MacGregorSailors.com

Suddenly I'm not feeling so good.

dreamer wrote:

Highlander wrote: maybe I'll let U wear my kilt & be my cabin boy !!

J

Crikey Ross, now that's an incentive to get your boat ready in time.

Now thats just the Butt End of all insults ! Ross u getting New Spreaders Too !!!!!

J

No John, everything is transferable as the bend occurred above the hound. I'll need a replacement cap and I'll have to re-bore the cables (including my unused spreader light wiring provided the replacement mast has foam in it. I think I'll put extra in place for a wind instrument (Maretron).
Can you think of a use for bits of mainmast? Swim platform?

R.

Crikey wrote:No John, everything is transferable as the bend occurred above the hound. I'll need a replacement cap and I'll have to re-bore the cables (including my unused spreader light wiring provided the replacement mast has foam in it. I think I'll put extra in place for a wind instrument (Maretron).
Can you think of a use for bits of mainmast? Swim platform?

R.

If ANYONE can find a use for left over mast..... it would be John.

G

I forgot venue us Simcoe this year. That knocks me out.

Maybe we should be thinking about something in the thousand islands, in the future, for those that can't travel so far and live at the eastern end of the lake and on the Hudson. Not as a replacement location , but as a different rendezvous. Handy to those in Canada and the colonies, with the border crossing being by water. I haven't made it to the thousand islands yet, but it's on my list. Just putting it out there.

beene wrote:

Tomfoolery wrote:Bummer. The Thousand Islands is obviously much closer, and one of my destinations yet to be realized, but that may be too far for the western Lake Ontario folks, which seems to be where most are from.

I could propose Rochester, of course, but I'd get things thrown at me for that.

Thousand islands would be fine with me as well

May be summer 2015

Rochester, Wilson, name it..... I'm in

I think that all will very much enjoy a trip to Simcoe, lots to see and do.
Lots of places to run and hide when weather gets bad...
Lake Ontario... not so much

If you like swimming off your boat, Lagoon City has tonnes of great sandy bottom 2 feet deep and water is clear at 22c in July

Lake Ont.... not

Love to do it 2015

beene wrote:

beene wrote:

Tomfoolery wrote:Bummer. The Thousand Islands is obviously much closer, and one of my destinations yet to be realized, but that may be too far for the western Lake Ontario folks, which seems to be where most are from.

I could propose Rochester, of course, but I'd get things thrown at me for that.

Thousand islands would be fine with me as well

May be summer 2015

Rochester, Wilson, name it..... I'm in

I think that all will very much enjoy a trip to Simcoe, lots to see and do.
Lots of places to run and hide when weather gets bad...
Lake Ontario... not so much

If you like swimming off your boat, Lagoon City has tonnes of great sandy bottom 2 feet deep and water is clear at 22c in July

Lake Ont.... not

Love to do it 2015

Yeah, not much to do in the Rochester area, which is one of the reasons I sold the big boat in favor of a trailer sailor. So I could go somewhere interesting, without it taking two days to get there (down wind), longer coming back (up wind).

The Thousand Islands area looks intriguing to me, as there should be no shortage of places to go, and plenty of places to hide from weather and waves. But I've never been there, so I can't say first-hand. Catigale probably knows a thing or two about that area. I'm hoping to get there this summer some time, but I also want to trailer down to Southport, NC late this summer (won't make the rendezvous this weekend, unfortunately). Maybe also motor down the canal to one or two Finger Lakes and sail it/them. Motoring the canals is more the admiral's speed, but she tolerates sailing as long as she can take a nap or read.

Maybe we can get Catigale to join us if we did something on that end of the Lake next season, though it may be tough for some of the westerners to go out that far.

We do the Thousand Islands a couple of times per year. I highly recommend it.

For the Canadians, a good place to put in is Mallorytown Landing, which is located on the Thousand Island Parkway about midway from Brockville to Rockport, although I am sure there are many others. There is parking for the truck and trailer, and potties and a good ramp. If I remember correctly parking was about $25/day. Usually we arrive late in the day, sleep on the hard, and launch in the morning.

For the Americans, I believe you can put in from Alexandria Bay, NY but I have not tried this. There is a hotel called the Riveredge in Alexandria Bay which has a dock right in the harbor and offers a (small) discount if you stay the night at the hotel. Could be a pleasant reprieve from "Camping in Tupperware", and there are things to do in Alexandria Bay.

We always visit Heart Island and the kids explore the "castle" and grounds. There is Singer Castle or Jorstadt Island as well, plus multiple camping/docking sites throughout the islands. For us Canadians; we have to check in at the American Customs located on Heart Island. Always been easy, and then you just call Canadian customs by cellphone to check back in.

Rockport has several marinas (with $30 pumpout fees) and expensive gas, we usually go to Andress Boat Works. They let you tie up for a while to walk around Rockport but the dock is exposed to some fetch and you can take a beating there on the wrong day. Also Rockport has a nice restaurant with its own private docks.

We always have stayed at Grenadier Island Central (see http://www.thousandislandslife.com/TheP ... erves.aspx). If you go on this website, look at the fourth small picture down from the top to see the docks and beach. You can see the marked-off wading area and the sandy-bottomed bay which is relatively shallow for quite some distance. The nice thing about Grenadier Central is that you have a small beach, and a huge grassy lawn with BBQ pits. About $20/night for dockage, again if I remember correctly. The nice thing about the Mac is that you don't have to dock with the big boys on the main dock, you can sneak right past those docks with the keel up and tie up to a small but completely sheltered small-boat dock. It is sheltered from 360 degrees and it has always felt like we were sleeping on the trailer.

One time we were pulling in to our preferred parking space at the small docks and several people on the big cabin cruisers tried to wave us off thinking we were going to ground out the keel. Nope. Parked beside the canoes in 12" of water.

Mosquitoes are bad at night. Don't even think about it without a good mosquito screen in the companionway.

Isn't it a very high traffic area for casual cruising?
Summertime on the Rideau or Trent canals can have long wait-times on many locks.

Looks like I'm still in for the weekend with a launch on Friday the 11th and a departure on the following Monday or Tuesday, though I don't know if the admiral can make it for the whole thing. She may have to bail on Sunday and fly home due to work obligations. But we'll see.

OK guys, can someone roll out a definitive itinerary for the Barrie/Simcoe thing? Do we have to pre-book berths starting now? Will the extended duration all happen out of this one Marina? An overnighter (at least) in the Orillia town docks could be interesting as they have a bandshell nearby with free concerts.
Their Scottish Festival (Tattoo ) starts on the eighteenth. We were there last year and it was lots of fun. We could rent kilts!
New mast blank arrives next tuesday. Things are getting busy!

R.

Open to suggestions

Launch from Barrie Ramp

Or Lagoon City Ramp

Stay at any marina, which requires bookings and cash
- has full facilities

Or stay at Lagoon City wall, no booking no cash
- no dedicated facilities but has a restaurant right beside it for breakfast and daily start up

I suggest we do a bit of both, as we will need full facilities at some point

Going to Big Chief Island or Orillia will require lowering our masts at the narrows.
I am good with that, but Highlander with his complex rig might have an issue with it.

If we are going to stay at any one of the many marinas in Lake Simcoe or Kempenfelt Bay, we need to make bookings very soon!

I am not worried though, worst case, everything is all booked up and we make due with the free spots and other options.

G

Geoff, isn't the Narrows a Swing-bridge?

R.

Sorry! Fixed - 25' clearance. No fuel in the Town Marina (or pump-out If I remember).
http://www.cruising.ca/trent/docs/L-simc_6.html