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?

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 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;

Falling Through The Ice!

I call this photo 'Man's Boots Drying In The Sun';

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Well, today was another good day at the Cottage to get some work done around the joint. Yes, it all started off well enough, with everyone showing up to work on the boats and even help out with Sanja's roof extension. I must say that with the Pefferlaw River opening up rather quickly, some of us thought that maybe the ice might not be safe enough to work on. At some point, I might have thought the same thing and may have looked a little apprehensive; But, as the work moved on - and the river got closer - everything proceeded swimmingly (no pun intended) and the roof work moved ahead; After many, many hours and hours and hours of hard labour, it was time for a bit of a break. With all the open water right next to where we were working, Wevvy thought it would be a good idea for us to do a little fishing, so he brought down his fishing rods; After all, it was such a nice day, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing. . . . Nothing, that is unless you throw in one silly contractor with a very powerful tool. And a poor judge of ice conditions. . . . To help you out with what you are about to see, the tool that you see your Commodore show up with is called a Paslode cordless nailer. It's designed for house framing and firmly plants a 3" nail into lumber. It is very powerful. It can hurt. It was not designed to nail the ice to the bottom. . . . . I'm pretty sure on that last one. It's a good thing that we had an Innocent Bystander to capture what came next and should have not come as any surprise at all. Before you see this, I must tell you that when I watched this the first 2 or 3 times, I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard!!! I was in total hysterics with this one & can't stop laughing every time I see it it:-) Have Fun!

Snakes & Ladders

A couple of things I'd like to share with you on this Friday evening. . . . Firstly, I wanna give everyone a 'heads up' on the conditions at The Cottage, as I was there this evening doing Boogaboo's bottom. The Pefferlaw River is about 2/3 open, with the openness slowly but surely creeping into B Channel. And don't call me Shirley. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the overhang extension built Saturday before the ice isn't anymore. Sure is easier to work off a ladder around there when the water is stiff, rather than in it's liquid form like we had to do getting Free Bird's tarp up over the slip last year. When I got home, I had a quick bite & headed to the garage to sand down the teak sections of our swim platform, whilst listening to the heavily amplified music from ANKORGRL's heavily amplified car stereo. A little something from side one of Beatles Abby Road to set the mood. Guess which track & win a prize ;-) Go ahead, guess. . . Any who, it came to mind a story I heard on the news this week - which has nothing to do with the Beatles, but my mind has a tendency to wander. I wa-wa-wa-wa wander. Sorry, back to the story, which was about a guy who was arrested at the New York border attempting to smuggle snakes & other reptiles into the States. And not just any snakes. We are talking non other than the infamous Massasuaga Rattler. And not just one or two, but 33! I mention this because as part of my Georgian Bay summer holidays research, I came across a very interesting video about the Massasuaga Rattler and all of his little friends that reside in that part of the world. And yes, I did have AG watch it. Not to scare her, but to inform her that we are all better off when we know a little bit about these animals. Hey, knowledge is strength. So, if you want to get a little stronger - or are planning to venture to The Bay, I urge you to watch (remember to hit the HQ button) (Quick note about the above photo. This was taken at Henry's Fish Restaurant on The Bay, just after we had gone for a dinky ride to check out the local sights. This was snapped no more than 10' from the swim platform of Boogaboo. Well, I tell you, my lovely wife nearly had a conniption fit when she saw that thing!! That, and she screamed like a little girl stepping off the dingy and onto the swim platform. I probably don't have to mention the fact that she spent the next 1/2 hour checking ALL the compartments on the boat while I went swimming . . .);

The next little tidbit I'd like to share with you all is another video I found awhile back. This was produced for the Ontario Marinas Operators Association (OMOA) and is an overview of Lakes Simcoe & Couchiching. No doubt you will recognize many of the areas shown on this video, but there is one very brief portion in particular that caught my eye. Pay close attention to the segment that shows up at 2:06 of play. Post your comments on the Log Book for that one. Sorry, no prize this time, just some old fashioned fun! And a bit of lump in your throat Rotten Row history; Keep an eye out for my next update, as I have some fun & funky photos & one video from our trip back through the system last year at the end of our holidays. Some cool shots of Water Wings going through the fast current of the Little Chute. Stay tuned, my friends . . .

Boing! ( Springtime - Almost)

Boing! That's my sound of a spring - Boing! Yes, like the song goes - 'It's beginning to seem a lot like Spring Time . .' Forget about the -20 degrees from this morning and let's focus on the fact that it's already only next weekend that we set the clocks ahead an hour! That means we''ll be having daylight at 7:30. Great. AND, it's only another 2 weeks until the fish huts have to be off the lake. . . PLUS, tick-tock, tick-tock, Spring officially arrives in just THREE SHORT WEEKS :-)

 As it's been for me all winter, there is yet so much to do in a short time. I'm happy to report that I was able to get the impellers checked in Boogaboo's drives and I should have them all painted and lubed up by tomorrow. I also changed the impeller in the outboard and gave everything a good once over.

 Speaking of the outboard, A.G. & I headed up to West Marine in Barrie today for some bottom coat paint and a few incidentals, as I had a couple of $15 off coupons from the Boat Show that were to expire after today and were burning a hole in my pocket. Sooooooo, whilst up in the 'hood, we also dropped into Sandy Cove Marine & picked up some funky stickers to adorn the otherwise barren cowl and make it look spiffy :-) Oh! And after a significant amount of negotiating (read: hassling the sales guy into submission), I was able to secure a really bright floaty thing to use as a marker for our stern anchor.

 Alas, as usual, I digress. . . . Back to the time passing quickly thing. The next item on the 'Gotta Get It Done Before The Ice Is Gone' agenda; I'm jumping head first into a complete bellows/gimbal bearing replacement project on both outdrives. That also involved a quick shopping stop at Princess Auto on the way home.

 Finally, there's a couple of lumber related projects to do for one of our recently relocated Dock Crocs. That's the easy part. Hopefully the weather cooperates for all of the above.

 Now, on to the question of the day, brought to us by the crew of Free Bird; How long until relaunch, and do any of us have a clue. Well, I can offer you the following bit of insight on both questions. First, if last year was any indication, we should be floating by the first weekend in May. See the following photos; Fear not, my friends - this soggy, damp, wet, cold shot from last May will in no way reflect the hot, sunny, clear, beautiful conditions we are sure to be experiencing during this upcoming season; Fear not, my friends - this dark, sad, wet, cold shot from last May will in no way reflect the partially sunken Sea Ray experienced on that first weekend.

  Ok, back to the Springtime thing quickly. The photo at the top of this post and the next one down were both taken on April 20th, 2008. That was the first BBQ we had at the Cottage for the season. I mean check it out - the boats weren't even in the water yet and Anchor Girl is grabbing the condiments and utensils off the boat! How cool is that?!?! Now, on to this year. While the rest of you have spent the last couple of weeks recovering from Frankie's Follies, A.G. & I have been busily and actively planing our summer holiday destinations. I gotta tell you, last year's trek was certainly a huge inspiration and we are so looking forward to this year's adventures!! Problem is that we have already picked out probably more places we'd like to get to than time will allow, but we do have a couple of 'must see' places. Most involve spending a lot of days & nights on the hook, allot of distance covered with the dinghy - one spot not even charted and one place clear off the charts!! Maybe even a bear or two. WOW! Hoo-Ha!! Can't wait!!!!!!   I have some more videos to further whet your appetites for the quickly approaching season. I just want to give you some viewing tips for these and subsequent video posts. As you are already aware, I use YouTube to host the clips, as they offer a high quality available experience. I've been messing with the codes in an attempt to present the High Quality option to all of our viewers, but it seems that for some folks this doesn't work on their computers. Me dunno why. So, I'm just going to embed the clips the way YouTube wants, but you can still watch in High Quality! Simply click on the little box at the bottom right of the video frame when the videos start and click on the 'HQ' button that pops up. Believe me, it's actually quite simpler that the long winded explanation . . . Is it just me, or does it seem that sometimes I talk too much?? Maybe it is just that I say too much. . . .

 This first video is actually the second part of a clip I posted here a few weeks back of a float plane leaving Henry's Fish Restaurant. This video is an edit of a few clips I put together and it runs just over six minutes. Over six minutes! Remember those days, Graham? Back to the long winded description of the video. Not only will you see that old DeHavilland Beaver taking off and flying overhead, but also THREE other planes taking off together. Or at least, trying. You see, the water runway cuts right through and across the main Small Craft Route, so you'll see a couple of the planes having to turn aside to allow the boat traffic to pass. One more of the hazards one encounters boating on the Bay ;-) [Remember to click the HQ button]

  Finally for tonight, we have for your dining and dancing pleasure a pleasant trip down the South Chanel heading out from Parry Sound. Not only will you witness the beauty of this area, but a warm hearted tale of the bear sighting along the way. Note that the bear in the video - the same one that is currently hibernating in out living room - is named 'Wilbur'. That was inspired by a story I had read when we were up that way about the fact that Wilbur Wright (of the Wright Brothers fame) had a cottage on one of the islands in the Parry Sound area. Cool story, eh? Yes, I get my inspirations a very wide and varied number of every day sources. [I'm not going to remind you to click the HQ button]