Tomcat

LOL Wayne. Made me think of my trip to the Gouin Reservoir in 2005 (4.5 hours of gravel road from just north of Mont Laurier). We had pulled onto a logging road entrance for a rest stop near a sweeping left hand turn for oncoming truck traffic (huge logging trucks fully loaded and traveling near 100 km/hr). As we watched one of those huge logging trucks come through that corner, his back wheels probably drifted 5 or 6 feet across the main road. I was glad we were off the road!

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm leaning towards replacing the Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires (UTQG tread wear rating of 440) with a set of Michelin Latitude Tour tires (part number 21436) that have a UTQG tread wear rating of 620. While no doubt a harder compound, Consumer Reports rates ride comfort as very good, noise as excellent and tread life as excellent. However, rolling resistance is only good compared to very good for my current Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires.

I've had a 2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4 X 4 since Mar 2007 (Michelin Cross Terrain tires (P235/65 R18) were OEM supplied tires). Tread depth was 4/32" after 20,000 miles. Complained to Michelin and arranged for a new set of Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires (P235/65 R18 104 H) at 50% off. Tread depth on those tires is currently 4/32" after 21252 miles (95% highway driving at legal speed limits, no towing, no plowing). I'd appreciate obtaining some new tire recommendations from you guys for my vehicle (odometer is at 50,000 miles and I typically keep vehicles 15 years) that provide very good dry braking, very good wet braking, good to very good handling, no hydroplaning, low noise, low rolling resistance, longer tread life (i.e. 50,000 miles) and a reasonable ride. Winter driving characteristics are of no concern because I switch to Blizzaks on their own rims each winter. Thanks in advance. Jay

Great story telling with great pics along too. Like a really good book, had to keep reading until the end. I'm very envious of your experiences. Thanks for sharing.

First trip this year will be a 9 day fly-in to Lac Hebert with Tamarac Air 20-29 Jun for walleyes and northerns (http://www.tamarac.ca/php/en/hebert_profil.php) Second trip will be our eighth consecutive year at Club Trout Lake 15-23 Aug for walleyes, lake trout and northerns (http://www.clubtroutlake.com/)

Great read with great pictures interspersed. Very much appreciate you making the time and getting the rust off your story telling skills. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed your video.

Thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen it before. Very very enjoyable!

According to a data sheet on the Generac web site, the fuel consumption for a 14 kW system running at half load is 177 cubic feet of natural gas per hour. At 12 cents per cubic foot, that equates to $21 an hour. Same data sheet states that the fuel consumption for the same unit running at half load is 1.85 gallons or liquid propane per hour. At 70 cents per liter of liquid propane, that equates to $6 per hour. I was surprised to learn that it would cost 3 times as much to run on natural gas as on liquid propane.

Thanks Wayne for sharing pictures of your flight. Very enjoyable especially from that altitude! Just wondering how comfortable it is in your aircraft when flying in such cold temperatures. Thanks too to Steve for sharing some info on solar power. A couple of the outfitters I know on Lake Kipawa have switched to solar power as their main source of electricity and use their generators as backup now.

Thanks Drew !!

Have a look at http://www.stcyrroyal.com/, a five star lodge near Senneterre, Quebec for trophy northern pike and big walleye.

As always Mike, a very big thank you for putting your report together and for sharing another one of your adventures. Outstanding fish candy!

Thanks for another great report. Congrats to Brenda for her huge gator!

Thanks Mike for making the time to put this report together and sharing your short adventure with the rest of us. The lake provided some great fishing especially for two young lads. Great pics and videos. As always, a real pleasure.

Kudos for your efforts. I get the same level of enjoyment teaching my two grandsons (6 and 5) how to fish. Their jubilation exhibited while catching pan fish or the odd small mouth off the cottage dock always puts a big smile on my face. Hope your trip to Reggie's goes well this year. Jay

Thanks so much for taking the time to put your report together and provide us with some insights into what a trip to Nipigon can be like. Very enjoyable!

Thanks for your report and pics. I particularly liked the sunset pic. I looked up the Sepaq map for the Barrage Cabonga area - you guys were on some big water. It would take a while to learn that much water. Regardless, you caught some beauties.

Thanks for making the time to share another great adventure. Great story, great pics and some beautiful fish.

The first furnace in the house I purchased 31 years ago was 65% efficient (so 35% of the energy went up the chimney). The furnace I have now is a high efficiency model running at about 93% efficiency. Consequently, when you can achieve energy savings of approximately 30% and the government is prepared to provide you a financial incentive to make the change, IMHO, its a no-brainer. I'm aware that natural gas is and has been cheap for a while now but that is not going to last forever. Natural Resources Canada has published a brochure (PDF) - see http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/M91-23-7-2003E.pdf that discusses air conditioning and provides a formula to be able to compare annual operating costs of various air conditioners. If your central air conditioner is an older model, it probably has a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) of approximately 6. Its been illegal to sell central air conditioners with less than a SEER rating of 10 for several years now. And depending on your cost of electricity, you might want to consider purchasing an air conditioner with a higher SEER rating (e.g. 12, 13, 14 etc). The formula provided by the brochure allows anyone to calculate their annual operating costs for air conditioning and thus compare annual energy costs for various SEER rated air conditioners. I presently have a central air conditioner rated at 10 SEER. Since the government is offering financial incentives to upgrade to higher SEER rated air conditioners, I did the calculations to determine whether or not I should spend the dollars to upgrade. In my area, Eastern Ontario, my annual savings from a 14.5 SEER unit over a 10 SEER unit would amount to $55 (cost of electricity used was $0.11 per kWh). At that rate of savings, my pay back period is 65 years. Consequently, a no go. Even at $0.15 per kWh, my pay back period would be 49 years. Suffice to say that there are government resources out there to facilitate your calculations.

Thanks so much again for allowing most of us to vicariously enjoy such a trip north. Don't ever wonder whether your efforts to put these reports together are not truly appreciated by everyone. I was wondering whether you always try to arrange for Otters on your fly-ins? Do you guys ever eat northerns or do you always eat walleye on these trips?

Great report and pics. Thanks for sharing Mike.

Based on a little research via the net, it looks like a 3000 watt generator is required to start and run a typical 13500 BTU air conditioner in an RV.

Unless you have access to a new 2013 Honda generator for a kick-but price, check out Kijiji and save dollars for slightly used Honda portable generators. Last year, I purchased a mint 2010 Honda EU2000i inverter generator with less than 12 hours running time for $950. No regrets whatsoever.

First thing I would do is establish whether or not you have power going to the switch that controls your outside lights - lets you know in which direction to look for the problem.