Day 150 - We Found the Boaters!

We had yet to see rain on this leg of the trip.  I thought we might get it today as the sky was overcast with some dark puffy clouds at 7:00 am.  We were only planning to go 20 miles and 1 lock to Bobcaygeon on Pigeon Lake.  Captain Randy called Gordon Yacht Marina, right in town, but they had no room for us until possibly after 4:00 pm.  At 10:10 am we pulled lines and arrived at Lock 32 at Buckhorn in 20 minutes.  An occupied osprey nest sat on a utility pole close to the lock.  A few small boats went in with us and we were in the middle of the lock with plenty of room, thank goodness  The lock attendant let us know that a cruise boat was coming from the other way and to be careful exiting.  She called the bigger boat to let him know about us, and it pulled over and stopped to let us pass.

Still in Buckhorn Lake, we travelled the length, through the Buckhorn Narrows.  I looked for the Bifurcation marker, a marker that is red and green.  It marks the point where 2 channels come together.  We turned right to Pigeon Lake, staying on the main route.  The lake got very weedy here and the Captain navigated slowly through them to the Gannon Narrows.  Pigeon Lake opened up beyond and we picked up speed again.  The shores of these 2 lakes were flatter than those of Clear Lake. 

 

Boat traffic got heavier as we made our way through the Big Bob Channel to Bobcaygeon.  This channel has beautiful homes and manicured lawns and reminded me of the ICW in Florida.  We hoped to be able to dock for the afternoon on government dock, right before Lock 33, but the lock walls were full and we had no choice but to go through.  There was another marina, Centre Point Landing, about a mile further and I called them to see if we could stay there since we were now on the other side of the lock (Gordon Yacht Marina was before the lock).  They had room and we slowly made our way to their dock, mindful of the shallow, weedy water.  The depth gauge did not register at all, the alarm was going off, but our charts and the marina told us the water was 7 feet deep.  We safely made it to the dock at 1:20 pm.

From the marina it was a 1.5 mile walk back to town and we set off along Front Street, a quiet residential road along the lakeshore.  The weather turned out to be gorgeous and I enjoyed walking.  Several shops and restaurants were open in town and I was happy to have my first shopping afternoon of this leg.  Captain Randy wasn’t as excited about it but he went along anyway.  I found the quality to be good, but the prices high for clothing and other goods I knew I could get cheaper in the US.  We stood at the lock wall and watched some boats lock through.

 

We chose the riverside patio of the Bobcaygeon Inn for a bite to eat before walking back to the marina.  I had a good Canadian white wine from Pelee Island, at the southernmost latitude in Canada.  Once back to Centre Point, I saw a crowd of boaters getting ice cream at the marina store and had to have some.  It was from the “famous” Kawartha Dairy and was delicious. So far, the Kawartha Lakes are like the Chain of Lakes in Illinois; lots of small boats, older cottages and some new, larger year-round homes.  Families are out having fun in and on the water.  Our marina has dockside grills, tables and chairs for boaters, who were gathered there.  Everyone was friendly and welcoming which is so nice when you are a long way from home.