Why No Bay? Extreme Low Water Levels on GeorgianBay!

I recently received a comment/question on the Log Book from a couple who have not boated on Georgian Bay in 15 years and now find themselves up in Penetanguishene (Penatang), on the southeast shore. They asked me why we won't be heading back to Georgian Bay this summer (2013 season) and I thought it was note worthy enough to share here, as the ramifications apply to all of us. . .

 But first, another stunning photo from our time at Wani Bay (2010);

 The reason that will not be visiting Georgian Bay this season is because our home port is on Lake Simcoe and we have to travel through the Trent Severn Waterway to reach The Bay. No trouble in that respect, but once one exits The Waterway at Port Severn, there are only two, relatively shallow channels that lead onto Georgian Bay proper. When we passed through 'Potato Island Channel' last summer, my depth finder was showing us precariously close to bottom and the water levels have dropped considerably since then.

 I'm not going to chance taking out a prop or shaft (or both) right at the beginning of our holidays, so we are looking forward to heading east along The Waterway this summer. Haven't been that way in a few years, so it will be like revisiting an old friend :-)

 If you look at the (long & boring) video I posted earlier on the Blog discussing the water levels, you will notice I make mention of the Potato Island Channel. It's a sad situation affecting not only Georgian Bay, but all of the Great Lakes, to one degree or another. And, by extension, all of us will be affected.

 Here's a video of us heading up-bound (towards Port Severn) through Potato Island Channel, back in 2009. As you see, there was lots of water depth, but not too much width. Imagine that now, with roughly THREE FEET (yes, three feet/one metre) less water  than when this was shot.


 If you are only back to the Penatang area this year and didn't get a chance to boat on The Bay last summer, you will looking at a MUCH DIFFERENT body of water from what you might remember. If you have a chance to drive over to Honey Harbour, take a look at the Picnic Island Store. From the recent photos I have seen posted online, I don't think I would want to take our boat through the Small Craft Route in that area - even if we could safely get onto the Bay :-(

Here are two recent (January/13) photos of the Picnic Island Store + a link to a news story on the cost of dealing with the lower levels to area municipalities. If you are unfamiliar with this spot, there is normally floating docks right here. Note the floating docks on the other side (kinda behind in this shot), you will see they are pretty much sitting on bottom. That makes it difficult for folks like us who need at least 4' of draft to move the boat through the water. (Note, these two following images were found on the http://honeyharbour.net/news/ site, but are widely floating around many news and environmental sites. I do not know who took the photo originally, so I am unable to attribute any copyright or ownership to the author. From what I see on the Honeyharbour.net site, they may have been taken by a 'Bernard Nicholson')

Another one, looking southward, with the Small Craft Route in the distance;

 Now compare the above photo with one I took here in 2008. In this shot, I'm standing on the dock, looking down to where the above photos are looking);

 I think this will, sadly, give you an understanding as to why we won't be up on The Bay this season. Despite the fact we can't make it this year, we are still blessed and fortunate enough to be able to safely travel through the rest of the Trent Severn Waterway. Keep an eye out for upcoming updates from those adventures :-)

 I hope you will have a chance to check out both my YouTube Channel, for LOTS of boating fun.
 Yes, I do have fun with this whole boating thing ;-)

Labour Day 2012 at The Waubic

A bunch of fun from the Labour Day long weekend, which found us back at The Waubic Restaurant alongside the Severn River.

 When we left our marina for the weekend, it was another really windy day, but we made the run up no problem. Just before hitting Swift Rapids Lock (#43), we met up with friends and decided to spend the night there with them and continue on to our final destination - the Waubic - the next morning.

 Here we are tied up for the night, which was the first time we did an overnight at this lock;

Enjoying some good times, along with a couple of cold ones :-)

The view from our flybridge. Yet another nice spot.

. . . and a beautiful sunrise the next morning. The day gave us hot weather and calm conditions.

When we arrived at The Waubic, we had to drift in the river for a little bit while the previous nights' guests left the docks. No problem, as it was calm, unlike our previous visit here in July when we had to deal with strong westerlies while waiting for our spot - and three professional dock captains who were full of suggestions as to how I should make my approach in the wind ;-) Guess which one I listened to? HA!

This weekend was one of the best all summer for weather and we was all in swimming - and trying our skills on Kim's SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard). To my pleasant surprise, Anchor Girl was a natural on the thing! Myself, not so much :-)

The owners of the place have two dogs that great the guests when they arrive. This guy is named Tanner and he will spend the entire day with you retrieving a ball if you throw it. Problem with that is he jumps in thew water a lot and loves to shake his stinky wetness all over when he brings the ball back. . .

Kicking back on 'Poker Sticks' before going to the restaurant for dinner.

HI!

Jimmy shows off the huge portions of fish (along with everything else) that they serve. The food here is really good!

A peaceful evening on the docks. A spot we are looking forward to visiting many more times!

Calm conditions lead us back into our home port. Sure was a great weekend!!

Canada Day Long Weekend Boat Trip to TheWaubic Restaurant

For the 2012 Canada Day long weekend, we headed up to The Waubic, a small restaurant on the Severn River. We had boated past this place many times over the years, but never actually stopped in. Well, it was a good call, as we really enjoyed it. So much so, that we visited again for the Labour Day long weekend. That turned out to be the best weekend of the summer, by far. I'll be posting lots of fun from that event in the future . . .

 Before heading out, Jimmy staggered, I mean walked, over to wish us well before he & Marg left for their fateful boat trip to Georgian Bay. See the video below to find out what happened.

Jimmy's boating accident;

Bill dropped by, as well. Hey Bill, you might be putting your ship up for sale next year?? Say it ain't so . . .

I took these next few sunrise shots on the Friday morning of the long weekend, before heading back home and to work;

Pretty, eh?

I captured the sun rising and reflecting off the calm water - a perfect picture frame for the bow of Boogaboo;

Northward bound along the Severn River on Saturday morning;

Sit back and enjoy this 24 minute long trip up to The Waubic;

We have arrived;

Anchor Girl checks out the surroundings;

It was so windy when we got there that the dock we were tied to was actually being pushed sideways. So much so that the boat on the other side was almost hitting the next boat over. We ended up having to jamb both our boat (to the left in this picture) and our neighbour (to the right) as close in to shore as possible. We then had to tie off to the shore dock to stabilize the docks!

The 'On A Roll' crew joined us as well;

Went for a dinghy ride over to the Severn Falls town dock;

There is a small grocery store, complete with LCBO Agency outlet at the town dock;

Here's a shot of the restaurant deck from our flybridge;

I'll tell you this, if you go in really hungry, you will come out satisfied. The portions are huge and the food is all home made and REALLY good!

A look around the restaurant. A quaint spot;

First time I had one of these Flying Monkeys beers. Tasty and bottled locally in Barrie. Plus, the logo 'Normal Is Weird' feels right, too ;-)

You can see how close we had to squish into our neighbour;

A beautiful look of a beautiful setting. And I'm not referring to the docks or the boat ;-)

Ahh, an afternoon on the dock, enjoying a sip of Anchor Girl's piña colada - straight from a cup that was 'stolen' from the Deck bar in Fort Lauderdale;

More video from the weekend, complete with live music and a food review;


Monday morning started off as calm and sunny as could be;

Calm is an understatement;

The restaurant is closed on Mondays;

A lovely, slow cruise home;

Anchor Girl gets the lines ready as we approach Swift Rapids Lock;

On A Roll caught up to us in Sparrow Lake;


Severn River;

The weekend ended the way it started, with a glorious sunrise;

Alarming Water Levels

For all of us who boated on Georgian Bay this past season, we already knew that the water levels were getting quite low. Well, that was in the summer. Since then, the level has continued to drop at an alarming rate. We are now looking at RECORD LOW water levels on Lake Huron/Georgian Bay. The scary figures were so alarming in fact that, late in the season the Coast Guard put out something that I have never heard of in a lifetime of boating in this area - a general warning telling boaters to 'exercise extreme caution throughout the Great Lakes!'

Please have a look at my report on what is and what is not happening with this situation. I made this video in hopes that it will lead to awareness and a discussion on the severity of the lake levels. I look forward to your comments;

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