Tuesday July 9: The BEST Kayaking ..... EVER!

 Today was cloudy again with a chance of rain so we decided to stay put and take advantage of what the Bruce Peninsula has to offer in this area. Steve had decided to hike the 3 km or so to the end of bay – following the Bruce Trail. He was just about to leave when we both came to the same conclusion: we really should kayak along the cliffs since the water was SO calm. So we did.

It was definitely the right decision!

Steve set out ahead as we both figured he's kayak farther than I would anyway. I prepared for the journey well: bottle of water, camera in a waterproof bag and a line! This would be used to tie to Steve's kayak in case I was overambitious in my paddling :-)

What an amazing place. The water is crystal clear and the bottom covered with huge boulders that fell from the cliffs. It was just crazy great.

It was hard to get a handle on how high these cliffs really were.

There were a number of rock/cliff climbers around that helped give a perspective to the size and height of this shoreline. In the picture on the left, circled in red is a climber that is hanging off of one of the peaks. In the right picture there are two climbers – circled in red. I have to say that is something I never, ever thought about doing even when I was able to!

There were a number of areas where there were small passages that were easily accessible by kayak only (well, canoe, I'm sure). Really fun.

Steve was waiting for the small bass to come out from under the rocks – they weren't hard to see :-)

Time to head back. The marina is in this picture – a bit left of center. Get out the towing line!

No problem, really, but I had to measure the distance when we got back: a bit over 3 miles round trip. Probably the farthest I've ever kayaked. But simply the best. Sadly though there are no fish to see (except for the bass) so I guess we're spoiled by the reefs in Florida and it's huge numbers of colorful saltwater fish.

We did stop at the huge rocks whose sides formed a neat little cavern – it had a little cave way back in it. No way was I going in there though. Who knows when it's going to cave in, right?

The day was not all play as the teak work was calling. Steve taped off the rest of it and I put the first of 3 coats on the wood. It is going to look SO MUCH better. Well worth the time Steve spent removing the varnish and cleaning and sanding it to prepare for painting with Cetol. This is the same finish we use on the trawler and have found it holds up better than anything else we've tried.

The bay was calm again in the evening. It's such a pretty place.

We waited at the viewing area to see the cliffs turn pink in the sunset but sadly it didn't happen. Just too many clouds. The cliffs face west so in theory when the sun is setting it shines on the cliffs. Maybe tomorrow night …..

Spotted in the harbor here: the Rebecca Lynn :-)