The old saying that, "you can only truly appreciate what you have until you don’t have it anymore" held true for us as we paddled towards the growing Toronto skyline. We missed the solitude and serenity of the wilderness. As we approached the largest city in Canada and one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes, we were undoubtedly overwhelmed.
Instead of otters, moose and eagles we were now sharing our surroundings with pleasure craft, commercial ferries and ships and...airplanes. The Toronto Island airport was directly to our right as we passed through the western gap into Toronto Harbour, where there is a sizeable section of the harbour that is marked with large white buoys marked with flashy no trespassing warnings.
Being curious, Jon steered the canoe straight toward the no trespassing signs, snuffing my cautions to stay well clear. "What are they going to do? Arrest us!" Jon scoffed at the signs.
Just then, a plane approached the island airport and swooped in near the water surrounding the buoys. Realizing the significance of the buoys, we stayed well clear and as we later found out, if you enter into the restricted zone the water police are dispatched immediately and boater are fined $4,000 with a chance of imprisonment! A pretty serious consequence for the sake of a few paddle strokes.
It turns out that if any vessel is spotted within that area no plane can take off or land creating a jam on the ground and causing planes to circle in the sky above! Needless to say this is one time it was definitely better to play it safe.
