After completing the Trent Severn Waterway with all its locks Midland was a welcome rest. While we thoroughly enjoyed the Trent, it was a lot of work, especially for Jan. We stayed at Bay Port Marina, one of several Parkbridge Marina. At the spring rendezvous Ken MacDonald, of Parkbridge was one of our favorite speakers. He promised excellent customer service and services. We are happy to report that he and his staff delivered above and beyond his promises.
Our first encounter, was one of the two docking helpers asked if we had any trash he could take for us. That was the only time that has happened! Before we had time to check in at the office a lady stopped by and made sure we had everything we needed. During our conversation I mentioned that we needed to rent a car to drive back to Orillia to pick up my battery charger. When we arrived at the office she had checked with Enterprise and knew that Enterprise didn't have any cars available in Midland. So she called Enterprise in Orillia and reserved a car for us and arranged a free ride to Orillia, a forty five minute drive. Before taking us to Enterprise she took us to get the battery charger because she thought we might have trouble finding that marina.
By the way, after our battery charger was repaired in California we had it shipped to Len and Karina's home. To our disappointment it didn't arrive until after we visited them. After paying the customs and brokerage fees for us Len dropped the charger for us at a marina in Orillia. Thank you so much Len!
We knew other Loopers that were staying in Wye Heritage Marina, another Parkbridge Marina in Midland. We reconnected with them while waiting for a table at Henry's Fish Restaurant - great fish by the way. Our friends informed us that we could attend a briefing of Georgian Bay the next morning with them. Jay, the Wye Heritage manager conducted a very thorough and interesting program. After his presentation Mark and Jane purchased the same charts that he used and he allowed us to copy his notes and travel routes onto our charts. He even provided the highlighters.
As with all of Canada we found the local people very helpful and friendly. Two of the local boaters gave us very helpful and detailed information that agreed with Jay's information and expanded on it. We also met an older couple that owned a beautiful 1928 fifty eight foot Trumpy Yacht. They were very proud of it and happy to discuss it in great detail.
Our greatest highlight of Midland was reconnecting with Bluenoser Jim, a looper we met in Brunswick Georgia. Jim's home port is Penetanguishene Ontario, just a short distance from Midland. He's called Bluenoser Jim because his boat is named Bluenoser and that is another story for another time. Since Mark and Jane traveled with him and knew him better they contacted him and he was excited to entertain us. While I changed the oil in Navigator he picked up Mark, Jane and Jan and gave them a very interesting tour of the area
Later in the afternoon he returned to pick us all up and take us to his house for a barbecue. Wow, what a feast! Jim is an excellent chef and was in his glory having us there with him and his wife Wendy. It was great seeing him again and reminiscing. We found it interesting that it took him about a month to get back into life on land after completing his loop.
The next post will be Georgian Bay.
What a beautiful boat!
The proud owners.
Sunrise in Midland.
I was disappointed with myself when I realized that we didn't have any other pictures from Midland, especially Bluenoser Jim and his wonderful barbecue.
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