July 27, 2009

Well, hello, I think......Internet access, as promised, is spotty here---here, being the remote Rawson's Bay near the Moon River (not wider than a mile, by any stretch of the imagination.) in the Georgian Bay. Tuesday morning we pulled away from Rawley's Resort and exited our last TSW lock. It was a bit exciting, as the exit canal is very long and narrow, and the current from the dam next door very swift and swirly. But exit we did, and off we went to Penetanguishine. Penetanguishine. How fun is that name? Does anyone know, is that the town Julie Christie represented to Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait back in the '70's? Sure sounds familiar to me. In any case, this cute little village on the Severn Bay was the site of the Looper's seminar. Tuesday evening we (there were about 16 Looping boats, so 30-some folks) were treated to a wine and cheese reception (with photo on the deck), and on Wednesday, a great bar-b-que dinner with power point presentation about the waters we are about to enter. Wed. afternoon, free taxi service was provided into town, and I took advantage. Spent a few relaxing hours just wandering about in the shopping centers—not buying, just browsing. Thursday was a wonderful day to sleep in. It poured buckets all morning and a good part of the afternoon. We took full advantage and topped the day with a double feature movie night—Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin, and Slumdog Millionaire. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.... Some of the boats were underway, and on Friday morning there was a bit of a queue at the pumpout. In this part of Canada, it is good to take advantage of an opportunity to get the septic tank emptied whenever you can. The granite upon which the area is built makes sewage removal a challenge—the marinas have to have it hauled away, too, so many of them simply don't provide the service. Too costly and inconvenient. We'd paid $14.50 for our most recent pumpout, so were happy to find that this time it was included in the marina fees. So many things to think about. Oh the life of the boater! Another thing we had to think about was the water that was accumulating on the engine room floor. Now, water should be outside the boat, and any water inside is definitely supposed to be contained—not sloshing about in unexpected places. Fred's sluething determined that it was the galley hot water pipe (under the kitchen sink) that had quite literally blown a gasket. As the water ran under the floor of the kitchen cupboards, we didn't notice it until it was deep enuf to make the leap over the sill (through the pathway for pipes and wires) into the engine room, thence along the sloping wall to the bilge. Sheesh. Once the problem was located, and a non-leaking replacement for the broken pipe installed, the issue was drying out the floors under the cabinet floors. So the bed became the pantry with all bins of foodstuffs stashed there, and the cupboards got to have their floors lifted and the excess water sopped up. With the portable heater in place, at 10:20 Friday morning we were underway with a planned destination. We'd been very impressed with Rawley Resort, and knew that Barry and Liz owned another marina not far away, so that was where we were headed. As it turned out, we were glad to have chosen a short day (we were tied up at South Bay Resort by 12:30) as this was our orientation to navigating the Small Boat Channel and brief was good. The way is clearly marked by buoys, and the chart has a lovely red line to follow, and the challenge is simply to verify that what you see in the water is a match for what is on the chart and navigation screen. In short, the constant question is “Is this where we are?” Wrong turns are easy, and somehow the disclaimer that 'most of the rocks have been marked' just doesn't settle well. It is very clear that a lot of rocks lie just below the surface of the water---waiting to grab at the bottom of the boat! South Bay Cove Marina exceeded our expectations. It's well established and we spoke with folks who have kept their boats there for 15 years. The funniest thing was discovering that we were a 1 hour and 15 minute drive from Toronto! Boondocks? Only by water. Looking at extended charts, we discovered that we're only about 20 miles from the Chute—(Marine Railway at Lock #44) north and west, but we travelled west, south, west, north and east to get here. Although South Bay Cove (north of Honey Harbour) is a tad off the beaten path of the Great Loop, it was a wonderful marina and we enjoyed our stay. Saturday we retraced our track to the Small Boat Channel and in about 4-1/2 hours tied up at Henry's Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island. It's an institution on the Channel and we had an 'all you can eat' dinner of fish and chips. Yum. Sunday morning we found the deck littered with what we learned are shad flies—large critters with gossamer wings attached to a long (1-2 inch) body. Apparantly they live for 24 hours, then provide food for the fish. I had to help the ones on the boat along—they didn't seem to be aware that they belonged in the water. Uffda. We again left the beaten track to join CAROLYN ANN in the Rawson's Bay. They've been anchored in this beautiful quiet setting for a couple of days. When we arrived and I stepped out on deck to prepare Knute for anchoring, the rain began. We circled for about 10 minutes, rain stopped. Anchor deployed. Rain began. For 5 hours it poured. Perfect for reading and sleeping. We took advantage! When the sun came out again, Fred put the dinghy down and we had a quick ride---it's been a very long time! At 6 pm Joe and Punk dinghyed over to sip wine, munch on goodies and chat, and the latter part of our evening was devoted to rebuilding the kitchen cabinets. Monday: grey, rainy, windy and cold. We remain at anchor and will be back next week—it actually may be next week before this posts, depends on the vagaries of computing! Be well, and keep in touch. Fred and Linda