Waypoints

One of the best uses of a general aviation airplane is to stretch a short summer weekend into a longer one. The ability to leap vast distances in a fraction of the time it would take to drive the same span gives pilots a whole new set of weekend opportunities compared to those of their ground-bound brethren.

A recent trip to Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario, about 100 nautical miles north of Toronto, is a case in point. The 360-nm trip from my home base of Frederick, Maryland, would require only about 2.5 hours in a Beech Bonanza — direct Philipsburg VOR, direct Buffalo, direct. I dug out a road map in an attempt to figure out how one might drive to Huntsville from Maryland. It's almost one of those you-can't-get-there-from-here situations. Go west, then north, then east, then north some more — probably at least 12 hours' driving each way. Not exactly an option for a weekend ... even a three-day weekend.

My wife, Brenda, and I had been anticipating the trip for months. I watched the weather the whole week before our planned flight as Mother Nature kept us in suspense. A huge low-pressure system stalled over the Midwest, while another low over eastern Canada attempted to back into the northern United States, deluging the entire eastern half of the country with rain and causing flooding in parts of the mid-Atlantic region.

By Friday, our intended day of departure, the two systems had about wrung themselves out. Layered clouds and some light rain were forecast for the route, with good visibility underneath. True to the forecast, we encountered a little light rain over Buffalo, but some big holes in the clouds meant we could skip the NDB approach into Muskoka, Ontario, to clear customs. Muskoka is located about 25 nm southwest of Huntsville. The flight service specialists on the field canceled our IFR flight plan as we touched down on the 6,000- foot runway. Grant, the friendly customs agent, met us at the airplane with a warm "Welcome to Canada, step out and stretch your legs." Two minutes later we were set for the 14-minute flight to Deerhurst.

Anyone could have a superb time visiting Deerhurst Resort, a five-star facility operated by Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts. Canadian Pacific manages some of the very best hotels in Canada. But pilots will find Deerhurst particularly enticing and convenient because of the new 3,000-foot paved runway right on the resort property (identifier DH1). Many of the buildings on the 1,000-acre resort overlook Peninsula Lake, which, like most lakes in Canada, is open to seaplanes. Water-taxi right up to the dock.

Murray Cook, an AOPA member and president of Deerhurst, Incorporated, the company that owns the resort, insists the decision to put in the runway was strictly business. The fact that he can now commute to work in his Piper Aztec is purely coincidental. "I assure you I was completely objective about the whole process," Cook says wryly as he points out how they blasted away acres of granite and most of a hillside to make way for the strip. The runway opened last fall and has since brought in new business for the 460-room resort.

Private aircraft are welcome and can home in on the runway's NDB (identifier D9), but the biggest boon in new business has been from conventioneers. Deerhurst has an agreement with Voyager Airways to shuttle in resort customers from throughout the region. Voyager goes to the States and various parts of Canada, picks up groups in its de Havilland Dash 7 airliners and Beech King Airs, and delivers them right to Deerhurst for meetings and conventions. In addition, the presence of the runway has helped the resort compete with other convention facilities in Toronto, and even in upstate New York.

In one case, the meeting planner for an organization preparing for a convention was in Toronto for only a couple of days and didn't have the time to make the three-hour drive to Huntsville to look over the resort. Deerhurst sent a King Air down to pick him up, with the promise that he would be back in Toronto in three hours. Precisely three hours later the executive was back in Toronto and Deerhurst had a contract for a large convention. "That was one we wouldn't have gotten if we hadn't been able to get the planner up here to actually see our facilities. The runway made it possible," insists Cook.

For those flying in, Deerhurst sells Esso avgas and jet fuel. Paved parking is available, complete with tiedown anchors, but bring your own ropes. Permission to land can be had by telephoning 800/461-4393 (fax 705/789-2431). Call inbound on 123.35 MHz to have a van waiting to take you to registration.

It was an enthusiastic Cook who marshaled our Bonanza into its parking spot. His narrated tour of the resort easily shows why this facility has been a favorite of Canadians for 99 years.

About 25 buildings scattered around the resort each contain 15 or so condominium-style suites. The 370 units come in a dizzying array of sizes and styles and can accommodate two to six people each. As might be expected of a five-star resort, the rooms are spacious and comfortable. Virtually all have fireplaces, decks or patios, and great views of the lake, golf courses, or hills. As we discovered over the three-day weekend, you'll probably spend little time in the rooms, anyhow; there's too much to do outside.

Landlubbers can beat little white balls into submission on two 18-hole golf courses — one of them a championship course. Those into racquets have free use of tennis, squash, and racquetball courts. Swimmers have three outdoor and two indoor pools to choose from, and a lake beach. Hikers can enjoy miles of trails — and equestrians, for an extra charge, can mount a Deerhurst horse for a trail ride.

Nissan provides a fleet of four-wheel-drive Pathfinders for a driving school. Students spend a couple of hours in class learning how to drive the vehicles on the tough trails, and then they go four- wheeling with an instructor in the right seat.

Nautical types have free use of canoes, kayaks, pedal boats, windsurfers, and sailboats. Available at an extra charge are boat tours, water skiing, and fishing trips.

During the summer peak season, the rooms vary in price from $149 Canadian (about $90 U.S.) for a double to $539 Canadian ($325 U.S.) for a suite that sleeps six. Americans definitely benefit from the weak Canadian dollar. Midweek packages and off-peak times result in even lower prices.

Cook and I spent much of the weekend talking airplanes and flying, leaving Brenda yawning. But a massage, manicure, and tennis lesson later, she was civil again — at least until I beat her three games straight on the courts.

The real treat of the weekend for me was some seaplane flying. In that part of Canada — littered with lakes and with few highways for transportation — seaplanes are a way of life. Cook's friend, Ron Newburg, president of Canadian Aero Engine and Accessories — located in Rama, Ontario, just south of Muskoka — landed on the lake and walked up the hill to join us for breakfast one morning. Canadian Aero is one of the largest engine overhaul and aftermarket shops in Canada.

After breakfast, Newburg took me in his Cessna 180 on straight floats on a flight around the Muskoka area and then dropped me off at Orillia Aviation, where owner Rick Voderak showed me his operation. Voderak, who is also president of the Canadian Seaplane Pilots Association, specializes in seaplane repairs, seaplane flight training, and installing engine upgrades. After the tour, we launched in Voderak's 180 on floats (everyone seems to have one) to explore Georgian Bay and to drop in on one of the two hunting and fishing camps he owns on remote Ontario lakes. Georgian Bay and the lakes near it provide the ideal excuse for a seaplane. Boats and seaplanes offer the only access to the hundreds of summer homes on the islands there. Some of the homes — built on solid rock islands — are remarkable works of engineering and architecture.

Soon it was time to head back to civilization. Voderak expertly plunked the 180 onto Peninsula Lake and taxied the craft among boats, canoes, and windsurfers to the Deerhurst dock.

Our whirlwind weekend concluded with a stop in Buffalo to clear U.S. Customs — again a five-minute ordeal. And then it was back home. Two remarkably short and pleasant flights brought us to and fro this Canadian pilot's paradise, a trip not at all feasible by any other means.