LOST & FOUND

After being thwarted twice before due to false information, I finally laid eyes on the wreck of the side-wheeler SS Nipissing, discovered by Morwen, my kayaking companion. Ravaged and sunk by a fire in 1886, what could be salvaged was used to build its successor, the Nipissing II, a year later, and after retrofitting in 1924, the Segwun.

JORASSIC PART

It's nice to find sights around Muskoka that haven't changed since being discovered. On the west side by the top end of Lake Joseph, these ancient cedars grow upside down on this cliff, and along with bird guano nearby on the rock face and this part isolated by dense forest, one can almost imagine being placed in a prehistoric time.

NICE FISHING

With the temperature rising from -20°C in the morning to plus zero temperatures by the afternoon and sunny, many anglers came out to enjoy the weather and try their luck for lakers from Lake Joseph, its ice fishing season always postponed until mid-February. Even though I didn't catch any, the sun with no blowing wind made it nice fishing.

MUSKOKA MEMORIES

We redeemed our gift certificate today for a tour aboard the aptly named Muskoka Memories, a 1960 22' Shepherd runabout. Jeremy Fowler of Butson's Boat Shop took us to Port Sandfield to enjoy ice cream, before cruising into Lake Joseph and returning by the river. We had an awesome time, another one for our Muskoka memories.
[Thank you Jeremy for a great tour and for taking our photograph.]

LAKE OF BOYS

After spending the previous week at separate locations of Ontario Pioneer Camp, my boys take some time to share their experiences when we spent the weekend relaxing together at a relative's cottage on Lake of Bays, the second largest lake in Muskoka, however not as well known as the other big three of Muskoka, Rosseau and Joseph.

HIGH POINT

I visited the top end of Lake Joseph and even from Port Cockburn where I started out, could see this cottage. Perched at the top of cliffs and flying the Welsh flag, it resembles a modern day castle, with a deck projecting outwards like a bastion and the initials HP, from the name High Point, emblazoned like its own coat of arms.

SPECIAL PLACE

At the bottom of the cliffs, below High Point, lies a jumble of huge boulders and hidden behind them is a small pool, a special place to locals. You can enter from the front by swimming through a narrow archway, too tight for my kayak, or from either sides and clamber over some smaller rocks. I stopped for a photo op and brief swim.

THE LUND STORY

Build it and he will come. When Howard Lund built his first aluminum duck boat in 1948, it took about a week and he didn't expect it would catch the attention of a boat salesman who inquired where he had bought it. When told he had built it himself and was willing to build more, an order was placed for 50 boats and Lund America was born.

TINTANIC

I was amused by the name of this boat at first, and found it ironic when I noticed the ice off its starboard bow. Three years after the real Titanic sank, Port Sandfield was home to the invention of the Dippy, a wooden boat specially designed that its propellor retracts automatically if it should accidently run into an underwater hazard.