fractalnavel

heading up to tobermory to meet some family this weekend.  no takers on this end to join me on an extended road trip beyond that; seems a shame to be out that way and then just come home.  solo road trips are ok, but with the price of gas right now i think i'd rather share.  you never know, i could still get the itch to keep going.

oh, toys - what to bring ?  normally this would be a scuba trip.  “normally” ?  i dove in tob in '95, '96, '97 and '99, the first three times with a dive shop group.  that's always a good thing.  clear cold fresh water in the middle of a hot summer - yum.  clear ?  sometimes visibility exceeding 50 feet.  cold ?  40's at the bottom, 50's at the top.  when it's sunny and 80 or more topside, that can't be beat.  yet it's just as likely to be cloudy, windy and fifties.  that's part of the fun.  i always wish i could find such water around here when the temps hover near 100.

i was thinking of seeing if i could get a last minute spot on the shop's tour.  or i could grab a half-day charter in town and just do a two-tank dive.  the shop tour is appealing since the trip includes meals & rooms & diving.  yet the idea was to spend time with family camping.  and, well, my tanks need their annual inspection.  i could just use the air i have (i've got four full tanks right now), but no one will normally fill them without a current sticker.  last minute rush inspections are hard to come by. 

and then there's the question of whether my wet suit still fits.  those things are notorious for shrinkage ;-) (diver's in-joke; of course it's we who are expanding).  and, hmm - my equipment might raise some eyebrows now, since it hasn't been updated in quite a while.  it's in good shape though.

toys: bike ?  good for rides into town and around the tip of the peninsula from the nearby camping areas.  i never heard of any mountain biking trails area.  lots of national park land means hiking only.  good hiking too - along the cliffs of the niagara escarpment.

that's a great area for sea kayaking, but i never progressed in that.  it's also a decent climbing area, but it's the same story as with the kayaking.

toys: backpacking ?  i was thinking of maybe doing just an overnight trip on flowerpot island, or on the bruce trail.

toys: boat ?  oh, i could put it together in time to go, but i still haven't finished the sanding & stuff.  remember, i'm a pro crastinator.  tow it up for just the weekend ?  hmm.  i would have to cross into canada using a bridge, not a ferry, and the marine city to sombra crossing is so much more pleasant. but i should call and check, just in case they do allow trailers (called - not a problem; funny, though, putting a boat on a boat).

then there's the issue with a 14 foot day sailer in those waters.  it can get pretty rough out there, and weather can change quickly.  it'd be cool to actually sail over to flowerpot, but ...

one of my brothers is taking his boat, a 20 foot 200 hp thing that he uses for fishing.  it's not a fishing boat, or a ski boat, and has a minimal cabin.  i probably won't go out on it; he scares me the way he camps.  then again, he could be free transport to the islands.

not a toy, but an activity:  there used to be a nice stable up there at harmony acres, but like so many ranches over the last few decades, it seems they are now out of that business due to a lawsuit (i thought i remember a reference to that while browsing.  maybe i'm wrong - i hope so).  what a shame.  the same thing is what almost killed general aviation, and it's the one thing the scuba world lives in fear of, and has so far successfully protected itself against.

sounds like i need to stay a week.  it would be a beautiful place to live. 

or, really, i could just skip all the toys and just tag along with everyone else.  there's day hikes, geocaching, swimming (lake huron is much warmer than the georgian bay), sightseeing, shopping (the little tub harbor area, which pretty much is tobermory, has a lot of neat shops).

what haven't i done there before ?  flowerpot island & small boating.  maybe i should just focus on that.  and a half day dive outing.  something to consider.

ok, called the parks registration office.  flower pot has six spots available on a first-come, first-served in-person basis (up to 14 days camping allowed).  cool.  except they say that on this weekend they usually all get taken by wednesday.  they also say the island is only five km from the harbor.  if so, that'd be just perfect for a boat like mine.  gotta check the charts though; some road maps show the distance as more like 20km.  why are there so many free land maps, but practically no free marine charts ?  although i can't find charts, there is anecdotal evidence that the 5km distance is correct.  ok, a park map.

ok, now: decisions, decisions.