Points of Interest Around the Island

Main Docks

This part of the island is where most water-based activities take place, as it is the common meeting place. It was not the first boat mooring area - that honour belongs to what is now the remains of a sunken crib about halfway between the Homestead dock and the Cedar Grove dock. It seems that one spring back in the 1950's the water was unusually high at breakup, and the wind especially strong out of the north-west on the final days of winter. Well, when the ice floes came in, that ol’ dock just spun right around on its centre crib and was trashed in a minute.

So with help from cousin Keith, we carved a path all the way across the island to the back bay, which at that time was an isolated little bay that we called our own, as there was never any need for anyone to travel away from the main channel so far. Little did we know then that one day this little bay would become the centre of the universe!

Little by little, extra boats were acquired, and the docks expanded to accommodate them. Given that the area was facing directly south and was hot, hot, hot in the afternoon, we built a permanent sunshade in which to sit and escape the heat. This proved useful also as it kept the rain off and that meant we could leave the chairs out and also have a small beverage fridge handy.

In 2004 the new Stanley cruiser was delivered, and once again the docks needed repairs. So in the fall of 2005 the two parallel docks were rebuilt on their existing cribs and a centre section was slung between the docks, resulting in an enormous dock/sundeck. At the time of writing this, we are considering furniture options for it.

Smaller shore and finger docks complete the complex, and this is where we moor all the small boats, along with paddles, life jackets, pool toys, etc. A home-made wooden derrick makes for easy lifting of motors and boats, and the swim ladder is appreciated by the swimmers in the crowd. Automatic remote dock lights can be turned on by either of the two larger boats when returning to port after dark.