Christmas in June – Orillia ON

Orillia is a Canadian city located in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Originally incorporated as a village in 1867, the history of what is today the City of Orillia dates back at least several thousand years. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of fishing by the Huron and Iroquois peoples in the area over 4,000 years ago as well as sites used by Native Americans for hundreds of years for trading, hunting and fishing. Known as the "Sunshine City", the city's large waterfront attracts many tourists to the area every year, as do a good number of annual festivals and other cultural attractions.

“Christmas in June” is hosted by the Port of Orillia on the weekend closest to Jun 25^th.  All the boaters on the docks must decorate their boats with Christmas decorations and select boats are awarded a prize for the best decorated.  

We spent the weekend at Christmas in June at the Port of Orillia with the LSYC. Our daughter Amanda also joined us for the weekend. As usual we all had a great time with great friends, food and beverages.  Two LSYC boats, “Off the Hook” and “38 Special”, won prizes for their decorations.

This was the last LSYC event that we will be attending before our departure, which is less than 1 week away.  The LSYC surprized us with a going away gift which consisted of a Card signed with good wishes as well as a handful of long distance gift cards which was a very thoughtful gift since everyone knows how much our kids mean to us and this gift will allow us to make a bunch of phone calls home.

Here we are with our daughter

The group out for dinner at a great Burger place

"Off the Hook" - Prize winners

"38 Special" - Prize winners

The LSYC banner

Amanda catching some rays

Aqua-Fennatic beside Off the Hook

Anchored at Snake Island on Lake Simcoe

We were anchored for the weekend between Snake Island and the mainland on Lake Simcoe.  It was a fabulous weekend with great weather and friends.  This will be the last time we’ll be able to enjoy this anchorage before we leave on our Great Loop trip. 

After the War of 1812, Snake island, along with Fox Island and Georgina Island were purchased by Chief Joseph Snake (a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation) from the British. It is unclear if the islands were named after him.

Most of the residents of Snake Island are seasonal cottagers that lease their lands from the Indians.   The only means to reach the island is by boat or water taxi to docks in front of the cottages.

We spent the weekend with Dave and Roz from “Worth the Wake” and Steve and Paula from “Off the Hook”.  We also visited our good friends Brian and Anne at their lakefront home by dingy.  Brian helped me improve my paddle board skills and we enjoyed chatting by a lakeside fire.  Our Great Loop departure is less than 2 weeks away!

Cooling off since it was "Hot Hot Hot"

Paddle boarding

Paddle boarding at Sunset

Birds and More Birds

This year we had a couple of bird related incidents within a relatively short period of time. 

First of all a Mother Goose decided to build a nest beside our boat.  The mother ignored me as we would come and go except when her eggs began to hatch.  On that day I had the father goose fly at me a number of times whenever I tried to approach our boat.  I had to arm myself with a hose to ward off the flying attacks.  Finally I had Maria hold the hose to protect me as I moved the boat to the other side of the dock.  Once done we could approach the boat without worrying about an attack from the air!

Mother Goose on her nest

Taking the little ones for a walk

The family including Father Goose

The second incident occurred when a baby bird fell out of its nest as our marina power washed their covered slips.  Michelle from a boat called “38 Special” adopted the bird when the mother bird did not return.  It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen … It looked like a baby vulture with no feathers and a big beak.  It’s amazing how much it’s changed in a week.  It’s now learned how to fly and likes to sit on each of us and the lucky ones get pooped on!  Note that I didn’t feel very lucky to be pooped on a few times.  Michelle has done a great job feeding the bird (Dog food, worms, bugs & seeds).  I don’t think she’ll ever release it to the wild … She thinks that it won’t be able to survive since it’s been spoiled to death!  I think that she's just as attached to the bird as the bird is attached to her.

The Bird's new mother - Michelle from 38 Special

Maria with a new friend

Why does this bird like me???

LSYC Sail Past

We are members of the Lake Simcoe Yacht Club which has been around for 57 years.  Most of the LSYC members keep their boats on Lake Simcoe at various marinas however it all started at Crates marina which is now Krates marina (long story).  The Sail Past event is the first official event of the LSYC where the members pay their respect to the Commodore via a parade of boats that individually get saluted by the Commodore.  This is followed by a party with great food and a few (lots) of beverages at the dock.  We had great weather for the event and a number of the boats rafted together after the parade to relax and swim before heading back to the dock.  We only have one more official LSYC event (Christmas in June) before we leave on our trip.  

The Commodore saluting us

Three 42' Chris Crafts lined up in the parade

Raising of the Flag

AquaFennatic in the parade

A few of the LSYC members rafted after the parade