The New Year began with startling cold intermingled with generous snow dumps!  The new(er) Torbay plow truck handled the volumes well and Brandy just has to be there to supervise...

  Many ice shacks out on the lake already (visible as little dots in the background in the pic below...

All of this snow and especially cold came at the time the International Ringette Games were being showcased here in North Bay... ... some days were bordering on brutal with the windchill hitting -49C  !!!

The World Ringuette Championship was big for North Bay,
the birthplace of the Sport

.

Team Finland won the Sam Jacks Trophy in a best two-out-of-three series against Team Canada, who won silver

Team USA won bronze medals, defeating Team Sweden in a winner-take-all game, this competition being held 50 years after Sam Jacks invented the sport in 1963 while attempting to keep more young girls active

The Biggley group out of Niagara were our first snowmobilers of the season...   

 ... below, adjusting the Go-Pro  ...

Ice fishing and snowmobiling is now in full swing on the lake (mid January) ... about 21" of solid ice
... interestingly, many fishers have set up just off Sunset Park and Torbay, most simply lined up
in close proximity to the ice road that heads out to the islands - fishing has been excellent from what we are hearing

This Winter has been more typical of Winters' past with brutal cold, winds and plenty of snow... 

January 2014 temps (below) show a range from +4 to -34 C

                                                      
   Sleeping Sleds...

The Devries group just sledded in from Pembrooke (riding the RAP tour)

                                              Traffic coming off the lake around 6 pm...

                             
The Glazier group here for a week of trail exploration

The Ferringer Group from Pennsylvania also returned for a week, for the third time... perfect conditions throughout the Near North... ... with the exchange near a 10% premium for the US dollar... ... still not like the 1990's when it reached near 40% !  Anyway, sorry guys... did not get your pic...

Then in early February the 'Betty-Ride' group from SW Ontario took three of the larger cottages and enjoyed continuing fabulous conditions...

As we slide through 'peak season' we have lots of equipment to juggle...

The NBSSR Radar Speed Trials are back for another year
with one weekend in Feb and a second in early March...

Perfect conditions for the trails and fishing... Feb 11

The Polmateer-Soper family out for a snowshoe hike
 ... it's a sunny but cold mid February excursion

   Briana Polmateer drew this fine example of Brandy
with her 'heart' on the side - Thanks Briana !          

Quite a few more folk have come and gone in the past four weeks however I got lazy and did not take photos ... and now it is mid March already and while still in the depth of Winter, here we are with ice fishing over (15 March) and the huts starting to come off the Lake

        And so it is, now only 4 days to the first day of Spring and we have record cold in the air and record snow covering - everything !  This has been the coldest - snowiest - windiest Winter in the last 20 or 30 years.
We sure are ready for Warmer Weather Please !!          

                 Remember to tend to the 'flame' ...

                                              Mid March WebCam pic

        May 5th departing ice...

      And now it is already May, the ice, which reached near 4.5ft thick has essentially left the lake and for the first time since last October we hear the waves once again... what a delight!

Many of our Guests here at Torbay are aware of gradual changes to Torbay, some significant ones like the severance and subsequent removal of #1 Cottage and the eventual division of Torbay into two separate parts/entities (see Torbay News2010  ). Most of you also know that I intend to sell half - and eventually both parts of Torbay and "retire" next door.

So in due course we now have new owners for the half of Torbay comprised of the four larger cottages. We extend a warm welcome to Bridget & Tim Brooke, coming to North Bay and Torbay from South-Western Ontario, downsizing (like me) and looking forward to a slower pace. Tim & Bridget take over their cottage side in June and will spend the summer in #4 before moving to the Lakefront in September. As such, this will be the last summer the Lakefront Cottage #2 will be available to the public. Our new owners will continue to run Torbay Cottages as I have, in short-term and extended-stay tourism and corporate applications.

I will continue to live in the house and run the 'other' half of Torbay, altering the name slightly to Torbay Suites. Meantime there will also be changes made to the website and there will be eventually two separate sites, one for Torbay Cottages, the other for Torbay Suites. I will be setting these up during the next several months. You will continue to reach us all at the current Torbay phone numbers.

 Nice to see the birds returning             

 First 'clear water' sunset 06 May ... yay!

Oh those crazy guests into the water May 10th ... the ice is barely gone you guys!

Lake Nipissing is ice-free - Wed May 14

The difference of a day may not seem relevant to some. But the ice-off has long been the focus of betting pools in the city, many of which look to The Nugget, which has recorded the ice's annual departure since 1901, to determine official ice-off date.

At Demarco's Confectionery, more than 65 people are involved in two ice-off pools - both of which include those who have wagered the lake will be clear of ice May 13 and 14.

The earliest the ice left was April 3, 1945, and the latest was May 19, 1926. Lake Nipissing is 67 kilometres long and 26 kilometres wide at its broadest points. The depth averages 4.5 metres.

The ice-off comes just ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend, the traditional kickoff for both the fishing and boating seasons.

Capt. Rich Stivrins, of the Chief Commanda II, said cruises to the Manitou Islands begin Saturday and will continuing running on weekends until mid-June when daily cruises to the islands and Callander Bay will be offered. French River cruises will run Sundays starting at the end of June.

Late June

Up the neighbour's tree ... good view of the beach  eh?

Mama/Papa and four young at the house door

... once again, time to rebuild after the ice had it's way....

The new 'Dock' ... we love it!

    July 21st

Bridget, Tim & Family enjoying a peaceful break at Sunset

August 5th

The Pettigrew / McLeod clan ... for many years now... August

                                                Sep 28th

                 October 10th

What a difference a week makes...

note the very high water levels too...

               below -         left 12 October                right 19 October

 Check News2013 for last year's Torbay changes and a-happenings 

 Check News2012       Check News2011      or      News2010

As of the Fall of 2014
all our  'News'  will be found on Our Facebook Page 
... just so much easier for your hosts Bridget & Tim. Thanks !