Pat and Cindy's Great Loop Adventure

Harbour West Marina in Penetanguishene, Ontario

Our home for the past week. We plan to leave Monday, August 15.

Sunshine at dusk, at Harbour West Marina
Captain Pat on our dinghy – the town of Penetanguishene is just a ten-minute dinghy ride from the marina.
View from our dinghy as we approach the town docks of Penetanguishene.
St. Ann’s Catholic Church is a prominent landmark, seen from most vantage points of the town.

Close up photo of St. Ann’s Church. Last Sunday we attended Mass there.

A highlight of our trip was spending time with Susan Molenda, Aunt to Andrew and Katherine. Susan grew up in Penetanguishene, lived in Toronto, and is now retired and lives in Victoria Harbor. She kindly let us ship a Verizon router to her home, and she delivered it to our boat in the marina. Susan also gave us charts and helpful information about Georgian Bay.

We met Susan for dinner at a local diner we had visited before. Pat had to return on Tuesday night – the special was spaghetti and meatballs! Susan informed us that ironically, this was the site of her first date with Myron in 1985! The restaurant was then called Blue Sky.
Some of the boats at the marina.

What makes Harbour West Marina so special …

Leaving Ojibwa, we knew we had to go to a marina that would have boat mechanical services. Sunshine was having a difficult time holding a charge so we needed an electrical expert. There was also a water leak that Captain Pat had been nursing along.

There are so many marinas in this area of Georgian Bay. I put out an alert on our social media and did receive responses from Midland and Harbour West marinas. Midland was swamped and didn’t sound like they could get to us soon. Jeff and Susan Heron, Great Loop Harbor Hosts in Penetanguishene, reached out to us and told us of a great mechanic at Harbour West. Susan was so kind – one afternoon she took me to a local super store to shop for groceries and provisions.

So we hooked up with Dean Aaron of Dean’s Marine and Mobile Services and his accomplices. His apprentice Aaron was especially helpful. They turned out to be exceptional. (Not to worry, Frank, not as good as you – but close!)

Harbour West Marina is a family-owned operation. Graeme Arris (Susan and Jeff’s son-in-law!) now runs the marina. Graeme’s Dad, Dan, bought the marine years ago as a “semi-retirement” project. Dan still lives on the premises with his partner, Maggie.

Bryn – office manager, Harbour West Marina. You’d be amazed at what it takes to run a marina!
So many personalities, so many challenges. She handles them effortlessly!

Bryn, the office manager, is amazing. She is so accommodating and wonderful to work with. All the staff is. It is people who can make the difference in a marina stay.

The office of Harbour West Marina – shower and bathroom facilities to the right.

People jump in and swim from this spot at the marina.

As usual we ran into some problems getting items shipped. All in all, the repairs went well. We now have two new alternators and the water leak is fixed. Captain Pat has the cabin reassembled – had to take the floor up and place everything outside in order to make repairs. Monday, tomorrow, we will get fuel, a pumpout, and resume our visit to the sites in Georgian Bay.

Captain Patrick made a big decision. After discussions with Graeme, Pat has decided to store Sunshine here at Harbour West Marina in mid-September. It’s nice to have a face to the name of the employees and mechanics who will be winterizing our boat.

We will fly out of Toronto or Buffalo mid-September – it’s two hours away – and fly back next June to resume our Great Loop adventure. That way we can have the month of May at our summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee, and see some more Georgian Bay sites when we return to the boat in Penetanguishene in June.

This marina is nice too because there are only a few slips for transient boaters (we got lucky!) For most of the boats here, this is their home port.

In addition to the marina employees, we have met some terrific boaters who have become friends – see photos below. We love this place! It will be difficult to say good by tomorrow, but it will be good to continue our adventure. And – we will be back here in three or so weeks!

Here are some photos from our stay at Harbour West Marina. More photos and history from visits to Penetanguishene in our next blog post.

Beautiful cattails all around the property.
This is Dan, the original owner of the marina, in his apartment at the marina.
He and Pat are poring over charts and maps of Georgian Bay.
Dan grew up here, and of course has a wealth of knowledge to share with Pat.
We are so grateful for his help!
Dan had this boat custom made for he and his partner, Maggie.
Dan had a motorcycle accident that left him in a wheelchair.
That doesn’t hold him back though! After his accident, he and Maggie completed the Great Loop on this boat!
I fell in love with this dog, Elyse. She belongs to my friend, Maggie.
Elyse was adopted from Russia. She roams around the marina.
Here is Elyse on her boat. Shortly after this photo was taken – Elyse fell in the water!
Luckily she found her way to land and after a frantic search, she was returned home.
Today – Maggie on her boat with Elyse, about to dock.
Here’s another great dog – Louie! He belongs to Graeme, the marina owner.
He was rescued from an Indian reserve.
Louie has the run of the marina.
We met the nicest couple, Laurie and Ray, from Ottawa.
Yesterday they invited us to take a ride in their car to Orillia to shop at COSTCO!
Anyone who knows us knows this is our favorite store of all time.
And after the shopping trip they took us to an unbelievable “all you can eat” sushi/chinese restaurant.
Small world – they winter in Mesa, Arizona! They will have to visit Andrew’s shop.

This beautiful boat belongs to Ray and Laurie. Their home port is Harbour West Marina.
This hangs in Laurie and Ray’s boat. The previous owners had the boat blessed by Pope John Paul II!
That’s the Admiral fixing the strap on the boat chair. Hey, I can do boat repairs too! -:)
This country church is a five-minute walk from the marina! We attended Mass there today at 12:30 p.m.
It is a sister missionary church to St. Ann’s in Penetanguishene.
Patrick talking to the priest after Mass today. The priest is from France, and studied and was ordained in Rome. He speaks French and Italian, and is learning English.
We love this tugboat docked here.
All marinas have this triangular configuration.
Good night from Harbour West Marina!

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