Day 63

As usual, this is the best place . Lovely town, tree shaded streets, huge lake that is safely protected from Lake Michigan. Probably one of the most charming towns in USA. Perfect weather did not spoil the effect. The streets are all tree shaded with beautiful homes.everything is immaculately clean.

This morning we walked out to the Nazarene church. We thought
 it would only be about a half mile. Well it was three miles. Fortunately a nice man gave us a ride back and included a wonderful tour of the village.This afternoon we entertained several new boater friends .There are  quite a few people who seem fascinated by our small tug. One couple was a Dr. And hi wife who also own a Ranger 25. They also go on Christian medical missions and to boot, she is a social worker specializing in adoptions. What are the odds of those coincidences? We really enjoyed their company. Meeting nice people is part of the boating experience.

Later we bicycled around this gorgeous place. We took pictures of the streets and beautiful Lake Charlevoix. We were politely corrected in the pronunciation. Ia is called Char le voy.

Day 62

Yesterday we made it to beautiful Beaver Island., also called the Emerald Isle of Lake Michigan. Avery small but pristine Island in the middle of nowhere. The restaurant was several miles away, so we called them and they sent a car over, driven by the under chef, who picked us up and then went right back to cooking our meal. Whitefish dinner was delicious.

Today we motored over to the astounding town of Charlevoix, MI. Marti likes it here so much that we will stay an extra day. The ride over was about 35 miles, but lumpy with a 2-3' sea pushing on our port stern all around. Eventually we will have to cross the whole lake  which is a bit daunting. We will likely cross over from Frankfort to Sturgeon Bay  and the weather will have to be perfect.

Day 60

Blogging has been difficult as there is minimal cell phone service and wi fi at Mackinac Island.
The past two days yhave been idylic. Flat seas, clear blue skies and we were staying at the Island House Hotel on beautiful Mackinac Island. There are no cars here, just horses and bicycles. Marti and I decompressed and prematurely celebrated the almost completion of the trip. Getting here from Drummond Island was a piece of cake with near perfect sea conditions.

In one day we passed Mowat Point, Scott Bay, Robert Point and Martha's Sweet Shop. All these are participants of all or part of the trip.

Today we toured Fort Mackinac, and also saw a 250 old bark tepee that housed the first Catholic mission o  the island. It was founded by Father Marquette who later explored much of the midwest territories with Father Joliet. Both these men have major cities named after them.

Then we toured the butterfly museum. It was wonderful to just be among so many colorful butterflies that flitted everywhere, including Marti's head and my arm.

We had planned to stayn one more day, but the weather window says best to move on. Tomorrow we leave for Beaver Island, St. James Harbor. Lydia has been photographed constantly on this trip and especially here in Mackinac.

Day 58

Back in the US of A. Flat water all day. Beautiful fall day with sunshine and crispness that denotes a change in the scenery. Drummond Marina in in the boonies, but safe. We rented a car for $12 and will drive to "town". The staff at the marina promised us that the town has a pub, a church, a grocery store and a post office and that is all.

Day 57

A quiet day. 50knot winds kept us on Gore Bay. No fish in the 2 restaurants here as the fisherman are all at home. Marti misses her daily pickerel. The pickerel here are a bit bigger than at home and sometimes called walleye.

Did odd chores, ate, met some wonderful boaters who are our new friends. Jean is actually from Braintree, MA and was graduated by UMO. Larry is a French teacher and was born right here in the Gore Bay area. They live in Midland, ON.

Counting on leaving for Drummond Island at the crack of dawn. Predicted winds 5 kts in the AM.

Day 56

We left Little Curent this morning after a gale/storm lasting all night. The seas were flat, the sun was bright and the scenery enhanced, even more than usual, by the now changing colors of the maple trees. About two hours out and the seas they raised up. Now we were battling 1-2 meter rollers. Checking once more with the NDBC and the marine forcast we thought it best to retire for the day as starting this afternoon and all day tomorrow gale force winds will basically shut down small craft adventuring. One thing we did notice is that under the same conditions The Noth Channel  is more benign than the very rough Northeast Channel.

We were fortunate enough to find a spot at the Town Dock in Gore Bay. both Little Current  and Gore Bay are located on Manitoulin Island which is the world's largest fresh water island. It is a wonderful place. Gore Bay is the cutest little town, larger than Byng, but not as large  as Litle Current. The harbor is very deep with crystal clear water. We are in a vee shaped harbor and the walls go straight up on the eastern shore creating a very beautiful rock and tree backdrop for the quiet and blue water. It reminds us of a Norweian Fjord. One  would never know that the outer lake was so very riled up.

All weather sources predict a super day on the 25th  so that is when we will clear customs at Drummond Island and get ready for the last push, Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.  

Lov to All
B&M

Day 55

This was a good day, for several reasons. We rejoice in days like this.

The weather was spectacular. Seas 1-5 inches. Some clouds. No traffic. We made tracks from our anchorage , 10 miles east of Killarney, and made it safely to a cute little village called Little Current, ON. Several charming shops, a good pub, a general merchandise store. Then the storm hit. 30 knot winds and intermittent rain. The barometer is rising and if the storm abates we will strike out for Drummond Island, Michigan. Should be back in the USA in two days. We have special plans to visit Macinac Island (superman played a quieter role there in " Somewhere in Time".

The waters now are no longer rivers, but huge and raging seas. Most of today I thought how much this looks like Puget Sound. More violent here though. We are totally dependent on the sea state. We read the National Data Buoy Center several times a day. Canada is a wild and wonderful place. I could easily live here, but their weather forcast service is only about 10% correct.

Day 54

The day started innocently enough. We were treated to a spectacular sunset and no winds at all.  Henc, the decision to push off. Today's quest was to get to the start of the Northeast Passage which according to our guide books is a bear. Due to yesterday,s storm we weren't sure that we should enter the Passage until tomorrow or the next day, but thought to get near the start for an immediate deployment when the weather calmed down. Well, well, the seas were reasonable so instead of waiting we charged ahead. The seas soon rose to 5-6 feet and for 25 miles we bounce around. At this writing we are safely done with what is supposed to be out greatest challenge.

All afternoon we have been in Collins Inlet. This is more like a twenty mile river with sheer granite walls, a deep channel and no obstructive rocks. I actually felt guilty as it is soooooo beautiful and easy to navigate. It is about 200-300 feet wide and very primative. The forest is mostly evergreen , but the maples are turning red and the sun is shining and we are feeling pretty smug. We have found an ideal anchorage behind Keyhole Island.
For the last two days we have constantly had the heater on , but tonight the AC will go for a spell before it gets cooler. Marti is cooking a chicken stew. There is probably just enough time for a dip before supper.

Day 53

Fierce winds and 8 foot waves forced  us to stay another day in Britt. Weather report says two more days to rest then scoot for North Channel on uppeer Lake Huron.

Day 52

Now residing in Britt or Byng, Ontario. Twin cities. About 50 houses, 4 dirt streets. One fabulous restaurant (pickerel dinner is to die for) and one other restaurant. The marina is called St Amant.

The day was interesting as we traveled through an area which is aptly named Thirty Thousand Islands. There were a myriad of fascinating granite lined passages. We only got lost twice. Many islands may be measured 40x40 and every one of them has a house of some kind. Every house was boarded  up and all the boats were on the hard. We figured if we hit a rock today the search party would find us in June. These channels are quite protected and as long as you do not leave the channel for even 6 inches you will be treated to a gorgeous Georgian Bay experience. For miles at a time we went out to "sea" where it was a bit lumpy. The coast reminds us very much of Maine or Mass. Several of the channels today measured about 12' across  , leaving us about a foot on each side.

Does not look good at all for tomorrow with heavy rains and 60 kmh winds. If we leave we will do only about 25 miles in the inside passages and save the 25 mile open reach to Kilarney for a better day. Snug on board Lydia we bid you adieu and bonne nuit.

Day 50 and 51

No disasters nor close calls. Sheer fun.

Yesterday was a fun filled day with two extraordinary friends. Natalie and Jim Moir joined us for a boat ride through the last lock and out across Waubusheene Bay to Midland and back,  then up the lock again to the end of the Port Severn Waterway System. Jim is an excellent boat handler and I got to see more while he drove. There was a dram of the Highland Park at the end of the day. It was a perfect day. Hard to describe it any other way. We stayed the night in splendor at the hotel.

This morning it was very sad to say good by, but off we went down the last lock one last time and out into Georgian Bay. Never, have I seen such a treacherous waterway. We very, very carefully follow the buoys as granite mounds are everywhere
. Some are visible others show up as unusual whitecaps just inches below the surface of the very clear water. The channel is incredibly  torturous . In the open water the waves were large and choppy,often coming over the bow. Thousands of rocky islands dot the Bay. Almost every one has a small cottage that takes up 80% of the land mass. All were boarded upp. The heater was on the whole trip. It was adventure  in a pure form.

Tonight we are safely anchored in minute Echo Bay not far from Parry Sound.

Love to all
M&B

Day 49

The Day of Luxury.

Slept well in a small cove in the Lost Channel and woke up to a lovely sunny/ misty day. Cleaned up the ship for inspection and slowly cruised a couple of miles to the Big Chute. The BC is where there is a drop of about 100 feet. There is no lock there. So we
Drove onto a submerged dolly or platform. Two slings lifted us up and the whole dolly came out of the water and we rumbled silently over a railroad rail Over the edge of this rock wall and  down to the waiting pool below. It took but a few minutes. We were fortunate to have our friends Natalie and Jim Moir with us on this part of the trip. Natalie and I graduated from Bates College together 49years ago. What a thrill this Big Chute was. We took Natalie down the canal to a wonderful hotel at Port Severn and Jim met us there. We are staying in the lap of,luxury for 2 nights. Now just enjoying good company and good food and a real bed.

I thought we would finish the canal system today, but the hotel is located exactly at the last lock and we are not likely to finish lock 45 in this system until the 18th when we push off on part two of our  odyssey and tackle Georgian Bay, Lake Huron And upper Lake Michigan.

Day 48

A beautiful sunny crisp fall day. The kind that is special wherever you are. We just happened to be in Orillia. Most impressive town yet. It has a huge farmer's market that is crowded. Marti loaded up on all kinds of things, including a bunch of radishes each nearly the size of a tennis ball.
We bid adieu to our friends and crossed Couchiching Lake and then got back into the canal and Trent River. We just made it to the Swift Rapids lock before they closed for the night. That lock dropped us nearly 50 feet. After that we cruised the River and are now anchored out in a beautiful cover on the Lost Channel.

Tomorrow we will complete the last lock and have lived the dream to visit all 149 locks on the Champlain, Richelieu, Chambly, Lachine, Rideau Tay and Trent-Severn canal systems. Probably not on everyone's bucket list, but a great source of pleasur and oxide for us .

Days 46-47

Day 46 we had Lydia hauled out and a new propeller installed. Took but 45 minutes. The lprevious days we had free use of a van and toured the charming  cities of Bobcaygeon and Buckhorn. That night we anchored out in a small cove in Sturgeon Lake. It is always a thrill for me to wake up in an isolated cove and watch the sun rise.

Yesterday (47) we traveled along side "Hindsight" 
The entire day. Skipper Rod And his paid crew Amanda. Skipper is a great gut, a retired neurosurgeon and Amanda is a chemist. Really sharp and interesting people. We followed them for about 25 miles on a canal that was barely wider than his 46' Carver and he was scratching the bottom the whole way. We were all praying for no other boats to come from the other direction as there was no place to pull over and both Hindight and Lydia had already lost props when pulling over to let others by. The scenery was exquisite. Masses of cedars right down to the waters edge. We shot lots of pictures. In the morning we locked on thine Kirkfield Lift together. His boat makes Lydia look like a pea. The lift is like the one I described in Peterborough.

The late afternoon we had a 16 mile reach across wide open Lake Simcoe. A squall erupted, huge winds and waves 6 feet really battered us and The dinghy, which had been on the swim platform broke off  from the davits. They just popped loose. It took us quite a while to rescu the dink and ever ounce of strength we had while we were being tossed around. Once back on the davits off we went and spent a fabulous night in Orillia. We are pretty tired and so will not leave Orillia until noonish.

Love to all.

Day 45

Not much news today. We are at Buckhorm Yacht Harbor , our propeller is here, but the team is too busy to put it on until tomorrow. Last night we stayed at a fascinating B&B called Shambhala. The owners are delightful and enjoy collecting oriental and Indian art. Shambhala is a Budist sect headquartered in Nova Scotia. They were very much aware of the goings on in American politics. I think, like most Canadians we have met they admire the successes of the USA and  are acutely aware of our failings. The are very loyal to their own country, but admire the US health care system as it is today. They are greatful for the access they have, but very disappointed in the wait.

The BYH folks have gone out of their way to be kind to us. We have free and full use of f their vehicle and later today plan an excursion to Bobcageon, a slightly larger town to the north.

Day 44

Just noticed that yesterday's blog did not take. At least I cannot find it. Yesterday we came up from Peterborough to Stony Lake. Peterborough is a fairly large and interesting town. We stayed at a marvelous marina called Peterborough Marina. There is an amazing Indian restaurant there.

Upon leaving Peterborough we went into lock 21 also called the lift lock. Instead of filling the canal to lift you up you drive into a large bathtub. They close the door, sealing you in and then the entire tub is lifted 70' to the awaiting canal. They open the door and out you go. It is one of the most amazing experiences. The way it works is there are two tubs. By adjusting water levels one is always high and the other low. They are connected buy a U tube so no motors are needed, just the weight of the water. We went up with a fairly large cruiser.

From there we traveled miles, on the most beautiful of rivers and went through 7 locks. Getting to Stony Lake is both scary and beautiful. There are over 1300 rocky islands , all fairly close together. Just about every one has one or two houses and the shores are also filled with many mansions. Goldy Hawn and Kurt Russel have a home here. We found a nice cove and anchored out. Supper was corn , hotdogs and beer followed by a skinny dip swim and bath. This morning we had to lay in for  a while as the lake fog was extremely dense and with rocky ledges everywhere it was way too dangerous to travel. Some of the channels are
not a lot larger than Lydia. There are many propeller repair shops here inspite of the rural atmosphere.
Marti is taking me to a B&B tonight as Lydia is getting a new propeller and will not be ready to go until mid morning on the 12th.

I cannot wait to share the photos of the Stony Lake Islands and also the Lift Lock in Peterborough.
God Bless you one and all. (not too original, but nice).
Bert and Marti from Buckhorn, Ontario.

Day 42

So, yesterday we braved heavy rains and winds to lock through from Percy Reach to Rice Lake. By the time we got onto the open lake it was mid afternoon and the winds had picked up to gale force and up yo 50mph for a while. Made the water a bit bumpy and I thought we might lose the flags and pennants. Marti was a trooper as the rain just soaked her at each lock. Our reward was a beautiful sun filled late afternoon cruise that ended at the lovely Golden Beach Resort. The weeds (mostly milfoil) are very heavy in the shallow part of the lake and that made docking difficult.

This morning the sun was shining as we traversed the lake (20 miles) and then entered the Otonabee River system. This was another 25 mile cruise that was gorgeous. A fairly narrow river , the Otonabee is mostly trees and marsh with some small houses along the shore. A few fishermen were
out, but no cruisers. This river reminded me of the Great Pond Stream that flows into North Bay.No problems with the propeller . It does have a little vibration over 1600. Rpm, but we are averaging6 knots which is the legal limit on much of the Canadian waterways. Tonight we will be in Peterborough the last large city we will see until
Manitowic, Wisconsin.

No stalling, no crashes, no rocks. Just fun today!!!

Day 41

The blog site has been down for several days, but life has not been dull. The title of this message should be more like " and then what happened" or perhaps, "what else could go wrong".

Two days ago, in an area called Percy Reach, we hit a submerged rock. The water level is down almost 3 feet, due to the drought in the Midwest . The wind was blowing us to a hostile shore so I quickly launched the dinghy and tried to tow Lydia back to the lock wall, about a 1/4 mile back.
 The Canadian waters are filled with milfoil and it is so heavy that it clogged the tow rope and yet anchored us off shore. After an eternity I freed up the rope and ever so clumsily towed Lydia to Lock 8. I called a lfriend in Trenton, he called another friend who is a diver and he showed up hours later. His name is David Gartshore and I have contacted the Pope to nominate him for sainthood. The prop cage, that was supposed to protect us from such disasters had net into the propeller.Before David came I had dived the situation and had started to remove the prop guard. It was at that time I realized the bolts holding the guard went right through the hull and that if I had completely removed them Lydia would sink.

Now when David arrived I had already resigned myself to having the boat trailered back to Buckhorn for major repairs that would take the rest of the fall. Dave says no way. So he puts on a lung and removes the bolts and guard from the outside. I crawl and squeeze myself into a place. that
 . no normal sized human could get into and using his long pliers and a extended wrench called a Johnson bar fasten the nuts back on while he pushes them back from the outside. They were too long now so we ,had to use oversized nuts a washers. It worked. The prop is not perfect, but is serviceable , so we were able to get underway yesterday and made it to Campbellford where we crashed. Did I  mention that it was pitch black when we mfinished and Dave was working now by feel alone. For my efforts I am black and blue from shoulders to mid ribs. We were desperate. We will be in Buckhorn in a couple of days and a new propeller is waiting for us there.  Dave is, in addition to being a great and handy boat man, a heck of a nice guy. We will never forget his assistance and great personality.

After a good nights sleep at a small hotel in Campbellford we have recovered and leave today , heading upriver as far as we can get.

Much love to all who took the time to read this.

Day 38

Some good news. Lock eleven door was fixed today. We rented a car and drove up to Campbelford where the lock is located. We met with the lockmaster and also got to see the huge crane pulling out. Lockmaster said that the door, which is all steel and only new in 2005, snapped off at the attachment of the hydraulic ram to the door. We got to see the new one and this piece of metal looks rather small for the job  and is threaded as well. This is the second time that this broke off. He said it was really a aloud snap that. Sent everyone running the other way. that door is About 60 feet high and 20 feet wide. We expect to be going through that door about 3pm tomorrow. Push off time from Trenton is 0800 hours tomorrow and we will be in the first lock by 0900. By the time we a reach Campbelford we will have taken over 6 hours, traveled 32 miles and gone through 12 locks. We made that trip in the car today in 1/2 hour.
This afternoon we also toured Peterborough, which is the nearest big city. Pleasant enough but not charming.

Day 37

I have much to report.
First, more stalling of the engine, followed by more tinkering by Bert, followed by a sea trial with no stalling at all. After that a consultation from Dave, Trenton' s resident diesel genius. He arrived after my tinkering, looked the engine all over and tried a number of things and said, "what you did is what I would have done". Dave was a great guy and we talked a while about everything from diesel problems to the Bahamas.Anyway , I sure hope this is really it. I purchased a book on diesels for rainy day reading.

Second, rain and lots of it all day. So after great debate we decided to spend a day in Trenton and surely if we had not done so we would not have met Dave.We may rent a car tomorrow and tour around. I have not driven a car in 6 weeks.

Third, an amazing thing  happened. Lock 16 of the Trent-Severn Canal broke. The door fell off. This is huge, we are not sure if anyone or any boats were lost, but we do know that the entire canal system is closed for about 4 days. No one locally can remember when the canal was ever closed.
those doors are made of 12x12. S and are probably 20 feet high and 14' .wide. Reinforced with steel.They hold back many tons of water and when they let go it has to be catastrophic . We plan to explore the villages locally and if the Repairs to Lock 16 take much longer
we will not do the Trent-Severn this year, but will return to the Thouasand Islands and leave the boat at Clayton, NY. Not a bad back up plan at all.

This is still the best of all possible worlds. God has blessed us greatly and we wish to share those blessing. God bless you who read this.

Day 36

We left Kingston late Sunday afternoon and traveled the beautiful Adolphus Reach on Lake Ontario. As we looked south and saw nothing but water we had some appreciation for the emenseness of this body of water. We traveled until just minutes before sunset and anchored in a quiet cove behind Pull Point. Over all a great ride and so much easier than canal locking. Our reward was a great swim off the stern. The sunset on two happy people. The moon came up orange and to me it looked like a pumpkin.
There was another reason to rejoice! At the Kingston Marina we tied up next to Charlie King. As boaters do we just started swapping stories and I mentioned my stalling problem that still had not been completely resolved. "Oh", he says casually. We can fix that in about a minute. He explained that the throttle adjustment spring was either
Loose or missing. We opened the motor hatch, found that the locking nut on the throttle spring was loose, tightened it, and that was the end of our stalling problems. The purpose of the spring is to take up cable slack that occurs when the engine heats up. Three years, five friggen certified diesel mechanics, and $2500, and I fixed it in one minute. I had told Marti that the nut was loose  and maybe related to our low speed cut outs when warm, but did not have the slightest idea how right I was or how it worked. Charlie took the time to listen to my story and instantly knew what it was. Is this a coincidence or a God thing!

Day 35

Just read yesterday's blog and was surprised to see amazing spelling and word changes that the blogger service made. I really do proof read this thing before submitting.
Covered lots of miles yesterday traveling from Westport to Kingston. Altogether now we have completed 81 locks. Yesterday morning was sure bliss. Tree lined streams connecting tree lined lakes dotted with hundreds and hundreds of islands. Many of the islands would have a single house. It really is just like the Belgrades or Moosehead. Each of the locks is actually a well manicured park. Often there are boats that tie up on the "wall" overnight. Some offer 30amp service and others do not. All have bathrooms, but no showers. Often the lock will feature an historic building as a small museum, and always there are cars and bicyclists picnicking and watching the boats lock through. The lock doors are usually made of 12x12 timbers and closed by hand wiinching a long wooden pole, unbelievably simple. One thrill yesterday was when a lock gate (gates controll the water flow and doors let the boats in and out) mechanism broke. Unbelievable force caused a huge snapping sound and a sudden stoppage of water flow out of our lock. Park personnel went scurrying for cover. Fortunately for us each lock has two min flows and two outflows, otherwise we would still be in the lock bailing it out.
Toward the end of the day we went through miles of marsh. Often the water looked to be about 1/2 mile wide, but the well marked channel was only about 10' wide and we laughed to see seagulls walking beside our boat.

At Kingston we were pretty tired from a long very hot, day on the waters so headed into a very cute downtown area for a really lousey supper. A pox on the Toucan Pub..

Day 34

We left Perth and are now at Westport Harbor, Ont. Funny I used to live in Westport, MA. The trip was smooth and as usual just plain gorgeous. Much of it was across three interconnected lakes. In many ways it was like crossing Great Pond at home, with many islands , only bigger. We went through. Three locks. Westportnisnsimplynwonderful. It has 4 streets that go around a block , any shops and cute stores and a great restaurant called the Cove.
We hope to finish the Rideau Canal system today or tomorrow at the latest. This canal was constructedminthen1830s for defensive purposes and was to protect Canada from the invading Americans. There had been great fears after the war of 1812 that USA would invade them again and actually around 1845 a bunch of Irishmen called the Finians did invade Canada, from USA , in protest of thE British treatment of those still living in Ireland.
     Anyway, since there was no official invasion the canal. (up yo that time the largest engineering project in the world) was used for commerce and any small towns grew rapidly as supporting the commerce between Ottawa and Kingston and on to Montreal. 15 years later along came the cool choo and that led to the towns shrinking and the canal falling into disrepair. Someone, very smart, realized the present potential for the canals to bring tourist $ and thus they were repaired probably starting about 40 years ago. The towns now are doing fairly well and the canals are very, very busy  all summer long. The experience is just wonderful  and is much like canaling in Europe We will be pushing off now with hopes of making it to Kingston or Maybe Jones Falls where we will meet Ashley and maybe Dave and Maryanne as well.