August 18, 2008: Echo Bay, Ontario

Beckwith Island taught us to remember the weather. The bay that had the wonderful fun clear calm water in the afternoon was not really a very protected anchorage. So around 9:00 PM when the wind picked up, so did the waves. We did not sleep much last night with serious boat rocking and pounding wave noise. We actually moved the boat to the other side of the island before trying to make breakfast. Then when we made the 20 mile run to Wreck Island it was across open water with a high wind whipping up heavy swells. That was 2 hours of rough water and it was very dramatic where you could see the waves breaking on the stone shores. But it was not fun.

Later, it was great to be anchored in the quiet waters off the Massasauga Provincial Park on Wreck Island. We were glad to take a few minutes to follow the trail around the island to see the examples of geological formations. The surface seemed to be made up of twisting ribbons of rock, including pink feldspar and black hornblende. Rushing water under a glacier eroded the rock in various patterns and now lichen beds flourish where water pools on the rocks. Tom made a great tour guide with a booklet he had on the park.

Tonight we visited Henry’s Famous Fish House for dinner. It is a restaurant on Frying Pan Island which had some of the atmosphere of our favorite Tony’s (windows overlooking the water, college student wait staff, fish mounted on the walls), but the food was just okay. I think the famous part is that the restautant is a federally registered airport and served by 5 commercial airlines. Since it cannot be reached by road, there are local sea planes which offer the experience of flying in for dinner. We enjoyed the experience of being there. When we got ready to leave, the winds had picked up again, but tonight we are hidden away in Echo Bay and it is very still here so we are hoping for a good night’s sleep.