by Sarka Lhotak
Eager to get on Georgian Bay with my new kayak, I signed-up on this Victoria Day Weekend trip organized by Wolfgang Kuschke. As the date was approaching, however, I followed the weather forecast with concern. The maximum temperatures were not to exceed 4º C that weekend. “Wolfgang, are we going? I think it is crazy.” Wolfgang had his doubts too but soon was back on the phone: “Guess what, everybody wants to go, so it’s on.” At this point I could not chicken out.
Wolfgang and John Cross went on Friday to set-up a camp on Franklin Island and were to meet the rest of us, Christine Hutchison, Mark and me, on Saturday morning in Snug Harbour. I arrived early to a deserted and cold harbour. Looking across the grey water, my feet and hands freezing, I had no desire to get into the kayak. But soon others arrived and Wolfgang and John’s kayaks brightened-up the bleak landscape. I cheered up somewhat and soon the kayaks were loaded and we were off.
Approaching the island, from a distance, I could see a bright orange tent pitched on a rock. “I guess it must have been somebody else’s,” I thought as we ignored the tent and kept paddling along the shore looking for Wolfgang and John’s spot. They could not find it! It turned out it was that orange tent after all!
After setting-up the camp we went for a short paddle around the Henrietta point. The waves were close to 1 metre and confused around the shoals. At one point I found myself on top of a wave looking down at an exposed rock and wondering what will happen when my kayak crashes down onto it. Given the temperature of the water (and air) was only 4º C, it was not a time to play in the waves. We turned around and headed back into the sheltered waters towards our campsite on the east shore of the island.
At night the temperature dropped below zero and we woke up to a calm, grey and cold day. Our kayaks were covered with a layer of frost and ice. However, with a warm breakfast in our stomachs we felt good and decided to circumnavigate the island. Out on the west side we got some small waves and wind that posed no problem to paddling, however, it was cold! Some of us were eager to get out of the boats before we could reach a sheltered spot. The lunch was therefore the coldest and for me the only miserable time of the trip. I put on all the spare clothes I had, so from this point on I would have had no dry clothes in a case of immersion. As one member of our party was pushing me off the shore so I did not get my feet wet, I noticed he was shaking badly with cold. I was concerned about that but as we got back into our paddling rhythm, everybody warmed up and felt much better.
Back at the campsite we had a good dinner and a nice campfire. On Monday morning we paddled back to Snug Harbour in snow flurries joking about our new season warm-up trip. As Wolfgang put it, he did not take off his tuque for 72 hours, sleeping, cooking, eating and paddling in it! I felt happy that I made it in good spirits and that I was well prepared and equipped to handle the cold. This was the closest I ever got to winter camping. I was surprised how many kayakers were out there in this weather. We saw at least 10 other people!
Thank you, Wolfgang, for a memorable trip!
