by John Fitzsimons
On the weekend of September 17 to 19, nine hearty souls were treated to some of the best and some of the worst that Georgian Bay can dish out all in the quest to make the Bay a better place to paddle. Unlike the spring Rendezvous and thanks to the 5°C temperatures at night, that were kept at Bay by Phillip’s able skills at the fire, not one drop of DEET was used throughout the entire weekend. Yes it was time again for the fall cleanup; I mean the fall get-together. This is the club’s annual opportunity, like it or not, to pick up after those X%@# (you supply the expletive) boaters that came before us.
For those fortunate enough to get up on the Friday they were well rewarded with a fabulous day on the Bay, warm enough even for a late season swim. As if to say it might be time to say goodbye, the Bay whipped up with 30 knot winds Saturday morning making a trip to the southeast side of Franklin a little daunting and a trip to the western shore positively reckless. The opening at Henrietta Point was a maelstromic melee, a chaotic mess of waves reverberating off angled ramparts of granite that have held sway against marauding glaciers forced into retreat by Ra’s unrelenting gaze; but I’ll leave the syllabification to one more accomplished than myself.
Although conditions Saturday morning limited access somewhat to the western side of Franklin, thanks to the yeoman efforts of Sam and Melissa who managed to get out before things got nasty, the Snakes and Lally got a fall cleaning that included one chainsaw. One wonders what the owner had in mind. It was a weekend that women in the club could surely be proud of, what with Sarka supervising Sean and John in the relocation of several thunderboxes equipped only with a six inch trowel while Anna ably accompanied Bill and Phillip on the eastern channel cleanup. Next year Sean and John are thinking of trying their hand at removing any unwanted graffiti with toothbrushes. Rick and Michelle who took on the north end of Franklin ran into that not so rare beast Homo boatancrapwhereiplethicus and had to retire to other areas. Sunday dawned with another teaser of a day allowing another trip out to the Snakes, while some contemplated the possible coming of winter later in the week.
While you might be wondering why the club bothers, our efforts, along with those of the Georgian Bay Committee, are paying off with much less debris than in the past and those thunderboxes apparently doing their job in bringing them in from far and wide. So next year in September (no the sun has not gone out, nor the icebergs returned), you can join us, have a great time on the Bay and make it a better place for all.