We are presently in Little Current, ONT on the North Channel island of Manitoulin which I think is the Indian word for “Boondocks”. The weather was blowing up today so we decided to stay in port and get some other obligations completed.

The weather has been cool so swimming has been limited though the water is warm. The scenery is spectacular and they say, with no reason to question, that this is the best cruising area in the world. We have been able to anchor in many secluded coves, and, on a clear night the night show of stars is the same as being offshore in the ocean as there is no light pollution

We have been having problems with uploading pictures but will do so as soon as we get the computer problems straightened out.

Tomorrow we are off moving west towards Mackinac Island, MI which we should be at by Thursday if the weather cooperates.

We are now in Parry Sound in Georgian Bay, which is the eastern shore of Lake Huron. There are some 30,000 islands in this bay with many coves and inlets that have not yet been surveyed for depth therefore if you decide to explore you do so with great caution. The further we travel northwest the more remote the area becomes.

Internet coverage up here is few and far between although we still have cell phone.

The scenery up here is fantastic and quite similar to the coast of Maine with the trees coming done to the waters edge and a glacially formed rocky shoreline. There are three distinct differences between the two. Georgian Bay does not have a 12 foot tide, lobster pots or fog.

We left the Trent Severn on Friday after a leisurely passage. Judi was not pleased with the Kirkfield lift lock or the Big Chute marine railway. At Kirkfield you drive the boat over a road via an aqueduct into a pan of water suspended ~50 feet in the air. It seems you are going to drive right out into space when you enter. They then put another foot of water in the pan and you start the trip down as the pan on the other side goes up.

At Big Chute a strange looking contraption that runs on cables and rails comes into the water, you drive the boat in and they suspend the boat in straps similar to a travel lift. They drive out of the water, over the crest of the hill and descend 51 feet to the river below. As you go over the top it is similar to going over the top on a roller coaster and then descending into a splash down at the bottom. To say the least it was a unique experience.

We are some 1286 NM from Plymouth and it is about another 350 miles until we are back in the US.

July 2, 2009

Today we are in Peterborough, ONT some ~1100 miles from Plymouth. We spent the last few days in Campbellford and Hastings.
Yesterday was “Canada Day”, their equivalent to the 4th of July. It was a throwback to the 1950’s with a local band at the gazebo, the ladies auxiliary serving hot dogs and burgers, and everybody sitting around on folding chairs enjoying the day.

The parade had bag pipers, old cars, tractors, and the contingent from the local fox hunt club. The fireworks were outstanding, not even taking into consideration that the town has 4000 residents. They had fireworks that they put off underwater, quite different and impressive.

Tomorrow we will continue west through the Peterborough Lift Lock into what they call the Kawartha Lakes region. This is a series of lakes in the Canadian Shield that are connected by a series of locks on the Trent-Severn. Do a Google on Peterborough Lift Lock. It is pretty interesting as an engineering achievement when it was built in 1904.

The weather has been, in total, outstanding. The days are very long at this latitude and where we are in the time zone, sun up at 5:30 and down at after 9 PM.

Life is good.