling, found our way to Henry’s Fish Camp. It is one of those places that is living off of it’s past and the fact that there isn’t any other place to eat for miles around. So lots of people end up here – it is even a popular float-plane stop. The food wasn’t special but at least we can now say we’ve been to Henry’s now.

We got ice and headed out to finish up our next 20 miles on another great travel day. The wind died off a little as the afternoon wore on and we enjoyed the ever-changing scenery. Spiritus was first in to Regatta Bay and we anchored nearby followed by Carina. Eddy came over to pick us up for a shore break. We were in awe over the terrain – massive glacier scored granite bedrock, green lichens, crunchy, dried up moss and small trees and bushes made up the landscape. We even found one tiny outcropping of sweet ripe blackberries (Eddy had four and I had three).

We enjoyed another nice boat-tails on Spiritus as the sun set over the granite islands and I won Quiddler…again. What more could we ask for?

In Passing: Starvation Bay, One Tree Island, Devil’s Elbow Channel, Peacock Island, Smooth Island, McMurry Rocks, Snow Island, Frying Pan Island, Pancake Island (making me hungry),  Beauty Island, Parry Sound, Peachy Island.

Day 340: Monday, August 10, 2013

Port to Port: Midland, Ontario to Starr Island

Underway: 7:21 am      Motor Off: 11:36 pm      Miles Traveled: 24/19      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: Hit 5,000 miles about an hour out of Midland.

Mile 5 to Mile 24: We set sail (actually just motored) out of the marina a little after 7 am headed toward our first anchorage in Georgian Bay only a few hours away. After we left the protection of the bay, the waves built up and gave us a lumpy ride until we entered the small craft route farther north. It would have been perfect sailing conditions if the wind hadn’t been on our nose most of time. After weaving in and out of hundreds of islands (above the water) and thousands of rocks (below the water) we wound our way into an amazing little cove by Starr Island. What is even more amazing is that, I found out after reading Jess’s trip log (that she wrote during our 2002 trip when she was 13), we stayed in this same bay in 2002. I had no idea when I randomly picked this spot before leaving Midland. How cool is that.

I led the way in and scoped out a private little cove with no other boats in it and found that the chart date was a little inaccurate. We anchored in an area charted as 2 feet but found 9 feet of water. Carina followed our lead and anchored a little farther out to get enough swing room. It was a little hard to stop cruising before noon but this is one place worth spending the time to enjoy.

The sun was shining and the surrounding islands blocked the wind so I decided to lay down on the cockpit seat and soak up a little sun while resting my eyes for a few minutes. I had barely closed my eyes for 5 minutes when, for some unknown reason, I looked up and saw a trawler passing by on the small craft route on the other side of the island. I only got a 10 second glimpse but it looked a lot like Spiritus (or 100 other trawlers we have seen on this trip). I couldn’t tell for sure but I told Cindy to hail Spiritus on the VHF Ch 16 (which we haven’t been monitoring for a long time). She did it twice. Amazingly, we got a response…from Eddy…again. I saw the boat appear on the other side of the island and, instead of taking a left along the small craft route, they looped around and slowly motored into our little cove and happy reunion number 43 was soon underway. What are the odds?

After they got anchored, we swung over on our anchor line and rafted up with them and got caught up again from our chance encounter a couple days ago. Going ashore here is a must – the scenery is, as Eddy calls it, prehistoric. Billion plus year old granite sanded smooth by mile high ice sheets and covered with small tenacious trees, plants and flowers. We even found some ripe raspberries as a treat. Kent from Carina motored over too and we did some minor exploring in the warm afternoon sun. It turned out that Carina and Spiritus met before in Tarpon Springs after the horrible crossing of the Gulf.

After our explorations, we did a few boat projects and regrouped for boat-tails and snacks on Spiritus at 5 pm. What a great time. There was only a short dicey period when Jane came onboard – Eddy and Linda are Auburn fans and Jane is an Alabama fan – their gang colors didn’t match. But after some good natured ribbing and discussions of past winning seasons, all was well in Friendship Bay (our new name for this beautiful anchorage). Kent and Jane have sailed a lot in Eddy and Linda’s backyard of Navarre, Florida so they had a lot in common to talk about. What a lucky string of events to have this memorable little get together happen.

After Kent and Jane dinghied back to Carina (as Eddy and Linda sang the Auburn fight song for Jane’s benefit), we whipped up the fixings for tacos and had another party on Spiritus. We ended the evening with a rough and tumble game of Quiddler (kind of like Scrabble with cards) – I won – and said goodnight.

Day 339: Friday, August 9, 2013

Port to Port: Midland, Ontario

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time getting cash from a cash machine while on the trip.

Mile 5 to Mile 5: We have two sailboats again ready for fair winds and following seas. Carina got her mast stepped today. It was a longer and more involved process than it looked. But, except for a few minor hiccups, Carina can now have S/V (sailing vessel) in front of her name again – and so can we. Cindy puppy sat Squirt – Kent and Jane’s CSO (Chief Security Officer) while I watched and took pictures for a while. I soon decided I could be more productive getting yesterday’s blog loaded and finished…while sitting by the pool…on a perfect sunny late summer day. And people think we are roughing it.

Later in the day, Cindy and I got a ride from one of the crew here at Bayport Marina up to Walmart. Of course, they didn’t have the two most important things that I was looking for – propane canisters and gallon bottles of 2 cycle engine oil. We still spent money, though and are now ready for at least a week of beautiful anchorages in Georgian Bay.

After we got back, we walked into downtown Midland to browse and check out the waterfront park. Midland is hanging on and trying to keep their downtown vital and healthy but there were a fair number of empty stores waiting for some creative entrepreneurs. We did find a couple nice shops, a small grocery store and did some much needed banking.

Since power is included in the slip fee, we plugged in and charged a few devices like the portable drill, spotlight and camera batteries during the day. We also took advantage and made rice in the rice cooker for the first time in weeks. We added some rotisserie chicken and salads to make a quick and easy dinner.

By the way, have I mentioned how expensive some things seem here in Canada. Ontario is not as bad as Quebec but a couple of examples from today stand out. We split a chicken bacon wrap meal at McDonalds for lunch and the total was $9.06 – for one meal. We also bought a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and it was $10.95 compared to $5.99 to $6.99 at home. Expensive chickens I guess. Gas is almost $5 a gallon too making for a little higher fuel budget. It is what it is but we are beginning to appreciate how good we have back home.

We are excited to be moving on tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, we will get to do a little sailing on our way to our first stop.

Day 338: Friday, August 8, 2013

Port to Port: Swift Rapid Lock to Midland, Ontario

Underway: 7:00 am      Motor Off: 5:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 24/21      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time seeing beavers; first time getting Aurora hauled out (if only for about 10 minutes at Big Chute).

Mile 224 to Mile 240 (Trent Severn) Mile 0 to Mile 5 (Georgian Bay): Today was the end of the Trent Severn leg of our grand adventure and the beginning of the Georgian Bay leg. We left the lock exactly at 7 am and cruised peacefully down the channel past lots of cabins, boat houses and granite cliffs. It’s hard to describe this part of the Trent Severn. Mix green of every shade and texture with granite greys, pinks and black, throw in endless varieties and sizes of buildings tucked in randomly along the shore and perched on tiny islands and add a blue border in front of everything and you might get close. We wove in and out of narrow channels and small bays until we finally saw Big Chute – the only “lock” where your boat is lifted completely out of the water, carried up and over a large granite outcropping and dropped back in the lake on the other side. It’s a pretty amazing experience.

Click Here: Big Chute

We were early and had time to wander around and take pictures of the “car” which carries up to 9 boats at a time. We followed Carina in and, in less than 15 minutes, we were carried up and over and down and were on our way again. And to think, this was originally designed decades ago to be a temporary solution while they finished building a typical lock at this location. Now it has become a tourist attraction and unique experience for thousands of boaters each year.

We motored another 8 miles and arrived at Severn – the official end of the Trent Severn. As we wove our way through the seemingly random red and green buoys past a large marina we heard someone yelling “Aurora, Aurora”. We looked around and who do we see but our friends Eddy and Linda waving their arms on the end of the dock. What an amazingly small world. We took a quick left (after radioing Carina that we were making an impromtu stop) and had a wonderful and unexpected reunion. We ended up visiting for several hours catching up on our respective adventures, having lunch and hoping that we will meet again in the near future.

Believe it or not, the Severn Lock was our 103^rd lock in Canada. Yikes! It happened to be one of our fastest locks, too. We just drove in, tied up and as we were starting down, Eddy and Linda popped up over the top for one last goodbye. Eddy even helped the lockmaster crank the gate open to let up out. We miss them already.

We motored under the bridge and out into Georgian Bay following the small craft route. We passed right by the little bay where, on our first trip here, we anchored and took our mast down so we could go under the same bridge traveling the opposite direction. We left the route and crossed the bay to Bayport Yachting Center in Midland, Ontario where we met back up with Carina. They are getting their mast re-stepped tomorrow morning. We untangled all our lines, reconnected everything and lifted our mast back up where it belongs all by ourselves. It’s nice to be a sailboat again. On to new adventures.

Total Miles: 4,997

Day 337: Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Port to Port: Bridge Port Marina to Swift Rapids Lock (No. 43)

Underway: 6:51 am      Motor Off: 12:03 pm      Miles Traveled: 26      Stayed At: Lock Wall

First Things First: First time making coffee cake in camping oven (Cindy’s birthday cake)

Mile 198 to Mile 224: With a forecast for storms this afternoon, we considered staying at the marina but the skies looked good in the morning so we headed out to try to get to Big Chute Marine Railway about 32 miles away. We had good weather and a favorable current so we made really good time and got to Swift Rapids Lock by noon. It started to rain a little so we decided to stop on the low side (50+ feet down from the top) for the day. Then the sun came out and confused us. Should we stay or should we go. In the end, we just decided to stay and enjoy a beautiful, secluded lock and celebrate Cindy’s birthday with Carina.

I didn’t have a recipe for a simple white cake mix so I made a Bisquick Coffee Cake – hey, it’s still cake. Jane even had a candle for me to use. We decided to have pizza on the grill so Carina contributed the crust, onions, cheese and pepperoni and we added leftover spagegthi sauce with hamburger, more cheese, fruit and cake and we had a wonderful birthday party with friends. Cindy even got a long quiet nap after lunch.

Dark clouds moved by on and off all afternoon but we never got any significant rain and, by late afternoon, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful sunset. We were sitting on the boat after the lock had closed and heard someone yelling “Aurora” from the top of the lock and discovered that our friends on Irish Attitude, Journey and Harmony finally caught up with us again – almost. They are on the top side of the lock so we will still be in front for at least one more day. We joined them and chatted for over an hour – the only thing missing was our docktail drinks – poor planning (it’s 9 flights of stairs back down to the boat so we just suffered).

After catching up with our friends, it still took us over an hour to get back to the boat since we ended up chatting with three groups of people on our section of dock – two power boats and some canoeists who were camping. What a great way to end an awesome birthday.

Oh, but wait, it wasn’t over yet. Jess and Sarah made a conference call using Google Hangout and we sacrificed some expensive Canadian cell phone minutes so they could wish Cindy a Happy Birthday. Now that was a great way to end a special day. Tomorrow we get to be sailboats again because we will be done with bridges and locks until Chicago. Time to put the masts back up. We can’t wait.

Day 336: Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Port to Port: Kirkfield Lock to Bridge Port Marina (Orillia, Ontario)

Underway: 7:58 am      Motor Off: 2:20 pm      Miles Traveled: 19       Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First snowbirds heading south (sort of) towards the Caribbean – boat of them sailboats with their masts down.

Mile 169 to Mile 198: No, not Cindy’s birthdays (that’s tomorrow) but, as of today, we have been through 99 locks just in Canada. That’s amazing. We could probably lock through with our eyes closed (although I wouldn’t recommend it). We have definitely gotten our money’s worth on our Seasonal Lock Pass – only about $1.50 per lock. What a deal.

We had to wait for a bridge opening at 9 am so we didn’t have to start too early. We cooked a hot breakfast including some perfectly done blueberry muffins that we shared with Carina. We meandered through the (sometimes very narrow) canal and efficiently locked through 5 locks (and 3 swing bridges) before we started our crossing of Lake Simcoe. It was a little windy on our port (left) quarter but Aurora and Boris did wonderful.

We are only a little over a day from Severn and the end of our canal journey. The Trent Severn has gone way too fast. We have missed some things but had lots of fun experiences. I wish we had another week to savor some of the great anchorages, locks and towns along the way. Next time, I guess.

After a lumpy but uneventful crossing of Lake Simcoe, we motored up the channel and stopped at Bridge Port Marina. We haven’t had a marina day for a long time so it is a well deserved stop. While Cindy did a couple loads of laundry, I scrubbed the boat from top to bottom (a lot easier with a hose than a bucket). This marina even had a vacuum like they do at car washes so I took the opportunity to clean the cushions and get the dirt and dust from under the floorboards. A nice job done. In a couple of days we get to put the mast back up and be a sailboat again.

Dinner was a T-bone (on the newly fixed grill), some red potatoes and fancy salads. We squeezed in long hot showers (the showers here are in our top 5 for the trip – new, clean, lots of hot water and several to choose from), worked on the blog (crappy internet though), read for a little while and crashed.

Day 335: Monday, August 5, 2013

Port to Port: Verulam Park Anchorage to Kirkfield Lock (No. 36)

Underway: 7:17 am      Motor Off: 3:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 25      Stayed At: Lock Wall

Mile 144 to Mile 169: After a quiet and restful night, we left early enough to get to the Fenelon Falls Lock well before it opened so I could get gas and ice before locking through. We didn’t make it early enough so we decided to stop at the upper wall after locking through. Surprisingly, there was plenty of room for both of us. We took a  couple-hour break to get gas, use the internet, make a few phone calls and find groceries before continuing on.

The waterway was a lot quieter today than the last couple of days. Most of the boats we saw were going back home. We steadily made it through several narrow canals and wide scenic bays before reaching our destination for the night – the Kirkfield Lock. This is another lift lock but this time we went down instead of up. We were at the highest point of the Trent Severn – 840 feet above sea level – as we passed through Balsam Lake. We will finally be going downhill into Lake Ontario for the next 100+ miles – we go down 264 feet. It’s about time.

After taking apart, cleaning and reassembling the grill (it was loose and needed adjusting), we cooked spaghetti  for dinner and ate at a real table for a change. As I am writing this, the puffy clouds that were around all day have mostly cleared out, the sun is shining brightly and all it right with our world.

Day 334: Sunday, August 4, 2013

Port to Port: Burleigh Falls Anchorage to Verulam Park Anchorage

Underway:7:32 am      Motor Off: 4:20 pm      Miles Traveled: 32      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 112 to Mile 144: Today was a lot like yesterday. We made it through 4 locks and crossed several large bays. We had wanted to stop at Bobcaygeon to explore and relax but the wall was full. That’s what we get for traveling on another holiday weekend in Canada. It wouldn’t have been very peaceful, though. There were lots of tourists wandering around and people were even sitting in lawn chairs watching boats go through the lock. Just think how much money and calories we saved by not stopping in a town full of restaurants and ice cream shops.

It was a lot windier today than yesterday. Gusts over 30 kph (about 20 mph) were forecast which made the larger bays we crossed choppy and wet. Thankfully the sun was shining. We did find out though, that we are faster than one kind of boat – houseboats, especially when they are trying to travel upwind in waves.

We passed the half way point on the Trent Severn at 120 miles near Buckhorn Lock. Woohoo! We found a relatively well protected spot to anchor near Verulam Park and tied up to Carina to enjoy some relaxing downtime and do a little long range planning (for tomorrow). The wind gradually died down and by time we motored off to anchor, the bay was calming down, the local boaters were going home and we enjoyed tacos and fresh bing cherries as the sun slowly set behind the trees. Tomorrow is the last day of the long weekend so things should get a little quieter for the next 100+ miles. Something to look forward to.

Day 333: Saturday, August 3, 2013

Port to Port: Scott Mills (Lock 19) to Burleigh Falls Anchorage (Lock 28)

Underway: 8:43 am      Motor Off: 4:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 23      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 89 to Mile 112: Eight locks and 23 miles is a good day on the Trent Severn. We were lucky and got on a good cycle and the locks were usually ready for us when we pulled up. The Peterborough Lock is a special lock. There are two huge pans of water with hinged gates on each end. They lower the front gate and you drive in and tie off along the side. They close the gate and one pan goes up and the other pan goes down sixty- five feet. The piston that each pan sits on has to be 12 feet in diameter. The view from the top is amazing. This lock has special memories from our trip in 2002. One of our favorite pictures from that trip is off Jess and Sarah standing on the bow of Aurora at the very front of the pan right with a panoramic view of the valley below. We are amazingly lucky to be here again.

I am also reminded of what a good job the girls did back then getting us safely into and out of dozens and dozens of locks (and docks) – at age 11 and 13. We have seen many adults having trouble tying off and keeping their boats secure. They were (and still are) the best crew (and the best kids) anyone could hope for.

The scenery is getting better and better if that is possible. We are now in the part of the Trent Severn with mile after mile of little tree covered granite islands – some with cabins and some pristine. It reminds me of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota (except there are power boats here).

We found an amazing secluded anchorage a few minutes from the Burleigh Falls Lock and tied up to Carina for a special dinner on Aurora (yes, Aurora). We set up the cookstove in the cockpit and Cindy cranked out pan after pan of ebleskivers as Kent, Jane and I ate them hot out of the pan. What a treat.

After cleaning up and restowing all the dishes, we untied and moved a little closer to shore into a rock and tree lined cove to anchor for the night. This had to be one of our top five favorite anchorages so far. It will be hard to beat. Sleep will come easy tonight.

Day 332: Friday, August 2, 2013

Port to Port: Hastings to Peterborough, Ontario (Lock 19 – Scott Mills)

Underway: 9:25 am      Motor Off: 4:22 pm      Miles Traveled: 38      Stayed At: Lock Wall

Mile 51 to Mile 89: We had another good day on the Trent Severn – 2 locks and 38 easy miles. Because we stayed below the lock last night, we had to wait till after 9 am to get through but we were the first (and only boats) going up so it all went fast. I wish we could get started earlier but it is what it is. I used the time wisely and sat in the local coffee shop and drank my $2 “gourmet” large coffee (which would have been twice as big and cheaper at a convenience store) and used their internet. I updated the blog, sent a few emails and did some research. Cindy was just getting up when I got back to the boat at 8:30 am. She needs her beauty sleep, I guess.

We had a nice cruise through the canal and across Rice Lake – the winds were light and the sun was shining most of the time. We started dodging a few spotty showers when we got back into the canal but never got wet. The waterway was much quieter than we expected – this is another long weekend (some kind of civic holiday) so we expected a lot more traffic on a Friday. We saw only a handful of boats and most of those were fishing. It could be a quiet few days as we make our way along the Trent Severn.

Dark clouds finally caught up to us as we entered Lock 19 and the skies opened up as we got to the top of the lock. We stayed in the lock for about 20 minutes while we waited for the rain and thunder to move on. As we were waiting, our friends on Irish Attitude and Journey plus a couple of other boats pulled up to the lock too. They got caught in the rain too. They passed us again and stopped in Peterborough to stay a couple of days. We will no doubt see them again.

Cindy and I took a long walk and found a nice grocery store to stock up on a few essentials. We took advantage of the fish and chips special at a little restaurant a couple blocks from the boat and made it home only a little wet from a passing shower. Tomorrow is another big lock day so we won’t make many miles but we will make progress.

In Passing: Margaret Island, Grasshopper Island, Hickory Island, Rock Island, Sugar Island, White Island, Spook Island, Sheep Island, Cow Island, Harmony Island.

Total Miles: 4,841

Day 331: Thursday, August 1, 2013

Port to Port: Percy Reach to Hasting (Lock 18)

Underway: 9:03 am      Motor Off: 5:07 pm      Miles Traveled: 26      Stayed At: Lock Wall

Mile 25 to Mile 51: The day started with a steady, warmish rain – just like what is did all night. No wind. No thunder. Just rain. We decided to go up with the first lock through – if we hadn’t, we would have had to wait until 11:30 am for the next opportunity and, by then, who knows how many boats would be waiting. We like our simple little group of three. So we cast off our lines and started the first in a quick sequence of 6 locks – only a mile or two between each one. The rain was falling straight down, the water was calm, the locks were ready for us each time and the girls got wet working out on deck catching the bow cable at each lock (the guys were able to stay fairly dry under our sun shields/biminis). At least we didn’t have to get up early to get cold and wet.

After a refreshingly quick 6 locks, the sun came out just as we were stopping in Campbellford to top off our fuel and get ice. Who do we find at the municipal dock but Irish Attitude, Harmony and Journey from Kingston. What a small world. They had stopped to rest and recover after Mike and Rick got sick. We never dreamed we would catch up to them again. (I am sure they will be passing us sooner rather than later but, at least for today, we aren’t the last Looper in the loop).

Campbellford was a memorable stop from our trip in 2002. The girls and I found a chocolate outlet store near downtown (it is still in business) and went crazy buying chocolate of all kinds by the pound. It was really cheap and really good. We had one problem, though. It was hot. As we walked back to the boat, the chocolate was rapidly melting. We went into crisis mode. We needed to save the chocolate. So we rearranged the food in the cooler, through some of it out (who needs food when you have melting chocolate) and put the chocolate in its place. We knew where our priorities were didn’t we girls? If I remember right, we still had chocolate left when we got home (even after we gave lots away to fellow boats and ate more than our fair share. I told you it was a memorable stop.

After our quick Campbellford stop (only a few chocolate samples courtesy of the Information Booth), we did another 3 locks and a scenic 3 hour lock-free run and found ourselves a nice place to tie up right before Lock 18. After cleaning the boat, we joined Carina and Never Say Never at a nearby Italian restaurant and enjoyed good company and so-so food (it always amazes me how some of these places stay in business).

The day ended with a beautiful sunset, a successful cookstove repair and two double stuff vanilla oreos for dessert. Sounds like a good day to me.