JACKIE B III Going Loopy

The next day we made our way through the rocky channels of Georgian Bay to another picturesque anchorage next to Stairs Island.  We were the only boat there that night and it was our base of operations for exploring waters that were non navigable for the Jackie B III. But our little dinghy was up for the challenge.  I kept watch for the rocks and we found the hidden beach before the waters opened up again. Our goal for this exploration was the Ojibway Club.  They have gasoline for our dinghy and a small but well provisioned market.  The locals send their children here for “camp.”  Some bring their children and others drive themselves in various small craft.  We arrived at the end of the day and it was very busy for a while. After picking up a few things from the market we had a lovely walk around the island on the club trails.  It was great to move after being in the boat all day. We made our way back to the anchorage and had a great dinner One of our ...

Today was our last day on the Trent Severn Waterway as we passed through our last lock into Georgian Bay.  I actually felt a little bit sad to be leaving the locks and the wonderful lock tenders behind.  They were all so friendly.  We spent our first night in Midland Ontario.  This was a beautiful sunset as Mike took me out to dinner by dingy.  My knees were really hurting after the long walk to the pool. One of the surprising things we saw was the S.S. Keewatin.  This luxury cruise ship had been taking visitors all over the Great Lakes during the same era as the Titanic.  When I was a young girl this ship was located in Douglas, Michigan near my hometown and we toured her on a school field trip. You can begin to see the rockiness of the Georgian Bay wherever you look. Navigating is tricky up here and the captain needs to pay close attention. We saw many little cottages… …on these islands, only accessible by boat. Mike very carefully guided us into the...

What a special treat it was to cruise with these two dear friends. Ralph and his family are largely responsible for getting Mike into boating and he was Mike’s best man. Gail and I enjoyed our morning coffee, taking in the sights of Lake Simcoe. This island was covered with birds. As we approached our first lock of the day, there were several French Canadian/non English speaking boats lined up.  We spent the day going through the locks with these folks trying to use the French we  had studied many years ago😁. We saw many more cottages and beautiful scenery between locks. We let Gail enjoy the ride while Ralph took the stern lines.  This is at the top of the lock.  We are going downstream at this point on the waterway. And here we are at the bottom of the lock. Gail our VIP (Very Important Passenger) Ralph on the stern and me on the bow. The beauty of this area did not disappoint. But we were getting excited approaching the most exciting lock of the day, “The Big Chu...

From Fenelon Falls, we crossed Cameron Lake to enter the Severn canal.  This was the narrowest canal of the trip so far. Although it was not the mooring we had become accustomed to, this lock had its own beauty. In the morning the guys had bagels and locks (tee hee) after Ralph took his morning swim. We finally arrived in Orillia. Even though it was cloudy, its a beautiful city. . Scott drove Ralph’s wife up to meet us and we had some fun while he was with us to include an early birthday cake for Mike.  Wish Scott could have actually cruised with us. Mike saw Scott off early the next morning and got a shot of the Jackie B at the dock with all the night (early morning) lights. Our Journey “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬