Put me in the Harbour

The Launch of season one for Fathom Five Fishing and Private Tours in Tobermory Spring 2023

After departing from Dyers Bay to a quick cruise into Wingfield Basin to take a look at this sheltered sanctuary, I round the point of Cabot Head to find the winds blowing head on into my bow. Tre Anni holds true and strong with leaps and lunges over the seventh sister with a small splash in the V of her wake.

The shoreline is riddled with lingering lumps of ice clinging to rocks in the shade. A reminder of a wind splashed shoreline sheeted in ice over so many cold days and nights of a waning winter. The continuous cliffs carry on towards Cave Point, behind cresting waves capped in white froth from a perpetual roll.

The cool breeze is not too bad. I am dressed for it. It takes me forty minutes to get from Cabot Head to Cave Point. I am trying to monitor fuel consumption at a moderate pace.

I can see in the distance two islands that look like familiar old friends. Bears Rump and Flowerpot Islands. The clouds close in on each other leaving decreasing gaps in the canopy for the sun to blaze through. The winds begin to diminish as I near the Grotto. Beyond overhanging point I see a misted horizon. The clouds grow heavy and weep a distant drizzle, the islands fade to grey in a moist mist. The waves are much smaller now as I trim the bow down to hug the water as I approach Burnt Point and round the shoals of Mermaids Cove. The Watson Wall is to my port and I punch it up towards North Point. Two hours at twelve knots, not bad.

The boardwalks along the shore are empty. The winter spars remain at the entrance of Little Tub Harbour, across from an empty ferry dock awaiting the return of the Big Canoe in less then a weeks time. The harbour is silent on a Sunday with no one shopping at the vacant grocery store. The construction crews are off. The still water is silent in the empty harbour. The other commercial boats are standing on blocks beside the old harbour wall, waiting to be craned into the water, in just over a weeks time. The town will transform back to the busy season.

Tre Anni and I are home in Little Tub Harbour. Happy Mike is back.