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Georgian Bay Sailing - Day 4 The weather front completely dissipated during the night, and clear sky returned the next day. It was a gorgeous morning, crystal blue sky, sparkling water, winds light. We left our campsite, walked through the powdery sand that was just beginning to warm up under the sun, and were looking forward to some sailing and fishing. That morning I learned a new term from my neighboring campers: Storm Tide. Although Georgian Bay doesn’t have much of a tide (about one foot, depending on the lunar cycle), a strong blow from the west pushes the vast body of water towards land and can add over 1 foot to the tide. I had set my boat too far onshore during the storm when the water was high, and now that the lake had receded to its normal level, the boat was basically sitting on mud. Here it is, all 650 pounds of the Hen resting on about 2 inches of water, impounded by the forces of nature. |
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No damage was done - just acute embarrassment. In this situation one has two options: dig around and under the boat to give it sufficient draft to float, or get enough hands to lift the boat up and move it back into deeper water. Luckily at the campsites near the boat there were many sympathetic eyes watching my predicament, and with help from four fellow boaters we lifted the Hen by the bow and swung it around into ankle deep water. From there it was easily pushed through the soft sand and onto freedom. |
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