Smith Island Observatory

on Quintet Lakes, Ontario CANADA

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From an unsolicited eMail to our FAAC president, July 19, 2009

A friend of mine is/was an avid hobbyist in astronomy. Back in the early/mid 70's he built his own log cabin/observatory on a remote Island a few miles north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The telescope is a 12.5 inch Cave Astrola. Over the years he would spend many day's enjoying the cabin with his family and each evening he would retire up to the observatory to search the sky. Apparently he was very happy that the area is blessed with "dark sky".

The situation as it is now is that Bob is now in a seniors home with Parkinson's and his wife is left with the cabin/observatory that she can no longer maintain or access. As a friend, I am trying to assist them with selling the cabin. Their daughter advised me that someone who is interested in astronomy may be interested, hence this email. If this sounds like it may be interesting to anyone you know, or possibly even your club, I'd appreciate it if you could pass this info on. Failing that, perhaps you could direct me to a proper forum where I could pass on the info?

Thanks for your time. I can be contacted via email or phone. Let me emphasize that I am only a friend of the owners trying to help out and in no way commercially involved in this sale.

Regards,
Maurice Spooner
Bruce Mines, Ont. 705-785-3055

Smith Cabin on Quintet Lakes

Details:

The entire island that the cabin sits on is leased from Algoma Timberlake Properties (705) 253-8803 and it is completely transferable to a prospective purchaser. It should be noted, this area is closed to any new leases, thereby assuring the area will not be over populated with camps and cottages. Annual cost is $1900, renewable annually. Property taxes are included in the lease. There is a $750.00 transfer fee applicable. The island that the cabin is situated on is approximately 2 acres in size.

Description:

The cabin is owner built, has been well maintained and improved upon over the years. It is a unique open concept eight-sided log structure. It measures approximately 20' across. There is a homemade rotating observatory accessible from inside the cabin, with a 12.5" Cave Astrola – Model "D" F6 telescope. The telescope has been recently resilvered and has many accessories. The area is noted for "dark sky". Contents of the cabin include four built-in single bunks, small sofa, shelving, wood stove, with a large built-in eight-sided table with stools in the centre of the cabin. All the cutlery, dishes, pots and pans and BBQ are included as well. It's ready to use.

While the cabin does not have running water, it does have a limited amount of electricity which is provided by a 12 volt solar system, with batteries, that provides simply lighting and power to run the tracking drive on the telescope. Running water could very easily be installed using a 12 volt RV pump. There is an outhouse privy and a small shed for storage. Also included are a 12' Starcraft aluminum boat and a Sportspal canoe.

The Quintet Lakes are located in the heart of the Canadian Shield. There are numerous fishing, hunting, sightseeing and canoeing opportunities literally on your doorstep. If you're a ATV or Snowmobiling enthusiast, the opportunities are endless in exploring the region. During the summer, when in season, the island is thick with blueberries and wildflowers.

Directions:

The island is accessible by 4 wheel drive vehicle and then boat, or can be accessed by train, then boat. Of course in the winter it would require a snowmachine. Travel from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to the Quintet Lakes involves a 45 minute drive via Highway 17 North, and then 36 kilometres via "38 Road" that will require a 4 wheel drive due to some of the hills. Once you reach the Quintets, there is a landing, dock and parking area from which to load/unload your vehicle for the boat ride to the Island. From the landing, it will require a 15-20 minute boat ride and transversing a short portage between two lakes. The portage is only 30 feet over rocks, and is equipped with a homemade rail system to transport your boat over. Though it sounds complicated, it is very easy.

The cabin is well loved but is being sold because of the owner's health and inability to utilize and access it.

Selling price is $15,000.

For further information please contact:
Maurice Spooner at (705) 785-3055
or m.ls@sympatico.ca

From an eMail posted to michigan_astronomy@yahoogroups.com by Jonathan (a WAS member) August 6, 2009

The observatory does need some work. The custom-designed and hand-built dome is in need of new fiberglass sheathing at minimum. It is well-made and Bob Smith (the original owner and builder) really put a lot of thought and heart into it. But I might consider replacing it with a modern clam-shell dome, especially since the telescope is big for the current dome. A small slot is a hard thing to use with a big telescope.

The slot door does not appear to slide up and down or swing open like on a traditional dome, but seems actually meant to be pulled inside the observatory. This might be a tricky operation for a single operator.

The telescope is a 12.5" Cave Astrola. The tube is noticeably long in these days of fast Newtonians. I am not a star-testing expert, but in the limited star testing I did, I thought the Airy disk was very well-formed. I got to observe M13 and the moon before clouds and rain rolled in. The mirror was re-silvered in the last five years, and looked really nice to me. The focuser seemed acceptable - I didn't have any real problems with it.

The telescope is on an early '70s Cave tracking mount. It seemed to me that the RA drive gears were not engaged, as the mount rotated basically freely about the RA axis. The declination is seemingly only controlled by a single slow-motion control, which is somewhat frustrating when switching targets. The mount is probably the first thing I'd replace.

The original design of the cabin featured a log pier rising from the granite bedrock through the center of the cabin up into the observatory. Sadly, at some point (possibly to accommodate the large scope - it was originally designed for an 8" Newt), the pier was severed in half. The mount now rests on the wooden floor, so it is much more susceptible to vibrations. I wonder if you couldn't restore the original design by toeing in a new "top" to the pier. It wouldn't be as solid, but it might work somehow. Maybe?

It's a long drive from Detroit - 8.5 hrs from front door to the landing, then loading a boat, then boating to the island. There are two landings: the less-maintained one avoids the portage and shortens the boat trip considerably, but a vehicle with lots of ground clearance would be needed for frequent visits. Both routes require AWD and good ground clearance, though.

This was their annual meeting weekend, so there were many more people there than usual. Everyone we met was very nice. Property ownership on the Quintets seems to be around 50-50 Canadian and American.

Anyway, Diane and I are very tempted - it's really affordable! - but we're having a hard time convincing ourselves that we'd be able to visit enough to maintain it properly and make it worthwhile. I personally would feel that two weeks per year would be about the minimum acceptable usage time, and that might be hard to swing with family, work, and, well, WAS commitments. Add two full days of travel time for each visit, and you're talking about a pretty significant time commitment. The closer you live to the Soo, the more attractive an idea it becomes...

If anybody else is interested, please feel free to inquire after it. If you have any questions I can answer, just let me know. And if anybody else buys it and needs volunteers for construction work or for cabin-sitting, count us in! :)

Jonathan
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