Squeaky Fenders in Not-So-Little Current

Little Current is a town on a narrow pass marking the northern end of Georgian Bay and the beginning of the North Channel. A lot of water flows through this passage...

We had planned a stop at Little Current as the winds were picking up and a few days of rain were being forecast. We thought it would be a restful stop to do some grocery shopping and boat chores. We couldn't have been more wrong. We did get groceries and some laundry done, but found that Little Current should really be named Big Current. The boat felt like she was at sea while at the dock with the addition of squeaking fenders keeping us awake at night. The videos below tell the story.

Little Current

Sounds at Little Current

Georgian Bay and First Loopers

Shortly after we arrived in Midland we met our first fellow looper, PIA, who was still travelling south at this late point in the season like us. (A looper is a boat who is doing the Great Loop around the eastern part of North America. We are loopers for the Canadian and US portions of our trip.) PIA amazingly also has the same plan as us to continue south once we get to the Gulf of Mexico.

We spent four days in Midland at Bay Port Yachting Centre and did all the cruising chores: ordered parts, did laundry, changed engine oils and got groceries before heading out into Georgian Bay.

When leaving Midland one has to cross a large stretch of open water before being able to tuck into the protected small craft channel winding its way through the islands on the northeast shore. We left with some trepidation as the weather was beginning to turn, but we didn't want to be stuck in Midland for the full weather system. It turned out to be the right decision as we had a flat calm motor through light rain showers under a grey sky.

Throughout Georgian Bay we felt that time was nipping at our heels as more and more services and stores were closed for the season. Some nights were getting very cold and there was more fall colour in the trees. The one advantage of being there at this time of year was that we had no issues finding dock space. We also often found ourselves completely alone on the water. With it being so quiet, Georgian Bay felt very remote. It was the first time on this trip we felt we needed to be completely self-sufficient, which had become a way of life for us on our last trip.

We spent a cold night at a marina in Britt on Byng Inlet - and they actually had bear-proof garbage cans! To Geoff, Britt felt like one of the northern Canadian communities he had visited on canoe trips many years ago.

On our way to Killarney, we travelled through Collin's Inlet which is a narrow passage with granite rock faces on either side. We had heard it was spectacular and it was!

After spending two nights in Killarney, we went to "the pool" in Baie Fine. The pool is an amazing sheltered anchorage with an almost mystical quality located at the end of a long bay. Baie Fine is one of the largest freshwater fjords in the world and features white quartz cliffs on one side and pink granite ones on the other. From the pool we took a short dingy ride and hiked up a trail to Lake Topaz, which is a hidden lake in the mountains famous for the colour of its water. We were there on a cloudy day, so unfortunately didn't get to see the full colour effect.

From Baie Fine we headed to the misnamed town of Little Current...

Small craft channel on Georgian Bay

Passage on the small craft channel

Collin's Inlet

Collin's Inlet

Lake Topaz

Trail to Lake Topaz

Geru in "the pool"

Baie Fine

Locks, Dams and a Dentist on the Trent-Severn Waterway

After a great stay at the very modern and large Trent Port Marina, we started our trip up the Trent-Severn Waterway. We expected it to be similar to the Rideau, but it really wasn't. The Trent-Severn moves through a variety of geographic regions and you encounter many different landscapes. There were narrow passages through swampy lakes surrounded by tree stumps, the open waters of Lake Simcoe, buoyed channels around huge boulders (some above, some below the surface requiring sharp turns with the boat) and narrow rocky cuts with overgrown vegetation. There were also the not-for-the-faint-of-heart lift locks and marine railway. We spent quiet nights at remote lock stations, but also ended up inadvertently in the middle of Pirate Days in Orillia.

Just as we left Trenton Ruth lost a filling while eating a granola bar. And so began the search for a dentist who would take Ruth on short notice. The weekend was coming up and we had no luck as we passed a couple of the larger towns. Finally, we were successful in Peterborough where the local dentists have a dentist-on-call system. We did a bit of sightseeing by taking public transit to the dentist office on the edge of town. Ruth had her tooth expertly fixed by a dentist who is a sailor himself (thanks, Dr. Vander Velden!).

We were worried about the stony section starting north of Peterborough as we met a boat who had their trip cut short by running up on a rock. We have a lot of experience with shallow waters, but it has always been sand or mud bottoms which are fairly forgiving if you make a mistake, but contending with underwater boulders was another thing altogether. It turned out that it was no problem as the channels were well buoyed, but you needed to pay attention. This was our first introduction to this bouldered type of landscape that we knew would be the norm in Georgian Bay.

We went through the last lock of the Trent-Severn  - the 43rd - at Port Severn on September 2nd, and started into the fabled Georgian Bay...

Sydney lock and dam

Healey Falls locks

Geru at Ashburnham lock in Peterborough 

Peterborough Lift Lock

The Trent Canal

Lake Simcoe

Kirkfield Lift Lock - our first Trent lock going down!

Big Chute Marine Railway

Little Chute

Engine Troubles and Lake Ontario

As we started the engine at the bottom of the Kingston Mills lock for our final portion of the Rideau Canal, Ruth noticed that the engine didn't sound right, so we shut her down and investigated. It turned out that the alternator bracket was no longer attached correctly to the engine and was rattling itself loose. After some contemplation, we put a quick fix in place using a wire wrap tool (thanks for the tip, Roger!) that we felt would get us to Kingston.

Once we started calling for a marina in Kingston, we found out that everything was full as it was a poker run weekend. When hearing about our engine troubles, Kingston Marina gave us a spot in a back corner usually reserved for their working boatyard. So we finished the Rideau Canal hobbling into Kingston Marina.

We spent three days in Kingston repairing the alternator. This was the first time we fixed our boat again underway and we were able to do it ourselves, so it was a good confidence boost.

To get from the Rideau Canal to the Trent-Severn Waterway, the route goes along the shore of Lake Ontario from Kingston to Trenton. This involves a few sections where the shoreline is exposed to Lake Ontario's wind and waves. We went out on a day that turned out to be way more boisterous that forecast. We almost turned around, but decided to press on, giving Geru her first test in bigger waves since her renovation. As in the past, Geru handled it better than we did, although we did end up tying an extra line on the mast lying on deck as we were worried about it moving around.

We spent a day in Picton waiting for the winds to calm down before a nice day of motoring to Trenton.

Alternator repair

The source of the problem

Lake Ontario

Leaving Picton

Rushing the Rideau Canal

Our first day on the water took us from Marina Leblanc to the Ottawa flight of locks at the start of the Rideau Canal. Going through the locks, we were one of the day's tourist attractions. Lots of people were standing around taking photos and videos of the boats. We docked on the canal in downtown Ottawa across from the National Arts Center (NAC). We certainly noticed the bustle after our previous quiet nights at Marina Leblanc. We ran errands from the boat walking the familiar streets we walked hundreds of times over the last ten years, but this time coming home to Geru on the canal.

Because we are running six weeks late, we could not take the slow trip down the Rideau Canal we had originally planned. We managed to take a breather on a mooring ball at Colonel By Island in Big Rideau Lake for two nights, but otherwise it was just a flurry of buoys and locks. We did, however, really enjoy some of the scenery, especially the narrow cuts with overgrown vegetation in the southern end of the canal.

We went through the last lock of the Rideau Canal - the 45th! - at Kingston Mills on August 14th, and then the engine adventure started....

Ottawa flight of locks

Geru in downtown Ottawa

Going by Carleton University in Ottawa

Entering the Smith Falls lock

A narrow spot on the canal

Pastoral landscape

Geru at the bottom of the Kingston Mills locks

We Have Left!

We have finally dropped our dock lines and left!

Leaving the dock at Marina Leblanc

Leaving the harbour

On the Ottawa River

Moving Aboard

Over the course of about three weeks we moved onto Geru. It was a rather strenuous and stressful time as we were running against the clock of losing the apartment at the end of July. We started by taking car loads each day, but in the end we ran out of time and had to rent a van to be a storage unit for a few days. To top things off, we were moving aboard during a heat wave!

Because we ran out of time to sort through things, Geru is crammed full and it will take quite a while to get through it all.

Storage under the bed

Temperature while moving aboard

Our storage van

Geru is now officially our home (turning in the keys to the apartment)

All moved aboard!