Loading...
The Huron Expositor, 1978-08-31, Page 21THE HURON EXPOSIT MAWS* '31, 1970 2.; CO*0II . .......... YOUR ONE-STOP SHOPPING' CENTRE FOR ALL YOUR FARM SUPPLIES ;\p* I. irx it 7,- ' - A. ..,..•:,, • :,.,,,T....,,_ 4,4, Order your _ Seed VVheat Now ! Bulk and Bagged Fertilizer Now Available .e• ABANDONED FISHING SHACKS — A fishing boat, a sail boat and a catamaran were all tied up outside these abandoned fishing shacks on Fitzwilliam Island, between the Bruce Pen- ninsula and Manitoulin island. See our Represent Live RANDY BROWN THE QUEEN'S HOTEL, at: SEAFORTH oft: The 1st Thursday of each month NEXT visit September 7th .(ittithah o1llcn Addiesa) r Votlirlor Information call 271-SO. 0 or wilte )06 Ontario Streets. Stratton). Owners of smaller businesses The Federal Business Development Bank can provide you with : • Financial assistance o IVIanagement counselling (CASE) do Management training m Information on government programs for business /El if!Mi A(,1,5/N1 Vi LYMENT RANK T . Elizabeth t4A.9kza4saillt • • • 4410 • ... ' . V,51' Where the Carrolls sailed H111y TIED UP IN OAK BAY -- The Carroll's Aquarius, right and their friends' boat tied off the rocks at Oak Bay using breast anchors and lines, and chboRdd he bottom for keel clearance. There wasn't much with 3' 8" keels in 4', of Water. Stephen Youngbiut and daughters Stacy and Sherry are on the Scarlet at left and Karsten and Kalen Carroll on the Aquariu$. Photos by Paul Carroll avel [by Susan Whitei A romantic sailing vacation. Just you and someone special sailing off alone into the sunset. Warm, balmy days. Quiet, breezy nights. Sounds like the, perfect holiday, the one you'd jump at the chance to enjoy.' Add two small children to the sloop's crew. Plus a night on the water while a bad summer storm rages. Top if all off: With almost stepping on a rattlesnakikluring a brief visit ashore. Once reality intervenes in the form of experiences like that, there aren't too , many people who'd still optfor- that galling" holiday. But little things like rattlers and storms don't faze Paul and Mary Carroll, of Goderich 'Street, West4 who with sons Karsten and Katen returned recently from a three week sailing trip in' Lake Huron and North Channel, Georgian Bay. The Carrolls, in their 26 foot sloop, Aquarius 3 travelled 540 miles starting out fit* home port in Goderick „north to ,Kincardine, Port Elgin 'and Stokes' Bay on the Bruce Peninsula. A' lot of the time they travelled with two other families and they were• in contact constantly with each other and when necessary with shore by CB radio. The boat •sleeps four and has a kitchen and bathroom or "head". A long sailing trip is leisurelyandoffers a terrific chance to see the country. The 'Carrolls Went in and out of small harbours, explored uninhabited islands and anchored in bays with other sailors. A lot of people question the wiSclom of taking small children on a boat but - the Carroll two have been sailing since they were infants and both wear life preservers at all times when they're on the water. Karsten, 5, and Kalen, 3, have never fallen off a moving boat but have fallen in when the boat's been clacked. The boys, who've been in the water with their preservers and know they'll hold them up "just come and ask to get their clothes changed" after a dunking, their dad says. New Vocabulary • Boating has given the boys a whole new vocabulary and exposure to *another environment. "Daddy. the car's heeling over", one of them said when the family was back driving on dry land. Kids 'seem to occupy themselves much better on the boat than on a long car trip, their father says. They sleep a lot, they like to sit out. on deck if "the weather's good, and they get tied on the sloop with lifelines if the weather's stormy. There were two children on one of the other boats that travelled with the Carrolls and the four had a great time playing together and exploring ashore. It was on 'a walk at Rattlesnake harbour on Fitzwilliam Island that Paul and the two kids heard a rattler. "Even the three year old, standing behind dad, knew What it was and stood still", he says. Paul took a photo, only slightly out of focus, of the coiled snake• and the three "went directly back to the boat and stayed there." Stokes Bay on the way north is one of the highlights of any sailing trip in Lake Huron because the dock master's wife sells fresh baked pies, Paut„CatrolLiays. RATTLER — Paul Carroll and SonS almoSt stepped on this MassasSeti Battler.' From Stokes to Tobermory the Carrolls "were getting pretty wet" as a storm hit them . and they reported, their position to shore every half hour as they inched their way up the coast. The Carr011s used the'oat's motor quite a bit "We're not purists", Paul says and • they always keep their CB on channel 9 so they can make quick contact with the OPP,- and Coast Guard if necessary. "We should have a VHF radio but they're too expensive", the sailor says. The Carrolls have a knot meter to keep track of mileage and a compass. They have detailed charts for these waters and took the power •squadron course they'd recommend to all boaters, even those with only small outboards_ The boat they describe as "our second car" and, point out that boats, unlike cars, tend to hold their value or appreciate and so are good investments. The Carrolls have been sailing for about 10 years, mostly day nips and some racing until their first long ),pyage-,last summer. On the way up north the Carrolls spent .a couple of days in the Big Tub at Tobermory, just resting,, and seeing the sights like other tourists. Docking charges vary from 10 to 25 cents afoot per night and in more isolated spots the family just dropped anchor, getting ashore, in their inflatable dinghy, or the canoe that another sloop towed. Once there they picked blueberries and raspberries or fished a bit...the boys caught plenty of rock bass. "The costs are like camping. Basically you're 'camping on the water," Paul says. Ports of Call Other ports of call in the north included' Killarney, where they dried out after a thunder storm, Snug Harbour and Heywood Island where two or three other boats were anchored. "It's funny but you tend to talk to people with 'the same size boats as yours" comments Paul. The Carrolls sailed into Little Current on Manitoulin Island for supplies and then into the uncharted Bay of Islands where they spent a beautiful two days. On the way out though, one of the accompanying boats lost, a piece of its keel on a rock and went back for repairs. At Oak Bay in the Spanish River area, the Carrolls caught a pike and when they headed back south to Little Current they'd spent eight straight 'days without docking. A big storm hit on their way back to Tobermory, the Carrolls lost contact .with the other boat for a time and ducked into : unprotected James Bay. By morning there were five boats there, including the Carrolls' friends, to whom they'd signalled through the mist with a mirror "till they found us", Paul says. Rest Day After a rest day at Tobermory an unusual east wind got the Carroll sloop the 75 milek to .Kincardine in about 13 hours, fastest travelling time on the trip. The family averaged about 14 miles a day and about five miles per hour, Another day's 'sailing took them back to Gaderich, The Carrolls don't plan to make their Two .weeks; with two kids: ..• before': the mast • • xpositor . second trip, to the North Channel the last me. "Well look at different harboUrs, different places next year: You could spend years and never see it all," says Paul. He's happy about one thing he noticed on the water...the lake seemed cleaner than last summer, But there's a . new hazard floating around...plastic in all 'forms. "I sat on the bow from Kincardine toGoderich and every five minutes thereld be a new piece...fertilizer bags, garbage bags, styrofoam, you name it." Grave's Wallpaper and Paint will be closed for holidays September 4 to September 13 inclusive. Open Sept, .14 at 9 a.m. ALMOST. HOME 7- On the home stretch, Karsten Carroll, 5 learned to steer. The plants on the steer rail are to add to a gardner collection. They're wild' lobelia and creeping juniper.