On The Hard... Again

It is November 1^st, 2014 and we just heard the first reports on the radio of snow flurries downtown. Seems a bit early really, but there’ll probably be another warmish spell. There usually is.

Heading past Point Au Baril Lighthouse

Mary Mary is ‘on the hard’ now in Britt, Byng Inlet, Ontario at Wright’s Marine. We finally made it to Britt after being weathered in for a few days and then forced to anchor in Kitsilano Bay, near Pointe Au Baril, waiting for the waves on Georgian Bay to subside and for the wind to give us hope. It did though, finally, and we motored out into the blue and with an off-shore wind and calm waters we made it across the Hang Dog Reef in good time and then navigated the hairpin turn at Hang Dog Channel and entered into some of the best landscape we’ve encountered thus far.

Part of Hang Dog Channel

The waters are fairly shallow through the inside route but the higher water-level overall this year helped us and despite one or two marker surprises (not where they were marked on my two-year old charts) it was uneventful. We passed a pretty large working boat slowly making its way between the islands but not much else, even when we left sheltered waters and made the last 7 mile hop on open water towards Byng Inlet. But the weather was remarkably nice with sun pouring down around and smooth waters. We only passed one other boat, headed in the other direction, in the narrow channel towards Byng. We both slowed down and, ten feet apart or so, had a short, jovial conversation, remarking on the terrific conditions and wishing each other well.

It is an amazing phenomenon of these waters that even when you are several miles out, the water in some places is only 8 or 9 feet deep. Many rock shoals can be seen just a few metres off the beaten track and cormorant and gull inhabited rocks jut out into the air every now and then. But the route is well-maintained and we never really felt threatened. Of course, it would be a lot different in harsher weather when you might be getting pushed around a bit off the line. 

Byng Inlet from the air

But such was not the case for us, fortunately, and even though we had been relatively bored waiting out the weather and a little stressed because our time window had been quickly shrinking, the eventual journey was fascinating. It overwhelmed us with a sense of joy and satisfaction even as we were now realizing just how close the end of the season was getting to be. As we motored the final stretch around the point leading into Byng Inlet, the weather started picking up behind us and we were happy to make the smoother waters of the Inlet itself. We motored the two or three miles down the inlet, eventually arriving at Wright’s Marina where we would be spending the winter.

We were greeted by the owner/manager of the marina, Graham Lacey and given a slip on the eastern dock where a boat had just been taken out. Wright’s is a very easy-going place, professionally run and maintained with the care that only a family-run business can be,  and we were quickly settled in and enjoying the dying rays of the afternoon sun. I was returning to Toronto for work having already ferried the truck up to the marina from Parry Sound (Graham, the owner, had actually given me a ride in his car down to Parry Sound where he lived. It’s about an hour away.) Although we had originally planned for me go and then return for the final haul-out, we decided instead for all of us to go back, cats included, and then Brooke and I would return later to do the painful chore.

Wright's Marina, Byng Inlet

When we returned a few days later, we had three days to do the winterizing, clean out the boat and settle things with the marina. (We actually left a day early because it was becoming demoralizing.) So we began the now-familiar routine of oil-changing and such and on the final day, we travelled over to the gas-dock for a final pump-out and shortly thereafter the big, red hydraulic trailer backed down the ramp and we were hauled out. We have decided this year not to shrink-wrap and instead covered the bright-work on the rails with the old fire-hose linings that we had obtained last year from the Toronto Fire Dept. It had worked extremely well at Sound Boat Works so we are fairly confident we will be okay. It is a little more exposed this year, but the cost, for us, was just too prohibitive.

Now it’s just a simple matter of waiting 6 months for spring.

OMG.

Mary On The Hard