SUNSHINE SKETCHES

As I was passing through Gravenhurst at dawn I stopped at the wharf to catch the morning sun as it reached Greavette Island, highlighting its miniature replica lighthouse, a popular attraction in photographs. I had the wharf to myself, empty of the bustling summer crowds and the crew and cast that were here last week filming for a TV special.
[Click here and scroll down for more details and a couple of photos.]

PERFECT END

This was the perfect end to a perfect weekend. After time relaxing at a cottage, followed by a concert, the boys wanted to stop at the wharf, one of their favourite places, to visit the ships. They were disappointed to find the Segwun missing but while we watched the sunset they heard its familiar whistle and soon their ship came in.

CAMP SONGS

The Wenonah II glides past the site of a former German Prisoner of War camp during the second world war, the base of the flagpole one of the few existing relics from this period. During the wartime when any steamships passed by, the organist and passengers would break out singing patriotic songs loud enough for all the prisoners to hear.

SPRING EQUINOX

Winter has officially surrendered to spring and released the Segwun, North America's oldest operating steamship, named for the Ojibwa word for springtime. Many of the lakes have moats of open water separating the shoreline from the receding and deteriorating ice, conditions now deemed unsafe to travel on except with an airboat.