Neighbourhood News

Sail Parry Sound is excited to announce a new cafe kiosk which will be on premises this summer, with an exceptional view of the Bay. They will also have some additional recreational paddle boarding activities for the public to enjoy.

Sail Parry Sound Sailing School (SPS3) has been in operation since 1998. Managed by volunteers, who employ Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) certified instructors, the school organizes and manages sailing races and conducts sail training for youth and adults from July to August each year. The school owns a fleet of approximately 30 boats, ranging from Opti-style prams to 420s for race training, plus motorized safety boats. The opportunity to enjoy some fresh food on the upper deck and the additional recreational activities contributes to making this an ideal destination.

The Sail Parry Sound Sailing Centre, is located on the waterfront trail, just North West of the Stockey Centre. Visit http://sailparrysound.on.ca to learn more about the programs, registration, members’ race nights, and how you can join Sail Parry Sound to enjoy the finest freshwater sailing in the world.

Important Notice Regarding Dock & Boathouse Construction

If you are planning to construct a dock or boathouse in 2016 there may be delays in issuing building permits and advanced planning may provide a timely transition. For the full notice from the Township of the Archipelago, click here.

Hydro One Right-of-Way Maintenance

As all of us around Kapikog Lake are aware, your Association has been after Hydro One for a few years to deal with right of way vegetation maintenance. In the first week of February all property owners on the electrical grid should have received a letter from Hydro One informing us as to their planned work around Kapikog Lake with regard to maintenance this summer.

Electrical Service was established around the lake in 1970, and most cottagers availed themselves of the service. The rights-of-way were cleared of trees and only low vegetation remained. As the years progressed, natural forest succession took place; trees started to grow under the lines and branches from trees bordering the right-of-way grew out over it in search of sunlight. This succession and encroachment created issues with the delivery of power to the residences (mostly during storms and their aftermath), thus around 2001 Hydro forestry crews returned to again clear the encroaching trees and branches and remove trees that posed an imminent threat to power delivery.

Cottagers have been inconvenienced (spoiled fridge and freezer contents) due to power outages caused by trees and tree limbs falling onto the lines and disrupting the delivery of power. People have also complained of arcing blue flames between lines caused by tree limbs resting on the lines and posing a fire threat during a hot dry summer. To be fair to Hydro One, reported power outages have always been dealt with quickly and efficiently. Sending out crews to deal with these outages can’t be cheap and we all pay for that in the price we pay for this power and its delivery. Line maintenance is a power loss preventative measure that unfortunately has not been kept up and has resulted in more frequent power outages.

The rights of way are once more grown over with trees that reach into the power lines, and branches have again reached out from trees along it. Many are overhanging and during wind, ice and heavy snow events they lay on the lines creating outage issues that can be addressed by the clearance of the rights- of-way. They need to be cleared again, thus the recent letter from Hydro One to all of us informing us of the scheduled work is good news .

Once the right of way is cleared the power lines will be very distinct and visible through the bush and power outages due to on line conflict with trees and branches much reduced. Nature however will do its thing and will soon start the filling in cycle all over again. It is important that we all respond positively to this action. So if branches from trees on your property are interfering with the lines and have to be removed, recognize the hazard as a weak link in the delivery of electricity to everyone around the lake and that we all benefit from clear unobstructed right of ways. We encourage you to complete and return the tear off portion of the Hydro One letter.

An usual phenomenon occurred at the lake recently…Read the story here.

Hydro One Saves Kapikog Lake Residents from Darkness

Imagine coming back to the cottage on Kapikog Lake this past April 9th a beautiful sunny day via snowmobile with all your provisions for a few days over a deeply snow covered road and finding out that when you arrived there was no electricity to your residence. That is what faced Margot and Roly our lake elders. Year round residents on the south side of Kapikog Lake were out for the day so no one there could verify if they were out of electricity also, but a generator could be heard running somewhere down the lake. I was out assisting some residents on the north side of Kapikog when Margot called our place to see if we had electricity after she had placed a power outage call to Hydro One, she found out that we indeed had power. So the wait began. Hydro One staff arrived on the scene mid afternoon, assessed the situation and informed Margot and Roly of their findings while I was attending their residence to see if I could be of any assistance. The Hydro crew informed us that a transformer had blown and that they would try to get a new one in that day but that it would most likely be the next day before repairs could be made. Being one of the original cottagers on the lake, Margot and Roly were well prepared to make the best of it. After all, they had the equipment to deal with such a situation. By this time the other South Shore residents had returned home and found that they were also without power and they like Margot and Roly were prepared to be without Hydro One electricity for the night.

An hour or so later Hydro One contacted them and informed them that they had located a transformer and were going to have it brought in and hopefully installed before darkness fell. So things were looking up! Around the supper hour the whoop, whoop, whoop of helicopter rotors could be heard in the evening sky coming from the north west and coming closer by the minute. Shortly the Hydro One helicopter was overhead slinging a transformer below it and headed for the pole that needed to have the faulty transformer replaced. It slowed down, hovered and slowly lowered the transformer down to the waiting ground crew. The pilot and ground crew must have had excellent communications between themselves because all of this only took a few minutes and then the chopper was off heading south with the defective transformer hanging below it. The ground crew then did their thing and before nightfall all had electricity restored and life was back to normal. It was quite a scene to behold and a job well done by Hydro One. Kudos to all those members of Hydro One for doing their job in an efficient and professional manner, it is very much appreciated!

Gerry Haarmeyer President Kapikog Lake Cottagers’ Association

ATV Regulations

By-Law No.13-39 A By-Law to permit the operation of “All -Terrain Vehicles” (ATV’s) on highways and lands under the Jurisdiction of the Corporation of The Township of the Archipelago.

The By-law defines ATVs, highway and Off -Road Vehicles by referring to various Provincial Statutes.

It allows for the use of ATVs on all roadways under the jurisdiction of The Corporation of The Township of The Archipelago except for the following;

Blackstone-Crane Lake Road
Blackstone Lake Road
Armstrong-Jacklin Road
Joe Koran Road
Ramsey-Johnston Road
North Fork Road
South Fork Road
Aga Ming Road

It sets speed limits.

It sets permitted hours of operation.

It sets aside areas where ATV operation is not permitted with the exception of recognized parking or vehicle access areas.

The actual By-Law should be consulted for the proper legal wording and is available on the Archipelago website, click here.

Forestry Project

A project is underway under the aegis of Westwind Forest Stewardship Inc. to harvest wood in an area west of Hellangone Lake between Healey Lake Road and Hutcheson Lake.
An access road is currently under construction south from Healey Lake Road.
Reportedly, only the west half of the area coloured in brown is being harvested. These maps illustrate the location relative to our lake.

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