The engine people told us they'd be able to come on August 15, so we had a bit of time to kill in Midland. The very fine marina at the Bay Port marina was able to help us with the 3-month maintenance checkup but demurred at the electronic problem we were having - so we had to wait for the Cummins engine technician.

Midland has a lovely neat town with lots of shops and restaurants. Our marina is a 10-minute bicycle ride from the the town center along a paved bicycle trail that goes right behind the Archer-Daniels Midland grain storage and milling facility and some of the ruins of what used to be a major agribusiness port for Canadian agricultural shipping.

Midland also is known for its murals that cover the side of the ADM facility overlooking the harbor and a number of building facades and sides. The mural reflect the history of Midland as a place where eight French Jesuit fathers were martyred in the Huron-Iroquois wars in the 17th century, as Canadian-Huron fur trading outpost and later as a logging and agricultural rail and shipping hub.

One day we took a bike ride over the hill to Penetanguishene - a harbor town on the other other side of the peninsula. It had a nice main street that was unfortunately all ripped up and closed to traffic, but the harbor front had a great view of the Penetang Bay, the marina and the hills surrounding it. They had a great fish and chips place by the water!

Otherwise, we stayed with Salty as all the repairmen and technicians came aboard to fix her. We were tied to making sure the repairs were a priority for them - so couldn't be absent for long, lest they go off somewhere else!

Other than sitting and waiting for technicians, we were able to fit in some sightseeing on the weekend days. One day we rode out to Port McNichol to see the SS Keewatin - a nearly intact Edwardian era cruise ship that plied Lakes Huron and Superior until the mid-1960's. It is interesting to see and think about a coal-driven steam ship - such primitive technology compared to what we're trying to have fixed on Salty - that until so recently was an operating luxury liner. The ship had many first class cabins and public rooms that were decorated in the period styles of the early 20th century. The most interesting part was the engine room where the steam engines were nearly intact and the staff performed a demonstration of the workings of the engine (by electric motor, not coal/steam and with propeller disabled).

The Midland area is noted for its early 17th century French settlement and martyrdom of the priests that founded the settlement of Sainte-Marie. The village of Sainte-Marie was recreated on the Wye River, complete with working farm and artisan buildings, longhouses where converted and non-converted Huron natives lived, as well as a crude lock waterway that allowed canoes to enter the settlement directly from the river. The village is located just down the hill from the very large basilica dedicated to and containing relics of the martyred 17th century priests that regularly receives busloads of pilgrims.