All She Wrote :-(

Well, the boat is out of the water, being hauled on October 29th. I spent this past Saturday afternoon winterizing the engines and removing the outdrives. These events mark the official end of the 2007 'in water' boating season.

I took the drives off so I could bring them home to change the water pumps and impellers, as well as the drive fluid. Also, when the boat came out of the water, I discovered that the drives had a major infestation of zebra mussels. So, I did a bit of research and found that Inturlux paints makes a drive paint that is supposed to repel the little buggers. Once I have chnges the pumps and put the lower units back together, I will clean, prep and paint them with this stuff. Hopefully, that will work.

Alll in all, I'd have to say that 2007 was one of the better seasons for boating we've had. Not only was the weather good - mainly sunny & hot - but we were also able to enjoy visits to a few new places. Plus, the biggest event was finding our new home port. That was far and away the biggest event of the year. The move has also been really inspirational, with my wife & I planning new adventures for next season.

One of the new things we are looking forward to is anchoring out over night! Believe it or not, but we've never done that (I'll have to qualify that statement by saying that I have spent the night at anchor once, when I was about 13 years old, with my family on the houseboat we had back in the day). In fact, we have only ever set the anchor once in the three seasons we've had our current boat. The extended Christmas wish list includes a new Delta anchor. And an inverter. And a DSC VHF radio.

Hey Santa - you listening???

End Of Season

The Trent Severn Waterway has now ended it's navigation season and will remain closed until May/08. I will try to post the numbers for the season as they are available, but preliminary reports state that user numbers were up for the 2007 season. This was thanks to the better weather conditions we enjoyed, as well as no extended disruptions, as has been the case in past seasons.

In 2004 the system stayed closed longer than scheduled, as there was considerable flooding in May of that year. Two years ago, the unionized staff had a small labour disruption. With happy staff and happy weather this past season, boaters - as well as land based visitors - took advantage of the system.

Let's hope for similar conditions in 2008!

A 'House Boat'?

I found this unusual picture while reviewing some boating blogs - or at least blogs with boating content. A house being transported onto a barge and across the water. A 'houseboat', perhaps? For the short term, any ways. . .

All the photos can be found Here. The original post is at This Blog.

Our New Home

We're there!

Ahhhhhhh . . . You know when something feels right, it feels really right? Well we are fortunate enough to have found a home for our boating fun that feels REALLY right. This is our first full weekend in Everglades Marina and it still seems almost unreal. The differences from our last marina to this one is that of night and day. In fact, given that we have a huge grass area behind our slip and a beautiful view on the water side, I've come to refer this as our Cottage. And what a great feeling that is.

These fist two pics are taken from the back of our boat, in the slip. The top one is a morning shot, with the lower one being taken at sunset (no kidding, eh?). Previously, we had only been able to look directly at the back of the other boats in the 'old place'. Now, we have a much more enjoyable view.




Up to now, we had simply been parking our boat in a slip. Now, we have a place to go and enjoy are selves, without being confined to a small strip of dock behind the boat. The only down side to this is that we're at the end of the season, with the boats being hauled out in a few weeks. So, I'm going to be anxiously anticipating the spring when I can get back here to do some neatening up & personalizing around our dock.

One of the larger projects is going to be building a deck along side of this one. Later today we are going to be joined by our former next door neighbors (from our last marina) who will be beside us once again, here. To help out with the funds, we're going to be splitting as much of the costs as possible, including the deck. We have already supplied the gas BBQ, and they will be donating a table for the deck.

I've already started the construction with a widening of our finger dock. Since the view is so nice from the water side, we've decided to park 'stern out', to take advantage of sights. The dock was a little narrow to be walking back & forth on, so I added about 8" for an overall width of two feet. Much more comfortable now - especially with a beer in one hand:-)

The owners of the marina allow ius to do pretty much anything we want - so long as we don't p-off the neighbors (or burn the place down).

Like I said, it's RIGHT :-))

Moving On

After nine years in our current marina, we have decided to move our boat to another spot. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I had a fateful meeting during our Labour Day Weekend adventure which ultimately led to our decision as to where we would be moving.

For some time, my wife & I had been considering the possibility of moving to a new marina, with that plan being more acute over the past couple of months. As we travel to quite a few different marinas every summer, it's become clear that there are better options available. The only thing that had been keeping us in our current spot was the close proximity to home. That 'benefit' was no longer a deciding factor, as we figured that having to drive a bit by car to get to the boat and back was better than putting up with what could be described as as a rapidly deteriorating parking spot. And that goes for the whole picture - putting it mildly. Any ways, no point in being bitter about it - nobody had a gun to our heads. . . Let's get back to the 'fun' part of the story :-)

The fateful meeting I spoke of came about while we were down bound in the Swift Rapids Lock (#43). It was a full load of boats and one had to raft off of our starboard side. Just so happens the boat in question was a Sea Ray & the skipper & I quickly struck up a conversation about our boats (he was interested in ours, as he had his eye on buying a 30' Sundancer). That led to where we were boating to and from, when I told him that we were in the market for a new slip to call home.

Telling me about his home port in Pefferlaw, on the south west side of Lake Simcoe, I recalled driving there by car once a few years back and not being too impressed. I must have been in a hurry, or blind, or just too dumb to drive through the whole joint, as it turned out to be much larger than I had initially seen. At the end of the long weekend, when we got back to our marina, we talked about it with another couple there. Most of our fellow boaters knew how frustrated we were with the accommodations (or lack thereof) there and that we were looking to move, so it was suggested we take a trip to this new location the following weekend and spend the Saturday night to scout it out. So we did. I took this picture when we arrived there.

Guess what? We were sold. It only took my wife about an hour to say 'Let's do it - let's take a slip here'. I needed about another hour to come to the same conclusion. That night, we joined in with a bunch of 'locals' to sit around the fire, have a couple of drinks and find out a bit more about the place. Before too long, an Elvis tune came on the radio and before you could say 'Thank you very much', I was leading about 5 of us to a hearty version of I Can't Help Falling In Love. Yes, I think we'll fit in nicely!

So it's on to Everglades Marina . . . . . And I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

There And Back (Part Two)

Labour Day weekend took us to The Big Chute. On the Friday night, we stayed in Ojibway Bay Marina (marinas.com/view/marina/409). This was our first time there (by boat) and both my wife and I were immediately struck by what a nice, neat , clean and welcoming place this is!




Unfortunately, we had been becoming more and more put off by our own 'home port' marina and this was the complete opposite in every way. Not only was it impeccably manicured, the transient slip we had for the night backed onto a park like strip of land roughly 200' deep that itself backed onto the inviting waters of Lake Couchiching. As one of the year around boaters there said, it was like having a water front cottage.



View Larger Map

These folks offer both open and covered slips, but by the looks of things, they seemed to be pretty much fully booked. That was more than likely the case, as one of the larger marinas on Lake Simcoe - Big Bay Pint Marina - had completely shut down at the end of the 2006 season and the boaters there were forced to seek other accommodations. As a result, most marinas are operating at capacity.

For sure, Ojibway Bay Marina is going to added to our list of 'must visit' locations for next year's boating season. As it's only about a mile or so from Casino Rama, we might try to time one of our future visits to one of the many concerts at the casino . . .

There And Back (Part One)

What a fantastic weekend! Not only did we get to the Big Chute marine railway & back, but had great weather all four days. We were also fortunate enough to meet up with some friends that we hadn't seen in a while. As well, I got to talk to a boater who was rafting along side us while dropping down the Swift Rapids lock who told me about his marina in Pefferlaw - but more on that fateful meeting in an upcoming post.



Now the boats start the climb up the 58 foot (17.7m) high lift. Although it may look somewhat intimidating, this is the easiest 'lock' in the system, as you simply hand your dock lines to the operators and they position your boat for you.

The aft portions of the boats are hoisted up to clear any running gear from resting on the deck.




Once over the top, the whole railway car drives right back into the water where the boats are re floated. From there, they simply drive away.

To The Chute

It's the last long weekend of the summer :-( Well, rather than watching it slip by, we are heading up to the Big Chute marine railway on Saturday. This is going to be something of a mini holiday, as we're heading out tomorrow (Friday) morning to a marina on Lake Couchiching, doing the Casino Rama adventure, then the Chute on Saturday, and back towards Orillia on Sunday. As it is right now, the forecast is for fantastic, sunny weather all four days! Last year we got rained out, but made the most of it at our marina.

Here's a couple of pics I took in 2005, the last time we were there. The first one is waiting at the bottom blue line and the second is heading up on the the railway car. Cool.

I'm planning to take a whole whack of pictures and videos this weekend up there, as I'd like to include some new ones on TheWaterway.ca.

Doing The Great Loop

Anyone who travels on the Trent Severn Waterway will see quite a few boats who are 'doing the Loop'. Each year, we are able to meet some of these folks, talk to them about their trip and find out where they hail from.

In 2006, while in Trenton, I found myself talking to a gentleman who was 'doing the Loop' with his wife. Their home port is in California, where they had purchased this boat, 'Breakaway', for the trip. As they wanted to begin the trip from Florida, the boat was shipped through the Panama Canal to save the time needed to do that leg of the adventure.

Their web site, BreakawayYacht.com, chronicles the whole Loop cruise. An interesting feature they employed was the use of wrist band GPS units. After each day's travels, they simply uploaded the tracks to their site, so that they ended up with a highly accurate representation of the route traveled.

Take a look, as they have hundreds of photos. They're great to look at to get a feel for the various regions from the east coast to the Great Lakes, Mississippi River & the Gulf of Mexico.

Bottom Line

Recently, friends of ours were returning from their summer holidays trip to Georgian Bay, where they met some fellow boaters. I was going to say 'ran into fellow boaters', but it was this other couple who actually ran into something.

It seems that they had touched bottom in the channel leading out of Port Severn (the last lock, as one enters Georgian Bay). Their boat is a large express (roughly 45' long), which probably draws 4' of water - or more, depending on the running angle. As is was, it was suggested to them that they wouldn't have a problem passing through the narrow (and not too deep) Potato Channel. Unfortunately, they hit bottom, bending their prop and shaft.

Another painful reminder to always check your charts and not rely on hear say only. Sure, local knowledge can be a valuable source of insights, but that must be balanced with your own knowledge of your boat and it's limitations. That helpful boater you talked to last night could have a completely different style of boat or setup that might not necessarily reflect your needs on the water.

Their Big Adventure

Back in March of this year, my chiropractor, Dr. Bob, sent me a link to a Blogger Blog that is published by a friend of his - a boater doing a grand tour of the Caribbean. Titled 'Our Big Adventure - At Last' , it follows the crew of 'At Last' during their ongoing trip.

Dr. Bob had the good fortune to spend some time aboard 'At Last' and, knowing how much we love boating, was good enough to share the blog. Sure, given the fact that it was April when I first saw the blog, I was slightly depressed to see those folks enjoying the sun and seas while I was still working on getting our boat ready for relaunch - in the freezing cold;-) But soon thereafter my initial case of melancholy turned to inspiration after looking at the pictures, reading about their escapades and seeing how much fun they were having. Truly an adventure.

And that's why I'm now sharing it with you. Hopefully the same inspiration might overtake you to seek out your own adventure on the water. Something as simple as visiting a new area - even by car to see what awaits you.

Back when our kids were little and we really didn't have any money, I would tell my wife to pack some sandwiches in the cooler and have the kids get ready for a day out and take them to an unannounced destination for a day trip. We went to see the Peterborough Liftlock, Kirkfield Liftlock and the Big Chute - all by car. Even though we didn't have a boat at that time, it was something new and quite out of the ordinary for all of us.

Trips like that eventually led to us buying our first boat. Then another. And another. Now, five boats later we have crossed another threshold - to thoughts of long distance, live aboard cruising.

That's still a few years off, but, just like in the 'olden days', my wife & I will take off to boat shows to learn about different styles of boats and continue to venture out on the water to new (albeit relatively close to home) destinations. All leading us to our own Big Adventure :-)

Boat Shows

Toronto in water boat show will be taking place on September 13-16/07 at Ontario Place, along Toronto's waterfront. We visited this show for the first time last year and it was very good. The size/type of boats we are looking at are well represented there. Plus, the setting is very nice, too.

Given the time of year, I had gone there wearing a sweat shirt and discovered that a tee shirt would have been the better option. Note to self for this year - bring both. Looking forward to it again.

That is one event of many over the upcoming weeks that is going to keep us occupied. In less than two weeks it's the Labour Day long weekend that, unfortunately, kinda marks the unofficial end of summer :-( We are hoping to get away on the boat, with three different spots planned for our overnight accommodations. Sure hope it's good weather!

The following week, it's the annual corn roast at our marina. Then the boat show. Three weeks later, they will start to pull the boats out of the water for the winter layup. Well, at least our section of the marina is done last, so we might get an extra week or two in the water. Man, if it's going to be anything like it was last year, we could conceivably keep the boat in until December! The attached photo was taken just down the street from our house, overlooking Lake Simcoe - on Christmas Day! Usually, one would see snowmobiles and ice fishermen on the lake by Christmas.

It's unlikely that we'd see those kind of conditions two years in a row. . . But, hey - with global warming, you never know . . . .?

Water Show Fun

The Port of Orillia hosts a number of events each summer and one of them includes a water show, with professional skiers and wake boarders. This year it was the weekend of August 11-12.

This photo shows one of the performers launching off the jump - mid air. Cool. These guys put on a great show and the 'viewing gallery' is right at the water's edge, so everyone enjoys a good view. Our location was great for taking a few pictures & a couple of video clips. Too bad it wasn't as sunny as the day before, but it was fun - despite the short rain delay on the Sunday.

Here's one of the video clips, with a wake boarder wiping out at the end of his run;

Made In Canada

This past weekend I was talking to a friend that I hadn't seen in a couple of years. Being a boater himself, I told him about our trip from Lake Simcoe to Lake Ontario last year and he was impressed that we had traveled so far. I went on to say how I was struck with the wanderlust to go farther & see what lied beyond. To me it was more than a simple boat trip, but more of an adventure. I then told him how one could travel from to virtually anywhere in the world that was accessible by boat from the very spot we were standing (a dock in the Port of Orillia). This came as a bit of news to my friend.


OK, so maybe not anywhere in the world, but, given the fact that we could reach the Atlantic Ocean via a water route, we would be able to travel to any spot that is accessible from an ocean. Clear? Good.

Take a look at this map to get an idea. The line in red (circled in red) is the Trent Severn Waterway. Lake Simcoe (home) is located approximately 2/3 of the way from Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay.

Starting fairly close to home, major cities such as Toronto, Detroit, New York, Montreal and Chicago are all within a 2 - 3 week travel time. Beyond that, the 'Americas Great Loop' carves a path to Florida and the Gulf Of Mexico via the Mississippi River and Atlantic eastern seaboard and all points in between. Now that's an adventure.

Other 'local' routes include the Rideau Canal and the Erie Canal. Add to that a number of regional canals/routes through the mid/eastern U.S. and one could spend years traveling on the water in the area. Then, of course there's the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Europe + + + and, given the resources and a capable vessel and a lifetime could be spent heading out across the world - without ever having the boat leave the water.

Let's get packing :-)

Trent Severn Waterway Panel

Speaking of the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW), currently there is a government panel traveling through the region to gather input on the future of the system. This panel was put together to hold consultations in the communities that are influenced by - or upon - the TSW. Designed as a public forum for affected users and business owners, the 'Panel On The Future Of The Trent Severn Waterway' will be holding these meetings until the middle of September and then make recommendations to the federal Minister of the Environment.

The panel's official web site is tswpanel.ca.

TheWaterway.ca - F5 -

After the first year in the life of TheWaterway.ca, it's time for a re-do and I have a number of new elements that I'm going to be incorporating in the new version. These will include switching over all the photos to a slideshow format + adding many more. As well, I'll be greatly expanding the Maps page to include highly detailed routes, the locks, marinas, etc., which will be based on Google Maps. Believe it or not, this page gets a large amount of hits.


The other pages I'm looking forward to adding are going to focus on fishing, winter activities and - hopefully - something for user input. That last one might not make it right away to the new version, but I hope to add something along those lines fairly soon.

The site will have a whole new, more expansive look and feel. With any luck, I should have it up and running by fall. After all, my 'spare' time is limited until the boat is put to sleep for the off season. Stay tuned for updates.

Modern Technology

I recently acquired a new laptop computer. The old one I was using was, well, old. It still worked, but didn't have the capabilities I now need.

This new unit is an Acer Aspire. It is equipped with a 1.6 gigahertz Celeron processor, 80 gig hard drive, DVD burner, built in wireless, and flash card reader. The best part was the price. I paid $535 for it at Future Shop in July and I thought that was cheap (in an inexpensive way), but just this week saw them in the Wal-Mart flyer for the super low price of $469.00. Too bad my 30 day price match guarantee is over :-( But I'm not complaining . . .

The thing works great and I am really impressed with he graphics. My office desktop has an LCD monitor and after not using it for the three weeks we were away noticed how much crisper the screen is on the laptop. Not only that, but downloading photos/videos from the SD cards my camera uses is WAY faster than on my desktop. I am thinking that it might have something to do with the fact that it uses the new Windows Vista operating system. Maybe Microsoft finally got something right with improved camera/PC interface?? It would be interesting to see if other users have had a similar experience.

On an average weekend I would take between 200 - 300 photos and maybe 5 video clips with my digital still camera. That's roughly 1 gig of memory. What would normally take 30 - 45 minutes to download onto my desktop (XP) takes only 5 - 10 minutes on the laptop. Very cool. And they look nicer there, too :-)

Time Flies

I don't know how many times I seem to say this lately, but 'I can't believe it was that long ago'! A few anniversaries of note coming up this week.

It was already four years since the big blackout of '03. That was an experience. I remember driving home from work and on the way discovering the two sets of traffic lights being out. Then it was the power garage door opener at that - didn't. When my son called me to say he had heard the power was out right down to New York City, I knew we'd be in for a long night. With that, I drove to my wife's work and told her what was happening and that it was time to close up shop - we were heading down to the boat!

At least there we would have 12 volts of refrigeration and lights. Besides, there wasn't much else to do, given it was the hottest weekend of the year. Mow the lawn? I think not.

In no time, there were a number of other like minded friends showing up and before you knew it, we had a party at the end of the dock. Sure was neat to look around and only see blackness! It was a party atmosphere all around that night. Goes to show how the boating life brings us together for allot of reasons:-)

The other big thing (or is it 'thang'?) from this week is the 30th anniversary of the passing of The King, the Big 'E' - Elvis Presley. Wow, 30 years, man. Yes, I remember that day, arriving home to my sister & (future/former) brother-in-law telling me he was dead. Even though I was only 14 (I thought I was allot older than I was then), it was a great shock.

Over the years I have come to be a big fan. The little 'E' shown here is a cool window Elvis my wife picked up for me at the dollar store. He is hanging from the windshield of our boat, right in front of the two stuffed pigs and 1 set of fuzzy dice (I think I am allot younger than I am).

Thank you, thank you very much . . .

Finally, I lost a good friend three years ago - one of our boating buddies. This picture of Dan & his wife, Janice, aboard their boat is probably one of the best ways to remember the guy.

As for right now, I'd say that he's out there somewhere, next to a stream or lake with a fishing rod in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. Happy fishing there, Chunky. Save a cold one for me. . .

Birds Of A Feather

Lots of birds to see along the Rent Severn Waterway. These funny looking fellows were part of a flock of seven that we saw approaching the Kirkfield Liftlock. These are Black Vultures who were hanging around, as there were a number of dead carp in the area. The dead carp have been as a result of a yet to be determined cause. Should find out about what has been causing the mass die off of the carp sometime in September, when the government officials have concluded their studies.

One bird of prey that can be seen in pretty much all of the system is the Osprey. They are magnificent, majestic birds. Usually flying high aloft, they can be seen gently swooshing around the updrafts, searching for their prey - small fish.

Here's a videop clip I took of one dropping down to the water for a kill. This was taken just below the water control dam in Young's Point - July/07:

Lock & Load

This past Friday was the last night of our big 2007 waterway trip, and we got to experience spending the night at a lock station for the first time. Sounds like fun, eh?

Up to this time, we had always 'overnighted' in marinas. The advantage to the marina choice is that we get access to shore power (electrical hook up), drinking water and showers in the washrooms. Also, most are located within walking or biking distance of shopping or attractions.

At the majority of the locks along the Trent Severn Waterway, hydro and water are unavailable and showers are non existent. So, I guess for most people, this would be a short term choice unless it wasn't too sweaty out or if you had a generator and things of that nature. The upside of our stay at Lock #39 ('Portage') was that we were the only ones on the top of the lock and it was a beautiful night. And given the fact that we'd be home the following day (sigh), the lack of a shower for one night wasn't a big deal.

It had been quite windy all day, but calmed right down to nothing just after we ate our supper (BBQ hot dogs - hey, it was simple), as the photos attest. I took a number of shots of the area and it was great to capture the trees reflecting off the water. Check the video clip - it offers a panoramic view of the surroundings. Sorry for the colour being out a bit, but I was using my digital still camera for that clip and the lighting wasn't 100% for it . . .


The really big 'WOW' was after dark. About 10:30 I went outside and was blown away by the amount & clarity of the stars in the sky! Given that we are surrounded by so much light pollution in our modern world, it was a huge treat to see the night sky as it's supposed to look. I actually sat back on the concrete break wall to take it all in, and then opened the forward hatch on the boat to stare at the stars from our berth. Truly wonderful - and one more inspiration to take the cruising lifestyle to the next level.

Back Home :-(

It sure is amazing how fast three weeks can pass. Especially when it's holiday time. Well, that time has passed and we are back to the old grind. Not that I am complaining, as I have tons of work to do on TheWaterway.ca site, including a total rebuild. There are a number of new features I am working on incorporating there, including a dedicated Videos page, information on fishing along the system and links to cruising blogs. I've come across some really interesting ones and I think my visitors would enjoy seeing some of them.

Speaking of visitors, TheWaterway.ca has seen a substantial spike in traffic over the past three weeks. I guess heading out on the water for that period of time was a good idea? Good karma, man ;-)

As a result of that spike in traffic, I was moved to sign up for a couple of marine related affiliate programs to include on the site, one of which is BoaterExam.com.


This site allows visitors to take the Boaters Competency test right online and receive their license right away. I felt that was a really good fit and it has already begun to show promising results - with only limited exposure on the site so far.

Know Where You're Going

Thanks to my wife, 'Boogaboo' is equipped with a shiny new chart plotting GPS. The unit is a Standard Horizon 180i. The unit has a reasonable detailed world background map pre-installed, but also accepts C-Map chart chips. I am running the C-Map MAX chip "Erie, Ontario And The Trent-Severn" which pretty much covers most of Ontario waters and extends into the U.S. to the New York & Ohio sides plus Detroit.

The extra detail provided with this chip allows boaters to navigate through waters such as Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron /Georgian Bay, most of the Rideau Canal & the entire Trent Severn Waterway / Lake Simcoe. The charts are presented in vector format, which means they are 'layered', with more detail included the closer in one zooms. Unlike raster charts, which are basically just scanned paper charts, zooming out in a given area gives a broader perspective without the clutter found on raster charts.

Equipped with an internal antenna, the unit is completely self contained, requiring only the 12 volt power connection to get up and running. In fact, as it was a Christmas present last year, I was so eager to play with it that I went to Canadian Tire on Boxing Day and got a cigarette lighter adapter so that I could hook it up to the car in the garage & play with it inside the house! An I did, with the help of about 30 feet speaker wire for the connection, I was 'on line' and entered my first way point -our house :-) Cool.

As Boogaboo only has a canvas top over the helm, the reception is 100 %, as seen in the accompanying photo. This one was taken the other day, when we were heading from Young's Point to Peterborough. The picture shows our position within the lock (#27, Young's Point), about two-thirds of the way in, on the north side - right where we we actually were. So, big deal? Uh, YES! I've heard from other GPS users that there is still some deviation purposefully built into the system to throw the terrorists off by a few feet. Ya, that bit of news and $5,000 will get some choice swamp land in Florida.

From what I've seen so far is that any deviation one might experience on their chartplotter stems more from inaccurate maps than from incorrect placement therein. Like the warning says at the startup of any of these units, one shouldn't rely solely on ENCs (Electronic Navigation Charts). Yes having up to date paper charts for backup and reference should go without saying. You never know when you might have them pesky gremlins take out the power to that GPS or make you loose the satellite signal.

Finally, the most important backup is your EYES. Better yet, my eyes :-( The pretty picture included here is of St. Peter's On The Rock church, on Stony Lake. This structure (built in 1914) is located on a small island - barely larger than the church itself - and is only accessible by water. Lovely, isn't' it? The only problem with this shot is that we shouldn't have been this close to take it from a 30' boat! All of the charts and electronic navigation accessories in the world aren't going to help when you get overconfident and don't pay close enough attention to where your are supposed to going.

Yes, I was the overconfident skipper in this scenario. After having successfully transiting the down bound journey through this area of water know as 'Hells Gate', I was more concerned with getting in close for a really good picture of the church that I didn't make sure I was where I thought I was on the chart. My only defense is that this was a couple of years ago, prior to getting the chartplotter. I know, that's not much of a defense . . .

Fortunately I was able to catch the fact that I was off course and, because the water was dead calm, I figured that I could simply retrace my steps out of there and back into the 'safe' waters. The problem was that the current drifted our wake off to one side. Guess what happened next? Yup. Clunk. More like Crrrrrrruuuuunnnch!!!! What a gut wrenching sound. I the way that sounded and felt, I was certain that the bottom of the boat had ripped out and we were mere minutes from sinking. I'm serious.

The end result of my indiscretion was no more than a little bit of skeg shaved off the outdrives over a little patch of slightly submerged ground called Sherin Shoal. I guess I was able to trim the drives up quick enough and we just skirted the edge of the shoal. I'll always feel like I left a little bit of me behind in Stony Lake.

One last note on this article. While I write this, we are on the down side of that very spot and will be passing by there in a couple of days on our way back home. . . . I'm so excited about that. But hey, I do have a chartplotter now.

And a greater respect for the marked channels ;-)

Ten Foot-itis

So, you want to know what the Big Prize is that I'm reaching for? Well, it's about 44' long, 14' wide and weighs about 22,000 pounds (+ necessary liquids). Can you say 400 Sedan Bridge? Ya Baby!

Ok, take a deep breath and relax . . . . All right, I'm all better now. Where was I? Oh, the BIG Sea Ray. Two years ago, we went to a used boat show in the Port Of Orillia and went on one of those boats for the first time. Yes, it was love at first sight.

While I continue catch my breath, take a gander at this short, 15 second video of the boat on the water, which I found on the Sea Ray site (I know it looks like a big blank box - just hit the play bottom, a bit lower down):



These exterior pics shows some of the features that caught my eye. Apart from the fine lines of the sedan style, I found the flybridge area to be huge. Depending on how the boat was equipped and from the factory or the model year, the helm offered seating from 2 - 3.




Behind the helm, at the rear of the bridge deck, there is a U shaped settee that can convert to a sun pad. This extended bridge also provides some weather protection for the cockpit below.






The cockpit itself features a built in lounge and space for a couple of folding chairs. The ice maker is situated under the molded staircase that leads to the bridge. These boats came with an optional lower helm (designated as 'DS' models), but I would only want the upper helm. This makes for a better interior layout. Besides, the way I look at it, chances are that most traveling takes place when the weather isn't uncomfortable any ways.


Here's another look at the exterior. This boat is actually located fairly close to home, on Georgian Bay. I found it on a Sea Ray forum site.

I'll be sharing some interior shots in the future . . .

Over The Rainbow

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore:-)

Last night we were treated to this totally unexpected rainbow. Unexpected, as there was no rain or fog through the evening - it just showed up. A message from above? Why not. . .

Whatever it's incarnation, it was most welcome by everyone who was fortunate enough to witness it. Thanks.



Here's a couple more pictures of wonders of nature. These were taken beside the aforementioned Lockside Trading Company store.

The wildflowers caught my eye - and are a bit of a departure from my usual subjects of sunsets, etc..



The next one is a close up of the same vines, wrapping themselves around the 100 year old fence. Note the ancient, rusty maple leaf tops on the fence. Cool.

Just a quick note on the pics I'm uploading. I've sized them down to around 1100 pixels wide, so they show better on your browsers. Most of the originals re anywhere from 1600 to 2200 pixels wide. . . .

Another Day In Paradise

Right now, this moment, I am living a dream. Sitting aboard our boat, 'Boogaboo III', sipping an ice cold one overlooking the waters of Young's Point. Young's Point is one of our favorite stops along the Trent Severn Waterway. In particular, we are at Islandview Resort, a marina just at the top of the lock. That first picture is the view I am enjoying, right now, looking directly out the back of Boogaboo.

The dream I am referring to is more than just our summer holidays, but being able to do this while on board! Like I mention in m profile, the long term plan is to give up terra firma for a life on the water, where I can manage my internet empire ;-) Give me a few years, folks . . .


This is the down river side of the lock. Islandview is just beyond the extent of this shot, to the upper left. It's a bout a 1/2 mile from here to there :-)

There's a cool store called Lockside Trading Company, which is situated literally right beside the lock. They sell high quality leisurewear, books, neat little nic-naks and other misc items, including some furniture.

Well, as it happens, we were in there yesterday, picking up some of aforementioned clothing. As is custom for summertime (and any excuse I can think of in the winter) and I was wearing one of my many Hawaiian shirts. Wouldn't you know it - they had a couch that matched it perfectly! The staff & customers thought it was hilarious :-)

Here We Go . . .

Welcome. . . Welcome to a little project I've been thinking about launching for a little while. It's gonna include a little bit of this and a little bit of that - and whole lotta bits about Boats, Boating and the Boating lifestyle.

Anyone who knows me, knows the love I have for boats and the boating lifestyle. Not only that, but I do my best to capture the feeling and fun by taking thousands of photos each season. These photos are both on and off the water and I will be sharing as many as I can with you, so fair warning ;-)

Don't surprised to see the time line jump around a bit - forward, back and lots of sideways trips, so hold on to your seats & drinks. To ease us all in to the trip, I'm gonna start in the here and now, which has me & my lovely wife sitting aboard our boat (surprise, surprise) at a marina in Bobcaygeon, Ontario (Canada). The two of us are in the midst of our 3 week summer holidays which has, for the past five seasons, taken us through various regions of the Trent Severn Waterway.


Ok, here we go on one of those sideways trips I was talking about :-) Speaking of the Trent Seven Waterway, we have had such a great time during our trips through the system, I was compelled to build a whole web site dedicated to it! Enter TheWaterway.ca. Hope you can take a look at that work in progress. It's about a year old now and has been building a steadily increasing legion of visitors.

All right, back to now, again. Our current boat is a 30' 1987 Sea Ray 300 Sundancer. This is our third season with it and we spend every weekend on it from mid April to the end of October. Given that our home port is in Ontario, that's saying a lot.

This is our third Sea Ray & I'm looking forward to that 40 footer I have my sights on. Fear not, I'll be including all that Sea Ray stuff in future posts. Ya, ya, I've heard it all about Sea Rays already - I'm considering therapy - but we've been happy with them so far.

Besides traveling through the Waterway, we also do weekends away from home in different spots and I'll be sharing those fun times, as well.

Just one last picture for today's post, taken minutes ago. This is the veiw from the boat while I put this together. Now you know why I love this so much!

Looking forward to more! Chow for now . . .