to Couchiching Lock - to Couch Lake

THINKING ABOUT MY daughter, LOVE YOU Lily

just behind our boat above the locks at

Big Chute !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cottages are abundant and they are so of great beauty ...

every where you look it is cottages ... how lucky it is for kids to grow

up in and on the water .. we saw young kids jumping in the water off the

dock in life jackets ... they will learn to respect the waters.

This bridge we could pass under ... not to sure of the height ...

In Swift Currant Lock ... we learnt a few lessons in this lock ... if at all possible 

DO NOT TIE UP ON PORT SIDE IN LOCK ... but it will not always be possible

cause in some locks you have to.

There is a heck of a lot of bridges, with narrow passages

underneath !!!

With this and all swing bridges, when you get to them you blow your air horn

three times ... Joe and I did that and the lock master only opened it part way for the

down stream boaters to pass ... then he started to close it again as we

where approaching  ... he did not see us, the blowers haha ... he realized

what happened and he  opened the

bridge part way again

Sunning turtles !!!!

Just above Couchiching Lock, we met some great boaters

there ... the guy that last fall sold us the dinghy we had on deck,

and a great French couple, John and Maryse on Refuge.

Thank you Ron Ball, for the personalized GYC ( Georgian Yacht Club) pen.

It is being put to good use.  Thanks Ron !!!!

Most or all swing bridges open at 8:00 , but Joe and I wanted to make

Lake Simcoe while it was calm so we left at 6 am ... lucky for us this swing bridge

was 13 feet above water, we are 10 feet.

OKAY, this is Lake Couchiching and by the locals

Couch .... and this is called the bowling alley ... and told

not to stray outside the buoys ... well who would ???

We counted 16 red buoys to cross this shallow area ...

well to our luck the wind picked up and it got choppy, so we got thru

the alley and decided to anchor at Chief Island ... it is rumored to have

400 motor boats on any long weekend ... we where just going to stay until the

wind settled down and to see the SnowBirds preform at 2:30 pm ..

Well that story has to wait until we find WIFI, again which will be

in Fenlon Falls or Bobcaygon    .....  

Modaki has left Owen Sound port ... June 26, 2012

This is the picture of the new drawers that Joe built ... and they are full !

We opened a bottle of sparkling wine and offered some to the seas and to our friends .... a great way to start the morning ... 6:30 am

Joe and myself .... a great way to start the morning !!!

Joe's mom, Harriet Parker, Syl McIntosh and Paul Beattie  shared the bubbly and

saw us off the dock.

Looking back at the Georgian Yacht Club and the Owen Sound Harbour.

Joe and I will be back in 4 months ... but Modaki will not come back for

5 years ... as we are leaving her this year in the Maritimes  ...

and next year  ....... ???

Clay banks at Meaford Tank Range

Christian Island Lighthouse

photo taken on the chart plotter of our motoring track from Owen Sound

to Christian Island .... there was no wind .... but the seas where quite lumpy

it took us 7 hours

We got to sail from Christian Island ... on a north wind ... all the way to Penetang

The wind was quite gusty at times ...  we had no problem will full sails

I guess it is because we are so heavy loaded ... all the sail boats we met had reef in.

Okay I won't bore you too many times with meal pictures ... BUT...

We want to thank Sue Allison for the fine wine and the scapes and lettuce

from her garden.  My sister Louise and Mike Pepe for the

elk steaks, they also gave us elk sausage which we ate for

breakfast this morning

Discovery Harbour - Magazine Island

Historic Site   across from our anchorage

Chart plotter track from Penetang to Victoria Harbour

another motor trip .... no wind

Getting the main sail down ... it has taken us 6 hours so far to get sails

off, MOB removed, lines off, dodger and bimini off, boom removed ... and

so on and so on ..... and Joe is still making the cradle for the mast.

We where going to take it down today but we where going to be rushed to

meet the 3:30 deadline

So we went to town and bought a few groceries and some liquids, the library gives free internet and Joe did his banking.   We had an ice cream cone too.

Queen's Cove Marina is quite nice, we got to fold both sails

on the covered dock ... so far we are quite pleased with the facilities

Can you find us in the picture ????

... and still more preparations

Joe and his son Scott enjoying a supper together before our departure.

We didn't have to buy any canned goods for this trip, since I was moving out of my place and Joe's son would not use some of his canned goods, we got to stock 3 lockers full to the brim .... hummm I wonder what's for lunch !

Well all cans stored neatly below ... you would never know they where there !

This year we dedicated a whole drawer to spices ... this is going

 to be a real treat

Joe sorting out the stainless parts and hardware that we will be taking with us.

Joe's cabinet work for the stainless and spare small parts ...

beautiful cherry wood, it is completed now and installed ...

a picture to follow

What a great sight to see ... driving in my lane way to put my car away for 4 months,

she just stood there wondering what was going on ... Joe came to pick me up  a few minutes later and she was still there ..... a good omen for sure

Lily and Ryan came for a sail and supper ... unfortunately we could only give them supper ... the fuel

 pump broke earlier in the day and we where

waiting for a new one to arrive.

.... and more preparations

Last year the air filter was in good condition .... when Joe checked it this year it fell apart in his hand .... Wiarton Marina once again came to the rescue,

 and had it in stock.

We use a fender board for transit through the locks and have extra diesel tanks also.  Some of the marinas on the

Trent-Severn are too shallow for us to go into for fuel.

We tested the dinghy for leaks and it passed.  It gets stowed on deck in its bag for open water passages

 and later use.