Getting the Boats In

I was in Meaford the other day and happened down by the harbour while the marina staff were working to put the boats back in the water for the summer season.  The winter storage period has come to an end, and the ice is gone.  Soon sailing on the bay will be a popular activity again, especially on the weekends, and the harbour will be busy with visitors.

There are some pretty nice boats on Georgian Bay, this one, 'Cloud Nine' being a good example - spotless and polished!  I wrote in January about all these boats having to be lifted out of the water for the winter to avoid damage from ice.  The same is true all around Georgian Bay and the other northern Great Lakes.

Or perhaps this one is more your style, an older boat with some interesting wood trim.  Georgian Bay is a very popular summer sailing area.

As we walked down the dock, I saw that a boat was already in the slings of the big boat gantry, ready for launching.

In just a few moments the slings were lowered further so the boat was floating, and it was pulled forward out of the gantry.

The slings were raised, ready to go and get the next boat, and they got the motor started on this one so they could berth it at the dock.

Around the corner they went, ...

And the next day I found it tied up at the dock, with the mast now in place.

And another boat waiting in the gantry to be launched.  I've never actually seen this process in operation before, so I was quite interested in the whole thing.

The masts are an important part of this seasonal hiccup.  Most are removed and stored on top of the boats over the winter, ...

... and a big crane is brought in to enable putting them up on the boats again in the spring.  The masts can be installed either before or after the boat is actually launched.

And do you remember this boat?  It was one of those up on the dock in January, and I wondered what it would be doing for the summer.  It's obviously a cruise boat rather than a fishing tug.

Well, this is the boat today, rechristened the Huronic, with a new owner, the young woman standing onboard talking to my coffee and paddling buddy.  She has entirely repainted and refurbished the boat, and will be running sightseeing cruises out of Collingwood this summer, along with a weekly dinner cruise and a weekly wine tasting cruise.

We had a good chat with her and wished her luck with her plans.  What a transformation!

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