Searching for Shipwrecks

It was an expensive way to kayak but it was the best solution.

DW and I have wanted to paddle around Tobermory for more than a decade, ever since we saw kayakers in Big Tub Harbour, around the shipwrecks that lay in crystal-clear, shallow water. When we purchased our first kayaks, in 2020, the Fathom Five National Marine Park was on our bucket list of places to paddle, though we thought it was a long way to go.

Coming back from Lake Superior made it a possibility, and when we were able to grab a last-minute site at the national park, we knew that wish was going to become a reality.

When we started planning out the details of our paddle—mainly, where we were going to park and where we'd put in—there were two plausible spots. We first checked out the shore near the Big Tub Lighthouse, where there was limited parking but we managed to find a spot without a problem at this time of the morning.

We quickly checked the shore and discovered that the water was a bit choppy and the rocky shore was uneven and slippery. Not impossible but it had its risk. I vetoed this option, saying that I didn't want DW nor myself to slip and hurt ourselves.

The second option was the safest, though the most costly.

Little Tub Harbour is a marina with lots of boats and ships of varying sizes coming and going. It's where the tour boats leave to take visitors to the shipwrecks and to Flowerpot Island. On the point of Little Tub Harbour, the Chi-Cheemaun ferries people to and from Manitoulin Island.

Marina parking. DW is heading toward our car.

There's a boat launch with easy access to still water, and there's parking that makes this place very convenient. But it's costly to park and you have to pay to put your vessel into the water, including kayaks.

Because it was still fairly early, we had no problem finding a parking spot close to the boat ramp. It costs $3 per hour to park there and we paid for three hours, not knowing how long we'd be out on the water but also knowing we wouldn't be more than three hours.

There's someone by the boat ramp who collects money to launch your craft. It's a whopping $7.50 per vessel, so our total cost for this outing was $24, the most we've ever paid to go kayaking.

We had checked some maps of the area to find out where all of the wrecks were. Just outside of Little Tub Harbour lie four tugboats in about seven metres of water, and that's where we went, first.

We weren't able to see much from our kayaks because this part of the bay was a bit choppy and shadows didn't give us a clear view. But we could make out something below us, so I sent my Insta360 camera down to take a look.

It wasn't until I started editing the video footage, at home, when I discovered that my camera had picked up two of the four tugs. And, underwater, the images were pretty clear.

Next, we paddled across the mouth of Little Tub Harbour, toward the dock for the Chi-Cheemaun. This ferry wasn't expected for several hours so we knew we were safe, and sticking close to the dock meant that the steady flow of tour boats wouldn't bother us.

The water was rough until we made it to our next destination, just around the southern point of the bay, across from the lighthouse. There was no wreck in this area but was a popular spot for scuba divers because it's deep and the wall of rock is interesting. We stopped long enough for me to submerge my video camera three metres down before we continued down the bay.

The shores are crowded with private homes and cottages, with expensive yachts moored along docks. I noted that there was a lot of Jonesing going on, with fancy decks and expensive vessels. But on we continued.

It's easy to know when you're getting close to the popular wrecks of Big Tub Harbour, as the tour boats take turns pivoting over the highlight ship, with passengers looking over railings with their cameras and smartphones. Only one of the two vessels is deep enough in the harbour to allow boats to pass over it, though the other is still visible from a safe distance.

We first stopped at the passenger steamer, City of Grand Rapids. Built in Grand Haven, Michigan, in 1879, she was said to be an elegant steamer that sailed the Great Lakes. In October, 1907, the 37.3-metre vessel caught fire and sank in the harbour.

Parts of the remains can be seen peeking above the water's surface, and at its deepest, it lies in five metres of the bay. The ship's rudder and propeller are housed at the St. Edmunds Township Museum, less than five kilometres away.

As soon as a tour boat left the area, we knew we had about 10 to 15 minutes before the next boat would show up, so we made our way to the jewel of the harbour, the schooner Sweepstakes. This ship is only 35 metres from the City of Grand Rapids.

Built in Burlington, Ontario, in 1867, the Sweepstakes was a two-masted schooner and is one of the most-popular wrecks in the national marine park. In September of 1885, the ship was damaged off Cove Island, just to the north of the peninsula. It was towed to Big Tub Harbour, where it sank.

Much of the schooner is still intact and you can see its windlass—a winch for loading and unloading cargo—on the bow. For us, with sunlight illuminating her deck, we could see into the cargo hold through its top hatches.

We spent quite a bit of time around the wrecks, moving out of the way when the tour boats came in. But eventually, we wanted to move on, so we paddled the north side of the harbour to the lighthouse, which was built the same year that the Sweepstakes sank.

We continued around the point and paddled to the top of the peninsula, where we could see the nearby Russel Island. The wind was strong and the waves were getting a bit much, so we decided to turn around here.

When we returned to the boat launch and strapped our kayaks onto our car, we still had about 40 minutes on the clock for parking, so we decided it was a good time to have lunch. And we knew exactly where we wanted to go.

Perhaps 30 years ago, DW and I first visited Tobermory (back when the parking was free). One of the highlights of our visit, besides Flowerpot Island, was a fish-and-chips restaurant where we had some of the freshest, tastiest white fish we had ever had.

That restaurant is aptly called The Fish & Chips Place.

In 2015, when we returned with our kids, we revisited this restaurant and were pleased that it was just as good as when we first visited it, in the mid-to-late 90s. We were so glad that the restaurant is still here, offering outstanding seafood.

We noticed that they had a sign that said they were the home of the Tobermory Fish Taco, so we had to try it, with added guacamole. It's crispy-battered white fish with salsa, wrapped in a toasted tortilla.

It was amazing.

With our parking time wrapping up, we drove a short distance to the Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five Visitor Centre, where we were able to park for free with our park pass. We hiked the Little Dunks Bay trail, which was longer than I expected but offered some stunning views of Georgian Bay.

When we returned to the visitor centre, we learned that another trail took us right back to Tobermory, and in the heat of the afternoon, we were thirsty. Because we could take advantage of the free parking at the visitor centre, we walked the 10-minute trail to Tobermory Brewing Company, where we enjoyed a pint of ale.

Tobermory Brewing is two doors over from The Fish & Chips place, and we were tempted to go back for dinner (or stay and eat at the brewery: we've eaten there before and their hamburgers are excellent), but there was a place we wanted to try, where we hadn't been to before. After our pints, we walked back to the visitor centre, got in our car, and drove back toward the town.

Las Chulas is an authentic Mexican street food restaurant right along Highway 6. They offer indoor dining as well as picnic tables for outdoor eating. As well as Mexican food, they offer upscale pub food, and after leaving the brewery, I was kind of in the mood for a burger.

DW had a large salad, while I had a burger with brie and bacon. We both had large margaritas: DW, a traditional lime; me a mango margarita. They were excellent but expensive.

In fact, everything was expensive and our bill came to more than $100. It was our most expensive meal of the entire vacation. Don't get me wrong: the food was good but if we had known how much we were going to pay, we might have stayed at the brewery.

Not only was Las Chulas our most-expensive meal of the trip, this was our most-expensive day of our vacation. Overall, it was worth it.

We stopped at Singing Sands Beach to watch the sun set before returning to our campsite.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we were so tired when we reached camp that we got ready for bed and went straight to sleep, only to be interrupted by people screaming about bears and wardens blowing air horns in the middle of the night.

I couldn't wait to leave the campsite by the next morning. It had been 11 nights where we had spent the night in a tent and I was ready for a proper bed. Whether it would be my own bed or a hotel bed was yet to be determined.

The adventure concludes tomorrow.