Time&TideTravels: Hastings to Rice Lake

Hastings – Rice Lake

We really liked staying in Hastings. Everything is very close, the LCBO, Beer Store, groceries, bank, drug store and a very good fish and chip restaurant called The Captains Table, great value and excellent food.Roger and Barb Leonard came for a visit on their bikes.

We set of nice and early for Rice Lake.

The forecast was for high winds so we wanted to get there in plenty time. Our good friends Mike and Jen O’Toole, Robin and Carl Phaneuf and Steve and Tammy Greening were going to be camping at the Golden Valley Beach Resort on Rice Lake; we were going to anchor somewhere and try to visit with them.

The resort is on the South shore of the lake and in the very strong NW wind we were unable to find a comfortable place to drop the anchor. We headed to the protective north shore, knowing that it would be quite a ride in the dingy to get back and forth. We spotted Paudaush Island, checked our charts and scooted in there. It is a great anchorage. We anchored east of the island, protected from the winds. If you want to anchor there, here is the information: Approach the island directly from the channel. There are 9- 12 feet of water all around and very few weeds (unlike the south shore). The water depth is 11-6 feet, even as close as 100 feet from the shore.

At last we were comfortable, as we settled in for a cool down swim; Gary decided to throw out a line.

Within minutes he cause a nice bass and soon after, a really big one J

Our friends texted to say they had arrived at their campsites but the bay was still covered in white caps and we decided to wait for the wind to settle a little before going for a visit. At around 7pm we headed out on the dingy and I was a little nervous at the big water around me.

We arrived at the resort and were met by Mike and his daughter Kailey. At the campsite we were greeted by a surprise Mexican fiesta party. Our friends had everything set up including welcoming margaritas.

It was a wonderful surprise, great to see all our friends and we especially enjoyed the Mexican flare, including Moose fajitas and tacos. A wonderful send-off, thank you to our good friends :0

Way later than we originally planned, we crossed the lake in much calmer waters, back to our home at anchored and 3 very eager cats waiting to get out and play.

While we sat outside giving the cats some time to roam the deck in the cool night air, we heard Loons calling their haunting call…..such a uniquely Canadian sound for a foreign girl like me. I went to bed and Gary called out to me: I just saw an amazing shooting star! I said: Cool, did you make a wish? He replied: I didn’t have to J

The rest of the weekend was wonderful too. We celebrated Maya Phaneuf ‘s birthday and Canada day. There were fireworks all around the lake and we had a prima viewing spot on our boat at anchor. On the evening prior to Canada day, we heard distant drumming from the Hiawatha First Nation’ Reserve on the north shore of the lake. A beaver showed up and swam around the boat….it all seemed so surreal!

Unfortunately our time with our friends came to an end and we said sad goodbyes.