No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend’s Or of thine own were: Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
-John Donne
While I agree that ‘no man is an island’ but part of a greater whole, poet John Donne could not have know when he wrote these words in 1624 that the Thousand Islands area could capture many a man (and woman) in it’s warm and tender embrace.
We are back on the boat after taking our youngest son to college. As you’ll recall, we left Thalia in Toronto so it was a long drive home and back. Our dog “Journey” is now on board with us. Journey is a ten-year-old cross between a black lab, a blood hound and several other breeds. Journey has become less excited about being on the boat as he has aged. He gets anxious when we heal or if we are slamming through waves. While our son was home working this summer, it was nice to have Journey able to stay home; but with our son going to college, Journey had to come with us! This will be an adjustment for all three of us.
We decided to make our first day out with Journey a shorter one so we stopped at Port Whitby, a 27 mile sail from Toronto. We attempted to anchor inside the breakwater as our cruising guides advised. However, we felt too constrained/endangered by the surrounding shallow areas and the harbor channel passing closely by us. Because of these conditions, we raised the anchor and attempted to anchor outside of the breakwater. This didn’t work either – the wind was kicking up from an unexpected change in direction and if we stayed here we were likely to rock uncomfortably all night. Our third attempt had us tied off at the docks at the Port Whitby marina! Little did we know that we might be in store for additional repeat performances.
