Cruises from Lake Simcoe

[wrhfinancial]

There was talk about a raft up this weekend
Sat afternoon looks promising weather wise
Anyone who has a VHF DSC radio can apply for an MMSI number for free
That is an excellent way to communicate

[wrhfinancial]

Scott Gail and my wife were talking last night about
Going between the Islands tomorrow Sat
Weather radar looks good so far
Lets all chat today

[wrhfinancial]

I am going to take the boat to Big Bay Pt and do some Dive training this Sat
Anyone have plans for Sat?

[Southern Cross]

In water used boat show in Orillia this weekend. Lots of cottage toys, sunglasses, boat schtuff.

http://www.orillia.com/visitors/boatshow.html

Martin

[Misty95]

It would be nice to meet up with anyone interested on the Georgian bay trip. We'll keep you posted about our plans. Would have liked to go up to Orillia this weekend unfortunatly Gail is on call .

Scott & Gail
Misty II
Keswick, Ontario

[wrhfinancial]

We can do a raft up between the islands again on Sat
All are welcome

[Lost Weekend]

I will be up at the Marna Friday night and will keep a look out for you for Saturday. I hope to be out on the lake Saturday morning. I'm hoping to take a run up to Barrie and then over to the islands for lunch. I'll keep an eye out for you and will try to connect. Unfortunately, I have to be back in the City at 4 pm on Saturday.

Starting July, I will be able to spend the whole weekend on the lake.

I monitor VHF Channels 16 and 71 and will maintain a listening watch.

Here's hoping we'll see the Sun on Saturday!!!

[Lost Weekend]

Scott/Gail and Wayne/Elaine, as well as any other Regal owners cruising Georgian Bay,

My schedule looks now like I'll be cruising in GB from July 26/09 - Aug 3/09. Does that coincide with your trip?

My tentative plan is:

1. July 26/09 evening - arrive Port of Orillia

2. July 27/09 late day - arrive at Honey Harbour

3. July 28/09 late day - arrive at Parry Sound with a stop for lunch at Henry's across from San Souci

4. July 29/09 late day - arrive Kilarney

5. July 30/09 - noon arrival at the Pool in Baie Fin

6. July 31/09 - explore and hike around the Pool

7. August 1/09 - arrive late day in Parry Sound with lunch in Kilarney or on the hook somewhere

8. August 2/09 - try to reach Port of Orillia by sunset if the locks work in my favour on a long weekend, or else overnight on the hook around Lost Channel or Swift Rapids lock

9. August 3/09 - late day arrival in Keswick.

If you are up there around then I will monitor VHF Channels 16 and 71

[wrhfinancial]

I think we are staying either in Port of Orilla or Lake Couchaching July 31st
Pushing through the locks Aug 1st and hopefully reach Georgian Bay the same day
We have to chat about times and places
We hope to make it to Kilarney
Henrys among other destinations
I am sure we will see you on our travels north as you travel south
You are travelling alot of ground for a week
No doubt we will see you long before that

Elaine and I still have to discuss our trip towards Buckhorn the first week of July

[Lost Weekend]

Wayne,

If you leave the Port of Orillia area early in the morning (around 8 am) you should be able to be through the last lock at Port Severn by about 3 or 4 pm. Honey Harbour in Georgian Bay is about 45 min to 1 hour after that.
The biggest unknown is how long you have to wait at the Marine Railway at Big Chute. I have been lucky sometimes and arrived and been instructed to drive right into the rail car without having to wait at all. Other times the wait has been 2 hours.

One thing I can recommend is that you either purchase a season lock through pass or a one way pass and display it on your windshield. It does make a difference. When locking through you enter the locks on the LockMaster's instructions and its not always first come first served. If the lock staff are busy and they see a lock pass sticker, you can often jump ahead for one or two of the remaining spaces in the lock because the Locking Staff do not have to spend time at the end doing the paper work, collecting the fees and making change. This is especially helpful near the last lock through of the day or if you are approaching a lock just about to close with a space or two remaining inside.

I won't be up this weekend because we have a family party, but I can speak to you the weekend after than and we can discuss your proposed trip route.

[CharlieT2]

Another option to consider wrt lock passes is something known locally as a "four lock and return" pass. You can get this at the Couchiching lock, but it's not posted on the parks website. I'll have to look back at the cost, but it was reasonable compared to a seasons pass as long as you were only planning one return trip to the bay from Simcoe/Couch.

Good luck,

W

[Vaughn]

Hi Walter ... it was in the $90+ range last time we used it.

[Lost Weekend]

We are cruising up to Rama in the evening of Friday July 10/09 to see the concert. We will be overnighting at the Ojibway Bay Marina. Our plans for Saturday July 11/09 are to cruise up to around Swift Rapids Lock and perhaps overnight there or on the hook in Lost Channel. We will be returning to our home marina in Keswick in the evening of July 12/09.

Let us know if you will be out and about in the area then and perhaps we can plan a cookout. We monitor VHF 16 and 71.

[wrhfinancial]

We are leaving this Sunday headed for Burleigh Falls among other places
I know Scott and Gail had mentioned doing an overnight Say July 4th in Orilla
We intend on finishing our holiday at the port of Orilla with them
We are going to buy the seasons pass as we also have a trip planned
The first two weeks of August towards Kilarney
I think it costs roughly 350 for our size boat
BTW
I am writing this email on the boat
Hope to see everyone this weekend

[Lost Weekend]

I'll be up at the Marina late Friday evening, but I'm staying all weekend. Scott/Gail, Wayne/Elaine. Come on over for a dockside BBQ Saturday night. Let me know!

[HarrynLeslie]

We'll be leaving for Echo Bay(Massassauga Provincial Park) on July 2 for the weekend, if anyone is going out that way. Very secluded area.

[wrhfinancial]

BBQ sounds yummy to me
I will ask my Commander in Chief about Sat night
I will also ask Scott and Gail
We can chat either Friday or Sat about details
Make it a Pot Luck

[wrhfinancial]

We have a change of plans
Our boat is in need of battery charger
The tech said it would be fixed today
We just left the boat and no 12volt
Plan B
Heading out tomorrow to Brockville to do some diving
and visit the family in Smiths Falls
We plan on being back July 1st and if the boat is fixed
Depart Thurs come back Sun
See you when we get back

[wrhfinancial]

New plans
We are leaving the dock at 8am Friday weather permitting
Gail Scott and my wife and I are heading to the Waubic for Friday night
Sat night staying at the Ojibway Marina
My battery charger is fixed but found out I have a small leak in the port power steering pump
I bought new batteries that I will install today
Sorry we missed you last weekend Stephen

[Lost Weekend]

Sounds like a good trip coming up Wayne. I think you will have good weather this coming weekend. I'll be staying over at the Ojibway Bay Marina on the weekend of July 10th.

Last Saturday things turned out quite nice on Lake Simcoe. The day was sunny and the Marina put on a Canada Day BBQ and Dance, followed by a late night fireworks display. I was out on the water a good part of the day Saturday.

Yesterday turned out quite nice as well for most of the afternoon and the water was pretty smooth. I went out twice. However, on my second trip the impeller in my starboard engine dintegrated at about 3200 RPM as I was just coming on plane. That set off all kinds of alarms and locked the EVC and IPS system computers. I limped back on one engine with restricted RPM. Good thing I was only about a mile out at the time.

Trying to dock a 40' boat in the breeze with no IPS, only one engine connected to one propeller and drive unit facing forward, and a bow thruster . . . . was sort of an interesting experience.

I managed to dock without incident but I held my breath a bit - I have about 2 feet of extra clearance between the piling on the port side and the dock finger on the starboard side when I back into the slip, and about two feet at the stern dockide since I park my 1800 sideways at the back fo the slip. Glad to say that I didn't ding anything. The Mechanic came over right way and he tells me it will be repaired by Friday.

The icing on the cake was that I thought I'd be industrious, so I took the opportunity with the transom raised to take out my raw water stainers, and empty and wash them. In the process I ended up dropping into the harbour one of the rubber O Rings that seats one of the raw water stainer baskets . . I THOUGHT RUBBER WAS SUPPOSED TO FLOAT! (not so in my case!) There goes a few $$$ in the process!!!!