A lot nicer day on Saturday than had been forecast. The morning had a thick layer of overcast that partially cleared around lunch time. By mid-afternoon it was partly cloudy, and the temperature had climbed into the high 70F range. Tons of folks out cruising the lake. I think it was the busiest for boat traffic that I have seen in several years, including holiday weekends. The weatherman had the overnight rain forecast pretty accurate. About 1/3" fell. Sunday is starting out overcast and calm. They say the clouds will break up later this morning and the day should be fairly nice with a gusty southerly wind. The early part of the coming week is forecast to be nice with a chance of rain returning on Thursday. The water temp has dropped another degree to 76F. Probably not going to see that 80F mark this year. For all you weather geeks out there, today is statistically the hottest day of the year. It is all downhill from here until we reach January 22, the coldest day of the year.
Latest update on boating access to Dixon Lake. The creek is open and navigable, but Land Escapes employees continue to attempt to intimidate boaters into not boating to Dixon Lake. Limerick Township solicited a legal opinion from the municipal attorneys and got back a comprehensive summation of what the municipality may and may not do. There will be a delegation to Council at the meeting tomorrow to further discuss the situation. The bottom line for now is the creek is open, and you have every right to use it and to use the shoreline of both Dark and Dixon Lakes. The more of us who do that, the better.
A bonus for those who will be here to take advantage of the dark, night sky: At its peak (Aug 12–13), the Perseids Meteor shower will have up to 100 meteors per hour shooting across the night sky, some even turning into fireballs!
The construction along Hwy 62 south of Madoc is underway. On the 17th they were working on grinding pavement on a long section just south of Madoc. I did not follow my own advice and on my way northbound at 2PM Thursday I sat for 27 minutes. I once again be taking the 14 to Stirling and Marmora then across the 7. If you are coming from the east, I recommend the 41 to the 7.
The LWRA will be having their traditional activities on the August holiday weekend. The paddle sports (canoe, kayak, etc.) competition will be Saturday morning August 2 at Frasers Beach (169 LL North Shore) at 9:30AM. The AGM and social event will be that afternoon (being held at the Aaron Huizinga cottage across the bay from the dam on St. Ola lake. There is a yellow slide on his dock.) starting at 1:00PM, and the sailboat regatta will be Sunday afternoon August 3 starting near the Coxwell cottage (202 LL South Shore) at 2PM.
The Rogers 5G tower on Sutton Rd. is operational. The Rogers / FOCA special pricing plan for internet service is $60 per month this year. (unless you have a Rogers phone in which case it remains $50 per month) Even at the $60 price it is the best internet service for us on the lake. If you have signed up for that service, FOCA sent me a long list of other Rogers benefits available. (drop me a line and I will send you the link) It appears they throttle the 5G connection to 40MBps down, and 10MBps up. That is plenty of bandwidth for any single-family use. I have tested the connection and can stream multiple videos simultaneously on separate devices with no buffering. I have had virtually zero down time in the last 8 months. It better keep working as I took down my Starlink antenna recently. No need to have that lightning rod on my roof any longer.
The municipality is on summer burning rules. Daytime burning is not allowed until November 1. (see exceptions below) No permits were issued last year. There is a daytime burn permit by-law up for discussion at the July 21st Council meeting. Campfires less than 3 feet by 3 feet are allowed from 7PM to 7AM.
Now, to answer some more technical questions about daytime fires. I am fairly adept at reading Ontario "O.reg" legalese but will insert the disclaimer here that this is MY interpretation of what was provided by the "Fire Prevention Officer" for the municipality. O.Reg. 207/96 sections 8.1 through 8.4 say that during the day:
You can use a commercially sold camp stove during the day that uses a liquid or gas fuel as long as that stove can be turned off by a control valve.
You can have a charcoal fire in a BBQ designed for charcoal while using only commercially available charcoal, AND, you are within 100 meters of your permanent dwelling.
You can have a charcoal fire in a BBQ designed for charcoal while using only commercially available charcoal, AND, you are in a commercially operated campground with permission from the campground owner/operator.
You can have a wood fire in a commercially available wood burning stove or oven as long as the stove is 5 meters from any combustible material, the area under the stove is bare rock, the stove encloses the fire on all 4 sides, and the stove is within 100 meters of your dwelling.
You can have a campfire in a commercial campground in an above ground grate that is permanently affixed to the ground and cannot be moved and is clear of any combustible material by 3 meters in all directions including vertically (no overhanging branches) and you have permission from the campground owner/operator.
You can have a daytime campfire that is less than 1 meter in diameter and 1 meter high as long as it is on bare rock and at least one meter from all flammable material.
This last section (taken from O.Reg. 207/96 Section 8.5 paragraphs 1 through 4) seems to say that as long as you build a small fire on bare rock, you can have a daytime campfire at a wilderness campsite. Remember, all of these exceptions are for daytime burning when a total "fire ban" is NOT in effect.
The dump is on summer hours. It is open Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays from 11AM to 6:00PM. It changes back to winter hours on September 1.
The 2025 fishing regulations are available on the Ontario.ca website. The Limerick chain of lakes remains at the very south end of fisheries zone 15. Pages 104 to 114 of the regulations book. I had a chat with our local minnow trapper on the 19th and just a reminder that it is forbidden to transport minnows across fishery zone boundaries. Bass season opened June 28 and closes November 30. Lake trout season opened January 1 and closes September 30. The Limerick chain of lakes has a "slot size" for lake trout that MUST be returned to the lake if caught. It is roughly 16 to 22 inches. It is also a "one line" lake when ice fishing.
