Summer Memories ~ Lake of Bays

Waterskiing

Like I said, I learned how to waterski on the Muskoka River. After mastering the essentials of waterskiing, there was nothing holding me back. After we moved into our Burnt Island Bay cottage, I skied almost every summer day. My father had purchased a beautiful wooden Shepherd outboard motor boat. It had a 50 hp Johnson outboard motor. It was the kind of boat you could treasure for ever. Also, it was a great boat to waterski behind! It was behind this wonderful boat that I continued to master waterskiing. First with two skis and then on one. It was awesome, slalom skiing became my passion. I even made my own slalom ski when I worked at a local marina. The more I skied, the better I got.

One summer one the cottagers near us built a “slalom course”. Anyone in the area was welcomed to use it. What a rush. The first time I tried it I fell. It was difficult, but I was determined to “master” the course. I can’t remember how many times I ran the course or how many times I fell. But eventually I became more confident and usually could run the course without falling.

After slalom skiing, running the slalom course, jumping waves and just having a great time, I decided to expand my waterskiing adventures. I bought a “banana” ski. I thought since I had mastered the slalom ski, I could master the “banana” ski. I thought that I could learn a lot of new tricks. I didn’t work out. I don’t know what happened. Either I lost interest in that type of skiing or I chickened out. Whatever happened, it was a “no go” for me.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appleby College

Image
Life Goes On… (continued) NOTE : It’s been a long time since I attended Appleby (1959), my memory might be a little hazy. If you see something lacking, or something incorrect, feel free to let me know where I went wrong. School Sports Frankly, I wasn’t very good at sports! At least, the type that had at Appleby at that time ( I believe that that has now changed ). All students were required to be on a school sports team. The following are some examples of my sporting activities Other Sports - Dancing (continued) On the day of the dance, my father drove me to the neighbour’s home (not very far, but I was very nervous (my first “real” date!). Cheryl was a very pretty girl and was dressed beautifully. I was all “dolled” up in my best Appleby suit.   When I meet her at her door, I handed her a corsage that my mother had picked out for the occasion. My hands were shaking with excitement! On the drive to Appleby, Cheryl sat on one side the backseat and I was on the other side (far away
Read more

Appleby College

Image
Memories of Appleby I spent 5 years at Appleby College , from grade 5 to grade 9. They were, for the most part, happy years. As I said at the beginning of my Appleby stories, the first few weeks weren’t that happy, or promising. But, as time went on, I start to enjoy my new “ home ” away from home. I made new friends. There were a lot of us in the same boat, boarders, so we spent a lot of time together. I started out in a dormitory in Colley House and ended my time at Appleby in Powell’s House . In Powell’s House , I ended my last year with one roommate, Pete Donaldson . However, my main memory of individual friends was of Murray (Mo) Cole and Aubrey Baillie . (to be continued)
Read more

Fun Times – Algonquin Provincial Park (Part One)

Image
  Traveling to and experiencing Algonquin Provincial Park was a “ must ” each year. Something that the whole family always looked forward to. Especially for me. Getting there was part of the “ fun ”! The trip took us through Dorse t, with a stop for ice cream at Robinson’s General Store ( closed now) and then onto Oxtongue Narrows . Here we would stop at another general store. This one has a “ talking ” Myna bird who always answered questions with “ Birds can’t talk! ”. From there it was on to the highway that took you to the park’s “ gates ”. Along the way there were several “ trading post ” stores. We would normally stop at one of them to check them out. These stores had lots of fun trinkets to examine. This, for a young boy who was intrigued the trading post “ souvenirs ”! I’m sure that store owners’ eyes would “ light up ”, when they saw little boys and their parents entering their store. We seemed to always leave with something. I have no idea where these precious keepsake
Read more