Boat Trip 2014 - July 20

It's been a fairly uneventful day here on Aubrey Island.  But we did go to church this afternoon at Half Moon Bay - in the dinghy.

Half Moon Bay is in the Admiralty Islands, not too far from where we are staying on Aubrey Island.

The bay is crescent-shaped, and people have been meeting here for outdoor services since 1887

The guest speaker today was from St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Kingston.  Notice the solid stone pulpit.

Small boats raft to each other.  The two dinghys (including us) just tied a rope to the rocks on the side.  I figure there were about 30+ people there today.

The "French Navy" (Quebec boaters) have arrived - it's officially the 2 week shutdown of Quebec construction.  We are sharing the dock with 2 Quebec boats - nice people.

This "Tall Ship" sailed by this morning.

  This couple camped on the island last night.  They had a decoy duck trailing behind their canoe.

There are lots of raspberries on the island, and they are yummy!  But it would take a long time to gather enough to make jam!

This is some kind of weird thing growing on a tree.

Boat Trip 2014 - July 19

Would you believe that I never took one picture today?  Nope, I can't either!  Oh well, I'll add a few from West Grenadier that I didn't ad yesterday.  We got up this morning, and our NEW battery was flat!  So Paul decided we would take it back to CTC and have them check it.  Apparently there is nothing wrong with the battery - which means there is something wrong with the boat.  :-(  We just keep charging it up with the generator, and we'll let Harris's have a look at it.  After we left Gananoque today, we found a spot on Aubrey Island - had a swim to cool off. 

This plane - Hercules? - kept circling around yesterday, and dropped something on the golf course.  It looked like colourful ribbons.

We have had more use of this dinghy than any we have ever had.  The motor purrs along so nicely - as long as we put gas in it!

This lovely heron flew in just by our boat yesterday......

.......and caught a little fish for his dinner.....

......gulp.....and down it goes!

Boat Trip 2014 - July 18

Left Georgina this morning, stopped at West Grenadier.  Grenadier is a very large island - 9 miles long - and there are 4 areas on it that belong to Parks Canada - West, Central, East, and North.  There are lots of homes on the island as well, and a golf course with tennis courts as well.  Today, we went all the way around the island in the dinghy.  Central has garbage pick-up, so we took our garbage and recycle there, then made a stop at East as well.  It was a VERY long dinghy ride!

This is a statue of St. Lawrence which is just east of the Ivy Lee Bridge.  There is a plaque on the rock wall, but we couldn't get close enough to read it because of a fishing boat anchored right in front.

 

 Not sure if this is a pet or a lawn mower!

Some osprey.

This used to be a manned lighthouse, but I doubt if it is anymore.

We saw 3 lake boats on our trip down the south side of the island.  They were probably in American waters, and we were very close.

One of the two butterflies I saw on East Grenadier.

And here's the other one.

I couldn't believe this oak tree - the trunk looks dead, but there is lots of really healthy growth on it!

This is a really bad picture, but I'm putting it in anyway.  It's Dark Island, and has a "castle" on it, which is called Singer Castle now, after the man who built it, but it used to be called Jorstadt Castle, and it's where we used to go to church on Sundays when we were down here.  There was always a tour after church, and juice and cookies on the patio.  The roof on the left by the water was a long boat house, and we put our boats inside when we went to church.  Now it's a tourist attraction, and you have to be signed in to the American side before you can go in to see it.

We were fortunate to see a pair of swans and a cygnet while on our way back up the island in the dinghy.  This daddy swan was not happy with us!

It was like he was trying to lead us away from his family.

And here is Mom and baby.

Boat Trip 2014 - July 17

I have been deer hunting today - with my camera of course.  Our neighbours had a fire last night, and a deer walked right past them.  So I have been searching the island today for a deer, but to no avail.  We have seen deer hoof prints, but no deer.  It is a very large island, and has lots of places for a deer to hide.

 
 The underside of an osprey - fishing.           

One of the American tour boats that go by here all the time - we always hear it before we see it.  I imagine it's a recorded spiel about the islands.  Uncle Sam's Tours.

I found one more ripe blueberry - and promptly ate it!

 Our neighbours kayaking around the island, as we were "deer hunting".

These white markers show where there are rocks - thankfully!

 
 If you have ever gone over the Ivy Lee Bridge to the US, you will have seen this tower on Hill Island.

We went for a dinghy ride this afternoon, and as we rounded an island, we saw the sky, and headed quickly for home!  Just in time!

Taken from the dinghy - according to "Uncle Sam", the bridge was started in 1938.  Still in pretty good shape!

This is the "jumping rock" from the water side.  I still can't figure out how you kids scrambled back up to the top as fast as you did!

Boat Trip 2014 - July 16

We moved today from Gordon Island to Georgina Island.  It has been cool and sunny today, but very windy.  We were able to find a very sheltered spot to stop.

Before we left Gordon, I was walking along a path, when all of a sudden, there were all these robins dive-bombing me and chattering furiously.  I was looking around for a nest, and saw this young one sitting very close to the path.

 
 As you can see, their feathers were ruffled, and they were NOT happy.  I got out of there quickly!

Georgina Island is one of the islands that the Ivy Lee Bridge (that we go over on our way to Florida) is on.  They are currently repainting it - big job!

 

 It's amazing how trees will grow right on top of rocks!

This is a very mossy islands in places - almost like a rain forest

 

This is the jumping rock, right Scott and Kat, Dan and Amy, Julie and Cam?

A good way to spend a lot of the day - watching the boats go by and reading.

This is VERY far above the water - I sure wouldn't want HIS job!

 
 Unfortunately, we're too early here for blueberries.

Anyone know if these are elderberries?  If so, there are going to be a lot of them.

 
 This is the end of the island where the currents "collide", and there is a tremendous amount of turbulence!

 Found a baseball floating, had to go after it!  Success!

There are acres of blueberries growing on this island - really big, healthy bushes!  I found ONE ripe berry and ate it.

This is the entry point for the lazy river that the Linton family (including the dog and the babies!) enjoy so much!

Once again, we are the "baby" boat on the dock.  But that's okay, because that means we can get inside where it's much more protected.  We can also handle it by ourselves.  I love our boat, and am very thankful for it - have no desire to go bigger.