Category Archives: Lake Muskoka

Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Lake Joseph, Lake Muskoka, Lake of Bays, Lake Rosseau, Muskoka Activities, Muskoka cottage life, Muskoka Lakes, Muskoka Properties, Muskoka Watershed Council, Skeleton Lake, Sparrow Lake, Stewardship, water

Protect Your Muskoka Cottage Investment. Muskoka Lakes Association seedling sale; re-naturalize your shoreline this spring

14 March 2013 cottageinmuskoka 2 Comments

The single most important thing you can do to protect the value of your Muskoka cottage waterfront property investment is to protect the water quality of your lake. One of the best ways to help sustain/improve water quality in your lake is to ensure you have a natural shoreline and a buffer zone; an area of natural vegetation running along your shoreline.

The function of the buffer zone is to act as a filter for water flowing to your lake, and studies show that they greatly reduce water pollution. The plants and soil absorb runoff water laden with sediments, nutrients and pollutants harmful to the lake. Turf grass does not do an adequate job filtering water runoff, and is very attractive to geese and other nuisance species.

Native Plants … and lots of them! “Ideally the buffer area is thickly covered with native vegetation. The higher the percentage of the ground that is covered, the better your buffer can work. A landscape made up of native plants is low maintenance. Once established, they can survive without extra watering, and without application of pesticides and fertilizers. Native plants are adapted to deal with local bugs and diseases and can get all the nutrients they need from existing soil.”

On the Living Edge Sarah Kipp, Clive Callaway

You can pre-order native plants from the Muskoka Lakes Association.

“The Annual MLA Seeding Day is scheduled for Saturday May 18, 2013 at the Port Carling Community Centre from 9 am to 12Noon. The emphasis this year will be on Muskoka native species. An order form (with pricing) is available from the MLA website here. We have a lot of seedlings available in some of the most wanted species including White Birch, Balsam Fir, White Spruce, Dogwood and Nannyberry among others.”

Order soon as quantities are limited. Orders can be emailed to info@mla.on.ca, faxed to (705) 765-3203 or mailed to Box 298, Port Carling, ON, P0B 1J0

Catboat, cottage life, Lake Muskoka, Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Lakes, Sailing

Afternoon sail on Lake Muskoka

1 October 2012 cottageinmuskoka 2 Comments

Now, 10 days or so into fall, we are still completely busy with real estate, almost. I was able to get out sailing today from 3 till dusk.
With the sun setting before seven now, and me still used to long summer evenings, dusk seemed to come quickly along with cold winds. Three in the afternoon was t-shirt weather, then a sweatshirt on top by five, and a foul weather jacket by six.

Sailing south on Lake Muskoka between Browning Island and the mainland.

Flying the colours of the catboat Swell: the Ontario flag and the Catboat Association burgee.

The winds were our prevailing northwesterlies, and in the afternoon at 15 knots with gusts required a reefed sail. By evening they were a nice steady 8 or so so the reef was blown out and I sailed back north.
The evening sail was wonderful; once set, the boat stayed on track without any input from me. I was able sit back and take in the beautiful evening colours as the setting sun accompanied the boat back to Pine Island.

Once I rounded Pine Island, the wind, blocked by the mainland, slackened and I dropped the sail and watched the following sun set to the west.

Buying a cottage, cottage for sale, cottage life, Lake Muskoka, Listing, Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Properties, Uncategorized

Classic Muskoka Cottage & Boathouse; View From Above

14 August 2012 cottageinmuskoka

We have a magnificent property listed at Pine Point on Lake Muskoka.

The key feature about this property is the land itself; the rare privacy afforded by 895 feet of Lake Muskoka frontage on this beautifully level point. Nevertheless, the buildings, specifically the boathouse, has found its way into a number of classic Muskoka books.

As an iconic Muskoka boathouse, the boathouse at Pine Point doesn’t dominate the scenery; it plays an important supporting role.

Standing resolute to the winter cold and winds.

We wanted to feature all of it somehow; the boathouse, cottage and the truly wonderful property itself in our own way. So, up in a battery powered remote-controlled helicopter went a carefully mounted digital camera, and softly(whew) down it came with the following pictures on its memory card:

… beautiful!

Catboat, cottage life, Lake Muskoka, Sailing

Hot, but breezy

16 July 2012 cottageinmuskoka

We had a couple of hours available after a pre-closing cottage walk-through on Lake Rosseau, and before a cottage showing on Lake Muskoka, so we got out sailing.

Wind was primarily from the north west, gusting to 15 knots + at times; to the extent we had to tie in 2 reefs in the sail.
Lake Muskoka’s south bay was loaded up with whitecaps. Despite the double reef, or thanks to it, we had great control and the 18′ catboat reached the theoretical maximum hullspeed often – exhilarating!

The Segwun in the background under the reefed sail, bugging-out around Eleanor Island in Lake Muskoka

The Segwun was out for a while, then shot back toward the Narrows from Eleanor Island– either the cruise was overdue or the forecast was not good. We were pretty much headed back by then.
Muskoka does need the rain.

Buying a cottage, Lake Muskoka, Muskoka Activities

Bliss on Lake Muskoka

15 July 2012 cottageinmuskoka

Last night we had dinner with wonderful clients who bought their cottage last year – after 4 years of searching with Catharine’s help.

They report this beautiful, beautiful property and cottage is enhancing their lives even more than they imagined it could. And, perhaps not surprisingly they took a long time to choose outdoor furniture. Looks like they got it right again.

Bicycles, cottage life, Lake Muskoka, Muskoka Activities

Gravenhurst Triathlon

14 July 2012 cottageinmuskoka 1 Comment

Hey! Chris completed the Olympic distance triathlon this morning in Gravenhurst; 1500m Swim | 40km Bike | 10km Run. It’s definitely the coolest of any triathlon because all competitors are taken out on the Segwun and the Wenonah II to begin the swim!

I was preparing to catch Chris ride by on his bike when I snapped a photo of the guy, who managed to catch one of the pylons with the bikes on his bikerack. He must’ve been heading for the auditions for Canada’s Worst Driver, or I’m sure he would have stopped and picked it up.

Here’s Chris with just a couple of blocks to go to Muskoka Wharf and the dismount for a 10k run.

Chris said he may have walked 85% of the run, but he saved some energy for an impressive final kick: [wpvideo M9x9Opp3]

building a cottage, Buying a cottage, cottage for sale, Lake Muskoka, Listing, Muskoka Properties

We can help you “order” an Eaton’s Catalogue Cottage today. Lowest price for 200′ on Lake Muskoka.

9 July 2012 cottageinmuskoka

UPDATE: Sept 2012 Now SOLD

It may not be the price it would have been in 1939, but it beats anything else on Lake Muskoka.

If you check MLS listings today, cottage property listings with 200 feet of frontage on Lake Muskoka are listed from $499,900 to $2.3 million. In general 200 feet helps give you improved privacy over a much more common 100 foot waterfront lot – or less.

We have a great listing on Lake Muskoka which offers 200 feet of frontage, has sparkling water over rock which sweeps into the lake. The lot is level with a great view, is close to Gravenhurst, 90 minutes from Toronto, has a cottage with two bunkies, AND that cottage is an original Eaton’s Catalogue cottage. It is also priced at the lowest price of ALL the 200′ waterfront properties.

Eaton’s cottage, originally delivered by steamboat – still a crowd pleaser.

The detailed listing information shows not only the cottage – inside and out, but the beautiful level property and the views.

Eaton’s catalogue cottage – kit delivered by steamboat.

Gravenhurst, Lake Muskoka, Muskoka Activities

Muskoka Antique and Classic Boat Show

7 July 2012 cottageinmuskoka

I went Saturday afternoon after a cottage inspection to the Muskoka Wharf. If you missed the Muskoka Antique and Classic Boat show play the videos below for a really, really quick visit.

[wpvideo OVuLrnJp]

Then if you have another few seconds to waste, check out the kids in the boat race video below. The boats, made by the kids, were made of only cardboard and ducttape.

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You can see a real video of the show here.

Catboat, Lake Muskoka, Muskoka Activities, Sailing

Afternoon Sailing on Lake Muskoka

1 July 2012 cottageinmuskoka

In between cottage showings and listings, on one of the busiest days of the summer -Saturday of the July 1st weekend – I had a small window of time to go sailing. The weather has been beautiful and quite windy for days, and Saturday was no exception. I had to reef the sail and would have tied in a 2nd reef, but by that time we were on our way back downwind.

Obviously excited to get in some sailing time.

Catharine was in the process of selling a great place on Moon River. Fortunately Neysa and Bentley were up for a quick adventure. We sailed upwind from between Pine & Birch Islands, north of Beaumaris, then back.

Neysa & Bentley. Bentley sniffing out some Island BBQ’s.

Now that Bentley is starting to enjoy the sailboat more – the boat treats from Lenore certainly helped – we have to be careful about exposure to the sun. We applied sunscreen to Bentley’s muzzle, but he kept licking it off!? Tips on using sunscreen on your dog. We did our best to keep him shaded but he had other ideas.

Bentley after licking off the sunscreen, tries to catch some rays.

Lake Muskoka, Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, Stewardship, Volunteer, water

Moon River Walleye Fishery

21 June 2012 cottageinmuskoka

Here’s another video for the Muskoka Watershed Council‘s YouTube channel.

Eric McIntyre, of the Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council discusses spiking water flow downstream from Bala Falls, its devastating implications to Walleye reproduction and the current status of the agreement between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ontario Power Generation.

2005 water flows, highly detrimental to Walleye reproduction have now been improved somewhat.

Eric spoke at the Muskoka Stewardship Conference.

In the video, there’s some interesting detail about Walleye habitat, the Moon River Walleye fishery and the need to control water levels in Lake Muskoka.

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