First Time Around Locke Point

September 5, 2007

Day Seventeen

Belle Island

I left Duncan Narrows for Belle with fog and a choice between the protected route down Duncan Bay and two short portages, or an exposed route around Locke Point. Duncan Bay was calm and the weather forecasted no more than 3-foot waves. I headed east for Locke.

As I approached the point, I could see a thin line of rocks and a mish-mash of curling waves over shoals extending several hundred feet into the lake. The safest route would be to round past those curls. I headed out with eyes glued to the waves; simultaneously assessing which of them might dump me and where there was the break that I needed to get through.

After several minutes of paddling and still no opening, waves were getting steeper and more chaotic. I decided to bag it. I was outside parameters of the promises I’d made to Geneva and Lisa to be careful, to not paddle anything I wasn’t confident I could handle. I came about. Now my kayak was facing what should have been the shoreline of Duncan Bay and I saw nothing but water. Land in every direction had vanished into the fog.

I paddle shorelines, not a limitless horizon. I navigate by constantly comparing my charts with visible landforms. Focused on the wave pattern and anxious, I’d paid no attention to compass readings heading out. Now I was confused as to a compass reading to bring me back. The best I could do was to take a heading from the set of waves in a confused sea and paddle in a direction I hoped would put me back into Duncan Bay.

Within a few paddle strokes, and to my great relief, the line of rocks emerged from the mist. I noticed that landing conditions on the rocks were not bad; wave energy was breaking out on the shoals. Furthermore, water on the other side of the rocks, in the direction I wanted to go, was a mill pond.

I didn’t as much make my way round Locke Point as over it. I dragged my boat across a couple of black rocks, their flat, smooth tops no more than four inches above the water. Now I was floating in calm seas and headed toward Hill Point. If these sea conditions held, I would round that point and paddle to Belle Island behind the protection of Green and Dean Islands. If conditions worsened, I could pull back into Five Finger Bay and take the short portage into Lane Cove. The paddle from Lane Cove to Belle Island would be protected. I was home free!