Isuma TV!

Isuma Productions of Igloolik brought us the wonderful film called Atanarjuat a few years ago. Since then it has continued to break new ground and present exciting visual stories from Canada's far north. More recently however, they have been promoting other arctic film-makers. On their new site Isuma TV, they will be encouraging people to upload their works for all to see - sort of a YouTube, Inuit style. At the moment, there are about 80 short videos one can see and as the site is developed, more will be added. I encourge you to check this out!

Photo by Oana Spinu

Clapotis

There was a fair breeze blowing down the lake today as I headed out. I'm at my river-side launch site now so that means a short paddled up-stream, ducking under two bridges and thence onto the lake proper. Just at that spot, if there are waves coming down the lake bouncing off a sea wall at the end of the lake, you can encounter a patch of standing waves or clapotis. I tried looking up this term in my dictionaries and on Wikipedia, but none of them cares to define what it means for me.

However, one does get some interesting knitting references and pictures, like the one above on Google. I like this one for its sea colours and waves. It even got me thinking things like, "Knit boat you got there, me boy!" and "Knit pearl ya did in that wave there, fella. Do another!"

In any case, I got through the knarly bit of clapotis, didn't hit any of the bridge abutments and headed into the wind and waves without flipping over or scaring myself too badly. I checked on my poor goose, but didn't find anything, not even tracks. After playing in the waves for a while the wind began to taper off and the waves began dropping so I headed back to the river and home. The caplotis had disappeared.

88/100

Time For The Tough To Get Moving!

The past couple of weeks have been touch and go ones. I was never really sure I would be able to crawl back up from the lake to the car after paddling. Once at the car, would it get up the drive to the road?

The weather at this time of the year is so variable, and usually not for the better. Yesterday it was -7°C, windy, snowy and it just seemed to be waiting for me to launch in order for it to turn worse and catch me out. The other day as I paddled, I watched the ice building up on the foredeck. How thick will it need to get before it pulls me over, I thought? So, for the first time since early October, I didn't go paddling. I didn't go out today either. Instead, I used the set of rear wheels I bought last summer and ran my kayak up the hill I usually go down.

As you can see in the photo, I'm moving. I'll be launching from my winter put-in location on the river where the carry to the water is short, flat and usually not too deep in snow. I've got 12 more paddling days to get in before the year's end and over twice that number to do it in. I'm laughing...

Seasonal Paddling Advice

If you live in a northern climate, here's some tips real Canadian kayakers use to insure their safety while paddling in different temperature regimes. You may have your own version of these guidelines, but they work well for those who haven't a clue...

65°F /18°C - Stop kayaking to avoid dangerous over-heating or add ice to cockpit.
60 / 15 - Paddle at reduced speed, use cooling rolls frequently. Drink lots of... ah... beverages to avoid possible de-hydration.
55 / 13 - Remove remaining clothing to avoid over-heating. Haul in the beer net you're dragging behind the boat before the contents explode in the heat.
50 / 10 - Remove T-shirts. Paddle nude. If squeamish, fill cockpit with ice water.
45 / 7 - Wet down T-shirts to maintain normal body core temperature. Check that others have done the same.
40 / 4 - Replace long sleeve T-shirts with short sleeves ones. If you don't have a T-shirt, use a marker to paint a logo of some kind on your chest.
35 / 2 - Switch from shorts to long pants in falling temeratures, reverse otherwise. Use your paddling knife to make shorts if you don't have a pair.
32 / 0 - Send dry-suit/top/pants out for repair estimate. Seriously consider getting the work done next year, if possible, maybe.
30 / -1 - Put on dry-top (the one with the broken neck seal) or your wool paddling sweater.
25 / -4 - Put on dry-pants, first removing any under-garments. Use woolen hunting pants if you don't have any real paddling clothes.
20 / -7 - Match seal on dry-suit and pants to reduce water seepage. Be careful of raw neoprene seals on dry skin.
15 / -9 - Use T-shirt and shorts under dry-suits. Leave zippers open at least half way to maintain normal core temperatures.
10 / -12 - Do up dry-suit zippers, if they still work, duct tape them if not. Consider using that hot glue gun they gave you for Christmas if you paddle often in big seas.
5 / -15 - Switch to long sleeved shirts and pants under the dry-suit. Duct take or hot-glue the neck seal tears. Keep wrists open for proper cooling.
0 / -18 - Wear woolies under the dry-suit if you think a wet exit may happen or you're a wimp. Fleece if not. Duct tape wrist seals if you still have them. Look for your mitts if you plan on paddling in cooler weather.

Armed with this information, I don't want to hear about anyone getting into trouble out there due to their own foolishness. Ya hear?!

Fourth Adam Hansen Interview

I've uploaded the fourth of the Adam Hansen conversations with Cheri Perry to YouTube recorded at this year's Delmarva Paddler's Retreat. This is a particularly interesting part as they talk about the Greenland Kayaking Championship and how it got started. When a few people in Greenland realised their traditional kayaking culture was either going to disappear entirely with the appearance of an imported motorized hunting technology, or be relegated to a few dried out museum specimens. Instead they had the foresight to evolve parts of the old culture into a new sport, which has since spread around the world. Not only has the kayak design been copied and developed nearly everywhere, but today the old rolling skills have opened up new vistas for many kayakers far beyond the fjords of Greenland.

The Championships have also provided an opportunity for Greenlanders, both male and female, to come together each year in a different community. These gatherings promote a sense of pride and self-esteem for all who attend. They have also provided a setting for the continued development of the Greenland style kayak. For example, the keenness of the competition has served to refine the 'rollability' of kayaks to the point that organizers had to step in and dis-allow some designs with negative free-board! As well, the hull shapes of kayaks are changing in the search for lightness and higher racing speeds. To say that the competition has raised the self-esteem of young people is to understate what is happening. For some it has provided whole new futures, from kayak guides, like Adam to kayak ambassadors like Maligiaq Padilla.

87/100

Another Lovely Day for Paddling!

Just look at that photo! Talk about a paradise! I've got the whole lake to myself, no sea-doos, no wave-boat wakes, not even a fleet of Lasers scooting into view. I can head out blindfolded and still be safe. Admittedly, the ceiling is a bit low for flying, which brings me to...

The Canada Goose that I found the other day. It can't fly for some reason. Perhaps it's been injured or wounded, or it may just be getting old. Whatever the reason, it has been swimming about on nice days and hiding out on the lawn of a summer cottage when the wind picks up. It's been bothering me, so today I left some cracked corn on the beach for it. Am I just prolonging its suffering? Perhaps, but if it's injured and will possibly be able to fly again, then my food might help. I'll keep an eye out for it and see what becomes of it.

It also looks like these clouds are about to dump a big load of snow on me in the next couple of days. I've really been lucky this year to have been able to keep my kayak at the boathouse for so long. Now it's a long walk in and out thanks to the snow we've already got. I'm starting to wonder if I've been too clever and will have to borrow a toboggan to get it out of there. I hope not!

86/100

Close Call!

It's been snowing most of the morning today and then it switched over to rain as I headed to the boathouse. Driving down the snow covered road towards the lake, I began to realise that I just might be in trouble when it came time to head home. Thankfully, me wife had got me an appointment to have my snow tires put on the car last week, so I ignored the advice I was getting from the left side of my brain and headed down the hill...


Once out on the water, it was wild. Windy and wavy with the air full of rain. I played about in the waves for a while, paddling up wind and surfing back down. I went up the little brook to have a look and....oops. It was frozen right across from shore to shore. I turned and headed out noticing the ice has begun to form along the banks. It will slowly creep outwards and cut me off completely before long.

I returned to the boathouse, packed up and walked up to the car. Then the trouble started. All I got from the tires was a spinning noise! Exercising all my years of winter driving skills, I slowly managed to get back up to the highway, but I was wondering about whether that was going to happen for a while. I think it's time I got that boat out of there and moved over to my usual winter put-in... Maybe tomorrow!

85/100

Pushing the Season

Someone walking their dog yelled at me the other day as I paddled by. "Pushing the season, aren't you?" they bellowed out. I guess there are those who think I should get off the water, get inside and start watching early winter TV, but just look at the light in the picture above. There is nothing on TV that comes even close to that. Besides, there are a couple of female Common Mergansers trying to sneak by me and some crows staulking the beach looking for edibles. The air is still, the sun's aglow and I'm warm and happy. Pushing the season?

84/100

Now the Fun Really Starts...

It's been snowing on and off the past couple of days. My wife went cross-crountry skiing with the dogs... I went paddling. Much more fun, at least, while the water is still liquid. Here's the road leading to the put-in. Closer to the lake there is much less snow than we have, so thankfully, I can still get to the boathouse!


Almost ready to drop the boat into the water, climb in and head out to see what awaits me.


Heading back to the boathouse. Another interesting day on the water. Every day brings new insights. Paddling each day has given me a small insight into why it was that older Inuit people, who'd spent their whole lives in the outdoors, didn't care much for warm their new wooden houses. They cut them off from the whole world outside, their world, their home. Inside, they missed so much.

Today, if I'd stayed home, I would have missed seeing an injured Canada goose which swam along the shore, trying to hide from me, unable to take off. I'd have missed the ducks and the eagle I saw. I would have missed the action of the waves on the cliffs at Black Point, the glint of the sun on the water and the snow-flakes dropping into the water only to magically disappear. But it's tough leaving the house. Only when I leave the dock do I understand why these last 82 days have been so rewarding.

82/100

Bergs on My Lake?

Imagine my surprise to discover yesterday that I have 'ice' bergs on my lake! Not big ones, mind you, but a fair number of bergy bits seem to be floating out there...

Thankfully, I thought, I was not in my 'skin-on-frame'. There was probably skim ice out there as well, just waiting to slice through the kayak's canvas covering. I have a friend who suffered that fate once, right in the busy port of Montreal. The results were quite dramatic! He has since begun building stitch-and-glue epoxed plywood boats for his winter paddling.

I approached the 'ice' with caution. Then with a bust of speed, I charged the nearest berg, blasting it in two. It was made of foam! It turned out the foam bergs were being created in the rapids of a small brooke which enters the lake nearby.

81/100

Cold Weather Paddling

The other day a mentioned the difficulty I was having with paddling gloves. All my neoprene gloves, even brand new ones and even some mitts, leak. I like dry hands when paddling in the cold. I don't subscribe to the 'wet-suit' theory when it comes to gloves.

Richard Hayes of Newfoundland offered a solution so I went looking for the gloves he mentioned. I found them at the local farm coop. They're rubber coated, part-way-to-the-elbow cotton (yes, cotton!) gloves. Mine cost me $8.00 and came with a warm fuzzy lining. I added some poly gloves and went paddling. I returned a couple of hours later with warm dry hands! It was a good test day as the waves were running about 0.5 meters and slightly more, with lots of them breaking. That means my hand and wrists often go into the water with my Greenland style paddle, yet I came home dry. I carry back-up neoprene mitts on days like these in case these new gloves get soaked, but I didn't need them yesterday.

Back at the dock, I relaxed with a mug of hot Ovaltine, another cold weather paddling friend I take out with me these days instead of the water bottle or bladder.

Update: Here's a picture of my arm sporting the glove in question...


If these things work out, I think I'll add some velcro tabs on the arms to keep seepage to a minimum. So far, they seem to work well, although I've taken to drying the perspiration moisture out of them by suspending them over a heater once I'm home. I suspect when I get some fleece liners, this moisture build-up will be reduced to nil. Ever the optimist!

80/100

Adam Hansen Interview - Part 3

In this third part of Adam Hansen's conversation at Delmarva, he talks about the kayak club house in Assiat. It is the club house which brings paddlers together to take classes and instruction in both boat building and paddling skills. He mentions the various types of members and how those without kayaks can borrow one until they build their own.



You can watch this video by clicking on YouTube if you prefer. The previous three videos in the series are also found in the sidebar on the YouTube page. As well, there is another short video of Adam speaking in Greenlandic if you'd like to try your language skills listening to Greenlandic.

79/100

Yesterday, Today and...

Paddling along in dead calm water yesterday, I saw this...


So I looked upwards where, above the dark hills ahead of me, I saw this...


Which is why today I paddled in this... A change in the weather with some wind and a slight increase in the temperature from 1°C to 5°C.


No threat of snow today, but, tomorrow, who knows!

78/100

Qallunaanik Piusiqsiuriniq

Qallunaanik Piusiqsiuriniq is Inuktitut and means 'Why White People Are Funny'. This is the title for a new film in The National Film Board's catalogue. The film examines the culture of 'white people' from the point of view of the mythical 'Qallunaat Studies Institute', an Inuit research group located somewhere in the Canadian north.

Here is what they publicity has to say about this ground-breaking documentary film -
Funny? What's so funny about white people, otherwise known as Qallunaat to the Inuit? Well, among other curious behaviours, Qallunaat ritualistically greet each other with inane salutations, repress natural bodily functions, complain a lot about being cold, and seem to want to dominate the world.
This docucomedy is collaboration between filmmaker Mark Sandiford and Inuit writer and satirist, Zebedee Nungak. Zebedee is CEO and head researcher of the mythical Qallunaat Studies Institute (QSI). According to Nungak, "Qallunaat ought to be the object of some kind of study by other cultures. The more I thought about the way they have studied us over the years it occured to me, why don't we study them?"
In its use of archival clips, Why White People Are Funny pokes as much fun at the illustrious history of NFB documentaries as it does at society in the south. Of course, well before the NFB came into existence, and at least as early as the classic 1922 feature "Nanook of the North," white society has been fascinated with native subjects, studying them as exotic specimens, documenting their cultural and social behaviours. That tendency to frame a world of Eskimo "others" dominated both film Why White People Are Funny brings the documentary form to an unexpected place. Those who were holding the mirror up to Inuit culture finally have it turned back on themselves. The result is not always pretty, but it sure is amusing. From the Inuit point of view, visitors from the south are nothing less than "accidents waiting to happen."

The film is listed on my Consumerfest Wish List right at the top! I can't wait to see it.

77/100

Adam Hansen Interview - Part 2

Here is the second part in the series of conversations with Adam Hansen made at the Delmarva Retreat. Click on the video below or visit my page on YouTube to view it.



In this part, Adam talks about the job of guiding kayakers in his home area, who his clients are and the growing popularity of the sport in Greenland. Enjoy!

76/100

Interesting Cabins

Now the leaves have fallen off all but the most stubborn of the trees, it's possible to see into the forests which cloak the shores of my lake. While no new cabins have 'appeared', a few that I thought must have been removed have now become visible. The owners paint them in very discrete colours allowing them to blend into the forest perfectly. At least one of these 'invisible cabins' is located on a sliver of land that doesn't seem to 'exist' on the official registry! It appears that the original surveys of the area, being somewhat less than accurate, resulted in a small sliver of land being omitted by mistake. A few years ago, someone noticed the error and has now erected a little cabin in 'nowhere-land'. Very clever of them as they now 'own' lakefront which is not taxed and was never paid for because it doesn't official exist - yet!

Enlarge to read the house sign.
This 'paradise' situation brings to mind another place named after the fabled land of Shangri-La. The only access is by water or by footpath. No electricity, no phone - not even cellular - and few visitors. The perfect get-away, but this one's on the tax rolls!


Another similar place, in the bay where I've been seeing the bald eagles, is this one above. It has all the appearance of an early settler's homestead, yet looks comfy and cozy. There's even a kayak lying next to a canoe just above the beach. Perfect!

74/100

Adam Hansen Interview - Part 1

Here is the next segment of the interview with Greenlander Adam Hansen made while attending the Delmarva Paddler's Retreat last October.



In this part, Adam describes where he lives, how he became interested in making and paddling kayaks and what was valuable in learning the skills which would become so important to him today.

I will continue to post additional parts as I finish editing and up-loading them to YouTube. If you wish to see all of the interview segments, visit YouTube by clicking here. They should be listed in the scrolling sidebar, or by clicking on other 'ckayaker' videos.

73/100

Paddling Gloves

I must have more types of paddling gloves than Emelda has shoes! I keep buying them in my never-ending search for some gloves that don't leak. In the picture above- I know, it's a lousy pic, just like the gloves - the only pair that don't leak are the mitts. Granted they are easier to make - even I have made a pair - the good news about them is they don't leak. The bad news is I don't really like the feel of mitts while paddling. There's something about having separate fingers gripping that paddle...

So here's what I want. I want someone to make a pair of neoprene gloves with thin rubber on the palms and thicker stuff on the backs. Glue them, sew them, whatever it takes to hold them together. THEN - and this is the secret step I reveal to one and all this morning - dunk them in some kind of flexible sealant like the non-paddling glove manufacturers do! To test this amazing break-thru, I'm going out today to look for some of that liquid-plastic-in-a-can stuff people dip their tool handles in. If I can find some, I'll try dipping a pair of gloves and see how they last.

Update! After reading Richard Hayes comment below, I realised I'd seen a pair of the gloves he writes about some place and so I began looking. Sure enough the Lee Valley tool catalogue had them. I've posted a picture of them below. I think Richard is right about their suitability for staying warm and dry. I believe the greenlanders made a similar mitt for summer use with their mini-sprayskirts, called aqulitsak. I'm still going to try salvaging my present gloves with that plastic dip if I can find some.


71/100

Darkening Days

The days are darkening as we slowly creep into winter. The clouds yesterday were our part of TS Noel which raced by to the east dumping tons on water and high winds on those along the Atlantic coast. We were threatened with snow on Sunday, but other than this cloudy sky, we didn't even get rain to add interest to my paddle.













What did perk things up was sighting a bald eagle, the first I have ever seen on the lake. In Newfoundland, paddling to Chance Cove we saw them by the dozens, but here they are relatively rare. Seeing this fellow and his cousin, the osprey earler in the summer were both joyous events.

Update: While out paddling today, I discovered that there were two bald eagles!

70/100

The Hebrides

After reading Cailean McLeod's review of it, I just had to get a copy of Ewan Gillespe's new book titled Hebridean Waves. I ordered direct from the publisher and received the book within a week. I'm just finishing the last chapter now and a great read it is. He has a easy way of writing and gives the feel of a good story-teller recounting the day's outing at the pub afterwards.

More than ever I am encouraged to make a paddling trip to these islands some day, and this, in spite of Ewan's accounts of paddling in huge seas and being nearly blown away on a few occasions! I don't pretend to be as high a caliber a paddler as he obviously is, but others who've written about the area have convinced me that there is plenty of good paddling for the competent kayaker at my skill level.

See you there?

67/100

Greenland Qajaq Guide

Adam Hansen works as a kayak guide in his town of Assiat in West Greenland. Cheri Perry and Adam spoke together earlier in the month while both were attending the Delmarva Paddler's Retreat and I filmed their conversation. I will be posting parts of this talk from time to time. It gives an interesting look at how Adam has been able to use his traditional kayaking skills to make a living for himself and his family in a new way. Instead of using his kayak as a hunting machine, he now leads interested people out onto the water to explore the Greenland coast.

This first clip is mostly addressed to Canadian Inuit encouraging them to consider a similar path. This clip is spoken in Greenlandic, a language closely related to the Inuktitut spoken in Northern Canada. The remaining clips will be in English. Remember, you too can speak Inuktitut! Visit Tusaalanga Inuktitut and start taking lessons!

66/100

65 Consecutive Days of Paddling

Here's a little photo montage of pictures taken during the past 65 days I've been paddling. It's definitely been a mixed experience with days I couldn't wait to get on the water where I stayed until the sun went down, to days when I really had to force the old bones out of the house, down the road and into the boat. Without exception, I enjoyed every single one of these days. I'm a bit worried what will happen to me when the lake freezes over...

65/100

Finished SOF Kayak

Willow, my wife's French Spaniel puppy, guards my finished skin-on-frame kayak for me while I take this picture. I had painted the deck a 'Newborn Walrus Brown' motif for the trip to Delmarva, but didn't get the rave reviews I was expecting for some reason. I decided to opt for something a bit more standard this time. The hull is now a light grey, while the deck retains the Walrus Brown colour. For those of you into 'pink', you'll be pleased to see 'pink' in the picture. The rest of us can appreciate the wonderful Walrus Brown heritage clearly seen in the glowing deck paint.

Willow says she's almost 6 months old and can already fetch and do other tricks when she's asked. She's looking forward to being an Agility Dog when she's a bit older like her older brother.

64/100

How's It Going, Partner?

I've just finished reading a book I picked up on the way home from my recent trip into the good ole USA. It's by Jill Fredston and called Rowing to Latitude. Like me she has had a passionate attachment for wilderness tripping, especially in the arctic environment. Unlike me, she and her husband partner have paddled just about everywhere one can imagine going in Alaska, Greenland and Norway.

In these days of finding - and keeping - like-minded paddling partners, Jill and Doug Fesler have much to teach us. These two slowly took the time to learn each others' gives and takes before and during their paddling adventures. It also seems that the landscapes they absorbed as they paddled were not just the visual ones they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears, but also the mental ones that formed in their minds. As one reads the stories in the book, the overwhelming message is one of shared experiences, respect for partnership, of caring, loving and the joy of simply being. The book is a good read on many, many levels. My kind of book!

63/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 12

It wasn't easy paddling out of Timber Bay on this last day. It had made a deep impression on me as one of those 'special places' one encounters from time to time. The day was overcast, but calm. The high winds and giant waves we'd feared along this coast never materialized. The 'protected' North Channel had been a much tougher paddle by far. As we paddled eastward, increasingly the whole experience became more and more 'civilized'. We began to see houses, hear cars and feel motor boat wakes.


One of the places we visited I'd actually wondered about before the trip began. It was called Michael's Point. Naturally, I was interested to see what this area was like. Was it like me? In the days leading up to visiting it, the point had been taken on the status of a 'Place of Power' for me. It was assumed that I would have magical powers and cosmic secrets would be revealed to me. Instead, I felt a sense of loss while I was there. Was it a loss because the trip would end later that day? Was it a loss because I felt something had happened, perhaps to my uncle who'd not been well when I left on the trip?

We pushed off on the last leg after having lunch on the point and by late afternoon I nearly capsized just off the ferry dock in South Baymouth as I leaned over for a celebratory hug! The folks on the ferry dock found it quite entertaining.

Click on map to enlarge
When I arrived home a few days later, I learned that my father had died during the first week of the trip. In fact, it happened the day after my only phone call home. Perhaps this connection with Manitoulin Island will always stay with me. It seemed to be a very spiritual place, somehow fitting he would go while I was there communing.

62/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 11

Man does not travel on food alone. Someone has to filter the water! We named this campsite 'Coyote Flats' as we had another nocturnal visitor as well as yelps in the night. The flat 'beach' in the picture's background is actually a perfectly flat stretch of limestone which extended for several acres. It could have been a paved parking lot at the local mall except it was miles from any road!

The day began pleasantly enough, but by the afternoon the rain returned along with a moderate headwind. The result was a long slog into Providence Bay where we had promised a big ice cream cone to all survivors. By the time I finally got there, I was so wet and chilled I could barely crawl up the sandy beach and into the Museum cum pizza joint for hot coffee! A change of clothes and some food soon had me feeling like a human again, but the experience did make me aware of the importance of having better clothing for extended paddling in the rain on a chilly day. Fed and warm, we launched our kayaks and turned eastward to look for a quieter spot to camp.


A few miles down the coast we discovered Timber Bay, a deserted, beautiful, but fragile bay with white rocky protective offshore islands and sand dunes behind the beach. The whole shore was divided into building lots which took us aback somewhat after being out in the 'wilds' for so long. We camped in lot 23 aware that our trip was nearly over. It was sad knowing that if we ever returned to Timber Bay, it would be full of houses, ATV's and the noise of civilization.

61/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 10

During the night and unknown to us, we'd had a visitor walk up close to our camp before suddenly changing its mind, turn and run off! A wolf? A coyote? We weren't sure, but it did give us yet another feeling of the closeness of wildness on Manitoulin Island. The previous evening an egret quietly flew overhead and began feeding in the shallows off our beached kayaks. We seemed not to be there. It returned to see us off in the morning.


The sunshine returned as we made our way along the Huron coast. We'd previously been concerned about paddling this long exposed coast where the prevailing winds can blow strongly from offshore, building up huge wave sets. Landing sites are rare along the way, gradually changing from lumpy rocks as seen in the above picture to the only slightly friendlier mix of sand and rock seen below.


Another hazard which seemed to repeat itself over and over were shallow areas, perhaps ancient eskers, composed of boulders, which extended some distance offshore. Time and again we were forced to paddle far out into the lake to get around the breaking waves at these places. At one of them I took a chance and tried to sneak through what I thought was a deeper break. As I tried to zip through, I found my timing was off leaving me at the bottom of the wave trough rather than the top. Scrambling out of the sudden 'hole', my Greenland paddle hit a rock and the tip broke off.


Later when we landed on one of the few partly sandy beaches for a break, I was able to carve a new tip, one of the advantages of making one's own wooden paddles!

That night coyotes were heard yelping inland and more tracks were found near the tent in the morning.

60/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 9

Waking up, we found the weather had changed. Gone were the calm seas and sunny skies. It was overcast and foggy. By the time we'd packed away breakfast and broken camp and launched the kayaks, it had begun to rain and it continued for most of the day.

Rounding the point in the top picture we discovered we'd camp nearly on top of a huge quarry operation! Limestone was being crushed and poured into huge laker ships for transport to who-knows-where. We were totally taken aback as we'd had little clue such an enterprise was so close to us. It all seemed so un-natural after our week of virtually wilderness tripping. Paddling past the slab-sided laker, we headed a few more kilometers down the shore to the lighthouse where we'd promised ourselves a shore-side meal, our first since launching.



Landing just below it, the shores once again made of flat shelves of limestone, we made our way upwards where we had an early lunch. Asked whether we had peddled in to the place we said "No", we'd paddled. The reply was, "Had we peddled far in the rain?" Again, we replied, "No, we'd just paddled around the corner." The waitress now totally confused, retreated to get our order. It was clear kayakers were not regular visitors in the area!


The afternoon found us paddling in a mysterious world of rain and mists, where eagles and ravens called out to us from overhead and along the shores. None of the coastline seemed to be in the right place due to the flatness of the shore. This was exaggerated by the fact that Lake Huron's water level had dropped about 6 feet since our charts had been made and thus whole bays had disappeared and new islands had risen from the depths. Fortunately east was still east, so we kept Manitoulin on our left and paddled on, eventually coming to Burnt Harbour where we camped for the night.

59/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 8

We pushed off again the following day, the start of the second week of paddling. It was almost a repeat of the day before as far as paddling conditions went. At times we followed the coast when it looked interesting, but mostly it was low rocky beaches backed by dense forests. There were no houses or other signs of human presence. Manitoulin Island, it turns out, is a place of interior villages and farms. Only in a few places have people begun to build on the shore lines. One tower built of rocks attracted our attention at the mouth of a bay, but shallow water prevented a close inspection of its purpose.


As the day passed, we headed offshore to explore some smaller islands along the way. In the picture above, on Vidal Island, we had lunch. Note the use of the pool noodle under my kayak protecting it from the nearly submerged rocky shore! On the island in the photo below, there were two bird rookeries, one for gulls and another for cormorants which built nets looking like 10 gallon pails made of twigs. All in all, it was a noisy, smelly place with very unfriendly shores composed mostly of gelcoat munching fragmented boulders. Perhaps that's why the birds found it so attractive!


Heading onward once again, we pointed our bows for the last cape, the one that led around the western corner of Manitoulin into Missassagi Strait. Once more the cobble stone beaches returned, this time higher and steeper than ever! A few fishermen were doing their thing in power boats out in the strait. When we decided to bathe in the chilly waters, the fishermen suddenly decided to try their luck closer to shore, but it didn't seem to improve the fishing no matter how close they got!

58/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 7

Click on map to enlarge.
Okay, I had now been paddling for a week, so where have I been? This Google map of the island gives an idea of my route, beginning in South Baymouth and working around the island in a counter-clockwise direction.

We were now within easy distance of the next lakeside town, Gore Bay, so we headed in for a re-supply stop. Arriving this time in mid-morning we were finally able to get all the things we had missed in Little Current. Heading back out soon after, we stopped for a brief lunch break and then kept right on paddling through the afternoon. The weather was sunny, warm and dead calm. Our boats cast perfect reflections of themselves on the water. We saw no people, heard no boats. Only a few deer at the water's edge saw us passing by. The fact that Manitoulin Island seemed so wild and deserted a place impressed us as it is really within a few hours drive of some major population centers.

That night we camped at Cape Robert facing the sunset. For a long time we could hear an ATV chugging along in the woods behind the beach, but it never seemed to be making any progress. Suddenly it appeared on the beach beside us driven by a young Indian man. We were all quite surprised to see each other, but after taking a moment to recover we said our hellos and he headed off down the beach. He and the lady the previous night were the only visitors we had during the whole trip.

57/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Days 5 & 6

When we awoke on Day 5, there was silence. Not a breath of wind. Without wasting a moment we loaded up the kayaks and headed westward on still, calm water. What a relief to be paddling on smooth water again. We still ached from the previous day's hard push to Little Current.

By mid morning however, the wind was back. We made it to tiny Wabos Island, some rocks and a few trees and bushes was all it really was. The wind was back with a vengence. As we ate our lunch, we watched the waves build and build. It was obvious that this tiny outcrop was going to be home for the night. Find a place to camp wasn't easy. There was hardly a inch of level ground that wasn't covered with poison ivy or crags of broken limestone.

The next morning the wind had dropped somewhat, but the huge waves continued to roll by the tiny island. Feeling we were now experienced in the waves, we shoved off, heading southward into a big bay. We figured as we got down into it the wind and wave height would drop and we'd be able to take advantage of the shorter reach to turn westwards again. We did just that and finally reached the western side of the bay mid afternoon. It seemed too early to stop so we rounded the point and began looking for a spot to stop along the shore further westward. We were again facing the huge waves and some islands marked on the chart were completely awash beneath them! Staying within sight of each other wasn't easy either as, at times, our kayaks would be invisible in the waves.


We finally found a spot to camp after checking several rocky coves. Supper never tasted so good as it did that night! I used a compact butane stove on the trip. It's advantage was its instant-on feature allowing meals to be ready quickly without much fuss. Definitely an advantage after a long, tiring day of paddling!

We'd no sooner settled into the tent when a four-wheeler appeared out of the woods. It turned out to be a friendly neighbour curious about who had arrived next door! Thank heavens. We couldn't have faced those waves another minute had we been forced out into them.

56/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 4

Slipping through the Hole in the Wall the next morning we ran bang into a strong head wind which hammered our boats all morning as we crossed over to Heywood Island. Once again we were dragging our boats up cobble beaches. After a brief break, we chose to paddle around the leeward side of the island as we made our way towards Little Current, the first of two re-supply points on the trip.


It was on the east side of Haywood that we encountered one of several little miracles that occurred during the trip. We found a bright neon coloured pool noodle lying on the beach, just the thing for saving our hulls from their inevitable fate! We cut it up and rolled up the beaches scratch-free from then on.

The remainder of the day became a race into the wind. We wanted to hit the stores in Little Current before they closed. As it happened, we made the grocery store, but nothing else of interest. We might have made a few more, but the high dock walls everywhere in town, designed for the power-boat crowd, prevented us from landing. After searching for a while, we finally found a sailboat slip where a kind lady agreed to watch over our kayaks while we were in town.

Thwarted by our shopping venture, we headed westwards through the narrows and camped for the night near the ruins of an old mill on Picnic Island. While it was a quiet spot to camp, we soon discovered the place was also covered, like many parts of Manitoulin, with poison ivy! We walked around with care!

55/100

Rounding Manitoulin - Day 3

Another sunny day and this time there was almost no wind as we paddled. The further along the east coast we got, the higher the limestone cliffs rose beside us. It's these same heights that further to the east create the falls at Niagara.


After stopping for lunch, we began the crossing over to the rounded granite shores marking the entrance to the North Channel. On the way we threaded our kayaks through a number of islands, some larger than others. One tiny island, no more really than a bit of gravel beach poking out of the shallow water looked interesting. Terns were swirling above it and something yellow seemed to form its hidden interior. Stopping we discovered a little miracle which you see me pointing at...


The terns had chosen to lay their eggs inside nests made of clumps of yellow flowers. It's an image that remains with me even today, it charmed us so completely.


We crossed over to the mainland and began looking for a place to camp. I had sailed this area several years previously and remembered a spot called Hole-in-the-Wall and it turned out to be a perfect spot. Having had some geology training at university, I was interested to find the site was right on the contact zone between the limestone to the south and the granite to the north.

Had time been on my side I would have liked to stayed in this area to explore places my sailboat had been too large to visit. Alas, we moved on. It made me yearn for my retirement when no schedule would bind me and my children would be successfully launched into their respective worlds. Then I would be able to paddle on open-ended trips taking as much time as I wanted to satisfy my explorer's urge. Of course, now that I've reached that fabled time, finding others willing to make longer trips isn't always easy. Oh, that everyone could be free!

54/100