June 19, 2008

It rained a little every day this week but fishing has been good for walleyes and northerns. I have also seen some nice perch come in. Here is a good northern pike caught today by Patrick Kempf, shown holding the fish and flanked by his father and brother.

June 17, 2008

Here is some good news. If you have a cell phone from Verizon, it will work in Chapleau now. But be sure to update its software before you leave home and while you are still within range of a Verizon owned tower. To do that, dial *228 (star 2 2 8). It take about a minute. The roaming table will be updated to include the Chapleau service provider.

Fishing has continued to be good. I have added some pictures to the photo album today.

May 18, 2008

The weather is terrible but walleye fishing is good. It snowed a bit on Saturday and Sunday but the fellows went out and caught some very nice wallyes. Here are the first photos of the season, taken by George Flaugher who gave me the memory card from his camera. Fortunately the snow is not staying on the ground, the temperature being about 33 or 34 Fahrenheit. It is forecast to get progressively warmer through this week.

April 23, 2008

If you have looked at the Chapleau webcams lately you will know that the ice is melting fast. The melting starts at the trestle bridge in Chapleau and progresses eastward past town hall and towards our boathouse. The ducks and loons have already arrived.

Today, I have launched our two work boats into the water. The wooden one has to soak a few days in a shallow place along shore so that it can tighten up. Sometime this weekend the ice should be gone as far as our boathouse and then I'll put those docks in place. By the end of April we should have clear sailing all the way to the cabins and then I can get the water system going. Once we have the water running, Cindy and her gang will be able to start getting the cabins cleaned and ready. Our 24 fishing boats will also have to be put in the water and motors put on. And of course all the docks will have to be put out in front of the cabins.

March 3, 2008

The snow next to our boathouse in Chapleau. My friend Ted Burns took this picture in the first week of March. Ted was standing on the ice in front of the boathouse. The picture shows the area along the lakeshore where we park our cars in the summer.

January 31, 2008

Here is the latest about crossing the border.
After January 31, 2008 a U.S. citizen must carry a Birth Certificate and valid identification (Driver’s License or State Identification) in order to cross U.S. land borders. However, once the U.S. Passport Card is issued, it eliminates the need for two separate pieces of identification. U.S. citizens living in border towns will also benefit from the new U.S. Passport Card. The Passport Card provides U.S. citizens with the convenience of traveling to Canada or Mexico by land, or taking a cruise to the Caribbean with a small and less expensive option than a regular U.S. Passport. The Passport Card also serves as a valid proof of identification for traveling by air within the United States, and may be used as proof of legal age for alcohol and tobacco purchases.

HOW TO REQUEST A U.S. PASSPORT CARD APPLICATION

If you wish to be notified when the United States Passport Card is available for download, send an email to notify@uspassportcard.org with your name and email address. You will be notified by email.

Chapleau is getting lots of snow this winter. Of course the town regularly removes snow from the streets and lakefront parking lot. What you see on the webcams is therefore much less than what we really have. This promisses a good supply of water in our lakes.

December 14, 2008

The Sate Department has announced implementation of the new Passport Card. I have made a link to the Sate Department's page that deals with the passport card which will be available as of February 1, 2008. Please check out this link for full information about the passport card.

A driver's license and birth certificate still suffice for entering the U.S.A. during 2008 but this would be a good time to apply for one of these new wallet size cards. Chances are high that in 2009 you will need either a passport card or a passport to re-enter the U.S.A.

December 1, 2007

Lately, many of our visitors from the U.S.A. have asked me about the Canadian health care system. From my own perspective, I can say that my family has had good experience with the Canadian health care system. It has worked well for us. The link below will take you to a website which provides some helpful information about the method by which health care is delivered in Canada. http://www.canadian-healthcare.org/index.html

November 30, 2007

Good news! The loonie drifted below par with the U.S. currency on Friday after a government report showed Canadian economic growth is slowing and crude oil prices tumbled.

It later regained some ground, closing at exactly $1 (U.S.).

November 8, 2007

I am going to send a letter to all of our American customers through regular mail, to make sure that everyone sees it. Below is the text:

SUBJECT: Dollar exchange rate

I hope that this finds you well. I am writing to all our American 
customers. My purpose is to tell you about the step we have taken to 
offset the inconvenience caused by the current U.S. / Canadian money 
exchange rate.

You probably know already that the gap between the two currencies has 
narrowed and even closed in recent months. Now, as I am typing this, the 
American Dollar is actually trading at 9 cents below the Canadian.

While this negative exchange rate lasts, we will accept American money 
at par with Canadian. This will shield our American customers from the 
worst effect of the devaluation.

We are implementing this by the following method. We will reduce our 
rates by the same percentage as the negative exchange rate happens to 
be the day on which you pay us.

If for example, on the day when we receive American money from you, the 
U.S. Dollar would buy only 92 cents Canadian, we would drop the cost of 
your stay with us by 8 percent. Our billing system is programmed now to 
do that automatically.

Your advance deposit will be handled the same way. We will credit you 
for its face value even when the U.S. Dollar is pegged below the 
Canadian. The difference will be deducted from the price of your cabin 
package.

When the American Dollar again trades higher than the Canadian, we will 
of course give you the benefit of the exchange rate advantage as we 
always have in the past.

Our prices will remain unchanged for 2008. We have not raised our rates 
since 2004. I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a happy holiday 
season.

With best regards,


Hugh Kuttner

October 31, 2007

Here is an interesting article. Everything, including accommodation will be cheaper by 1 per cent by January 2008. The GST tax was already reduced from 7 to 6 per cent last spring, now it is going down by another point to 5 per cent.

October 7, 2007

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed:
“A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."

This is the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks to our faithful customers, Doris and I were again able to earn our living with this camp and we are thankful for that. On Friday and Saturday I painted the outside of cabins No. 6 and No. 7. This morning I went back to the camp and spent the first half of a dark and foggy day putting away things while Doris cooked Thanksgiving dinner. This holiday comes earlier in Canada because being further north the harvest is brought in earlier. Below is the history of Canadian Thanksgiving which I copied here from Wikipedia:

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving, and the first Thanksgiving to have taken place in North America. Frobisher was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him — Frobisher Bay now known as Iqaluit.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their First Nations neighbours.

After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763 handing over New France to the British, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but did not occur every year. After the American Revolution, American refugees who remained loyal (United Empire Loyalists) to Great Britain moved from the United States and came to Canada. They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Canadian Confederation was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.

Starting in 1879 Thanksgiving Day was observed every year but the date was proclaimed annually and changed year to year. The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed year to year to reflect an important event to be thankful for. In the early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary.

After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11 occurred. Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays, and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.

October 6, 2007

There is new info about the border crossing requirements. Please have a look at my Border Crossing page.

September 24, 2007

August 24, 2007

There have alway been some small mouth bass here but I saw or heard of only one or two per year being caught by our fishermen. The bass never seemed to become more but were always a rarety ever since I owned the camp from 1963 till now. This year the fellows caught enough small mouth bass to make me sit up and pay attention. You still can't be sure to catch any bass when you are here but they seem to be multiplying. The fellows catch the odd one while perch fishing or trolling for walleyes. Bass season is open year round. The limit is 6 with a normal licence and 2 with a conservation licence.

August 6, 2007

I forgot to mention that the town has removed the parking meters. Downtown looks friendlier, less cluttered and more welcoming.

August 6, 2007

Highway 129 from Thessalon to Chapleau is in good shape this year. The construction is finished, leaving us with a good stretch of new pavement.

July17, 2007

Our customers tell us that using an American phone card or a credit card on a pay-phone proved to be very expensive. Credit cards as well as phone cards that were bought in the U.S.A. got charged for 100 minutes immediately when the call was connected.

We therefore recommend that you buy a phone card here in Chapleau. Please click here and read more about using the payphone.

June 18, 2007

The mayfly hatch is over and walleye fishing has turned on again on Saturday the 16th. I could already see a few more walleyes coming in towards the end of last week.

June 15, 2007

If you plan to bring your cell phone, it is important that you update the roaming table. That is also called re-programming the phone and should be done from time to time anyway to enable you to roam. For example, with a Verizon phone you dial *228 and follow the instructions. The process takes only about a minute. You have to do it while you are in an area that is serviced by Verizon, not on a tower of some other company.

If you aren't sure how to do this for your own particular phone, please go to your phone store before you leave for here and ask them to do it there. The service provider for Chapleau is TBAYtel. Here is the link to their website.

June 10, 2007

It rained a lot recently and the water is good and high. Walley fishing slowed down last week because of a mayfly hatch but is slowly picking up again. One 12 lb walleye was caught last week by Roger Flaugher's group. Last year at this time Tom Kempf caught his 32.5 inch walleyey. Here is a link to the picture of that fish.

June always produces some big walleyes. Right now, the fellows who fish late in the evening do best. From about 7:00 pm till dark seems to be the most productive time. Right out front of the camp is as good as anywhere. If you ever want to try some late evening fishing, bring a clamp-on type running light. Generally we catch plenty of walleyes any time of the day, but when the going gets rough you can usually get them in the late evening.

April 11, 2007

The GST refund for visitors' accommodation is in some kind of limbo until the federal government passes a new bill in July. Therefore nobody knows yet what will happen with the GST refund. I was told that you should take home the refund application as usual and submit it by mail. If the program is retained, you will receive the refund in due course. That is all that the agents and Canada Revenue Service know themselves at this time. But there is a better than 50/50 chance that the refund will be re-instated. There was a considerable outcry from the industry when it was canceled last fall.

May 15, 2007

We had a huge snow storm at Easter and the weather is only now warming up again. It looks as if the ice won't be gone early but more at its usual time, around the end of April.

March 31, 2007

Spring came early this year and it looks as if the ice might be gone by the middle of April. If you click here you will see the webcam image of the lake in front of our base in town. That is the stretch that opens up first.

I came across an interesting news article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I highlighted the most important parts and abbreviated it somewhat. Here are the best parts from it. The comments in brackets are mine:

Border guards should stop being tax collectors

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 | 2:41 PM ET CBC News

In its third national security report, the (Canadian Senate) defence committee said the Canadian government should be willing to forgo "what amounts to small change in the world of taxation".

"The people who should get the Government of Canada’s attention at our borders are would-be criminals or terrorists — not shoppers who got a little carried away at a factory outlet somewhere," the report states.

"Border inspectors need to spend less time looking for extra bottles of duty-free whiskey (I like this) and more time trying to identify people who might be a genuine threat to Canada."

It notes that the amount of duties collected accounts for only 0.147 per cent of national revenue, around $95 million, funds that could be recovered through other forms of taxation.

"The government should quit pretending that there are rational arguments for devoting so many of its resources to the collection of relatively small amounts of money from ordinary tourists," the report states. 'Let's have them protect the border'

The panel offers a number of recommendations, including:
* Raising personal exemptions of persons re-entering Canada to $2,000 a trip. (great idea)

(If you want to read the whole thing, here is the link to it)

February 26, 2007.

Doris and I are nearing the end of a four month stay in the U.S.A. Nearly every year since 1973 we have spent some months in America. We have always found the American people warm, generous and helpful and I hope that most Americans who visit Canada can say the same about Canadians. It looks as if from January 1, 2008 all American citizens will need a passport to re-enter the U.S.A. at a land crossing. Canadians who want to visit the U.S.A. will also need a passport in 2008 of course.

December 31, 2006

Happy New Year to you. My friend Ted Burns took these three pictures yesterday to show you how this place looks right now. The ice is about 9 inches thick. Doris and I look forward to seeing you again in 2007.

October 18, 2006

I found out today that the D-Link 802.11n Rangebooster Notebook Adapter works no better than the one that's built into my Dell computer which is a 802.11g. No better range than the "g". And it actually does worse on our Chapleau wireless network that blankets the town.

I can tell you though that we have a good usable wireless network working at the island. Right now it doesn't extend to the cabins that are furthest from the router, but if you can't connect from your cabin you can alway take your laptop to the the little phone building where there will be a desk and chairs and a good strong signal.

October 17, 2006

I have installed a wireless router in a location that's about the centre of the island. Today I walked around with my laptop and was able get a good fast connection as far north as cabin No. 3 and as far south as cabin No. 5. Those cabins are about 300 feet from the router and that range is consistent with what we should get with the 802.11g standard.

However, I am using one of the new 802.11n compliant routers and was told that it should give us greater range if the notebook adapter is also 802.11n compliant. I have one of those new "n" adapters now and will try it out tomorrow or whenever the rain stops. Will let you know whether it works from further away than 300 feet. If the type 802.11n adapter doesn't catch the signal from the furthest cabins, we'll have to get creative about extending the range. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please share them with me.

October 12, 2006

We had our first snow flurries today. I also learned today that the tax refund for visitors will be eliminated on April 1, 2007. Here is a link to the site that announces it. It amounts to about $12.00 Canadian per person that you can no longer get back.

I am now in the process of setting up a wireless network for internet access on the island. The wireless router is the new "n" type which is said to reach further than the previous standard. The wireless hub will be in the centre of the camp but the signal will have to reach out 500 feet from it in two directions. In a few days I will let you know how it worked out.

September 28, 2006

This week Bell Canada came and ran a submarine phone cable to our cabins to provide us with high-speed internet. The DSL modem arrived in the mail already. We will therefore be able to provide you with free internet access in the spring.

I would like to install wireless routers and wireless access points so that you can have WiFi access right in your cabin. We'll see how that goes, given the terrain and the many trees.

This new cable is enclosed in a metal conduit to prevent the beavers from chewing into it.

September 19, 2006

I have ordered high-speed DSL internet access for the cabins today. When Bell Canada has the modem installed, I plan to add a wireless router and access points to cover the entire island. Trouble is, the Beavers have chewed through our submarine phone cable and Bell Canada has to replace the cable first. But this was also promised to happen "real soon". I will keep you posted.

September 3, 2006

The road construction is still going on along Hwy. 129. Someone told me that the crew was not working this last Saturday and that there was no delay. But who know what will happen from now on. I would still play it safe and come by way of Wawa.

The week from August 26th to September 2nd was very slow fishing. It picked up last Thursday, judging from the walleyes that were caught on that day by a few of our fishermen. On September 2nd and the morning of the 3rd (today) I saw some nice walleyes coming in again, so the improving trend seems to continue.

I wish I knew what makes the fish bite. Have you come across this new blood worm replacement? It works for salt water fish and it might just work for walleyes too, although I don't see walleyes listed on their website. Here is the link to it Fishbites. If you see it, you might want to pick up a package and try it.

August 15, 2006

There is road construction on Highway 129. I recommend that you come by way of Hwy. 17 North to Wawa and then on to Chapleau on Hwy. 101 East.

July 7, 2006

Walleye fishing has been excellent this past week. For example, Virg and Gloria landed 85 walleyes this week and never went more than a mile and a half from their cabin. Many of their walleyes were in the 18 to 23 inch range. Of course, most were released. The hot lure this week was a yellow twister tail on a lead-headed jig. No leader. The walleyes were caught trolling.

We have reduced our prices to help our customers who are faced with the diminishing U.S./Can. exchange rates. The prices on the website are the new correct ones for 2006. The prices on the paper brochures are out-dated.

May 17, 2006

Here is some good news about the dreaded passport requirement. No passports will be needed till 2009 at the earliest. Please check out this story.

It has been a very early spring. The cabins are ready and our first fishermen will arrive on May 18th. The ice went out on April 23rd and by the first week of May the leaves where out.

We have replaced some more of the 2-stroke outboards with new 4-strokes. The 4-strokes go about twice as far on a gallon of gas and are quieter and smoother. Half of the fleet are now 4-strokes.

Since the exchange rate of American and Canadian money is now so narrow and so many of our customers come from the U.S.A., we have decided to reduce our prices and thus reduce the pain. The lower prices on our website supersede the ones that are printed in our paper brochure.