Last Bay Pics of 2011

 Anchor Girl & I took a spin up to the marina today to check on the boat and the ice conditions. For those of you who haven't been up Lake Simcoe much this winter, the main part of the lake didn't freeze over until the second week of February - the latest I've ever seen that - and broke up a couple of weeks ago when we had those many days of high winds. As of today, Cooks Bay (south end of Simcoe) is still covered in ice, but looks like it'll be gone this week. The marina at Lagoon City still has ice, but there is lots of open water all around & everything should be open and ice free this week.
 Good news is, with all this favourable weather, that we are looking at  an early launch this year!! Given the fact that Boogaboo is on land and strategically located right next to the launch ramp, I've scheduled it to go back in the water the first week of April, so that we can be back on board for the first long weekend of the season!!

Bring it on!

 Today's post will take us through the last part of our 2011 Georgian Bay travels. I hope you enjoy it.

Back at Henry's on our return trip. Juts one more glorious evening on Georgian Bay;

Beautiful;

This is the cottage across from Henry's. See the flag pole in front? Well, it's actually depicted as a 'flag staff' on the nautical charts, which is different from a 'flag pole' - but only up close :-)

My lovely Anchor Girl, dipping her feet in the water;

A couple of float planes from Georgian Bay Airways preparing to depart;

Here's those same two planes from the above photo taking off . Plus a really nice view of a summer evening at Henry's;


Nice sunset;

Pretty;

While here, we happened to see Brian (from Keswick Marine) bringing his new boat home from the States. He was accompanied by his brother & Peetah and they stopped in for us to take the grand tour of the boat. I remember that it was VERY hot that day!

One more photo from our (previously posted) dinghy trip to Moon River Falls;

Very nice;

Summer. Nice.

All good things come to an end, and we left Henry's the next morning;

As this would be our last day on The Bay for the season, I was gonna drive back real slow . . .

Slow driving or not, we was back at Honey Harbour too soon;

The Picnic Island store & gas dock in Honey Harbour;

Rounding 'Turning Rock';

This is the calmest conditions we had ever encountered on Severn Sound;

The north cardinal buoy closest to Port Severn. Unbelievably calm waters;

Unfortunately, those calm conditions wouldn't follow us into Lock #45. Here we are approaching the highway #400 overpass & the lock behind it;

Oh. Calm waters have been replaced by a very strong current at the bottom of the lock. We had to hover in these conditions for roughly 40 minutes. Not a fun thing to do in a small, congested area surrounded by rocks and other drifting boats;

Safely at the blue line, waiting to enter the lock;

Does my wife appear stressed out in this shot? The answer is 'yes'. You gotta watch the video below to get a feel for the approach to this lock. Definitely the least favourite lock to pass through - by far;

Here we are with ten minutes of fun passing through the lock at Port Severn;


Look at that. We made it through without loosing any fingers or anything. Well, a little scuff of blue line paint on the side of the boat, but that was easily buffed out;

Here it is. I like to call these little abrasions 'Memory Marks' :-) Heck, if we never left our slip, we'd never have all our great memories from our adventures;

The dock at Rawley Resort in Port Severn. A nice, 5-star inn which is our traditional 'last night' place to stay and go for dinner in their restaurant. And they even let in people dressed like me;

One last beautiful sunset for our holidays;

At least I wore a nice Hawaiian shirt for the occasion;

Even got the moon in this pic;

Wow;

Here's a clip I took the next morning before we headed on. I told you it was worth it;


Back on the move along the Trent Severn Waterway;

13 minutes to ride back up the Big Chute Marine Railway. We couldn't have timed it better, as we simply drove right onto the car - no wait at the blue line. Counter that with our 2009 return when we had a three hour wait to go over;


Let's go up Lock #43 at Swift Rapids;


 A nice shot of Boogaboo, taken from the 'Over Doo' crew docked at 'The Wabic' restaurant;

Approaching the last lock, #42;

The Narrows on Couchiching. That means we are almost home;

Back at Pefferlaw, entering the break wall and on to our marina. This was one of the last times we entered this way, as we would be moving to Lagoon City in less than a month from when this was taken;

I'll end this trip with a clip from one of my favourite settings, enjoying a spectacular sunset at the Rawley Resort;

Port Severn to The Little Chute Boat Cruise

 Before we get into this evening's posting, I wanted to offer this amusing bit of insight for your consideration. I know we have a limited audience for the Blog, so I don't expect big numbers to show up. With that in mind, I can tell you that when I share a video clip and post it here, these vids usually garner roughly 30 - 40 views over a two to three week period. Don't worry, it only took me a couple of hours to download from my video camera to my computer, edit, render, upload to You Tube and post on the site. I guess the sights and sounds of summer just aren't as appealing to our viewers as I would have thought . . .

 Ok, whining over, the amusing thing about our most recent video clip of the shenanigan's on (and through) the ice of the quickly disappearing Pefferlaw River is that after only SIX DAYS, there has already been an incredible 117 views!! I guess humour wins out over sentiment, eh?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

 Some shots of our 'trip back' from The Bay at the end of last year's summer holidays. I bring this to those of you who have been this way & like to reminisce, as well as those of you might be doing this trip this year for the first time. Now you will have the benefit of seeing what is to be encountered along the way - or way back. Right at the top of Lock #45, Port Severn is a number of nice spots to spend a night or two. This photo of the lock was taken from the Rawley Resort, which is right across the river. The shot at the top is of Mr. Von A. in front of the building that houses the restaurant. This place is top drawer, all the way & the owners (Barry & his wife) park their big boat out front, as they are also long term Georgian Bay boaters. Besides owning this joint, they also own South Bay Cove marina in Honey Harbour.

 

 Here's a view of Lock #45;  

Looking in the other direction (from the same spot), you see Severn Boat Haven, a full service marina;

 

 Here's where things get fun again. After leaving the challenges of Georgian Bay, this part of the Trent Severn Waterway is relatively easy to navigate. Just keep an eye on your charts, watch the markers and enjoy the ride. The one spot that can be a little disconcerting the first time going through is the Little Chute, which is just before (returning) / after (heading down) the bottom of the Big Chute Marine Railway. As you can see, there is ample warning of the fact that this man made channel is quite narrow (one boat wide) and the current can be really strong here. Remember that next to the Big Chute is one of the larger hydro generating plants along the system, so the outflow (as well as the rest of the flow from the Severn River) all has to come through this spot;

 

 Again, not a big deal. Just make sure you have some positive power to maintain control and be ready for some of the swirling water that can be present. With all the rain we had last year, there were a number of narrow areas like this that we had some strong flows. In particular, there is a passage called 'Hydro Glen' (the site of a former dam/power plant) where the water was moving so fast that we picked up 5 mph going downstream through there! Here's Water Wings passing up-bound (homeward) through the Little Chute;

 

Finally, here's a video of our boats running the Chute;