Boating To Florida?

 A question came to me the other day about whether we have ever considered taking our current boat - or any boat for that matter - south to Florida for the winters. Given the fact that live aboard our boat for the summer months, it seemed logical to this person that we just fired up the engines when it got cold and pointed it south towards the palm trees and sandy beaches. . . Here is my reply.


Yes, we currently call 'Boogaboo IV' home from May to October and love the lifestyle. It's a bit of effort to make happen, as I still work full time in my own contracting business and have to commute daily to and from the boat. The good part of that is I get to travel mostly through country roads, so it's quite scenic. As for taking her to Florida, we have discussed that possibility, but not any time soon. Again, I have a business to run for now and being away toooooooo long, or having to commute back and forth to Ontario throughout the process is not something I would entertain at this point.

That said, we are unsure as to which way the fickle winds of fate may send us as we travel through this plane of existence. Ultimately, we would love to be able to step off the boat at the end of the season and head south for the ensuing six months until the boating season resumes the following spring and that is something I am working towards. To that end, I have just released my first, feature length travel video 'Cruising The Trent Severn Waterway'.

 One other option we toyed with was to buy a second boat to keep in Florida, but the overall costs currently make that prohibitive, but something we may revisit down the road. Despite the life of Riley that many folks may perceive from my endless postings, we are like most of the rest of the working world; car payments, a mortgage and all the rest that comes with every day living. The one major difference is that we have made a solid decision to live more on our own terms and take advantage of the good days as much as we can. With my MS diagnosis a few years ago, we learned quickly that good health is precious and not to be taken for granted. We have worked contentiously to reverse my condition and a huge part of that has been stress reduction and, like I said, living life on our terms - even if it does mean maxing out the old credit card once in awhile ;-)

 Laughing at ones' self is also paramount to a healthy life, so thanks you for recognizing that. I stopped taking myself too seriously awhile back and that helps to lighten the load, so to speak. As for the lovely deck hands you mentioned you've spotted some of in my videos, I'm not sure on their availability, apart from my own Anchor Girl. She's got her hands full with taking care of me and the MAJOR reason I am working at making our lives more fun. And that, is the funnest part for me . . .

:-)

Summer 2013 Boat Cruise - Young's Point, Clear Lake and More!

Wow, I really gotta start doing these Blog posts sooner to the actual events ;-) It's hard to believe that this set of holiday pics are from last summer and we are going to be re-launched for the 2014 season in less than two weeks!! Oh well, it's always fun to look back on memorable times, and this is no less.

  This voyage takes us back to Young's Point and a nice evening with the owner of Islandview Resort. Despite the fact we were heading back towards home, there was still lots of fun and memories to be made :-)


Waiting to go up through the lock at Young's Point;

Up-bound through Young;s Point Lock - Lock #27 of the Trent Severn Waterway.

 Across from the lock stands this old bridge, built in 1884-1885 and is the only known surviving bridge that employed both wrought iron and steel in it's construction. It's also one of the oldest bridges along the Trent Severn Waterway. Once used for road traffic, it was long ago replaced by the Regional Road 28 bridge, a little to the west highway.

Young's Point bridge.

Our host for our stay, one Mr. Kieth. Um, as a side note, he has a good connection with a guy that does a great job of fashioning drinking glasses out of empty beer bottles. How we got all those empty beer bottles between the two of us is another story ;-)

Hey Kieth, have you seen my empties? ;-)

Another great spot to tie up for a night or two.

The docks at Islandview Resort and Marina.

Leaving Young's Point and heading northbound across Lake on a clear, sunny day;

A clear day on Clear Lake.

 Lots of pretty scenery as we approach Hell's Gate that separates Clear & Stony Lakes;

Hell's Gate on Stony Lake.

Anchor Girl still trying to get that perfect shot of St. Peter's Church - an incident that got us into trouble the first time passing through here, years before! Watch the upcoming video for all the details;

Perry The Penguin sure enjoyed his time travelling through here. Warm & sunny is right up his ally!

Perry The Penguin having fun on his first boating vacation.

St. Peter's Church - on the rock.

St. Peter's Church on Stony Lake.

VIDEO: Our cruise from Young's Point and through the very picturesque Hell's Gate on Stony Lake;


The aptly named Stony Lake offers similar cruising grounds to that of Georgian Bay, albeit only for a short distance of just a few miles.

At the far western end of Stony Lake is the bottom side of Burleigh Falls Lock (Lock #28), and our stop for the next two nights

Approaching Burleigh Falls Lock.

Next time, we are at Burleigh Falls Lock for a very stormy night!

:-)

We're Floating Again! Boating Season Has Begun :-)

I am very pleased to say that at long last, Boogaboo IV is once again floating! Here's to another great season on the water! It couldn't have come at a better time, my friends. . . .

 Before it was time to float, it was time to polish. Here, Anchor Girl & I enjoy our first dinner of the year - a little dry, but just nice;

I couldn't have done it without Anchor Girl's hard work and help. So much so, that we were able to get more than I was hoping for polished in only a few days;

Thumbs up to the guys  for coming in on a Saturday morning to get us launched!

Wevvy took advantage of the weather on Sunday getting a super shine on Docked Wages

 

At last! Our beautiful floating home is welcoming us once more :-)

Our Sea Ray 400 Sedan Bridge

Our New Boat Delivery - Home Again

May I present the final part of our Great Adventure, delivering our new boat home from Michigan to Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada.

 I know it's only taken me the whole winter to get it posted, but this was the hardest part of the trip - actually getting home and calling it a day. I tell ya, when we did get back to our marina and eventually left for home (our house, that is), it sure was tough. After dreaming, hoping, working for and finally realizing the dream - not to mention the fun and excitement of driving the Big Boy nearly 700 miles all the way from another country, through mostly brand new waters to us - it was difficult to walk away :-(

 But, go home we did. After all, that was the point of the trip, right?

 See, I feel better about it already :-)

---

Leaving our anchorage of the previous two nights, we were back on the main Small Craft Route heading south.
 Here is 'Water Wings' approaching the turn at O'Donnell Point in the clear morning sunshine. What a beautiful day;

Rounding the big marker on the point of O'Donnell Point;

On the way down, we took a little side trip through a place called 'Indian Harbour' to see what it looked like. Very pretty with the rocks on shore being very smooth as they rise out of the water;

The route is very well marked, but, as with any ventures on the water, one must be careful to stay on the correct path.
 A couple we know from our marina had been coming to this very spot for a number of years but ended up hitting bottom here two seasons ago. When I say hit bottom, I mean they hit with such force that one out-drive was badly damaged and the other one was sheared completely off!! The result? An abbreviated holiday and a $12,000 insurance claim. . .

This guy is known as 'The Hitchhiker';

The Boogaboo IV on The Bay;

The Picnic Island store at Honey Harbour can mean only one thing - we are close to the end of our time on Georgian Bay for another year :-(

 If we study this photo closely, two things become apparent; First, we can see the highway 69 bridge in the distance making this the approach to the first lock of the Trent Severn Waterway at Port Severn.
 Second, we can see the anxious look of trepidation on the face of my lovely wife who is not looking forward to taking this big boat through ANY lock for the first time.
 Can't imagine why. . .

 Oh ya, this is why.
 Clearly, the up-bound channel to the lock under the bridge is very narrow and the current that tends to push the boat's bow from side to side is always a treat.
 You'll be happy to learn that I managed to stay on course through here, but landing the boat on the lock wall didn't go quite as smoothly. The result was a HIGHLY animated 'discussion' between the Captain and First Mate.
 I swear that the lock walls are still ringing!

 Fast forward two hours and we are quietly, calmly secured to the dock at the five star Rawley Resort (and they even let people like us in);

 A shot of our boats;

Walking over to the restaurant for dinner;

Say "CHEESE!"

Mmmmmm, desert time;

You don't wanna mess with this guy's cake ;-)

'Boogaboo IV' climbs aboard the Big Chute Marine Railway for the very first time;

With the boats all settled in, the big machine starts it's upward trek;

Geez, it almost looks like I ain't got no pants on;

 I know that there's allot of boaters who are apprehensive of going over 'The Chute', but after passing through all but one of the 43 locks on the Trent Severn Waterway, I can tell you that this one is by far the easiest and least stressful of them all.
For those of you who haven't seen my previous posts of this technological wonder, here's the view from inside the boat, as we travel up the hill;

And, as yet another bonus feature, some video of our ride;



Looking back;

And a zoomed in shot of the Water Wings crew waiting on the blue line for their turn;

The next lock is Swift Rapids, which has the highest average 'lift' of 47' (the distance that the boats are lifted or lowered) of any of the conventional locks on the system;

Passing through the MacDonald Cut;

Next stop is the last lock before home;

'Boogaboo IV' & 'Water Wings' inside of Lock #42 (Couchiching Lock);

Our home for the night, on the blue line;

The entire crew of 'Docked Wages' had come up for the night & met us here;

The three boats on the wall;

Wevvy & Jason come over to take a peek at the new boat;

Jason entertains us with one of his fishing stories;

Final day on the water for this trip as we pass through The Narrows, between Lakes Couchiching and Simcoe;

Crossing over the lake to our home port, Lake Simcoe gives the Big Boy an appropriate welcome;




Arriving at the gas dock to see where they was gonna put us. Ultimately, we ended up docking right here for the balance of the season while the marina operators figured out what to do with us.
 I know some of you probably had a few ideas of your own, but . . .
 To top things off, the 'Docked Wages' crew were in the midst of upgrading to a much bigger boat and needed a place to keep it as well. . .

The chart-plotter shows the final tally of 662.4 statute miles traveled on this great adventure;

Home.
Total Trip Time: 25 days
Total Distance Covered: 662.4 Miles
Fuel Consumed: Don't Ask
Result: A Dream Come True!!

Now, all we need is a new slip . . .