Baie Fine and Topaz Lake Hike

8th August, Friday.

My how the days goes by so fast. It is exactly a week since we left the comfort of Bay Port Marina and the friends we had made in those parts…Midland.

It is, however, nice to know we are through with Locks for a long time yet, and we have been trying to remember just how many we have come through on our total journey, so far. From Albany, NY to the end of the portion of the Erie Canal that we traversed, there were 23 locks (there is no #1 lock). From the crossroads (so to speak) of the Erie / Oswego Canal to Oswego town, there were 8.  = 31 locks. We began the locks again on the Trent/Severn Canal in Canada, beginning at Trenton. From Trenton to Port Severn, we traversed 44 Locks (there is no #44, but we went into the deep #45 lock, as the last one)…= 67 Locks

On our trip across the bottom of the Southern States, we estimated 12 locks. (There are 5 locks on the Lake Okeechobee trip, alone. We also count Industrial and Harvey lock in New Orleans = 2, and west of there we had approx. 5 others, from Houston to New Orleans.) So, all up, we have been through 79 Locks to date! Phew!

 

Today was an exploring day on Baie Fine. Waz wanted to hike up to Topaz Lake…about 400-500ft up in behind Baie Fine, at the top of the lake.

It took us about 40 minutes to dinghy up the lake through a skinny channel into another long skinny bay that opened into another small bay known as the ‘The Pool’.

Our baby sitting pretty in a small bay off the main Baie Fine

 White quartz folded cliffs

 Looking to the north end of Baie Fine, where we are headed

 Looking backwards down Baie Fine...blatting up the bay to Topaz Lake

 A closer look at that folded quartz.

 I always amazed us where we find cottages:)

 

 

Apparently there were 10 boats anchored in there last night. We got this piece of information from John and Susan in ‘Nuclear Fishin’, who were swimming off the back of the boat when we came alongside. We had connected with them again in Killarney, and now in Baie Fine. They were getting ready to depart The Pool for Little Current, early afternoon. Their boat was gone when we exited the track to Topaz Lake, on the way back to the boat.

The house at the top of the lake...get to The Pool, by going left, in this photo.

 Nuclear Fishin in The Pool.

 

 We pulled the dinghy up onto the beach and tied it to a tree.

 The hike was basically up an established road. An ATV was on the rocky track, as we were going up, and it was coming down.

 Lots of toadstools growing in the leaf mould

 ...and 500 feet up, we come across Topaz Lake.

 How gorgeous is this! Stunning!

 

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I took half a sleeping tablet last night….with a bit of a sleep deficit and jumpy legs, I decided to use one of my precious blue pills. Precious, because I have so few of them, so I use them for special occasions. Last night was one of those. I did indeed sleep well, and woke feeling most rested…the whole idea, don’t you think? J

No rush to go anywhere today. We are having a day to relax and enjoy these glorious surroundings. Our anchor mates upped anchor and made off down the Baie, relatively early, leaving us alone here…lets hope it stays that way!

With coffee already made, I had to really search for something to make breakfast with. The fridge is almost bare, but I did rustle up some spinach and a little bacon and then I chopped an onion for savory omelets.  Very tasty, with a little cheese to cement all the ingredients together.

Tummies satisfied, we made preparations for a hike up to Topaz Lake. This is at the top of Baie Fine, and we had to tie the dinghy to a tree when we finally stepped foot on terra firma. This, of course, was after we accosted John and Susan and got the scuttlebutt from them.

The track was pretty much all water-course, so the rocks were rounded and smooth for the most part. The forest had limited foliage in under-plantings, a real contrast to the thick undergrowth one might fine when hiking in NZ forests. It was open and light came through the leaves, making it warm and pretty. Lots of interesting funghi to photograph, but another thing we notices…apart from the sound of the occasional Woodpecker, there were so few bird sounds. When hiking in NZ forests, you almost want to ask the birds to be quiet, so many are they…and so noisy.

We saw the first signs of Fall color starting with the Liquidambar, which are a Maple cousin, of course.  It won’t be long, I guess. We were told at Killarney, but one of our boating mates, that there will be so few boats in Killarney before the last days of August. Kids going back to school, people finishing their family vacations etc, is the reason given…but also the temps cool considerably, we are told. I would love to be here to see the Fall colors, in these parts. It must be stunning!

 We are already at 577 feet above Sea Level in Georgian Bay, but the hike took us up about 400-500 ft above Baie Fine.  Lake Ontario is only 243 feet above sea level. We have to remember that we are in Ontario Province (not LAKE Ontario), Canada, but Georgian Bay is at the top of Lake Huron.

 The hike wasn’t strenuous, but we did have to watch our footings on the rocks though. The white quartz rocks are stunning, and more so when contrasted with the gorgeous topaz green of the Lake. Aptly named!

 

We sat on a rock and just enjoyed the peace and quiet…though not the flies. We had used fly repellant again, but it doesn’t appear to be too successful. Of course we took many photos, and might have been tempted to go for a swim, had we not been so high off the water. Easy to go down to lakes edge, but we also didn’t anticipate doing that, and had no cloth to dry off with…the wind being a little cool! It isn’t tropical in these parts…put it that way!

 The SUV went up while we were coming down...it had gone down when we were going up! hmm...

 Leaving The Pool, on the way down the Baie.

 His nibs needed a nap on the fly deck...it was hot!

We came back to the boat without any stops, passing close to Nuclear Fishin, on it’s way down the Baie…and tooting them loudly! J They tooted back! Waz had taken his tooter for hiking…bears, again!

Lunch was a mishmash of left-over food and salami and cheese. I had some baking to do after lunch, and I set off to do that. I also needed to make another marinade for the ribs Waz took out of the freezer, last night. That is for dinner! First came the Cake. While that was cooking, I made the marinade and prepared the ribs.

 

 

Lemon/Sultana (Golden Raisin ) Cake

 

Pour ½ cup of boiling water over 1 cup of sultanas and Zest of 2 lemons. Mix zest in so that the flavors combine well. Leave to sit while you prepare the rest of the cake mix.

 

Mix together

1 cup white flour

1 tsp Baking Pwdr

1/2 tspn salt

¼ tspn baking soda

In a med. Sized bowl whip together until pale…

1 stick + 1 tbspn of butter (1/4 lb/ 120gms + tblspn)

1/3 cup of packed brown sugar…slightly rounded.

 

Break two large eggs into a cup and whip them together with a fork.

To the butter mix, alternately add 1/3 of the egg mix, and 1/3 of the flour mix and FOLD it in with a spatula or wooden spoon…IGHTLY until incorporated. Repeat with remaining 1/3’s until all is used up.

THEN…

Add the sultanas with the liquid included, to the whole mix, and fold that in until well incorporated.

Put the mix into a lightly greased and floured 8 inch round (or square) cake pan, and  place in preheated oven at 375F, for 25-30 mins, or until the middle bounces back and the sides have pulled back from the pan. **Don’t overcook…it will be dry.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 mins when you remove it from the oven, before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve in wedges with plenty of lightly whipped cream. Fresh berries are a welcome addition, but canned or bottled pears would also taste delicious with the cake!

For good portion control, I usually cut the whole cake into equal portions (if you want more, make it 8, if less, make it 16) and return the whole to the cake pan and cover with foil and keep in the fridge. An airtight container is ideal.

Before serving  (straight from the fridge), place the portion on a microwave safe plate, cover and microwave for 25 seconds, or put two together and microwave for 35 seconds.

You can serve with either sloppy whipped cream or Greek yoghurt.

 

 

**I have to report that the cake was a HUGE success! I will definitely be making that one again tooJ

We enjoyed a mid -afternoon coffee on the fly deck, after all that activity, and Waz took a nap. I came back downstairs to upload the photos from the morning hike.

It is now time for me to put the oven on again for a slow bake of the ribs. We will enjoy the same Chinese Five Spice recipe I have used so many times before….mostly because I have jars of ingredients in the fridge that I want used up, J

 

Oh...you want the ribs marinade too? Hmmm…that really is giving away secrets.

Ok...just this once! BUT…be aware that I don’t always measure my ingredients, preferring to taste as I go. These measurements are as close as I can get to what I put in my recipe. I encourage you to taste as you go along. If it tastes good before you put the ribs in, it will taste great when cooked!

 

This recipe is for two racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs. It would easily stretch to three or four. DO NOT keep left over marinade! It will contain meat blood.

 

Baked Chinese Five Spice Ribs.

Into a large bowl (has to accommodate the ribs) place:

2 Tbspns Hoisin Sauce

2 Tbspns Plum Sauce

1 tbspn Oyster Sauce

¼ cup brown sugar (loosely packed)

Juice of either two lemons or one large orange

Zest of two lemons or one large orange

1 tspn Five Spice powder.

 

(You can substitute the lemon or orange juice with ¼ cup Japanese Rice wine vinegar. You can add the vinegar also, for a different taste)

1 tspn grated fresh ginger root (peeled)

4 large cloves of finely CHOPPED garlic…not crushed. (Crushing makes the acid come out in garlic and overpowers the marinade. If you like that taste, go for it!)

Stir all ingredients together really well and microwave for approx.. 20 seconds, or until the sugar is dissolved.

TASTE the mix before adding the pork. This is VERY important. You can add more tangy taste with a little more vinegar/lemon juice or salt it more with the addition of a LITTLE soy sauce. I prefer mine sweeter.

Preparing the Ribs.

Place the rack face down (meat side) on a board. The bone side of the rack is covered with a white membrane. Carefully strip the bone/meat of the membrane. If you don’t do this, it will burn and not taste good. It also allows the marinade to penetrate the meat from all sides. It takes time, but is totally worth the effort.

I use two racks of ribs for two people….it makes us two dinners! J

The second rack is refrigerated and then reheated the second night (Same way it was cooked).

·         To cut the rack in half (if you don’t already know how to cut a rack). Slide the blade  of your sharp knife down the side of the bone to the thick end at the bottom. Between each bone is a soft part that will allow your knife to go through it (cartilage) without cutting bone. Use a little pressure to get the knife through. Done!

I cut each rack into two and submerge each one in the marinade. Use your clean hands to massage the liquid into the meat before adding the next rack, and so on (messy, so organize things beforehand). Cover the bowl with glad wrap and leave in a cool place until you are ready to cook. I don’t like to put it in the fridge…it cools the meat down too much and requires more cooking. If you want to refrigerate overnight, I would place the meat and marinade in double zip lock bags to keep. This frees up the fridge for other food items, and is easy to massage the marinade in. It will keep for a couple of days. You can freeze them in the marinade also.

Line a deep sided baking dish with foil (easy clean) and place the ribs around the outside of it, standing up on their fat end at an angle (thick bone end), meaty side facing in. Doing this means you done have to turn the ribs during cooking.

Preheat a convection oven (that is the only one I have) to 375F and place the dish in the middle of the oven. Bake for approx. 50 mins. If you see that the ribs are burning, turn the heat down to 350F for the remaining time. Depending on how thick your ribs are, they may need 1 hour.

When you remove the ribs, let them stand (rest) for approx. 10 mins before plating and serving.

I don’t trim too much fat off them because this keeps the meat moist. If you don’t want to eat the fat, cut it off when cooked.

 

·         You can reduce the amount of sugar if you want them less sweet…just be aware that the sugar is what caramelizes on the meat and gives that lovely sticky coating.

·         You can purchase any of the Chinese/Japanese ingredients in the Asian/ International section of your supermarket, or a dedicated Asian market.

I serve mine with a simple Cole slaw.

 

Simple Cole Slaw

Finely shred (any way you like) Red Cabbage and White cabbage (estimate how much you will need according to the number of people to serve). I like to make twice or three times what we will eat in one meal, as the slaw gets better by the day! I would make the slaw a day ahead, if you can, to let all the flavors mingle.

 

In a large bowl place Best Foods Mayonnaise (Hellmans?)  (Estimate according to the amount of cabbage…you can always add more, but hard to take it out!  Don’t drench the slaw!), all the cabbage, about ½ cup of finely chopped parsley (or cilantro, if you like that flavor), a handful of basil (torn) leaves (optional), 1/2 cup of finely chopped pitted dates, ¼ cup of Craisins, ¼ cup of slithered almonds, 1/4 cup of rough chopped walnuts or pecans, ¼ finely chopped green (spring) onions…green and white parts, and mix with your clean hands. The idea is to thoroughly coat everything. Then let it sit, covered, in the fridge.

This really is best the second or third day, promise.

 

Moving right along…J

 

Ribs cooked , Cole slaw made… I often put horseradish in the mix, but I put a bit much in last time (getting over-enthusiastic is one of my better traits J ) and thought bland might be better with the ribs…it was!

Before we could get to enjoy our dessert and coffee upstairs, I looked out the back and noticed that we seemed to be a little closer to the shoreline than we had been previously…well, all night and all day, till now. Sheesh! How did THAT happen?

 

Well, the wind had been blowing most of the afternoon and picked up around 3-4pm. We had also had a lot of fast traffic on the bay and their wakes rocked and rolled us. Even though we supposedly had clay under us, which is desirable for holding, it obviously wasn’t holding us as it should. We had swung a lot all afternoon, and that may have had something to do with it. (Waz has a disclaimer here….This is MY opinion only...and not fact or HIS opinion, lol…take it as you will!)

Anyway, suffice to say that we up-anchored and moved into the middle of the bay further…our little bay. This didn’t seem to be sufficient. We decided to go back across  Baie Fine, and anchor in one of the protected little bays inside Frazer Peninsula. Just as we were setting out for the shallows and narrows part of getting out of Baie Fine, we looked left, to our first choice anchorage (which had been full up to busting the previous night when we were looking) and discovered that there were only two boats in there. A hasty decision was made to go into Mary Ann Cove, which shows only 5 ft on the chart and on the plotter, but is documented elsewhere as being close to 20 feet, in reality. We snuck in there and were accosted by a fellow in a dinghy who supposedly had come out to greet us…hmm…ulterior motives? He was very good in directing us to the left side of the bay where he said there was superior holding, and we could tie a stern rope to one of the trees. He informed us that the cliff went almost straight down from the shoreline, so we could almost back our boat right up. He was right!

We didn’t, but the wind had changed from South to north east, just as we needed to put a line out back.

Waz got into the dinghy, after a foraging session in the Lazarette, finding appropriate sized/lengths of rope, and motored …well, he tried to bring the boat around to where he could tie it to the tree on the bank. That didn’t work…too much wind pushing us the opposite direction. Along comes the other fellow, and he also tried pulling the stern around without much success. THEN they got the right idea and he pushed from the starb’d side, while Waz pulled from port. It worked, and he was able to clamber onto land, tie our dinghy up to a rock, and proceeded to bring the rope in (now two ropes tied together).

On his instructions I let some more anchor chain out, and he was able to haul our girl in so that he was using only the one rope.

Back in the dinghy and onto the boat. Thanks to the other fellow for his help and efforts. It turned out he was saving the space we wanted first for someone to raft up with him!!!

 

Waz tying our stern to the pine tree.

 The fellow in the boat on left was the one who helped us out. The right hand boat rafted up with them. He was saving this space for that boat.

 All tied up!

 Late afternoon...off to our starb'd side

 On his way back to the boat.

 

Next came the spring line to take some of the load off the rope tied to the tree. The dinghy secured, the anchor system put to bed and all was well….for now.

We re-heated the coffee and the cake, and went upstairs to watch the sun go down and the almost full moon rise.

I spent some time squashing spiders…not fun, especially when they go crunch! I gave up with that one! We do have an infestation of spiders and they leave nasty black poop marks on the gelcoat that is hard to get off… Jif!

We were joined by a young family in a Silverton 28 (I think), who tied up next to us.  It was a little closer than we would have liked, but the bay is there for all to enjoy, so we sucked it up! We weren’t able to shower off the back…or brave enough, put it that way, lol. We had to make do with a spit and polish, going to bed.

I do have to tell you that we were brave enough to have a shower, this morning… off the back deck in broad daylight. Our young neighbors departed in their dinghy to get cell phone coverage out in Baie Fine, and that gave us the moment of opportunity we desired.

Earlier, the husband had gone out with two fishing rods on the dinghy, and come back with a large fish on the end of one of them….He handed the rod to the young child with encouragement to bring the fish in. Dad ended up picking the fish up …I took photos of these proceedings and later posted them to the familyJ It was a good sized Pike, as you can see from the photo.

 

 

It is times like that we wish we had fishing equipment on board. It isn’t worth it for us to do so. Each state requires a fishing license…too much trouble and expense…and the regulations in each state are different..hohum!

 

 We had thought we might stay the weekend in this lovely little bay now that we are out of the strong wind, but they tell us that there can be 20 boats in here on a weekend. We might depart for Little Current, after all.

I should take a photo of the fridge…it is almost empty! J Quite a good thing, actually, as the freezer needs defrosting, and it is the perfect time to do that with the fridge devoid of food. Well, maybe not out in the middle of nowhere…Little Current?? With power on at the dock!

I have been so tempted, as perhaps you have noticed, to have a swim. The fact that there are now 5 boats in this bay dissuades me somewhat. We don’t know who discharges their holding tanks in these places. We have observed that many of our fellow boaters never appear to go near a pump-out station, even when it is in front of them. Canada comes down heavily on boaters who discharge in these ‘pristine’ waters. We just wonder how they monitor the offenders?  As their budgets for such things are sorely stretched, perhaps it doesn’t happen at all!

Anyhoo…we are now inside with the Genset on, before heading off to bed. Waz is sawing wood, already, despite assuring me he wasn’t going to…tsk, tsk! J

So, I will finish up here…let’s see what tomorrow will bring.