Wolfe Island: Brakey Bay
There
is a useful dinghy landing spot at the culvert located at the very head of the
bay. (If you stop by early in the morning, you may even see a deer crossing the
stream.)
The gravel road is a pleasant walk in either direction. Following it
left leads to the pavement ~ a left turn eventually leads to half a dozen houses
called "Port Metcalfe" near Quebec Head.
Swimming
is just about perfect in Brakey Bay, and dinghy trips around the shore often
lead to cow encounters of the mooing kind. And as evening falls, the
bay is frequently treated to a bagpipe concerto by "Strathspey" out of
Trident Yacht Club. "Star Wars Theme" on a bagpipe is truly is worth a
day's sail... Click
to enlarge photo
From
Brakey Bay, its an easy hop over to Gananoque or the Admiralty or Lake Fleet
groups of the Thousand Islands.
Click to enlarge Late
September in Brakey Bay. A beautiful evening with a waxing moon rising over the
copper oil lamp on the stern. Crickets and stars. The gentle thump of the
dinghy on the swim ladder as I fell asleep on deck.
We sure had a
couple great days in the bay that week. Hikes ashore, steak on the BBQ, Bach
on the stereo, Gewurtztraminer fresh from the cooler, Mary Lin making flower
arrangements from ditch weeds, blasting all over the bay with the 2 hp ' Wee
Horse' and dinghy. Only one other boat for company and they left that morning. Such
prescience is remarkable, given the forecast for light winds. It
seems everything ominous starts about an hour before first
light. If I recall Pliny, Vesuvius really got rattling a bit before dawn on
that Last Day of Pompeii, didn't it ?. So,
there we were, an hour before first light. I woke up as the boat had swung around to face out
the bay in a light wind. Still thinking about the crickets, I got up just to have a look. Just to look. Dark as a Pit.
Breezy. No stars. In a few minutes, the wind piped up a bit stronger. Then
stronger. More than a breeze - a North Easter. The rigging was whistling. Then,
before you could tie a rolling hitch, the gusts were shaking the whole boat like it had a flat tire. Ominous.
(And did I mention that it was as Dark as a Pit?) Now
the waves came. Straight fetch from somewhere around Thwartway Island. More than
enough to kick up a good metre or so crest to trough. And the rigging was
whistling. And the boat was shaking. And porpoising on the rode. Much like a
porpoise. A shakey, whistling porpoise, I suppose. By the time it got light
enough to see anything we had barely been able to get some coffee brewed. At
least there was coffee! We
bugged out at seven thirty - fearing we would start to drag. As it turned out,
there was about a cubic yard of weed hanging off the anchor, together with a
good sized tree branch so our fears were well founded. Very botanical I suppose,
but heavy to pull up. I wanted to save the Branch to show folks, but it fell
back in when the porpoise dove. No problem washing the anchor this time. Or my
face. Bracing. Refreshing. Mary
Lin
was at the helm. She used Full Combat Power to motor off into the chop. I
tell you, it was sure nice to hear Mr Diesel thwapping away under the cockpit.
Steady. We crawled out of the bay making less than two knots then turned a bit
downwind. Whitecaps everywhere. A real whistling blow. Just like on TV. We
eventually got across the river and fell under the lee of Howe Island where
it was reasonably calm. Even so, it was hardly breakfast time. Too early
for a beer. With
the
afternoon, thankfully, came sunshine and blue water. Some days just
seem to start out poorly. 
On
the eastern end of Wolfe Island, just short of Quebec head, you'll find Brakey Bay- as
peaceful an anchorage as you'll ever want. Brakey Bay
Click to Enlarge
