We were up and on our way this morning, following another boat out of the anchorage. Eventually they turned to port heading for the Trent Severn with the intent of backtracking our route and eventually ending up in Florida. Their boat is a tad bigger and draws a bit more than does First Light. Pretty bold, but a lot of people in boats their size have pulled it off. Having been through there on First Light I'm not sure I would try it.
We turned to starboard and headed toward a place called Parry Sound Harbour. That wasn't our original destination, but we decided to skip a night at anchor, go through a swing bridge, and take a dock for a couple of nights to provision. We need water, food, ice cream, and rum. Along the way there were several vary narrow channels with prop-eating rocks visible close both port and starboard. The trick? Go slow and stay in the channel. Which sounds relatively easy to do and mostly is. But we discovered that some Canadian boat operators are just as reckless as any American boater we have run across. At one point, and in the middle of a tight turn with rocks on both sides, I actually let a good blast out with the horn to get the attention of a go-faster boat charging into the channel bow on to us at full plane. We didn't miss by much. We also had a float plane on final approach fly over us. He splashed down a good distance off our bow. It was fun to watch but...go fast boats, float planes, trawlers, Coast Guard boats, barges, tugs, sailboats, narrow channels and big rocks. I've never traveled waters quite like these before. There is often little room for error.
During the day, we heard a mayday call. A boat traveling the same route behind us had run up onto a rock hard enough to breech the hull. We heard them tell the Coast Guard that their bilge pumps were being overwhelmed and they were launching the dink. A little while later we heard the Coast Guard asking how many people were in the water. It was a bit sobering. This is a beautiful place. But it has big granite teeth and will bite if provoked. We never heard what the final outcome was but, in some of the places we passed through today, a boat length or two from the rocks the water was better than forty feet deep. Back off a rock with a hole in the boat that the pumps can't handle in one of those places, and that boat will never be seen again. If, as is our case, pretty much everything you own is on the boat because that is your home for several months out of the year? That ramps up the stress level just a little bit. We are not risking a weekend toy out here.
I guess the good news is there will likely be a rock close by that one can stand on until help arrives.
UPDATE: We heard from friends who were on scene with the damaged boat. A good samaritan, The Coast Guard, and Towboat had already arrived. The Good Samaritan took the wife and dog to his house nearby. A Towboat crash pump kept them afloat. A Coast Guard diver assessed the damage. The boat was towed to a repair facility and will be hauled today for evaluation. It is good to hear when us humans actually manage to get it right.
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