Some of the granite islands in eastern Georgian Bay have sand beaches, mostly small, which make ideal swimming areas especially for children. But for real beachcombing the large outer islands — Christian, Hope, Beckwith and the Giant’s Tomb — are ideal. These are just over the geographic line separating the sandy soil and deciduous woodlandsContinue reading “Betsy’s mysterious anchor”
Category Archives: Memorable Moments
Sunsets
Some of the images in this blog, you may have noticed, portray twilight or sunsets. I don’t know why that is, except that the tranquility at that time of day is appealing to some like me at that same time of their lives. However the following anecdote is about the end of a day sixtyContinue reading “Sunsets”
Minstrel of the islands
One weekend in early spring I was at Wahnuhke alone. A load of firewood delivered the previous fall needed stacking and that was a good excuse for me to spend time there. It was windy and raw, but good weather for physical work. As I toiled away among the juniper bushes, I became aware ofContinue reading “Minstrel of the islands”
How we found the smelts
Although born in England and raised in New Zealand before arriving as an adult in Canada, Kenneth With brought with him a staunch belief in all things British. That, plus a possibility he might have been descended through his mother from Izaak Walton (English author of The Compleat Angler, about the art and spirit ofContinue reading “How we found the smelts”
A fish story
One calm autumn day off the dock at Wahnuhke we saw the glassy surface of the water broken by a couple of bumps. Thinking it must be a log floating just below the surface, we went out to retrieve it before a passing boat got damaged. As we got close it suddenly sank out ofContinue reading “A fish story”
Remembering the Midland City
Anyone familiar with Georgian Bay likely has heard of the inter-island steamer Midland City. When I first wrote this around 2004 for the Midland Free Press there might even have been a few people still living who had worked on the beloved old boat or who, like me, at least had a ride on her.Continue reading “Remembering the Midland City”
Calamity at Key Harbour
A memory by Steve Chisholm I believe it was the summer of 1970 when Grandpa (Kenneth With), my Mum (June Chisholm) and I embarked on a trip to Killarney in Quest. The trip up the shore was great, good weather and calm seas. We spent the first night at Withrock, at Manitou, and proceeded theContinue reading “Calamity at Key Harbour”
The iceman
I have never seen the play The Iceman Cometh, and for readers who know that story, I was not that type of iceman. But the two summers I was a deliverer of the frozen refrigerant in the mid-1950s on Georgian Bay I wouldn’t have missed for anything. Originally, when the cottages were built at WahnuhkeContinue reading “The iceman”
Winter apparition
Fifty years ago (in 1970) we were on a snowmobile running west across the ice of Twelve Mile Bay. A bit of wind swirled fluffy flakes of snow creating a gentle blizzard effect which made the shoreline and islands, as they gradually appeared, stand out from the murky background. Through this gloom nearly a mileContinue reading “Winter apparition”
Last of the log rafts, and Paddling into the sunset
This short clip was published in 1938 in Blackwood’s Magazine in the U.K., in an article by A.H. Lightbourn of Toronto about sailing his 20-foot sloop up the Trent-Severn Waterway to Georgian Bay and north to Pointe aux Baril in 1937 or earlier. They had moored overnight at an island on the Inside Passage “…andContinue reading “Last of the log rafts, and Paddling into the sunset”
