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 :-)