Canada Day and cruise to Bobcaygeon

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

It’s July 1^st, Canada Day! We are still at Buckhorn Yacht Harbor for several reasons. One, its Canada Day and everything is closed but boaters are out and there are few places to tie up. Two, it is warm and humid and we can stay plugged in with the A/C, and three, thunderstorms are forecast for all day – it started raining before 11am – and it looks like it will stick around. Finally, we needed a down day to chill and relax and recharge our personal batteries.

Another first - covered dockage at Buckhorn Yacht Harbor

The day wasn’t a complete bust, though. John had some time to clean the deck and the gunnels. Jake had the luxury of reading a book and I got caught up on my internet surfing. The rain stopped after lunch and we walked the mile or so into the town of Buckhorn where Jake was hoping to find a place where he could watch the USA soccer team play in the World Cup. We checked out the lock there and were surprised to see that there was now plenty of room to park our boat, but decided to stay where we were. While we were there, who should lock through but Dave and Di on their catamaran, Phat Cat. They tied up on the wall for the night; we had a short visit and decided to get together for dinner later that evening.

Di and Dave join us for dinner at Main Street Landing in Buckhorn

Jake got to see his game and we got a walk and a bike ride for a little exercise. It is wonderful to see familiar faces as we travel along and we have already met so many wonderful people. I am sure there will be many more along the way.

Jake, Kathy and Di check out the power dam near the lock

You can't imagine the intensity of the water you feel standing this close

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

With the promise of a good day ahead we left the marina at Buckhorn and headed west toward Bobcaygeon. At least I think it was west because this waterway is such a zig-zag route that it is hard to tell which way we are going. We cruised down the length of Buckhorn Lake, went through Buckhorn Narrows and as we were about to go through another narrow passage we saw the Kawartha Voyager coming into view. This is a relatively large cruise boat carries passengers on a tour of the Trent-Severn Waterway. It started near Orillia and ends in Peterborough and we had been warned that it takes up a lot of space. We didn’t want to get caught in a tight spot with it and so John pulled back to idle and let it pass.



Kawartha Voyager closing in on us



Up close and personal

The sun came out as we glided onto Pigeon lake, a wide expanse of water and Jake took over the wheel for a while. Of course, we have auto pilot, we call it Otto the Auto Pilot, so it didn’t really challenge his driving abilities.

Jake says, "Piece of cake! I could do this in my sleep."
 

Couldn't resist - boathouse, balcony, birdhouse and a slide!

In no time we were entering the narrow passage to Bobcaygeon. They swung open a bridge for us and we entered the only lock of the day, #32.  It is a great little town to explore and shop. They are known for Bigley’s store which has thousands of shoes. Fortunately I have no room left for shoes, but there are lots of other curio shops.  Also, our friends from Phat Cat are tied up below the lock and we had a good visit with Mary and Roger from Ta Ta who are getting some work done at the local marina. We also met a couple from Pensacola doing the loop. Their 44' trawler is named SNAILMALE and I am sure we will get to know them better as we go along.

Captain’s Log: July 2, 2014

Departed: Buckhorn Yacht Harbor, 8:50 a.m.
Engine hours: 2.8 hrs.
Actual hours: 2 hrs.  50 min.
Nautical miles covered: 14.36
Locked thru # 32 Bobcaygeon
Arrived: Top of Lock 32 Bobcaygeon 11:40 a.m.
Wx: SW winds 5-10, dark clouds to SE – sun came out  - winds increased 10-15