Swimming off Big Island

A thick fog covered Reach Marina this morning but burned off as soon as the sun came up.  We have an easy cruise day that includes only two locks to our destination of the lock located in Bobcaygeon.  We had been calling the lockmaster to check on wall availability, and all they could tell us was that it was like a beehive there with boats coming and going every 10 minutes.  We knew that July was a holiday month for most Canadians, and it appeared that they all decided to come to the lake for the weekend.  The chance of 4 cruiser boats getting a slip or a spot on the wall today was looking pretty slim, so we needed a place to anchor instead.

Anchoring in this area can be difficult.  Finding a place that is not solid rock is the trick.  Thankfully, our good ole Active Captain app listed a spot close to our destination on the north side of Big Island.  As the crew of Miss Norma and Gypsy Spirit cruised into the lock to check on wall space, Viridian and Dash Away sailed north to scope out anchorages.

We found a nice protected bay area where other boaters had stayed, so we wet our anchors to see if we could get it to hold.  Our anchor finally caught on something, and Dash Away rafted up to us.  Gypsy Spirit and Miss Norma eventually came up and got settled in.  A dinghy load of dogs was taken to the island to let them do their thing.

This turned out to be a great spot.  We all went swimming, cleaned hulls, replaced generator impellers, explored nearby islands and worked

up a giant appetite that led to another feast onboard Gypsy Spirit later in the evening.  We all dug through our freezers and found some meat to throw on the grill along with some roasted Brussels sprouts, various cheese types and some chips.  Someone had some frozen blueberries and raspberries, so we heaped that onto the rest of the ice cream we had left over from the previous day.  I know!  Once the local boat traffic settled down the water became like glass, and we watched the sun set over the water and listened for the call of the loon on Pigeon Lake Ontario.

That's the news and heres' some views:

We are here

Today's Route from Reach Marina to Big Island anchorage, Ontario

Foggy Morning 

But the sun comes through

Dash Away

This pump replaced the old pump

Buckhorn Lock-31

Rafting off Big Island in the TSW

Sunset after another fine day on the TSW

Crew of Gypsy Spirit and Miss Norma enjoying the last light of the day