NAW Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 My best friend has just completed an insane winter adventure. He and a friend crossed Georgian Bay from Cape Croker, to 12 Mile Bay on stand up paddle boards.. LAST WEEK!!! Please read this short article for the details. http://www.mountainlifemag.ca/2015/03/crossing-georgian-bay-on-sup-in-winter/ There was open water at the beginning which they crossed on their boards. They had planned to hike the rest of the bay dragging their gear, and sleeping on the ice. But on their first night, a massive crack opened up which was not there before. So they ended up doing a little more paddling then they had originally planned. They left Tuesday morning. And arrived at 12 Mile Bay Friday night. They are sore, and tired, and insist they will never try this again. But I know they will. Or something even crazier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nipfisher Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 crazy cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatnFly Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Thats ummmmm......insane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Crazy is about right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiel Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Knowing the area well for 4 decades and having fished it in both open and frozen water I'd say he's nuts! Or I'm a coward. Kudos to him for doing it, but certainly not something I recommend anyone to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 I was on their Spot tracking e-mail list. Got a ping every 10 minutes. I was watching them the entire way. I didn't sleep much the night the crack opened up, and I could see them drifting around, knowing they where sleeping, and no cell reception to call them and tell them they where drifting!! By buddy woke up to take a piss, and there was open water less than 100' away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raf Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 that's a cool story for your grandkids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavertail Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 What some people do for fun! Not my idea of fun but whatever floats their boat, um, paddle board I guess! Points for originality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 I'd rather visit the Western's light house in the summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Wayne, they hiked until almost midnight their last night, just so they could sleep beside that lighthouse, and not worry about drifting any more on the broken ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Surprised they couldn't get inside and out of the elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 A guy I used to work with always wanted to sail across the Atlantic in a small boat so he took a leave of absence, bought a 21'er and did it. Once he got to England he sold the boat and flew home. Sometimes a man's gotta do what a mans gotta do Nick & I'm sure that's exactly what your bud was doing. Now he's got it out of his system....maybe LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUMP KNOWS Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Wow, scary stuff! Congrats on them for accomplishing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 A guy I used to work with always wanted to sail across the Atlantic in a small boat so he took a leave of absence, bought a 21'er and did it. Once he got to England he sold the boat and flew home. Sometimes a man's gotta do what a mans gotta do Nick & I'm sure that's exactly what your bud was doing. Now he's got it out of his system....maybe LOL I think he's far from over!! Maybe next year they will go west from the Bruce Pen. instead of east..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 wow, that is cool I wouldn't do it but real cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatnFly Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Go from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Has he nothing to live for? No children or wife I hope. As long as they get those things out of the way before settling down. The adventure sounds like a fun time though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaf4 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 That's sweet! What an experience that'd be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 He and his wife operate their own outdoors company on the Bruce. I asked him if he would ever market this as a guided extreme adventure. And he said there was no possible way he would do this again, specially with a client. They where contemplating not telling anyone they even did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4bassin Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have a cottage on the south shore of Georgian Bay and every winter I look out across the bay wondering what it would be like to walk across or even venture out there a few miles over the pack ice , knowing it would be suicidal on my part . Well there you have it , great story and accomplishment for sure . Very cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Sometimes its that need for self fulfillment. The sense of personal accomplishment and being able to say "I did that". Mike Borger would understand that completely. Why else does one go out solo in a canoe for a month at a time in the remote north? I've gone on a few trips for the sake of "doing it". Then I got family and responsibilities and those adventures stopped. I'm afraid my body is too far gone for any of those challenges any longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleheader Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 So what if, in the very likely event something had gone wrong and their risk resulted in rescue/search persons being injured or killed. IMHO, it's one thing for a person to take on risk when he limits that risk to himself or herself, but it's reckless and irresponsible if there is a fairly high probability that person's actions put someone else at risk. I don't pretend to know the details of this excursion, but if it was as risky as it sounds and they didn't have a paid support team on standby in case or trouble then..........IMHO not cool at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 (edited) Yup. They had a support team. No worries there. Edit.. That being said, if something drastic happened, they would have had to call in for military support. There was a short section of the trip where their support team basically didn't have the resources to help them if needed. But it was only for a small portion of the trip, in the center of the bay on the pack ice. Edited March 17, 2015 by N.A.W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleheader Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Yup. They had a support team. No worries there. Edit.. That being said, if something drastic happened, they would have had to call in for military support. There was a short section of the trip where their support team basically didn't have the resources to help them if needed. But it was only for a small portion of the trip, in the center of the bay on the pack ice. Good for them and thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshtrax Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Wild. Shoulda brought a fishing pole and jiggled up some fish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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