Day 346 - The Dodge Lodge — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 18, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $78, daily high temperature 72°f

It was a rolly night at the dock in Kagawong. Mudge Bay faces due north and we had north winds at 15 – 20 mph. The wind should start to slacken after midnight. I tried to fish from the floating docks but they were rocking so much I moved onto the fixed pier.

We visited the Anglican Church next to the marina. The pulpit is the bow of a boat wrecked nearby in the early 1960’s. There were two couples onboard and a child. A spouse from each couple and the child drowned. The surviving man and woman got married. They donated the boat section to the church where their wedding ceremony was held.

The bow of the Ill-fated boat.

Kagawong is the home of the ghost of the millionaire Danny Dodge. Danny’s money came from the Dodge family’s automotive business. In 1938 he married a 19 year old telephone operator from Kagawong against the wishes of his parents. He was on his honeymoon at the nearby Dodge family lodge when he found a box of dynamite in the garage. In order to pass the time he started lighting the sticks of dynamite and throwing them out the garage door. As he lit the next stick his wife and two caretakers walked in front of the garage to find out what caused the explosion. Danny turned to throw the dynamite out the back window away from his wife but it hit the window sill and bounced back. Danny was the most severely injured from the exploding wood and glass with damage to both arms. The nearest doctor was in Little Current which is usually a 40 minute boat ride away. All of the injured were loaded into Danny’s speedboat. However, it was stormy and the trip was taking over twice as long. Half way through the trip Danny regained consciousness and stood up but couldn’t hold on due to his injuries. He fell overboard and drowned. His wife received the Dodge Lodge and $2 million in inheritance after a contentious fight with the Dodge family. The Dodge family accused her of murder by pushing Danny overboard after only 13 days of marriage. She eventually remarried. Her marriage was to the plastic surgeon that helped her with her scars from the explosion. To this day the ghost of Danny Dodge haunts Kagawong.

We cast off at noon after waiting for the waves to flatten out. It was only 17 miles from Kagawong to Gore Bay. We had made that passage in our sailboat Blue Heaven several years ago across the Claperton Channel. It was a warm, bright and sunny day but the forecast was for strong winds building from the west. That was the direction we were heading. We got an early start and flogged all 35 horses in our sailboat motor to get us to Gore Bay ahead of the high winds. On a good day with a tail wind and following seas Blue Heaven will make 7 mph under power which is her hull speed. With a 25 kt breeze and 3′ – 4′ waves on the nose the GPS indicated we were making 1 mph over the ground. We were taking waves over the bow that broke over our dodger like we were in a waterfall. The boat was strong and the crew was willing so we carried on. We saw a sailboat coming from the opposite direction with their full mainsail up. We knew that was not good. A panicked radio call from the sailboat to the Canadian Yacht Charter company (CYC) indicated they were out of control and could not roll up the mast furling main sail. The radio crackled with advice to enter the harbor, point into the wind, drop the anchor and roll up the sail. It worked like a charm. I do not know if they will ever sail again but they did get he main sail rolled up.

We arrived at Gore Bay Marina at 2:00 pm and tied up. We had heard a rumor that there was a new micro brewery near the harbor called Split Rail Brewery. We wandered over and to our dismay found out it is only open Friday – Sunday. Today is Thursday.

The pint we never had.

Split Rail Hawberry Ale is back in bottles and on sale this weekend (while supplies last). This made-on-Manitoulin unfiltered ruby coloured ale showcases the subtle yet distinct Manitoulin Hawberry, with hints of a caramel influence and an earthy tart finish. Split Rail hours Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Happy end of August! – BAH!!!!

Bonus photo.

Hawberry is a Manitoulin tradition. It is the fruit of the hawthorn tree. The fruit has to be boiled before it can be made into jelly. Native Manitoulin islanders are referred to as haweaters.

On Friday we will cruise 25 miles north across The North Channel and anchor out for one or two nights in Beardrop Cove. I bought a propane canister at Canadian Tire. Now that we have to boil water for tea and coffee on the grill when we are at anchor, we need to have more propane. We will be out of wifi and cell phone range for a few days so the blog will take a hiatus. Our next stop after Beadrop Cove will be Meldrum Bay for bumble berry pie.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“Instead of sailing off into the sunset, he hopes to sail into the next century.”
Dave Anderson

David “Dave” Anderson is a Scottish actor, playwright and jazz musician based in Glasgow. He is known for the part of Gregory’s father in Gregory’s Girl and as the bank manager in the BBC Scotland sitcom City Lights (1991). Other appearances include roles in several early Doctor Who serials, The Avengers (in the episode “Build a Better Mousetrap”) (1964), The Omega Factor (1979), Murder Not Proven? (1984), Soldier Soldier (1996), and Rockface(2002). He also appeared in Taggart in 1986, 1993, 2000, and 2004 and the Scottish comedy Still Game 2009. He also played the part of a bus tour company manager in the 1985 film “Restless Natives”.