8/5/18 Sunday: Kagawong means “where mists rise from the falling waters” in the local Ojibwa language. We were going to go scope that out. SeaJamm pulled anchor around 8:00. That was a long process for them. Their windlass isn’t working, so Alan has to crank in the chain by hand, about 6 inches at a time. He’s going to have Popeye arms if he does that very often! We let them get a head start so we wouldn’t be in their way. Kenny took Stuart to shore, got the two 100’ shore lines untied, and I reeled them in. We put Stuart to bed in his cradle, then we pulled our anchor. It came up pretty clean, which was nice. And away we went! It was a little bit breezy and choppy today, but we only had about 15 miles to go to Kagawong. I had called yesterday to see about getting a slip reservation, but they said even though they were booked, we could stay on the outside of the wall. The wall is OK if there is no north wind, and it doesn’t have power. OK. Well, maybe we’ll just park on the wall for a few hours to go see the sights, then continue on to Gore Bay for tonight. Gore Bay is a big marina and they would have room.
It turned out to be a little rougher on the water than we expected today. We had wind in our face and in our side, and some really big gusts! I’m sure glad the marina was tucked into the very bottom point of a bay that would be sheltered (I hoped!) for our docking process. When we got to Kagawong, the wind died down, and the dock gal, named Zoe, came out to help us. She said all the reservations had cancelled, so we were welcome to move into a slip if we’d like. Sure! This marina is so tiny. It has about 4 slips that will accommodate a boat our size, then about 6 more for smaller boats. No problem! We’ll stay. It was getting hot out, and we were glad to get plugged in for some air conditioning.
We were ready to get off the boat and explore for a little while. Zoe gave us directions to find Bridal Veil Falls. She showed us which trail she recommended, and where “town” and the burger joint was. This is their lighthouse, which is across the street and uphill a bit from the marina. It is a 27’ tall square pyramid wooden building, with a wooden lantern. The tower is painted white, the lantern red, and is 38 feet above the level of the bay. It is supposed to be visible for 11 miles from all points of approach by water. The light was first shown from this tower in 1894.
This was Sunday, and the beach next to the marina was bustling with activity in the afternoon! It was still early when I took this picture, because we got here before 11am. Today got HOT – in the mid 80’s, and I think the whole town was outside playing in the water somewhere today.
This cute little church is right on the bay near the marina. It is the St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, dedicated in 1938. The entire church is adorned with seafaring motif. Notice the ship’s wheel on the front wall? It is from a large pulp barge which sank in the bay back in the 1930’s.
The stained glass window on the front, from the inside, depicting safe travel for mariners.
The interior of the church features many nautical items that have been donated over the years, including wheels, anchors, bells, floats, ropes, lanterns, and more.
One of the most unique items was the pulpit, which was a reconditioned bow from a boat that wrecked on a nearby island in 1965.
Further along the shoreline was a building that was part of a pulp mill built in 1925. The pulp was shipped by freighter to the U.S. and processed into paper for the old Sears Roebuck catalogs. Later it served as a hydro generating station providing electricity for all of Manitoulin Island.
Speaking of Manitoulin Island – it is BIG! And the only land connection to the mainland is across the one-way swing bridge in Little Current that we went through. It is 1060 square miles, and has 3 large lakes. It is the largest fresh water island in the world! Little Current Bridge is at the upper right circled in green.
Back to Kagawong… there was also this little log building that was originally a general store and post office, built in 1890.
We took the trail that Zoe recommended. There were a couple of big carved rocks on the way. A turtle and a fish.
There were also these golden deer statues with carve outs in their bodies for picture posing.
The trail was beautiful! It was so nice to get out and go on a nice big trail where there likely were not any snakes.
After less than 1/2 hour, we arrived at Bridal Veil Falls. It really is a pretty setting – but my goodness, there were a lot of people here! It reminded us of all the locals at Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios Jamaica! It was a very popular place to be on a hot Sunday!
We did not swim here – it was a bit too busy for us! And we were hungry.
Since we approached the falls from the trail, we walked up the hill and steps to the parking lot. It was just a dirt pull off area along the side of the road, and cars were parked everywhere.
Right across the street was the Riverside Take Out Stand … THE burger joint. Now this is a first class operation, right?
It was a little spendy, but we decided to go ahead and spend the last of our Canadian money, and eat like the locals. We were hoping for a really good po-dunk burger. (That’s what we call burgers at little po-dunk burger joints, and they are usually the best burgers ever, dripping with lots of goop and flavor). It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. We were disappointed.
When we walked back to the boat, we walked along the road, and then along a boardwalk. The boardwalk was great! There was hopscotch and other games painted on the boards. Next to one place along the boardwalk, there was a fenced-in area that was a maze among arborvitae (tall skinny trees). They also had a variety of historical markers along the trail. For what seemed like a tiny little settlement, this Kagawong place had some fun stuff! Meanwhile, back at the big dock at the marina, the rest of the community was jumping, diving, and swimming. I’m really glad Zoe didn’t have us stay on the outside wall, or even on that lower dock there! Everyone was having such a great time, and I’m glad Island Girl was out of the way!
Around dinner time, we had a HUGE thunderstorm! Big giant wind gusts, lightning, thunderousboomus, and buckets of rain! It was a total gully washer!
After that cleared up a bit, more people came out to the dock to swim some more! It was still in the 80’s. I’m so glad we have air conditioning when it is this warm and humid!! I suspect most loopers don’t go to Kagawong, but it was a nice little place – although with not much for amenities. We never did see a grocery store or a restaurant other than the burger joint. But the village of about 500 people (not big enough for a town) was a place where people enjoy what nature provides, and it is a place with some history that they’ve documented and preserved. OH! They did have a very upscale chocolate shop – Manitoulin Chocolate Works! That was weird! How does it survive?! I didn’t get a picture of it, because I thought we might go back. Alas – we did not. It was very fancy, and seemed so out of place! Weird!