Just a short recap – we are west coast boaters. But in the fall of 2021, we shipped our 29 foot Ranger Tug from Burrard Yacht Club in North Vancouver to Lefroys Harbour Resort on Lake Simcoe. The goal? We wanted to the boat the canals, waterways and lakes of southern Ontario. Summer of 2022, we did all of the Trent Severn Waterway, some of the Rideau Canal, and a bit of Georgian Bay. That added up to 100 days, 117 locks, and 1080 miles.

Summer of 2023 and we are back. We flew from Vancouver to Toronto on June 4th. This time, our plans are to spend the entire summer on Georgian Bay. This our final year in Ontario and Georgian Bay is where we want to be.

Got to Lefroys Sunday, June 5th courtesy of our brother in law who put aside his life to get the three of us from the Toronto airport to Innisfil and Lefroys.

Yes, three of us. This year we have Maggie with us – our 17 year old golden doodle. We left Maggie with our son’s family last summer but honestly, an old dog like Maggie seems to do best with Hugo and I. We talked with her vet wondering perhaps if it was time to put her down. He said no, feeling that Maggie still had some life left to go. We were worried about the plane trip but she managed it in good shape. And so far, touch wood, she seems to be handling the routine. She was always a good boat dog and even in her old age, she enjoys being with us. Her eyesight isn’t what it used to be and that goes for her hearing too. The very first morning, she walked off the dock into the water. She swam around for awhile before she located me and I hauled her out. A little like her owners, Maggie is still hanging in there.

The first week in Ontario was all about the smoke in the air. Major forest fires were burning in northern Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. It was so bad that it blocked out the sun, lowered the temperature and generally made life miserable. Wind and smoke meant we didn’t head across Lake Simcoe until Thursday, June 8th.

We provisioned the boat in Orillia and then started heading north on Lake Couchiching to pick up the Trent Severn Waterway to Georgian Bay. From there we followed the Severn River past the infamous CN Railway bridge where we had to dismantle the antennas and the communication mast before we were able to creep under. Spent the first night out at Couchiching Lock 42, then the second at the Waubic Restaurant near Severn Bridge. It was raining the day we went across the Big Chute Marine Railway. No boats went across with us but there was lots of staff training to run this unique style of lock. Last year, there were intermittent shutdowns due to staff shortages and it seemed Parks Canada is addressing the issue. We stopped for a night at Trent Port Marina, Port Severn to pump out, fuel up and do a laundry.

It might be the smoke or the rain or the cool weather but the trip so far has been very quiet. We headed through the final lock of the Trent Severn Waterway – lock 45 Port Severn. The falls beside the lock were roaring, so we shot out of the lock and into Georgian Bay trying to maintain control in the current. The route from Port Severn to Beausoleil Island involves many buoys, hair pin turns and converging channels. All of this reminded us that this was Georgian Bay where submerged, near surface rocks are plentiful and we needed to pay close attention to our navigation.

Cedar Springs, Beausoleil Island (Georgian Bay Islands National Park) was beautiful and Parks Canada staff outnumbered visitors at least two to one. We were the only boat moored that night. Cedar Springs is exposed from the south which made for a rocky night on the docks.

June 14th, and we were heading north – past Honey Harbour, Muskoka Landing Channel, Monument Channel, O’Donnell Point, Starvation Bay to Henry’s Fish Restaurant at Sans Souci. Wind was NW and around 12 knots. It was early season and Henry’s was only open on the weekends. But the owners let us stay overnight at the docks. Once again, we were all alone.