Meeting Captain & Crew of the Thomas James

Thomas James – Visit with an Exchange of Boat Tours!

While cruising through the Killarney Channel, on our way to Collins Inlet, we received a call on our VHF. After switching to channel 68, Bill, the guy hailing us, told us that, as he was standing on the balcony of his channel-side home, he noticed our red Ranger Tug slowly cruising by. He said he was so excited to see the “cute tug” he’d love to have a tour and chat with us about it as he had never seen one in person before.

As we were trying to figure out his location, we spotted him, with the binoculars, on his balcony taking photos of our boat as Lisa (unknowingly) was, at the very same time, taking photos of his Thomas James schooner docked in front of his house. We made soft plans to meet the next day on our return from Georgian Bay as we’ll need to pass by Killarney again to get to our next destination, Baie Fine.

After our short trek to Collins Inlet, we returned to Killarney the next day for a much-needed pump out at the Killarney Mountain Lodge before we headed over to Bill, and his wife, Kathy’s, dock to meet them in person, give them a tour of our Kismet in exchange for one on the Thomas James. Bill explained that they’ve been thinking of purchasing a small trawler like ours to cruise the North Channel, Georgian Bay, Trent Severn, and Erie Canal. They were happy for the opportunity to see our Ranger Tug up close and get our thoughts on how, and why, the boat worked for us.

After our visit to the Thomas James and as we’re heading towards Baie Fine, I thought of all the wonderful experiences we’ve had meeting people all over the world while boating around the United States. We could tell immediately that Bill and Kathy (above), are true adventurers all the way around. While at their dock, we felt the excitement and richness of their experiences and left, after a nice visit, taking that feeling with us. Thanks, Bill and Kathy!

Kismet (below) is shoving off the dock the Thomas James calls home.