Back in the USA!!!!

Thessalon, Canada to St Ignace, Michigan

Debi got a map (with other Loopers' and Zuri's tutorials) figured out, showing our progress.  As you can see, we are covering some area this year - we are planning on taking that purple line to Alabama by October (map used with permission from Raven Cove Publishing).

As promised, the North Channel (Lake Huron)was more about open water and less about the islands.  But the scenery still remains beautiful.  We are sensing the end of our Canadian journeys with mixed feelings.  The Canadians have been so friendly, the scenery endless, the weather refreshing (with a couple of hot days thrown in), the water crystal clear, the beer… well that’s one thing I’ll be looking forward to in the U.S.   The Canadians have plenty of it – but not a lot of flavor in it.  I don’t recall seeing any craft beers, or local microbrews.  I know Michigan will have plenty of both, starting with Bell’s – one of my favorites.  More importantly, Michigan will bring a slew of guests – looking forward to all of you.  

7/22  Here we are in Thessalon – our final Canadian destination and the most northern point in our entire journey.  North has meant cool weather for the most part, and long long summer days/nights – still watching the afterglow of the sunset at 10 or later.  Thessalon is generic for a lot of the places we’ve been – an ice cream parlor, hardware store, a couple of restaurants, nice waterfront homes.  Early in the trip we would have probably loved this place – now we are taking these nice cute places for granted, I’m afraid.  Michigan will be a little more touristy, for better and worse.  We explored a bit and came home to eat a delicious salmon salad that Debi made (actually one of the best salads I've ever eaten), even better than my regular at Manuels.

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7/24  Last night we had a nice visit with folks from a neighboring boat who were flying a flag with two diagonal panels – the Green and White of Michigan State and the other for U. of Michigan.  We forgave them the latter and shared drinks before going out to dinner.  Here is a picture of our marina - a study in blue - all parts of the marina (buildings, chairs) and all but one of the boats had blue or white canvas.

This morning we crossed over the U.S. Canada border as noted on our chart plotter.  I swear the water changed color almost immediately – to a slightly turquoise version of green on the U.S. side.  30 minutes later we docked at Drummond Island, where everyone has to stop to clear customs.  We waited 45 minutes for them to wander down to our boat.  While clearing customs into Canada was a three-minute phone call, this was a 30 minute visit, inquiry and inspection of every space on the boat.  Before we left Canada, Debi had reluctantly given up her small garden – the tomato and green pepper plants, a few herbs and some flowers.  The marina in Thessalon accepted the flowers and identified a place they would fit in their gardens outside the office – so they have a nice home.  We harvested the herbs and a half dozen peppers before disposing of the plant.  Unfortunately, the customs folks asked us about citrus fruits and green peppers – the only vegetable of concern.  Consequently, we had to give up the newly harvested peppers, a couple of grapefruits and a lemon.  I would have liked a picture of the two heavily armed officers coming off the boat with their bag of contraband – but I thought of that too late, and I’m sure such pictures are illegal anyway.  Fortunately, we fessed up when they asked about our food holdings – they said someone who failed to mention an orange last week was fined $300.   Yes, for one orange.

7/26   We’re in St. Ignace – a short ride from Mackinac Island.  Last night we did our usual bike exploration of the town (make up your own story about the street name below) but ended up back on the docks watching….a high school steel drum band.   Doing Bad Moon Rising.

You might ask yourself - why are there steel drums in northern Michigan?   And you might ask yourself – what inspiration led someone to arrange Creedence Clearwater Revival for steel drums?   If you do ask, and if you get answers – please send them my way.  Debi says I should have just appreciated the effort and the setting, and I did, but…it made me long for a good Gordon Lightfoot impersonator.   Or maybe a steel drum adaptation of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Today, we had a lingering-on-the-boat day - the skies to the right (taken at 3 pm) will explain why - did some cleaning, organizing of charts, a bit of EMSTAR and Sugar Mag work, Debi used her on-board Pilates gym, made another great dinner (baked parmesan crusted Rainbow Trout), watched a movie - overall, great relaxing day.



That's all from St Ignace - glad to be back in the USA…looking forward to seeing many of you very soon….

Jim and Debi  

Georgian Bay Conquered....now, The North Channel!

Midland to Little Current, Canada (Georgian Bay)

Why do Canadian bar singers insist on Gordon Lightfoot?   I know, he’s a native – but so are the infinitely more interesting Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and I’m not hearing much of them. 

Saturday morning (7/13), Bob Baer arrived after driving from NYC (he spent the night in Toronto).  We were off within the hour for our first true cruise into the Georgian Bay.  It was a picture perfect Saturday, so we were joined by many more boats than we are used to seeing – but there’s a lot of water for a crowd.  The scenery was the 30,000 Islands – all granite outcroppings of various shapes and sizes.  These are covered with pine trees and the occasional cottage.  The small craft channel had some really narrow areas with careful turns, plenty of navigational and piloting challenges – but we pulled it off without a hitch and pretty minimal anxiety. 

We arrived at our destination early in the afternoon – Henry’s Fish Restaurant.  This is a fairly famous (we probably saw a dozen seaplanes land and take off – coming in for their Henry’s fix) but totally casual joint with overnight dockage for diners.  We enjoyed the food, but it was clearly secondary to the amazing setting.  We did the routine, sunset and cocktails on another boater's vessel, on our own bow, Bananagrams and Maneuvers card game (introduced both of these to Bob) until bedtime.  

Wake up, repeat.  The second day of the Georgian Bay was every bit as beautiful – somewhat more remote and fewer boats.  We even stopped for Bob and I to take a quick swim off the back of the boat.  Six hours later we arrived at our marina near Britt.  Today we had a couple of minor repairs, email, bocce ball, bike ride to town, and are waiting for a nearby restaurant to come pick us up to bring us for dinner.  It’s neither common nor unusual for local stores and restaurants to provide such services.   On occasion, we go to buy groceries and then ride our bikes back to the boat to meet the delivery car.

After a couple of days in Britt, we moved on to Killarney, which sits as the most western point of the Georgian Bay, and the most eastern point of the North Channel.  We had planned a one day stop, but were taken by the old school lodge where we were docked.  Quite a few marinas are also lodges/resorts – this being one of them.   60’s style architecture and furniture, swimming pool, shuffle board, lots of knotty pine in the big dining room – think of the Dirty Dancing setting.  And the atypical Canadian heat wave made the pool a refreshing place to hang out.  The octagonal bar had floor to ceiling windows on 6 sides, facing the channel and cliffs across the way.  We watched a local do his version of Gordon Lightfoot in this bar, before moving on to shuffleboard.

Bob experienced the typical arc of a Sea Fever guest (although he is a repeat guest).  First day – not sure how this works and where stuff is (which way is aft?).  Second day – getting the hang of it.  Third day – catching the Sea Fever.  Fourth day – trying to figure out how to add a day or two to the original plan.   Despite this strategizing (found a seaplane option for $1093.00), I walked Bob up to the parking lot Wed. a.m. to say goodbye as he got in the car of the local man he had hired to drive him back to his car.  From there, I walked to the boathouse/office, where an observant woman said, “you just said goodbye to an old friend.”   38 years of friendship,  in fact.  She drilled me for details of our history and relationship in a way I’ve only known Debi to do.   Yes, we met in prison...no, neither of us were inmates.

We did our best to enjoy life without Bob – checked out a very nice photography gallery and bought fish and chips out of a school bus converted into a kitchen.  There were only two items on the menu – fish….and chips.   But they were churning them out as fast as they could – the line never stopped - the fish was very delicious and as fresh as it could be since it was caught today.

This morning we had a fairly early departure to Little Current – a short hop from Killarney - but wanted to get to the next stop before a bad
weather front came in.  We made it longer by taking a detour into the famous Baie (Bay) Fine.  Here we experienced fairly steep cliffs coming down to water’s edge on both sides of the relatively narrow and ten mile long bay.

Little Current is pretty much a rocking place – 1,700 people, 3 ATMs and one tattoo parlor!  That’s more than we’ve had since Midland almost a week ago – and more than we will see until we return to the states in northern Michigan sometime late next week.  

Little Current’s hotel, the Anchor Inn, is the site of a daily VHF radio broadcast to all the ships at sea in the Georgian Bay and North Channel - the Cruisers' Net.  Ray Easton runs the pretty folksy little show, and at the end invites all of his listeners to state their locations over their radios – we called in while cruising this morning.   He gives any updates regarding the weather, sea conditions, marina facilities, depths of shallow areas, special events in nearby locales (e.g., art festival here this weekend).  Listeners are invited to call in with their questions (“how deep is the east end of the Collins Inlet these days?”), people transmit messages to others through this medium (cell service is limited), and finally he gives national and international news to those of us who are pretty out of touch with this stuff.  In short, the show helps to connect and create the community that we have joined – one that gains and loses people every day who are making their way through their own adventures.  The marine version of “Don’t forget bridge club at the Elk’s Lodge tomorrow – and Margaret is in town this week visiting her cousin Charlotte, who finally had her baby boy Monday morning.”

So yesterday, we radioed into the show to announce Sea Fever was heading west from Killarney on her way to Little Current.  Today, because this sort of thing rates as exciting in our new frame of reference, we went to the hotel to watch this local version of Prairie Home Companion.    Part of the show is, “This Day in History.”  Turns out that 17 years ago today was the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics in Atlanta.  He acknowledged his two Atlantans in his live audience – and that’s the biggest thing that’s happened to us in awhile.  He also noted on the air, with a bit of disdain, that it took us 14 years to get here (North Channel) and that we are only staying for a week - since locals of course think this area is the best area of the whole Loop (they are probably right).

And that’s the news from Little Current, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking….

Love and miss y'all.
Debi and Jim

Georgian Bay, Here We Come!

Orillia to Port Severn to Midland, Ontario

We begin Volume 2 (2013) Chapter 2 (July, post-trip home) in our longest lingering spot so far -  Midland Ontario.  We are lingering because it is a pretty good sized place (17,000 pop) - the largest we will see until returning to the States next month.  Lots to see and do.  We lucked into another concert and art show right next to our boat, for our first night.   I’m tempted by the 5 pin bowling, but this Canadian bastardization seems a bit silly, doesn’t it?   Little balls, 5 pins, short lanes?   Shouldn’t this be a bar game, rather than a whole building?

Anyway, we did some real sightseeing today.  A beautiful long bike ride through town and along the bay – and a visit to a re-creation of a 1600’s Jesuit settlement - primarily created to convert the local natives.

The town is known for its murals, including the largest mural in N. America (below left) - in case you can't tell, these are four painted grain elevators.  The lighthouse is painted around a real window with a real light.  The stamp mural is on the post office, of course.  Just be glad you aren't getting photos of all 33 murals. 

Actually, we did not go to the Ontario Hummingbird Festival.  I just wanted you to put the dates in your calendar for 2014.


We go to lots of things we wouldn't normally go to in Atlanta.  That's how we learn about the variety of communities we have the privilege to visit.  So, earlier this evening we rode our bikes out to a local lake for a gathering of Harley riders.  Here's a picture of Debi with her portable chair, starting the trek.

And this is a picture of the entertainment - lounge music, Harley-style. There's live music in Little 5 Points every night of the week, but we don't go often enough, because it's always there.  But when we visit these other worlds, we are compelled to take it in while we can.  

How did we get to Midland?  As you may know, Debi and I managed to book flights back to Toronto on consecutive days.  I think we each chose the day that the other wanted.  In any case,the good side of that is that Debi was able to borrow a car (from a friendly boater who just offered his car and keys while they left for a few days) and came to pick me up in Toronto.  The bad side of that is that I came in during horrendous storms.  Highways closed, power (and traffic lights) out, crazy traffic, etc.   So what should have been a 2.5 hour round trip turned into a 6 hour mess for Debi and a 15 hour travel day for me.

Despite getting back to the boat at midnight, we left early the next morning, because it seemed like our best travel day of the next few.  This was a beautiful trip through pine woods, narrow channels, beautiful cottages, and granite cliffs and islands.  The highlight was a crazy engineering marvel – the Big Chute!  There was a 58’ foot drop in water levels between two bodies of water.  Rather than building a lock and canal between them, they created a rail track (more like a roller coaster) between the two.  Then they created a weird rail car that drives on those tracks right into the water, on both sides.  We drove our boat into the bed of the car, they stabilized us with straps, and then the car pulled up on the track and out of the water, at which point the boat was sitting on its keel, with the back end hanging off the car.  We did a gradual rise, passed OVER a road, and then began a steep downhill descent into the next body of water.  Somehow the boat remained horizontal as the car descends the track and deposits us back in the water.  The Big Chute indeed.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTs7V-moy4E will give you a video view of the whole thing.

Yesterday we went through the 45^th and final lock of the Trent-Severn Waterway, which we entered on June 18 – 240 beautiful miles ago.  Once we came through that last lock, we had entered the Georgian Bay – the next challenge of the Loop.  This will be the phase of the entire Great Circle Loop which will require the greatest navigational challenges, narrow and shallow channels – but some of the  most pristine and beautiful scenery of the trip as well.  We’re travelling with minimal fuel and water to keep the boat as high in the water as possible.  We will be entering the Georgian Bay National Park, part of the 30,000 Islands.

Bob Baer is driving up from NYC to join us for a few days - will arrive this morning – which is the other reason we are lingering in Midland.  If we had gone on from here, it would have been difficult for Bob to hook up with us – as we’ll be cruising among the islands.  Today is supposed to be perfect weather conditions for a hopefully idyllic long cruising day.  Wish you were with us....

Georgian Bay, here we come!      
Jim and Debi

Ontario Observations

June 23, 2013

Days, miles, locks roll by.  Sun shines, birds sing, lakes ripple.   Full moon radiates.  

OK – true story.  I was going to follow that opening with “I’ll write a haiku later.”  Then I read my syllables and realized that I already had! 

The full orange moon coming through the pines and onto the water last night really was magnificent.  

We’ve now completed 190 miles and 40 locks of the Trent Seven Waterway (out of a total of 240 miles and 45 locks).  We are tying up for two weeks and flying back to the states for various reasons.   The Trent-Severn has been beautiful, peaceful and somewhat slow to traverse, because much of it is 6 mph canal, the locks take awhile, and the lock hours  are only 9-5 M-F.   Those hours are a source of great controversy up here – as they are greatly reduced over previous years and locals fear that this will discourage the important boating tourist traffic. 

The boat has been 100% reliable, not a hiccup.  Yesterday, we thought it was acting a bit sluggish and I jumped in the cold Canadian water to try to inspect the props and shafts for weeds (because Canadian waters are FILLED with their own version of seaweed - who knew?).  I found none, but this boat is too big to get great access to the running gear before having to swim back out from under the boat – especially with a current.  I only ended up with a cut foot for my troubles.  

That night, we were joined by Peter Lindsay, wife Kate, and kids Jake and Claire.  They were great but brief guests.  We had time to relax for awhile, go to dinner in town, play some cards, check our blood pressures (Peter and I are borderline and talk about this fascinating subject frequently) - what's on the table below could be contributing to our problems - and go to bed.  They left the next morning after smoothies – and we departed shortly after they did. 

 












The next night was spent on a lock wall – very relaxing.  We took a riverside trail (me running, Debi on bike) for awhile, watched others picking leaves in the woods around us (don’t know what kind), and went to bed early. 

We’ve moved from farmland to marshland to woodlands to rocky islands and shores that provide a preview of the Georgian Bay.   Part of our travels have taken us past pink granite outcroppings popping right out of the water around us.  Also stacked limestone that reminds me of Michigan or Wisconsin.  Much of this territory is very resort, tourist, and vacation oriented, but hardly over-developed.   Mostly lots of cottages – of all sizes and ages.   The waterway is a series of rivers, lakes, and canals and we are clearly in the serious lake part of it now. 

One really fun experience was the Peterborough Lift (below).  Unlike a lock which fills with water to lift boats, this is a pan/bathtub that you drive the boat into.  It is connected to another pan parallel to it and 65 feet above us.  The upper pan is just sitting on a steel tube filled with water - which is connected to a similar tube under us.  When they pour an extra foot of water in the pan above it, the extra weight pushes that pan and tube down, which lifts our pan up on the tube under us.  It felt and looked like we were floating above the river, just rising like an elevator.  The next one will have us entering high, putting the boat at the end of the pan, looking out over the river 60 feet below us with nothing visually supporting us – and then we will drop down as the other pan lifts up and passes us midway. 

We were heading for a full day of cruising today, but after about 2 ½ hours, we were passing through Fenelon Falls.  It is a very nice little town that caught our eye – so we called it a day.  First time in a week we haven’t traveled the better part of the day.  We toured by bike, as we do at every stop, bought a couple of DVDs to pass the evenings, sanded some rusty spots on our bikes and touched up with paint, practiced using our anchor (a must for the July portion of the trip – as docks and marinas will be fewer and farther between) with some help from a friendly fellow boater, and enjoyed watching other boats entering and leaving the lock next to us. 

As you can see below, we are just waiting to be sitting on the bow, relaxing, with you!  And these white pots light up at night (Debi loves that).

June 24

A fairly long day of travel with a hiccup and a resolution.  We left early to make sure we could get through to our final destination before the locks closed.  We were relieved when we did so, but when we pulled into our marina we found their power supply just wasn’t working for our boat.  Imagine driving 8 hours, finding out your hotel is closed, and realizing that you are hours from the next option.  As it turned out, we did find another one, further on up the "road" – about 2 more hours of unexpected cruising, but not out of our way.  The good news is that it is much nicer than the one we were in – the bad news is that we are paying top dollar for a place where the boat will sit for two weeks while we are home.  Again, imagine you have to rent a hotel room for two weeks to hold your luggage while you are out of town – and instead of leaving your stuff at the Hampton Inn, you are now leaving it at the Hyatt Regency.  Oh well.  

The other advantage is that it got me close to a sports bar where I got to see the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup, having won 3 straight after going down 2-1.  And more amazingly, scoring the tying and winning goals with a minute left in the game, after only scoring one goal the first 59 minutes.  Stunning in the best way possible – and it was fun watching it with Canadians who know and love the game.  It's their Super Bowl.

June 25

Our first FULL day of not traveling since the 16^th.  We needed it to wash the boat, our clothes, arrange for a new battery charger to be installed (it wouldn’t be good to leave the boat with the batteries not charging properly – eventually they would die, and the ability of the boat to pump bilge water out in the event of a leak (just a cracked hose would do it) would be compromised to say the least.

One of the dock hands offered us a ride halfway to Toronto tomorrow – making our trip to the airport considerably easier.  So tomorrow,  we are on our way home, having completed the eastern half of the Erie Canal, Oswego Canal, Lake Ontario, a portion of the St. Lawrence River, 85% of the Trent-Severn Waterway and 70 locks!  We are ahead of schedule, and feeling pretty content with our progress and the lack of any major complications – it’s just not like us to not have something more interesting to say!  No fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, accidents, breakdowns, psycho killers…. Just me and you and a boat named…

P.S.  This photo was actually taken while home in Atlanta - can you guess where?

Jim and Debi