Adventure Stories: Saved By a Muskie Fisherman

In October, while the leaves were falling and warm air long gone, Bob and I decided to spend a few days canoe camping in Massassauga Park. We knew that the time of year was dicey with water temperatures low and the air very cool. But we bundled up and made sure to tighten our life jackets. We were well prepared with compass and GPS, navigation charts for the area and all the usual camping gear.

Massassauga rock formations

But, the part we weren't looking forward to was the two hour paddle in to our island site from the launch at Pete's Point near Parry Sound. We got the canoe loaded and into the water by two that afternoon -- it's a three hour drive from our home in Caledon to the launch. The part of the route that we're always skittish about is the large bay to cross before reaching the safety of one of the park's many islands.

In the summer you wouldn't cross in a strong wind and later on in the season you especially wouldn't want to capsize into the cold water. So we were already on edge, with the daylight hours passing. The water had dropped a foot over the dry summer and if we had noticed the plastic bottle bobbing in the waves, we might have been forewarned.

But we didn't see it and all of a sudden we were well and truly stuck on a rock in the middle of the bay with not a soul in sight. We didn't panic at first, thinking we could just push ourselves off. But after half an hour of pushing and prodding, we knew we were in trouble. I said to Bob,"I'm getting out the canoe." He said, "Don't you dare."

We both knew the water was too cold for me to swim to shore. Bob doesn't swim. We also knew we had to lighten the load to get off the rock. It was then I spotted a boat off in the distance. We waved our caps and shouted and finally the boat powered over. It was a Muskie fisherman from Ann Arbour, Michigan.

"Here, take the rope and I'll pull you off," he said. "No," I said. "The canoe will tip. Let me try to transfer to your boat." So that's what we did. The fisherman said, "Where do you want to go?" I looked back at Bob still on the rock and gave him a thumbs up.

Eventually, Bob got off the rock, I jumped into the water near shore and got back into our canoe. We thanked the Muskie fisher and were on our way again.