Saturday, July 22 - Henry's Fish Restaurant

Saturday, July 22 - Henry's Fish Restaurant

We spent a wonderful day cruising Georgian Bay. There were lots of boats out since it was a week-end.  The bay is so large, it is referred to as the 6th Great Lake.  It is huge, especially after being on canals and small lakes for so many days.

I took way too many pictures, feel free to flip through quickly. 

Our destination for the day was Henry’s Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island.  (That’s really the name.). It is famous in this area, Kirk Russell, Goldie Hawn, and Harrison are some of the famous folks who are said to have eaten there.  You can only get to the restaurant by boat or airplane, and they have a plane that will pick you up at your island, plus they make regular flights from the closest town.  There were four seaplanes there, and three were flying at any one time.  The island is actually a designated airport since three different airlines use it.  The kids that work at the marina and the restaurant live in a small dormitory.  The restaurant was late opening this year because they couldn’t get enough help.

We had a great time watching all the boats come and go, and the planes flying in and out.

Dinner at 5:30 to beat the crowd.  We all had pickerel, which was good, but the batter was thick and poufy.  I grew up eating fish shaken in a paper bag with flour and cornmeal, not battered.  Danny and Emory cook much better fish!

Friday, July 21 - Big Chute and Lots More

Friday, July 21 - Big Chute and Lots More

The locks open at 9:00 so we got going early and tied up on the blue line.  Throughout Canada, that’s how you let the lock tenders know you want to go through since they don’t have VHF.  And it actually is blue paint along the top of the wall.  

So here’s how it works.  We pull up into the railroad “car” while it is in the water.   The attendants adjust slings around the boat. There are different sized slings to fit all boats.  We saw a dinghy that was just sitting on the bottom!

As the car pulls up out of the water and starts uphill, you can see the wood on the bottom of the car.

Then you cross over the road. 

Then you go down the hill until the car is submerged again, and you drive off.  There are two rails on each side so that the car stays even at all times.

This is looking back up the track, to the side of the track, and to Chrysalis coming down.

At the bottom of the chute, we were in Gloucester Pool.  This is the first “pool” we have traveled.  There were some pretty houses, and a very narrow cut with quite a current.

Little Lake was next, and with it the LAST LOCK on the Trent Severn Waterway, #45! 

And now we are in Georgian Bay, one of the premier cruising areas in the country. 

We planned to anchor out tonight, a first for Gil and Deb.  This is a gorgeous area, with wonderful places to stop.  We got out the dinghies and went to explore.  Don’t you love the name of our dinghy? 

Danny and Alex wanted to swim so we went to the rocks close to our boat, which were amazing!  Alex and Danny got in the water, but not deep enough to swim.

Back at the boat, we watched eight long canoes rowing across the bay. 

And then the beautiful sunset.