'tis Grand Adventures

After buying detailed charts showing the “small craft channel” that twists and turns among the rocks and 30,000 thousand islands hugging the north shore of Georgian Bay, we headed for Beausoleil Island. The Island is owned and managed by Canada Parks and has hiking/biking trails and docks with boat slips at about 8-9 locations on the island. Indeed it was pretty, but too crowded and noisy for us, even mid-week. 

So after one night, we left for an anchorage that was much quieter and less bouncy (from passing boat wakes).  While enjoying a late afternoon brew on the flybridge, we noticed our dinghy about 10 yds off the back of the boat, slowly drifting away. Ned ran to put his swim trunks on, but a sudden wind gust was moving it out fairly quickly.  I kicked my sandals off, threw on a life jacket and dove in to retrieve it. It made for a fairly exciting cocktail hour!  But we are so glad we noticed it, since it was headed out of the bay towards bigger water.  We use it multiple times daily to get Zeke to shore when anchoring- which we planned to do a lot of in the coming weeks.  Sorry, no photos of the heroic rescue–Ned was too amazed by my quick response 😳.

Parry Sound Public Dock was a fun stop where we had a great jerk chicken dinner, stopped by Trestle Brewing and made a grocery run by bike. But our Snug Harbor anchorage stands out among the best. Had a fabulous pan-fried walleye dinner (“pickerel” in Canadian lingo) at Gilly’s and received some sound, encouraging advice from several local residents about a tricky, twisty, rocky section of the small craft channel we would encounter the next day. The written descriptions of “Hang Dog Channel” had made for a restless night or two for Ned, but fortified by the words of an elderly, former Coast Guard captain we traversed the channel handily the following day.

After another night of anchoring in an unnamed, but lovely bay, we headed for Wrights Marina in Byng Inlet where we ended up for 2 more days than we’d planned, due to high winds and thunderstorms. Although slightly anxious, we had to smile at a forecast for possible “Toonie” size hail, which, fortunately, did not materialize.  On the third day, the sun emerged and we left the marina early to check out a possible anchorage in the Bustard Islands or push on from there across 18 miles of open water towards Beaverstone Bay and a more protected route to Killarney.

Long open water stretches can be challenging because Georgian Bay is very large and has a long fetch for north, west, and northwesterly winds, which are prevalent.  These winds can create huge swells in open water, even at moderate wind speeds. So we were happy to just experience some long period, 2-ft waves   as we left the Bustards and headed across to Beaverstone Bay. Turning in from the open water, we found another great overnight anchorage at Burnt Island and enjoyed the beautiful, high-walled, pink granite passage through Collins Inlet the next morning that led us nearly all the way to Killarney.

After one afternoon and night in Killarney (probably the biggest tourist destination on Georgian Bay), we headed out to anchor again. Covered Portage – highly recommended by other boaters and a number of books seemed crowded with boats, so we found a quiet spot behind Pine Island. It was lovely and we had it all to ourselves, other than for a few canoes, fishing boats and beavers passing by. Westward to Little Current and the start of the North Channel tomorrow!

We finally finished the 240 miles and 45 locks of the Trent-Severn Waterway connecting Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay ( the northernmost part of Lake Huron) on July 24th. For the first 158 miles and 35 locks your boat is raised, while over the remaining 10 locks and 82 miles ’tis Grand and crew were lowered in each lock. We encountered many more boats (both “Loopers” and locals), waiting to lock through and trying to moor for the night at lock stations, than we had previously seen on the Rideau Canal. Because overnight mooring at lock stations is all first come-first served, at times we were forced to go longer distances than we wanted in order to find a place to tie up for the night.

But… on the plus side, we discovered Kawartha Lakes ice cream (which is delicious and served throughout the region), saw several of the most beautiful lakes we’ve ever laid eyes on, spent a few days in some lovely small towns and experienced a few VERY unique locks.

Two of the unique locks we went through were Lift Locks. You basically drive your boat into a large “pan” of water. Adjacent to you is another pan of water that is either filled with or drained of 1 foot of water in order to either raise or lower the pan your boat is in. The Peterborough Lift Lock raised us 65 ft and we continued on our way. The Kirkfield Lift Lock lowered us 49 ft. This one was a little thrilling because when you drive into the “pan” the boat’s bow is just hanging out there since the continuing waterway (which you are slowly being lowered into) is nearly 50 ft below! In each of these locks the boat is “secured” by tying 2 lines to a skinny railing on the pan leaving one free to walk about the boat for the few minutes that the process takes.

The “Big Chute”, the second to last lock on the Trent Waterway, doesn’t really use water at all. It moves your boat over land (maybe about 120 yards) on a marine railway system. You drive your boat into a large, open-ended, movable carriage on a train track that dips underwater. Then straps come up to support and suspend your boat within the carriage as it moves slightly uphill, over a road and then down a fairly steep hill to the continuation of the waterway. The carriage bottom submerges, the straps drop down and you’re able to drive the boat off and continue downstream. The Chute was a hoot and we celebrated our passage through this one-of-a-kind lock by cooking up some “Bangers and Mash” with Leadbetters Irish Stout sausages, and mashed potatoes with sweet onion gravy! Sauteed snap peas were subbed in for fresh sweet peas!

We passed through the Port-Severn lock (45th and last) the next day and headed to Penetenguishene, a small port at the south end of Georgian Bay. Looking forward to the end of locking and more open water for exploring and anchoring. And Zeke is starting to dream about running in the Cable Woods before too long!

Zeke chilling while we plot some possible stops

We are enjoying the rural, woodsy and sometimes marshy surroundings on the Rideau Canal after our more urban/suburban travels earlier in June. There are 45 locks (operated by Canadian Parks staff) over the 126 miles of the canal. The ” lock stations” are part of the Canada Parks system and most offer overnight mooring and large green spaces with shade trees, picnic tables, flower beds, potable water and clean restrooms. At many, we can plug into 30 amp power for $10/night.

A few lock stations are adjacent to small towns where we can find groceries, hardware supplies, a few restaurants and farmers markets. Merrickville was one of our favorites with low traffic volume, interesting history, houses and community buildings, a great grocery, and very friendly locals.

As we move south on the Rideau Canal towards Lake Ontario, the water clarity is increasing daily. The Canal, which is also the Rideau River in its natural course in this section, passes through several large lakes where anchoring out overnight, stopping to swim off the back of the boat and fishing (with a legally purchased license) is possible. We stayed in Westport on Upper Rideau Lake for Canada Day. Enjoyed a great community breakfast to benefit the library, a wood-fired pizza lunch at the local winery, a swim in a nearby lake where the local Lions were selling food, beverages and raffle tickets and late evening fireworks across the bay— very much like being home in Cable on the 4th of July!

We also enjoyed a short visit and lunch with good Cable friends Vivianne and Larry Hanke and their granddaughter Ayla. They had flown to Syracuse, retrieved our car from a storage facility, visited Viv’s Canadian family and were enroute back to Cable to deposit our Subaru in our garage! How sweet was that plan!

On one of our last days on the Rideau at the Davis lock station we “found” our old friend Doug whom we’d met last August while he was hanging out at a lock station with his dog Sadie on his 45-ft Cris Craft named Wy Knot Moor. After spending nearly 30 summers traveling up and down the Canal, Doug had recently sold his boat and was spending his last few days on it before handing it off to a young family who would take it on new adventures… We enjoyed a beer with him and more evening stories of his long-ago days as a young, newly-hired law enforcement officer stationed out in the Canadian bush. We think he’ll enjoy his new retirement venture as a mechanic, consultant and docent on the SS Keewatin, a grand old ship (5yrs older than the Titanic, but also built in Scotland) as it moves to a new dry-dock museum home in Kingston ON.

Arrived in Kingston on July 5th in the midst of a 3-day extreme heat stretch ( but thankfully, no more smoke). Completed an early morning engine oil change and some laundry and later raised a glass to Doug and the Rideau and began to plan our next moves west toward the Trent – Severn Canal and closer to home.

After spending a night at Contrecouer due to the tough upstream current on the St Lawrence, we arrived at Port d’Escale marina in Old  Montreal on June 19th, our daughter Meg’s 45th birthday! As the days fly by, apparently so do the years!!   We explored a bit, enjoyed a nice hazy IPA at Pub BreWsky, as well as some fish and chips, and planned the next day’s outing. 

Because of its size (1.8 million) and diverse population, it was the first time in a week we overheard conversations in English and did not have to begin conversations with others by apologizing that we did not understand or speak French. It has been fun and amazing to experience this immersion into French culture without boarding a plane and we look forward to a few more days of it after leaving Montreal and possibly more in the future when we return to bike on the fantastic bike paths we have seen in the Lake Champlain area and small Quebec towns!

After morning boat chores (laundry, strainer cleaning, etc), we ubered to the Arts neighborhood just south of Parq du Mont-Royal and had lunch before heading up the hill to hike the park trails. After a very serious stair descent from a fabulous park overlook to street level, we trekked back to the boat, had dinner and gelato, and watched some Montreal high school grads promenade onto a small cruise ship to party and dine – seemed a little over-the-top by Northwoods standards, but looked like fun nonetheless.

After an early morning run to the boulangerie for croissants, we left  Montreal and transited two large commercial locks nearby on the St Lawrence. Reservations were required for pleasure craft lockage and we were required to raft off other larger pleasure boats during the process. It all worked fine and within a few hours we were on our way up the Ottawa River to St Anne-de-Bellevue, a small Quebec town with a lively waterfront promenade filled with restaurants and people – even on a Wednesday evening!

We were tested the next day during the locking process for the Carrillon Lock, a 68-ft rise with the most inefficient process we have ever seen in a Canadian lock. After 2 hrs at the lock and 62 miles on the water we finally arrived at a quiet marina in Papineauville, within striking distance of Ottawa the following day. The friendly, local boaters who helped us dock, the evening calls of thrushes and bull frogs, the marina’s woodsy setting (with no bugs!) And wonderful clean showers revived us!

We arrived in Ottawa and immediately turned south onto the Rideau Canal to enter a “flight” of 8 locks, beyond which is a first come-first served public wall ( with electricity) in downtown Ottawa. It was a gamble whether we’d find a space on a Friday afternoon, but we lucked out! Within a few blocks were wonderful fresh food markets, beautiful historic architecture, pedestrian-friendly spaces, great artwork, many restaurants, and great bikepaths that went for miles. And…the venue for the week-long Ottawa Jazz Fest was across the tree-lined canal a few hundred yards away so we could listen from the flybridge on the boat in the evening. Although croissants could still be found, the ubiquitous bakery treat for sale in grocery stores, bakeries and food stands was now “butter tarts”, Ontario’s version of mini pecan (or raisin 🤔) pies. We found an open air restaurant/bakery that had a whole corner counter dedicated to “Obama” cookies with photos of him stopping in to buy treats when he visited Trudeau. Made us smile….

Just by luck, we caught 2 days of a 4-day Jazz Fest in Burlington. It was definitely a city-wide endeavor, with jazz being played on most restaurant verandas, many street corners, along Church St (a pedestrian mall near the UV campus) and on a large stage in the lakefront park next to our marina from 5-9pm each night. What a great, friendly,  and well-kept city!  Loved the Skinny Pancake, which serves up tasty fresh, local food combos in a crepe rather than on bread.

After leaving Burlington we anchored out in a bay adjacent to a VT state park on Saturday to take advantage of Vermont Weekend, when all state park fees are waived. We rowed our dinghy to an isolated spot on the shore and hiked some great trails, eventually ending at a pet- friendly area where Zeke swam to his heart’s content. It was a fine day until we were assailed on the trail by the park manager for breaking too many of his rules (one of which was picking up Zeke’s dog poop and hiking to the main parking lot to try to put in a waste container….it’s a long, odd story – remind us to tell it to you when we’re back!)  His gruff, unfriendly attitude dampened the moment, but nonetheless, it was a scenic spot, we had a nice quesadilla dinner on the boat, and got to retest our anchoring skills.

After a stay in St. Albans Bay the following night, we reached the northern end of Lake Champlain at Rousses Point and left the views of the Green Mountains and Adirondacks behind. Passing through the small Canadian Customs office at the start of the Richelieu River (which flows into the St Lawrence Seaway) was a breeze.  The marina at St Paul I’ile aux Noix was our first night in Quebec and of many to come in Canadian waters.  We didn’t know it was really a marina for smaller power boats, but Renee, the owner, welcomed us graciously and assured us he had a spot for us when we called ahead.  Indeed he did, but it was a tight fit !!

We went only 11 miles up the Richelieu the next day in rain and fog to reach the town of St Jean-sur-Richelieu where we tied up on a town wall. After the sun emerged, we discovered a wonderful park, art work, and bikepaths along the city riverfront. Ned enjoyed his first poutine (think french fries with cheese curds and gravy on top 😝) of the trip. The artistic Pont Gouin drawbridge over the river (completed 5 yrs ago) was quite a sight both day and night.

The next 10-mile section of the river is more channelized. With its 9 bridges and 9 locks, it comprises the Chambly Canal. The staff who coordinate and physically open the locks and many of the bridges are all Canadian Parks employees, who are most helpful and friendly. We shared the first lock with a Canadian couple on a sailboat and were asked by staff to stay close together so they could physically monitor and coordinate our whole 10-mile journey with a single opening of each bridge and lock….it worked like magic and within a few hours we were in the beautiful little town of Chambly where we explored some more, drank some fine craft beer and enjoyed a good lunch and ice cream.

It was misting, windy and in the 50s when we left Chambly in the morning and it never really let up all day.  We reached the Richelieu’s confluence with the St Lawrence shortly after noon and we were happy to tuck into a marina in Sorel where we stayed for 2 nights to let the wind and rain finish their performance.  We know the rain is good for the Canadian fires, so we bided our time in reasonable spirits.  Had wonderful flatbread pizzas as a reward for our patience.  Heading upstream on the St Lawrence to Montreal next!