Breaking Fifty

During the winter, in preparation for our upcoming paddling season, Jonathan and I spent some time pouring over nautical charts and topographic maps. Looking forward to paddling the coastline of Georgian Bay, we stumbled upon a roadblock - the Meaford Tank Range. Indicated on our nautical chart was a seventeen kilometer by two kilometer boating restriction zone. It would be difficult for us to paddle so far from shore for that length of time on such an exposed part of the coast. After contacting the Meaford Tank Range, we were given special permission to pass through the restricted zone due to the nature of our expedition. We were told specifically not to land unless it was a serious emergency because of the possibility of unexploded ordinates lying on the shore. We couldn’t even land to go to the washroom. To add to our distress, the distance between campsites, from Owen Sound to Meaford, was fifty kilometers – a distance we hadn’t yet accomplished in a day. Jon and I chose a calm day to make the trek. The coastline along the Meaford Tank Range was absolutely spectacular with large clay banks spreading themselves into the surrounding water. We surprised ourselves by paddling an average of 6.5 kilometers per hour which helped us get to our campsite earlier than expected. The Meaford Memorial Park was a great place to stay with a large sandy beach and friendly neighbours to share stories with.