Around the Bruce Peninsula
Giants Tomb Island to Lyal Island
Lake Huron
Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28
Roland and Rudy felt a bit lazy after the crazy tumult of yesterday's drive / inspect / purchase / pickup / pack / sail, so the get-up call was not an early one. They were finally ready to raise the anchor by 10:00 a.m., and by 10:20 a.m., they started to make their way around the southern end of Giants Tomb Island.
Roland and Rudy needed to cross the vastness of Georgian Bay, itself a body of water more than equal to most lakes in the world, towards the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. The peninsula forms a large barrier that they must round before beginning the journey south down the main bulk of Lake Huron. The bay is huge, and from Giants Tomb Island to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, it is almost 150 kilometres (80 nm).
As they rounded the bottom of Giants Tomb Island, they turned northwest. They soon encountered ground-level fog. From the Captain's Log:
"Immediately past Giants Tomb Island we are swallowed by thick fog. No land in sight anywhere. The sun is beating down and the sky clear above, but thick fog lingers at horizon level... can hear but cannot not see several boats."
After tacking back and forth for several hours, their course brought them near a small island - Hope Island,. Although it is currently uninhabited and part of an Ojibwa reserve, there is an abandoned lighthouse site at the northeastern tip. Although they have started late and they have many leagues to cover, they decided to anchor offshore and visit. Old installations like this are like catnip for the captain of
Simply Blue:
"The abandoned light station on Hope Island stands witness to a distant past. In a corner, the light keeper's desk cries out for its master, but the keeper has gone. Aside from the occasional adventurer, only vandals and hooligans visit here."
After anchoring, Roland and Rudy lowered Simply Blue's dinghy into the water and motored to shore. After a 45-minute exploration of the ruined buildings on Hope Island, they returned and continued their journey. The weather, however, had other ideas: a glassy calm descended over the wide waters of Georgian Bay. In order to continue forward progress, the sails were furled and the motor pressed into service.
Simply Blue was far into the middle of Georgian Bay by the time the sun set. The horizon was a 360-degree circle of water, and they could well have passed for being on a sea, or even an ocean. They were far - many hours at a minimum - from any sort of suitable anchorage. They elect to not stop at all, and pulled what the captain likes to call an "all-nighter". From the Captain's Log:
"Crossing the vast inland waters of Georgian Bay at night. There is nothing out here. Rudi took the first shift, while I slept from 23:00 to 02:30, waking up a few times to the sound of the winch. Had to push back nightmare thoughts of waking up alone on the boat, my brother having disappeared silently into the icy waters of the night."
Despite Roland's fears, his brother made it through the night without vanishing, and another sunrise brightened the waters of Georgian Bay. They finally caught sight of the Bruce Peninsula ahead, meaning they were nearing the end of their crossing of Georgian Bay.
Even though they have sighted land shortly after sunrise, it is another five slow hours before they finally reach the end of the Bruce Peninsula. Rounding the tip, they finally turn south, and began the even longer journey down the main body of Lake Huron.
The journey south down the western side of the Bruce Peninsula was hard fought, with increasing wave heights and unfavorable wind conditions. Roland worried about the upcoming solo interlude between Rudy's departure and my arrival, expressing his opinions thusly:
"Really uncomfortable wave motion. Trouble furling head sail under load. Difficulty getting main sail up and down - battens catch in lazy jacks. Couldn't swap out anchor chain and rode - but too heavy and awkward as is. Tough day. Very discouraged. Feel like I can't run boat systems on my own. How am I supposed to go on solo? Hurt back, hands, fingers. Massively hangry (sic)."
Finally, after nearly 36 hours of continuous travel, Roland and Rudy manage to find a sheltered location on the northern side of Lyal Island, roughly halfway down the western side of the Bruce Peninsula. No doubt the sandman took hold very soon after heads hit pillows on this night. Even though it had been an exhausting stretch, there was a bright side: a full 234 kilometres (126 nm) of distance had been achieved.
