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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 94: Weathering Life's Storms
Some of life's greatest lessons emerge from weathering unexpected storms. In this deeply reflective episode, I explore how the literal thunderstorms of Northern Ontario and the metaphorical storms of major life decisions have shaped my journey as a lodge owner.
The wilderness demands respect. I share the harrowing midnight experience that taught me this truth—slipping off a boat during a violent storm and nearly falling into churning waters, dangling precariously with just my torso on the dock as lightning illuminated the sky. This near-disaster transformed my approach to guest safety and weather management forever.
Weather in the North has its own personality. I recount the memorable expedition with a proper English grandmother who, facing a wall cloud and gale-force winds that turned our 24-foot boat sideways, calmly assessed the situation with unexpected profanity: "Steve, this storm is a fucking doozy." Her composure taught me how grace under pressure reveals true character.
But our most significant storms are often internal. I bare my soul about the overwhelming buyer's remorse after purchasing Chaudière Lodge—that moment sitting alone in my truck with an internal voice screaming "what have you done?" as I contemplated the enormous financial commitment I'd made. This emotional tempest eventually led to my greatest growth.
Perhaps most poignantly, I share how my biggest regret—failing to purchase a lakefront cottage that later increased 6.5 times in value—ultimately provided the courage needed to take the life-changing risk of buying the lodge. Sometimes our apparent failures are preparing us for greater opportunities ahead.
These stories remind us that life's storms, whether literal or metaphorical, don't just test us—they reveal our resilience and often guide us toward experiences we might otherwise miss. What storms have shaped you?
This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, diaries of a Lodge Owner, stories of the North. Today, folks, it's just you and I, and we are going to talk about the storms of life and those storms. I was looking out the window and we have in southern Ontario today, a day where they're calling for severe thunderstorms, and it's also a day that we've woken up and found who our government is in this country, and some may say that's going to be a storm and some may not. But today we're going to talk about the storms of life and I'm going to start with number one how to deal with an emotional storm. Right, Because I think there's a lot of people that suffer from those. I for one, know that I've been in a position where I have these emotional storms every once in a while. And you know, the Maple Leafs lose a game and the outcome of the election for some of us doesn't turn the way that we really want and hope it does. But at the end of the day, I think these storms make us stronger, and sometimes are meant to be, and we just don't know how things are going to turn out. How things are going to turn out, and I, always in this position, try to remind myself that I've done everything I could, and I need to refocus and and feel good, because the emotions that you feel very easily can lift you into wonderful places or spiral you down into places that you never thought you were going to get back to, or places that you just don't want to go because it's negative and negative thoughts. So, on a day with a storm coming and the aftermath of the election and a ton of stories that kind of flooded back in my memory about storms over the years, let's start back at Chaudière and I'm going to talk a little bit about weather management when you own a lodge, and that weather management was a very interesting subject for me.
Speaker 1:I had never even considered that I should be managing the weather when I'm at the lodge, because you know you really can't control the weather. And all of you out there are thinking, well, yeah, the weather's something that you can't manage, can you? And the answer is no. But what you can do is you can manage expectations in the proper way and those expectations start, and I learned this the hard way a few times because I'm one of those people who I, as a youngster, loved severe weather. You know we're in a very safe spot here in Ontario and I always felt that, you know, like really severe weather other than thunderstorms was just not a possibility. So I grew up with this love for thunderstorms and I just didn't think it didn't cross my mind about managing weather at the lodge and, you know, keeping people safe and this and that. And I told one story in one of the previous episodes about Ty and Sonia Powers and Mark Plante and his lovely girlfriend at the time when we went out and got caught in that ridiculous thunderstorm. That was a lesson that I learned there. You know like I should have looked on the map and found a boathouse to hide in right rather than try and drive through it. But those are lessons that I learned.
Speaker 1:The other lesson that I learned as well, this was a different storm and you know, over the years I've lived through a tornado. Mind you, it didn't do any damage to our home in particular, but in 1985, there was a tornado that went through Grand Valley, which was the town that I went to public school in at the time and my grandparents lived there, and Orangeville and Barrie, ontario, and that was kind of when things in my mind flipped and that changed. So I've seen some storms. I mean, that's my point I've seen some severe weather. But when I bought the lodge and moved up to the French River part time, the weather there is very different than it is in Southern Ontario. There seems to be a line, once you get about three hours north of Toronto, where the weather just changes. It can be raining and miserable. Down south, in Shelburne and on the upper French River, it's sunny and bluebird skies. There's just it's different. It's sunny and bluebird skies. There's just it's it's different. But there were some really, really um, intense storms that I experienced up there.
Speaker 1:And uh, one of them, um, aside from uh, the uh the powers incident incident, we'll call it um, we had a storm coming in and we got we didn't really get a lot of advance notice with it and it's you know, this was probably mid-July, in that time frame when you just can't trust the weather, right. Well, this was at night and all of the cedar strips were parked down on the dock and they all had the transom or the back of the boat facing the wind and it never really got rough in that part of the river, but on this night, man, and it was dark, it was late it would have been, you know, 11 o'clock midnight, one o'clock in the morning-ish and this thing blew in and it was raging, and I mean raging. The waves were coming over the back of the transom and I was, you know, fairly concerned that the boats were going to sink. And I realized later on that it is very tough to sink a cedar strip right, like really tough, but still with that boat filled up and the engine on the back, those engines will drop below the water and then you're in trouble. So I got up and without thinking, I just run down I didn't want to wake anybody up, you know whatever and I run down to the dock and the wind was just ridiculous. It was like a freaking hurricane. I've never actually experienced a hurricane, so I'm just talking out my ass right now. But the water was being picked up by the wind and over you know, the stretch of a quarter kilometer, the waves had built up to like almost two feet, like really, really big, really big. And I was running around down there and I had my, my Siri dock boy boots that I, that I I bought because they were supposed to be the best and had had my guys wearing them on the dock, non-slip, this, that and the next thing.
Speaker 1:And I got the first boat turned around and it was like I mean, it was a job in the wind to get an 18-foot cedar strip spun around so I could put the engine in the back, like away from the wind coming into the dock. So the bow was taking the waves and not filling the boat. This was my whole goal because obviously we don't want the boats to sink and if they're parked ass into the wind, the waves come over the back of the boat because it's lower and your boat sinks. So I'm out there struggling and I'm spinning them around by hand because I didn't want to get into the boats. It was too. It take too long to get into the boat, start it, drive it around, try and park it in the wind. So I was doing this all by hand.
Speaker 1:I got the first one done and then a um, something. I looked up. There was a cedar over on the main dock that needed um moved right away because it was, it was full of water and, uh, I remember running over to that main dock and with very, there was light, but just what was being thrown by the, the, the boathouse, and I jumped up on the bow of this, of the cedar strip, for whatever reason, and with it being like varnish and rain and wind, it was like ice, and I slipped off the top of the bow of that boat and I landed on the dock, but right at the small of my back, just so that the balance of my body was on the dock and not in the water, but with my torso hanging off the back to the point where the back of my head, when I fell, hit the water, and then trying to struggle to get back up and not fall in. And once I got myself under control, I realized that that situation was probably one of the most dangerous situations that I put myself in, next to, you know, the couple of car accidents I've been lucky enough to survive in. You know that situation resonated in my brain and in the middle of that storm, you know, I learned a life lesson, and that is you know you don't work alone and you respect mother nature. And that lesson, in the middle of that storm, and I stood up, my back was killing me, the rain was hitting me and in that glorious moment I remember looking back towards the lodge and this, like massive lightning strike, lit the sky with one of those um fork lightning bolts that skip across through the clouds three or four times and then hit the ground in multiple spots, like I mean it was, I could hear it. I could hear it, the lightning, and right after the biggest clap of thunder that you can imagine, like it shook the place and thinking to myself this is absolutely beautiful. And thank you for that reminder about being safe, because I'm not going to be the guy that ends up on the bottom of the lake because he's being not smart.
Speaker 1:And it affected me in my business too, because from that point on, I was very diligent on reminding guests about the weather and teaching them how to best deal with the weather. And through my mistakes, I could confidently say you know, it's probably a good idea to find a covered boathouse if it gets really rough, don't try and navigate through really rough water. And if you don't have any idea of where to go or what to do in the area that you're fishing, let's go to the map and I can show you on the map. You know you're out by Marshy Bay. Well, this is a place. These people are wonderful people. They don't mind if you pull up underneath their covered dock in a situation like that and educate my guests on those storms, you know, and there weren't just. It just wasn't that moment. There were other lessons that unfortunately some of my guests paid the price for when it come to that kind of thing right, I know Fred and Deb the one day they were out in the middle of a thunderstorm and sometimes you just can't avoid it because they sneak up on you from behind and then you've got to go through it to get back home.
Speaker 1:But again that storm, those storms, mother Nature, it's always best to respect her and limit your exposure. In vulnerable positions, like being in a boat on the French River, on Lake Nipissing, you know, always act with caution and choose the shoreline and a boathouse or somewhere safe rather than running running the middle of it. Although it is, it is experiences, you know it's. People love those experiences of of the force of nature, but don't do it on the water and don't do it in a boat of nature. But don't do it on the water and don't do it in a boat, do it at your house, on your back deck. But yeah, so it's one of those storms of life that I love, those lessons, and hopefully, you know, people can learn from those lessons because, um, I pounded my head on the on the wall doing it another storm.
Speaker 1:Um, I was, uh, there was a, a family from England and, um, I forget their, their names, but they came once and the grandma come with them and she was a prim and proper English lady, you know. She always had a nice hat on and she carried her purse and was dressed like the queen. She looked very proper and spoke like. I loved listening to her talk. She was elegant. And this one day in particular, the family and I think there was five total grandma, son, wife and kids and, um, they had booked me for it wasn't really a guide but at that time I was doing, um, I called them a tour to the beach and, um, I forget what I was charging. It wasn't near enough because I was using the old Georgia D boat, which was a 24 foot Lund with a like it did had a bridge and you know it was it's a big boat anyway Um, and the gas and that thing was ridiculous, but I would take people out to the beach. So this one day in particular, and it was their last day, they kind of planned it for their last day, which I never suggest doing because you never know what's going to happen.
Speaker 1:Right, we were going to go to the beach and the weather looked great where we were. We left nicely after dinner, like probably mid-morning, 10, 11 o'clock, and I knew that there were storms in the air and we jumped on the boat and and I kind of cautioned them on. You know, there's they're, they're, they're, they're calling for thunderstorms, but it looks good now. So let's get you out to the beach and, and you know we'll go from there. So we start in the old Georgia D and it's covered in and grandma's sitting right beside me in the big captain's chair it's almost like a bar stool because it's so high. You've got a place on the pedestal post to put your feet and she's got both hands in her lap holding onto her purse, with the pin, holding the hat on her hands in her lap, holding onto her purse, with the pin holding the hat on her, and we're driving out and I see that there's a storm and I pull off plane and I explain to everybody. I said, listen, it looks like there's a thunderstorm there and we've got to kind of go through that to get there there and, um, we've got to kind of go through that to get there. The water's calm, um, I don't want to. Uh, it's your last day.
Speaker 1:There's always the stress of it being the last day because you know, number one, you're either going to have to, they're not going to get the experience that's the most important part of it and then there's the fallout. From that, you know which is which is there. There I've already basically wasted, I've already spent my overhead on there, because we're three quarters of the way driven out there, an hour into, you know, organizing it and everything else. So I can't rightfully charge them for the trip, although business wise, like, like, just strictly financially looking at it, I should, but I never could anyway. So the stress of, of wanting to make this experience happen always is, is one of those things you have to be mindful of when you're an owner. Uh, because that was the.
Speaker 1:That is really what I've been talking about, that that um that want to give the best experience possible, um, and and, not knowing when to pull the pin, not knowing when to pull the pin, and I and, and, in this case, um, it was, um, not the worst case scenario in my decision-making, but probably not the best. So I left it up to them and I said, guys, do you want to try? Like I'm not concerned that the boat's going to sink, um, you know. But having said that, um, it's a very real possibility that we're going to get very wet and things could get a little bit rough, and you know. So, anyway, we have a little uh, a little chat, and grandma says, yes, let's carry on. And I'm like, okay, perfect, because at least now when shit gets rough, it's not a surprise, right, right.
Speaker 1:So we start heading towards this storm and the water's still flat, like we haven't, we haven't hit any wind or or like it's that calm before the storm, and the, the wall cloud is like a massive backhanging anvil. And you know, I come around the corner of the island and then it really I couldn't kind of see from the trees, like I knew it was dark and I knew, I knew that it was a storm. But when you, when I finally got a look at this wall cloud and the back hanging anvil and the, the, the eerie calm, I I stopped and and I said, wow, this, this one, this is a real storm. And we had our talk and Graham said, well, why don't we just go a little bit farther and maybe it's going to miss where we need to go. And you know what? It wasn't a bad idea because, you know, maybe, maybe, I don't know, didn't look very good from my vantage point, but it's hard to tell the direction that those storms actually are moving. So I thought, yeah, okay, let's do that.
Speaker 1:Well, we got up on plane and not like, two minutes later, that downburst of wind, that sheer wind force that goes underneath these storms, from calm to gale force, hit us Like we could see it coming across the water. You could see the gust of wind moving across the water and pushing the trees as it's coming, and it's coming straight at us. Graham and I are watching. Everybody else isn't paying attention. And when that gust of wind hit us, I'm in a 24 foot Lund heavy, heavy ass boat, like a sail too, to be fair. It hit the bow of that boat and it turned me 90 degrees. And as it turned me, I'm I and and it wasn't, it wasn't like it was a snap turn, like I mean it blew the front of the boat to the point where, when I was just getting up onto plane, it turned the front of the boat. So I had to correct and steer directly into the wind. And then, once I got it into the wind and settled down a little bit, we could see the wall of rain. So I pulled it off.
Speaker 1:I looked at grandma and I will never forget this. She she looks at me calm, as as a cucumber, like I mean, shit's just got real rough in the boat. And she's up there and she's got her hat pinned on and her purse in her lap with both hands there. And she looks at me and she says in this beautiful calm voice Steve, do you know what we call this back home? And I'm thinking I have no idea. And she looks at me and she said Steve, this storm is a fucking doozy. And I looked at her and I said you're goddamn right, it is. What do you think? I think we should probably, before it gets like bad. Bad. I think we're up close and personal with this beast. I think we're close enough. And she said yes, I do, I think that we're close enough, but she wanted me to.
Speaker 1:We turned around and we just cruised with them, looking out the back of the boat, watching this big storm, like I didn't hammer it or anything. We just nicely drove back and it was weird because we drove out of the wind and you know what it did hit us, um it. But we, we did make it back in time and um the, that that ride back, uh, with everybody watching that storm come in, um, that memory for them, uh, was the was a memory that they uh, that they told me they would never forget, and it is one of those. That was a great tour, you know, we didn't even make it to the beach, but to be in a somewhat safe zone, like I mean, whenever you're out and there's a thunderstorm like that, you're never in a safe zone. There's always a small minute chance that you could get hit by lightning, I guess. But we were far enough away that you could watch the lightning in the storm and just to see the wind come across the water in that sheer force and then being able to avoid getting too wet and watch that all unfold was a good time. It was a good time.
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Speaker 1:Yes, the storms of life and managing expectations and dealing with those things. The other one that I always I had I struggled with was when to call a guide trip, like when is it not good to go out? And then you know, do you look at the weather forecast and plan with the weather forecast? And those are two totally different things. Right, and in my experience with this one and in my experience with this one, you really got it wrong more often if you went with the weather forecast and as much as it sucked, the best way that I could manage it was to make a game time decision and um, um, those are tough because you've got guests standing there and, um, trying to, they, they want to go and and you're you're kind of saying, well, it, it could get rough. And it boiled down in that situation for me to defer to the guide and get their comfort level on it, because I know, like a guide like Pat, for instance, or Billy, know the river so so well that even if they end up where you're in a situation where a storm is coming and you've got to take cover, they know where cover is. That was my biggest issue too. I wasn't on the river as much and didn't have the intimate knowledge of every little nook and cranny and bay and sheltered shoreline and boathouse with a roof. I didn't have those tools in my tool belt where they do Like. I mean, they know, and that was part of it, right. And then you know the guest comfort. But again, it's all of these little daily calls that you have to make and what you have to keep in mind and public safety or the safety of my guests and staff, that's always something that is in the forefront of your mind and you really have to balance that when you're making these decisions, because you just don't know how they could turn out and always err on the side of safety and caution and training. Training is huge too, you know, because if we did it the other way nine times out of 10, and the other way I'm talking is looking at the forecast and trying to pick a day which guests would do nine times out of 10, the weather isn't the way that it says it's going to be anyway, like if they're calling for rain on unless on Tuesday and you're trying to book your guide on Saturday unless it's 90% and there's rain in three days, that it moves around, it's so difficult to try and plan your trip on something like that. So it's one of those things where you really have to, you know, use common sense and in that situation it's a game time decision, for sure. And the crazy thing about all of those game time decisions is, you know, as crazy as some of the ones that I made were, they always seem to work out for the best. And I think a lot of that has to do with being positive about the situation you're in, and and and actually making a call right, because there's nothing worse than not making a decision, and that's another thing.
Speaker 1:When it comes to storms of life Like I mean, you know, how do you really know that what you're feeling is a storm? You know, you know you're feeling uncomfortable, but you really don't know if it's the best thing that could happen to you or the worst thing that can happen to you. And for me, I've had a couple of those. I've had a couple of those and the one that really a big storm that I had in my life and um had to, you know, really manage my way out of it, was the day I actually bought the lodge, you know, um, the, the ensuing three, four months, the there was such um, an internal and external storm in my life because you know I made that decision and again you can hear the whole story start to finish. But this really fits into the storms right. When I bought the lodge, I did it because I truly believed that I needed to make this decision, but there was a lot of uncertainty of having to work her job and have three kids. Well, I guess at the time was two and one on the way by herself for six months of the year. Like I mean, there were storms when I finally signed the papers and it sunk in at what I had done, like my mind literally melted down in front of my eyes, like that.
Speaker 1:But you want to talk about buyer's remorse. Like you know, think about the last thing you had buyer's remorse on and let's go big. You know, like, was it a car or was it? You know, a dirt bike or was it like a? Whatever it might be, you know. And then multiply that buyer's remorse by every cent you ever made and you still owe so much more, everything and you drag your parents in on it. You borrow a hundred from them too, and then talk about buyer's remorse.
Speaker 1:Wow, I remember getting into my old Ford pickup truck and that voice in my head was screaming Like I've never. I've never really felt out of control of that voice in my head. In that moment. It was out of control. It was screaming at me what have you done? And constantly, for hours and hours into days and I, just, I was, I really was, I was. I was physically becoming sick thinking about what I had done.
Speaker 1:And you know, I don't know if I would have signed that deal if the if my real estate agent hadn't already secured some of the financing and I already paid $32,000 for the right to borrow money. You know I was seriously contemplating okay, so if I don't sign this right now, I've just lit $32,000 on fire, but I can maybe get away from some of this. You know this uncertainty and uncomfortable feelings and if not for that $32,000 and cognizantly thinking about how I'm going to explain that to my wife and partner, I probably would have walked away. You know, it was that close and I was that scared like I was alluding to in the beginning that one of the biggest storms of my life turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me and I learned another big lesson there, and that is and it was a long lesson.
Speaker 1:This was a lesson that was, you know, three, four, five, ten years in the making, because you can't see in the moment what a decision is going to be and how it's going to turn out, even though you think you because you are the most prepared, and you know what's going to happen and you know what's going on you don't know. You can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that's where positivity comes in. And once you make a decision, you need to focus on the goal and the positive, because self-fulfilling prophecies, they happen every day. Everybody's seen those. But those storms that you are unsure of when you navigate through them and you look back on them, those are the things that you remember the most that decision for me to buy Chaudiere, and in the way that I did, um, that was the best decision that I ever, that I had ever made, and you needed balls and there was so much risk and I didn't have the tools that I needed to be successful in the moment when I made the decision. But once you have made the decision and it's not just you that's relying on it being a successful or a good decision. You do what you have to do and I found those tools. And whether it was hiring the right person or asking people or learning it myself, I found the tools to be successful.
Speaker 1:And when you don't give yourself the option to fail, there's no way that you can fail. You just don't give up and you use positivity. And you know, I'm sure there's people out there thinking well, I know people that have failed and they did everything that they could and everything else, and that's true, but that failure that they had could be one of these storms. Just because you fail at one thing doesn't mean that you give up on everything else. No matter how bad it gets, you always keep going and you always learn from what you've done. And you know the failure that I had before this that haunted me this is an aside, and you know what. We're getting to the point where you guys are probably a little bit tired of listening to my voice.
Speaker 1:But this is the last one and this was one of the storms that that I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life and I, I, I, I had a hard time mentally thinking about it and recovering from it and what this decision was, um, when Melissa and I first started dating. So this is back in high school, like you know, and I got out of high school and went to work, took a year off Then from work. I went to college for a couple of years and I really fell in love with the Kawarthas area and I got done college and I moved back home and I was still fairly young, like early 20s, and my mom was like, well, yeah, melissa's going to school and you're working full time, it's time for you to start paying rent. And that was just a foreign thought to me, like I mean, call me spoiled or whatever, but I just always assumed that home was I don't have to pay rent for that and I'm definitely considering charging my kids rent that and I'm definitely considering charging my kids rent. But that was a little leverage ultimatum that my mom was giving me. It was you're going to have to pay rent or you're going to start saving to buy a house or invest your money or do something other than party and drink it every weekend, right, which you know. If I look back on it, I guess there was some. There was some truth to that statement. So in my wisdom I said, okay, mom, I'm going to buy a cottage because I want a cottage and if Melissa is going to be working for the next, you know, or going to school for the next couple of years, I might be able to, you know, buy a cottage and and and have it under control, the mortgage under control, by the time she gets out of school. And this would have been like 1998, 99 in that neighborhood.
Speaker 1:So I start looking for cottages and I went and looked at a bunch and I found this one cottage on Big Bald Lake and it was, and because I was looking, I could only I had only saved maybe enough for 5% down payment, which meant that it could qualify for a 5% down payment or deposit or down payment, rather than, like at the time for Waterfront, it was like 30%, which was not even a possibility for me. So I found this one place and it was. It met those criteria. It was a year round road access, it had potable water. Those criteria it was a year round road access, it had potable water, it and it was on a one acre lot. It was on on piers, like the building, so there was no basement or no foundation, it was just on concrete posts, but a very typical build for a bungalow style cottage cottage, for a bungalow style cottage cottage.
Speaker 1:And the waterfront was, it wasn't the best, it was very weedy and it was like a beautiful bass fishing bay. Like I mean, I looked at the waterfront and had no problem with it at all, although you would have had to clean it up a little bit hush hush in those days, because there were so many cattails that you couldn't even get to the dock. Um, but still, and they're asking, um, forty thousand dollars no, it was forty eight thousand dollars for the property and at the time, like 1998, like I'm buying vehicles for 1500 bucks, okay, so $48,000 was a massive amount of money. So I'm looking and, like a dumb, uneducated kid, I'm talking, I didn't even know how to make an offer, but I'm acting big shot, right, and a buddy of mine was there, mark Fleer, and we're looking in this cottage and I'm saying to the real estate agent I'm like, yeah, okay, well, let's offer him, you know, $40,000, which really isn't a terrible offer. It had been on the market for over a hundred days, which really isn't a terrible offer. It had been on the market for over 100 days. But I want this lure left in the drawer and I want this and I want that and I want this. Actually, I want everything and they had stated that there were some things that they were taking out of there. But, like a dum dumb, uh, I wanted it all. So we, we left and um, um, he put in the offer for $40,000 for everything. And you know, um, and I was just borrowing the money, like I, I only had my 5% to put down and I was going to borrow the money from the bank and um, and then try and make it work, pay, pay that little mortgage. Well, it wasn't little at the time and um, so we put the offer in and about, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Three hours later, I got a call from the real estate agent and I was figuring it was the other people calling back with a counter offer and then I was going to buy it. Well, somebody else come in and made a better offer and they accepted that offer and bought it out from under me. And at that point in time I kind of felt this sigh of relief because I got that close. I got that close and I was scared and, rather than jump in and do it, I felt relief that it didn't happen because that way I could just fall back to what was comfortable, right and I looked right. But I think it was more now that I look back on it. I think it was more just looking to keep my mom appeased that I was trying to invest or or do something and, you know, nothing ever really happened with that until two years later I ended up buying the house in Shelburne that I lived in for 10 years and while there, this would have been in about and this is why I mentioned Melissa this would have been early 2000s, like maybe 2000.
Speaker 1:We ended up taking holidays together and went to a Well, no, actually this was 2003. No, three or four, it was right around the last call, because I fished bass tournaments the year before the last call, so this would have been roughly 2003. We went, I was in the bass fishing circuit, the Bass Mania Tour in Ontario, and we Glenn Berry and I made the classic and we walked, we holidayed on the second of the two lakes that the classic tournament was going to be on and that lake was called Cameron Lake and so off we go on our holidays and I'm pre-fishing away and not even thinking about the past and cottages and stuff, because it never happened right. And we went into Bob Cajun for ice cream one day, just because, and we walked out of this ice cream shop and I looked across the street and up until that point I had totally forgotten even where the real estate office was that housed the real estate agent that put in the offer for me on that cottage on Big Bald Lake. Well, excuse me. Well, now I'm standing there with an ice cream cone half melted in my hand, looking across the street and there it is. So, naturally, out of, out of curiosity, I said to Melissa. I said hey, that's the real estate. I couldn't even remember what town it was, it just so happened. I walked out there it was, and I recognized it right away and I said we got to go in there. So off we go.
Speaker 1:We walk across the street and I walk into the real estate office, half expecting to see the guy that I was working with in there. But he wasn't there. But there was an older gentleman behind the counter and it kind of had that Andy Mayberry feel, because he was, you know, he had his reader glasses on and the newspaper with his feet kicked up on the desk and I walked in and I said good day, sir. How are you doing today? And he looked up from the newspaper and he said not bad, son, not bad, what brings you here today? And I said to him I said, listen, I'm looking for a cottage on Big Bald Lake.
Speaker 1:I don't care if it's like an outhouse, you know, just like a waterfront lot with a three seasons cottage. You know just something that I could buy and I'm thinking in my head that, well, I almost had one bought, for it ended up selling for 45,000. They were asking 48, I went at 40, somebody went in firm at 45. So I'm thinking, well, you know, went in firm at 45. So I'm thinking, well, you know, I could, I could maybe afford 45,000. Cause at the time Melissa had just started working at the, the uh, as a teacher and I was making half decent money. And, um, he looked at me and he slid those glasses down just a touch to look over top of them, not rude like. But he said, son, unless you've got $350,000 to $400,000, you're wasting your time. Because he looked at Melissa and I and he sized us up pretty quick. He knew that I didn't.
Speaker 1:I had just bought my, to give you an idea, in 2002, I bought that first house, which would have been, like, like I say, three years after this cottage incident in Shelburne, I bought my first house for $175,000. $179,000, sorry to be exact. And now 179, sorry to be exact. And now, like the year, this is a year after we moved into our house in Shelburne this fella is telling me the cottage that I could have bought four years ago is worth let me do the math at 40, some $45,000, that it's worth two, four, six and a half times more. Like I can buy three houses in Shelburne for that.
Speaker 1:And he looked at me and he said, yep, and that haunted me, the thought that if I had bought that, I could have sold it and bought three houses outright in the town of Shelburne, right in the town of Shelburne. Oh, my God, I couldn't sleep. My guts were just twisted and turning and that was like I mean I managed to work out of that storm, but that was a lot. That was a long, hard storm, right, you know, and that was back before I really believed and had an understanding that. You know, things happen for a reason and sometimes when something that looks bad happens, it's not Like you just don't know. You can't waste time thinking about what could have been, because it's not and there's nothing that can be done to change the past. So focus on the now and the future. And I wasn't well equipped with those thoughts and that discipline.
Speaker 1:I thought about it a lot and as time went on and I'm talking time like up until I bought the lodge, really, which was 2009. So, for the better part of a decade, there were things that I would see that would bring back the memory of. You could have won the lottery, is how I thought about it. You could have won the lottery and really, at that point in my life, it was the lottery, is how I thought about it. You could have won the lottery and really it it it. At that point in my life, it was the lottery. Um, not considering that I wouldn't sell it or not considering, you know, whether I would have lost it or not considering anything, but just the simple fact. And it turned out to be extremely valuable.
Speaker 1:Those feelings of regret and after, looking back on it before I bought the lodge and well, kind of around when I was trying to buy the lodge, looking back and feeling those feelings of regret of how I missed that opportunity and what it meant, but really it was the feelings, the negative feelings that I had been dealing with whenever I thought about anything to do with that. It was, it was, they were negative feelings. Whenever I thought about anything to do with that, it was it would. They were negative feelings. And the good thing that come out of it was simply this when I was sitting in that lawyer's office and I was really, really, really scared to sign those papers and to put myself in a position where I wasn't comfortable, it was that storm and those lessons that I learned with that situation that gave me the courage to do what I did.
Speaker 1:And I remember vividly thinking I'm at the point in my life now where, if I don't do this, I may not ever do something. And I was at the point in my life where I was so unhappy with what I was doing for a living and that was sheet metal and owning my business doing that that I said I am just not going to go into the winter of my life and wonder what if the it was. It was the the wondering and the regret of not pulling the trigger on that cottage and uh, you know that the thought of having to do that again with a fishing lodge. I just couldn't bring myself to it. I couldn't do do it. I needed to know and I was very willing to at the age of 33, go into this.
Speaker 1:And if I failed, I figured that I was young enough to pull out of it and I knew that one of two things were going to happen I was either going to become independently wealthy and have a outstanding business and a wonderful time, or you know what I'm going to know and just knowing. Either way, going into the winter of my life, that was enough solitude in thinking that. Because to go a lifetime thinking about what ifs and candy and nuts and all of the things that your mind can drum up on you, it wasn't for me and that is really what I had learned from that situation and it and believe me, that's a big one that was a real, that was a real doozy man. I was a that's a fucking doozy. Oh yeah, that was great.
Speaker 1:But listen, folks, thank you so much for listening to my I don't want to call them ramblings listening to my reminiscing self, because I really appreciate it. I really appreciate all of you and thank you again for getting to this point in the show and listen, reach out to Willie and I and let us know if there's anything you want us to discuss. We would love to table some of the things that you're interested in and also head on over to the fishingcanadacom website and get in on all of those giveaways. There's also all kinds of merch there. It's awesome Sport, that Fish and Canada gear.
Speaker 1:I got to get some diary stuff on there too for us all to see and love and have. But we'll get there. We'll get there and, thanks to Andrew over at Lakeside Marina, we really appreciate what you do for us and what you really honestly do for all of those people up there that trust you for the job that you do. And, buddy, awesome, awesome, everything that I hear is all aces, brother. So thank you for that. Thank you, folks. And thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North of the North.
Speaker 1:I'm a good old boy, never meanin' no harm.
Speaker 5:I'll be all you ever saw, been railin' in the hog Since the day I was born, bendin' my rock, stretchin' my line.
Speaker 3:Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine.
Speaker 5:I'll be making my way, the only way I know how. Working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Well, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and live my dream.
Speaker 1:And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems.
Speaker 4:Yeah, as the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Gerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 4:After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's, under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people. That will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature. And under the canopy Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 5:Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right Every Thursday, Ang and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know, there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 3:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing Me and Garton Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists.
Speaker 3:But now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe. It's the perfect transmission environment for life to be.
Speaker 2:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 5:And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are. Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.