UNCLE JIM

The tugboat Uncle Jim sits idle at the dock by Foodland, silhouetted against the misty surface of the Indian River with Hanna Park in the background. Last night the temperature dipped below zero, autumn slowly being moved along as if by a tug, making one appreciate the beautiful mornings like today while they last, before the snow flies.

WEATHERED DOCK

This weathered dock, down by the Port Carling locks, attracted me with the pattern of its planks, horizontal and vertically, its uniform colour separated by a single beam of brilliant blue. It also reminded me of the weather we've been getting lately, multiple days of rain and grey overcast skies, with today finally a bright blue sunny day.

DOUBLE DOUBLE

With the Segwun undergoing inspection and maintenance in the dry lock, it allowed me a better view of the phoenix that adorns the top of its pilothouse. It's a replica of the one carved for the Nipissing, a replacement for its namesake that burned the previous year in 1886, the original phoenix lost in the fire that gutted the Sagamo in 1969.

THE VIEWSUAL

It's great when you can find a hairstylist that you can trust to do a consistent job every time and knows what "the usual" is without further explanation. It's even better when she works from the deck of her cottage and instead of sitting indoors staring into a mirror you are treated with this view while relaxing in a Muskoka chair.

HUGE HIT

Barb, one of my colleagues from The Rosseau, poses on top of the pumpkin she and her husband grew locally this year. Entered in the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest, it was weighed at 1,641 lbs, making it the third largest in Canada, and was a huge hit with our guests during the Thanksgiving weekend when it was displayed by the entrance.

BELLE ISLE

One of my favourite older boathouses is this one on Belle Isle, with its distinctive red roof and grey siding, its matching cottage burned to the ground last year. In the foreground a footbridge connects to the smaller oasis of Artist's Island, with the red tree, and in the far distance you can see the white tower that crowns Huckleberry Rock.

THE WAOME

Two white buoys mark the location and 78' length of the Waome, a wooden steamship that capsized in a sudden storm on this date in 1934, sinking within a minute and claiming the lives of two people on board and a third afterwards. The wreck sits upright, at almost the same depth as her length, the buoys tied to its bow and stern.
[Click here for more info and to see some photos from the wreck.]

LOOKING UP

After cooler temperatures and all the rain we've been getting, the forecast is looking up with great weather ahead for Thanksgiving and beyond. Today was a perfect day to be out in my kayak again and for a change am looking up to one of my favourite viewpoints, where its bench can be seen at the top directly beneath the moon.

HEADING HOME

I spent several hours kayaking among the Venetia Islands and along the west side of Tobin Island, before heading home through Cayleys Cut and under the footbridge at Woodmere Island, where this photo was taken from underneath it, using it for a top border and the two islands to frame my destination of Armstrong Point in the distance.