Autumn Anecdotes and Mahogany Memories

There has not been much to report this week as the days are getting too short and migrants are thinning out.  For me, this is the time I like to look for things on the lake or late migrants.

Blue-headed Vireo

The leaves are falling and summer plants are disappearing.

Prairie Dock

I find Thanksgiving weekend always interesting, so we will see what comes along.  We get too many southerly winds in the fall anymore, so I spend more time along Lake Erie!


On Tuesday of this week, something of historical interest (at least to me) occurred.  During the lunch hour, I was asked to come outside to look at a mahogany boat that just arrived.  It was somewhat of an emotional moment as I saw a familiar boat from Muskoka.

It was Shirley McIntyre's 18' Mac-Craft of which I was very familiar.  Faithful blog readers will recall that every couple of summers I would visit our friend Shirley on Browning Island on Lake Muskoka.  Sadly, she passed away last December.
The name, Aiverley 1, as you see on the transom, was a combination of three names: AIleen (Shirley's mother), VERnard (her father) and ShirLEY.  I hope the name is retained!

McIntyre boathouse and cottage

I thought I would never see that boat again, but there it was.  Actually I knew it was coming at some point, as I had informed a local fellow that it was for sale.  He went ahead and bought the boat!

Aiverley 1 at Leslie Rue's place on Browning Island

The significance of this day was that this boat (built in Wallaceburg in 1941 and sold to the McIntyre family of Toronto) had come home after 78 years!  It was purchased through the well-known Toronto boat broker, William Olglevie.
Interestingly, it was not transported directly to Muskoka, but was somehow run up through the Trent-Severn during delivery.
It always had good care under the ownership of Shirley McIntyre.

The homecoming certainly brought back some fond memories of my visits in Muskoka and with Shirley.

Muskoka: Bala to Bracebridge

Last Thursday on my trip up to Muskoka, I first stopped at Bala to visit a friend.  A year ago a bunch of us stayed at Bill and Janet's summer place and had a good time.  Since I was passing through the area, I stopped in for lunch.

Lake in front of the house

We walked around a bit after lunch, but of course the resident Massasauga Rattlesnake remained elusive!
The CPR mainline passes nearby, and trains are quite regular.

It was a scorcher of a day, but I headed over to Torrence Barrens which was not far away.  It was probably the worst time of day to be there, but it was the only chance I had to check out the place.  I only walked the main trail and was done-in by the time I finished it.  It was unbearably hot and dry. Many plants were almost burnt to a crisp!

Bird life was minimal, but I noted several Eastern Towhees.  A couple of Yellow-throated Vireos were near where the trail crosses the road.  They are somewhat uncommon in the general area, but nice to see.

Last year we had Common Nighthawks flying around, but none were out during my visit this year.

Butterflies included Coral Hairstreak, Common Wood-Nymph, Cabbage White. Not surprising this year due to the extreme hot and dry weather.

Before checking in to the motel, I toured the Grace and Speed museum at the Gravenhurst waterfront. (That was just to get out of the heat!)

Segwun and Wenonah II

After supper, I headed back to Hardy Lake Provincial Park for an evening walk on the short trail.  There, a couple of nighthawks were flying around!

 A few of the birds included Yellow-rumped Warblers.

old highway pavement

I always take a photo of this scene each time I walk this trail!

Next morning I took a walk at the waterfront, then headed up to Bracebridge sewage ponds.  Here is an eBird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30978697

Birders are welcome and can access the ponds through Kerr Park off Beaumont Drive.  There are also some woods alongside where passerines can be observed.

American Copper at Bracebridge Lagoons

Mid-morning I went to Allport Marina which is farther out Beaumont Drive, and arranged to get transported over to Browning Island. Shirley, the owner, had not yet arrived from Toronto, but allowed me to get into the cottage.

boathouse

I walked around a bit including going out to the point.  There is a private little bay at the property which is nice.

McIntyre Point

After the Saturday morning walk into the interior of the island (see previous post), we relaxed at the cottage.  Shirley contacted a fellow to come over from Gravenhurst.  He owns a special boat--a gentleman's racer, converted from a Mac-Craft runabout. (Mac's were built in Wallaceburg in the late 1930's and early 1940's.)

He had not owned the boat for long, but did not know the history of the boat.  I am the only one who does!  This boat was used around Toronto Island when new, but later sat in a garage in London for many years.  We looked at it back in 1984 and I thought it was not worth restoring.

September 1984!! (Gravenhurst)

However, the family went ahead, but later gave up after much cost.   The boat sat in limbo for many years, but was later built into a gentleman's racer at Gravenhurst.

I got to ride in this sleek boat on Saturday afternoon!  It give a steady, smooth ride.  And fast!

We also went out in Shirley's Mac-Craft.

Sunday, on the trip home, I stopped at West Perth Wetlands in Mitchell.  It thought it was great with all the shorebirds--the best I have seen in years anywhere.  I saw no rarities, but it was nice to sort through all the birds to end the trip.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31007515

Cottage Country

What is with this strange weather?  I had a trip planned for this weekend for months and just my luck we get rain and practically no rain all summer!  I persevered and managed to dodge some of the rain at key times on my trip to Muskoka.

The main target was to visit our friend on Browning Island and take in the Port Carling boat show.  I headed up Friday morning, stopping at Strathroy Lagoons and West Perth Wetlands along the way.  Both had some shorebirds, but not many.  West Perth was excellent the last couple of summers, but the big cell dried up this summer and weeds took over rendering it useless.  A fenced-in cell had good mud but there were just a few common shorebirds.

Strathroy

I planned to stay in Orillia overnight, so in the afternoon I slid over to the Carden Alvar area.  It is one spot that I have never visited.  I did not spend much time there as I just intended to get a quick look at the area.  It is certainly a unique habitat.  Many of the birds had dispersed by now, but I saw lots of Eastern Bluebirds and a couple of Upland Sandpipers.

Then the rains hit (again) and never quit until morning.

Next morning I went to Gravenhurst and looked at the steamboats while it rained (again).  A break in the clouds spurred me on to Hardy Lake Provincial Park west of the town.  I always stop there as it is a nice park to walk.  The first part follows old highway pavement, then veers over to Hardy Lake.  Luckily the skies were clearing for a nice walk.

Those three boulders again!

With the clear skies, I headed up to Bracebridge, and after a brief stop at the lagoons, I decided to make a break for Browning Island.  I called Shirley to come and pick me up at Allport Marina.  She came in her 1941 Mac-Craft.  (the Mac-Crafts were built in Wallaceburg).  It has been somewhat modified over the years, but a true gem.

Luckily it did not rain until afternoon when it did off and on (again).
Shirley's parents built the cottage in 1941 on the north tip of Browning Island.  They used a wind generator for power in the early years until hydro came at the end of WWII.

Approaching the Boathouse

The property has a cozy cove with sand beach and a point of land on its 5 acres.

Supper was held at the neighbour's across the bay (before it rained, again).  The Selby family was one of the early cottagers on the island and they acquired quite a bit of property.  Ken is involved with the land trust which is setting aside a considerable portion of the island's interior as a nature reserve.  This year they had a list of endangered species in which they hoped to find in order to bolster their reason's for setting up this reserve.  Some I don't think that they will find, but perhaps the Canada Warbler is present.  I did find a Canada in a mixed flock of birds Sunday morning.  Difficult to say if it was an island resident, but it could have been a roaming local flock. Like many places, species have declined considerably over the years on the island as Shirley mentioned things that she never sees or hears anymore.
Many residents have contributed some land towards the reserve as a tax incentive.  Anumber of properties in Muskoka have been preserved through the Muskoka Heritage Trust.  A bit of information for Browning Island is found at:
Browning Island Nature Reserve

White Pine "shrub"--probably quite old

Sunday morning we headed up to Port Carling for the antique boat show.  A very impressive one with about 85 boats!  This is put on by the Muskoka Lakes Association (since 1884) where cottagers around Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau are invited to bring in their prized boats.  The show has been going on since 1971!  Many of these boats have been around for generations and some have gone to this show every year.  Ditchburn, Minett, Greavette, Duke, Minett-Shields are the well known labels of the area. Many of the Muskoka boats have a unique appearance of being long, sleek and narrow.

The afternoon was spent at the cottage.  I walked out to the point to view the Segwun in the distance.  Some good flocks of birds milled about while I was there.  Probably local residents gearing up to head south.

RMS Segwun

No blueberries this year on the point.  Things are very stressed due to the dry weather.  Many trees have dried up and turned brown.  Berry crop is low.

I found evidence of a moose by the droppings.  I asked Shirley about it and she said a cow came over to the island last fall when someone observed it swimming.  It eventually came to her property and stayed a couple of days.  It probably succumbed to hunters.

Later during a boat ride to the south end of the island we went over towards Eleanor Island.  It is a CWS bird sanctuary and apparently Canada's smallest at 0.6 h.  I featured this in a blog post two years ago when I was up there.  Just Double-crested Cormorants and Herring Gulls nest there now.  Locally, it is known as Gull Isle.

The final morning we rode around Eilean Gowan Island which has an interior nature area.  (eilean is Gaelic for "island").  We walked through there two years ago, but didn't have time this year.
I was heading home by 11:00 a.m.
At least the ride home was sunny until I got closer, when it rained (again).  On the way I stopped at Mitchell again, and even fewer shorebirds!  However there were some butterflies taking advantage of the rare sun including a Sachem and Fiery Skippers.  I specifically kept my eye out for them as I figured it was a good spot to see them.  After I got home I read that Glenn Richardson had a Sachem on Sunday up at Listowel, not far north of Mitchell.
For various reasons I did not bring the big lens on this trip, so just scenery shots this time.

A Paradox

Birding/nature has been very dull lately, so I have to resort to other things to talk about. (Paul C. needs something to read anyway!)

An old boat always has a story to tell. This story is of my boat, an 18’ 6” cedar hull built in Wallaceburg by George Vandenbossche. The actual year is really unknown, but it was built sometime in the late 1940’s. Vandenbossche built wooden boats in Gravenhurst, then moved to Wallaceburg and started a business in the 1940’s at the present day location of Tom and Al’s Furniture.

My father and I got the antique boat bug in the early 1980’s when Dad purchased a 21’ Mac-Craft from Allan Myers. That boat sat on Baseline Road for a few years and Dad had his eye on it since he knew the history behind the locally-built and owned boat.

While we were restoring the Mac-Craft at home, a friend of ours stopped by one day with a buddy. His buddy was in the dock and seawall business, and he has recently repaired a boathouse at Mooretown with an old woodie in it. His eyes perked up seeing the Mac-Craft label, because he remembered that the woodie in the boathouse had Mac-Craft step-plates. Dad was interested, and contacted the owner for an appointment to go and look at it in Mooretown.

The man in Mooretown knew the history behind the boat that he had owned it since the 1950’s. It was always in or near Sarnia, and had apparently been used by the Miss Supertest raceboat driver Bob Hayward at some point. Earlier history is unknown.

Upside down behind Abbott's in Sarnia

Years went by under the assumption that it was a genuine Mac-Craft boat. Dad had occasional contact with the owner, and found out that one winter, the boat fell from the chains onto the ice. In the spring they brought it out of the water and parked it behind Abbott Boats in Sarnia. The engine and hardware were removed and the hull turned upside down. It sat there for a few years under the intention that it would be fixed up someday. At one point, Dad got word from a nephew of the owner, Robert Mathers, the boat was for sale.

Dad offered $500.00 for the boat and arranged to have Larry Abbott bring it to The Boat Doctor, where I worked at the time. I had never seen the boat at all, and anyone in their right mind would have walked away from it! There was missing hardware and windshield, holes in the bottom, cracked planks and missing seats and engine box, not to mention no finish whatsoever on the wood. It came with engine, but it was a Ford flathead V-8--a really oddball engine!

Arrival April 1997

The first thing I noticed was that it was a cedar hull, and batten-planked bottom. To my knowledge, Mac-Craft never made such a boat so I had my doubts. But time went on, and I worked on it in my spare time over a period of four years.

One day while taking the dash panel off, I noticed some pencil marking on the backside. It was barely legible, but I made out the name George Vandenbossche. Now things were making sense to me! I had seen a photo of one of Vandenbossche’s boats, and it was remarkably similar to our boat. From that day forward, there was no doubt in my mind that this was a Van-Craft. How the boat inherited Mac-Craft step-plates is a complete mystery!

As the fourth year approached, I had not accomplished much on the boat. If this project was to be completed, I had to make a serious and concerted effort. I arranged to work on it during shop time with Dan Benn to get this thing in the water by July 2001.

At some point, I had picked up a Model M Chris Craft motor from Rob Johnston and this was going to power the boat. I was not going use that old marinized stock car motor! I advertised the old Ford flathead and quickly sold it for $250.00! A number of problems with the M motor just before launch really got me frustrated, but eventually we worked them out.

I decided on the name Paradocks, a play on the word paradox, since the boat was a bit of an enigma in the beginning.

We launched the boat on July 5, 2001. The boat did not take actually take on any water through the hull seams, but someone (?) forgot to put the packing in the shaft packing nut! A minor detail...

The boat ran well and gave my Dad many years of enjoyment. The only problem we ever had was the following year when the condenser burned out in the distributor causing Dad to be stranded just out from the entrance to the Snye.

In the summer of 2009 I planned to do some work early in the season, but was not able to get around to it until late summer for various reasons. It ran rough, and we determined that the valves required some work. John Lewis kindly reworked the top end of the motor and got it running better than it ever had before. Later in the summer, I replaced two bottom planks and changed the propeller for more acceptable RPM.

The boat had come a long way from its arrival back in Wallaceburg in early April 1997. It is a fast and good riding boat—well worth the grueling effort of restoration to preserve a part of Wallaceburg’s boat history.