Wallpaper February 2012

Thank you all for the fascinating stories about dealing with fog on the river. A common thread through all of them delivers a very clear message about venturing out in it. DON’T! All these stories are worth reading if you haven’t already, making choosing a winner a tough call, particularly as several offered useful advice.

Sue Duclon sings in the fog. It’s a lot more pleasing than a foghorn and is far better than silence. Sue March explains that being able to see over a small bank of fog while on shore doesn’t mean you won’t get totally lost in it. Dennis Durant and Lynda Heberling Wright both have discovered giant steel monsters hidden in the fog. Dan Mossien reminds us that with boats now equipped with GPS, there can be more than shoals to worry about on the water and Jack Patterson explains that watching your wake is the best way to keep you on the straight and narrow.

Paul Reilly’s story doesn’t share any tips, but it sure paints an interesting picture! I think it’s worth sharing again here:

It was our rule of thumb in the tour boats at Rockport not to head over to Boldt Castle if we couldn't see Club Island. There is the long ago tale of Charlie Snider rounding Club Island on the way from Ivy Lea to Boldt Castle in one of the Miss Brockvilles with a full load of passengers and coming into heavy fog as they headed towards the foot of Mary Island. They proceeded at dead slow speed for a while until Charlie suddenly brought the boat to a full stop. The surrounding fog had become somewhat darker and the engines had taken on an deeper resonance. Upon investigation Charlie realized he had brought the boat perfectly into a boathouse slip on Wellesley Island! Although almost lost in the mists of time, so to speak, in my experience, these tales are almost always founded on a kernel of truth.

Paul Reilly

Many thanks Paul. A set of 8 x 10 prints are yours.

I’m thrilled to say that the written book I’ve been working on for so long with Donna Walsh Inglehart is now taking form as an iPad App. After searching Canada, the U.S., China and India for an app developer who could produce the software with which to bring the story alive, I found a far better solution right on the river!

The connection was serendipitous. When Susie Smith asked for images to share as a Christmas present in TI Life’s December issue, I was blown away by Doug McLellan’s night shot of the islands. That led to a conversation where I learned that his company, the McLellan Group, specializes in multimedia storytelling.

It turns out that Doug and his wife Caroline are passionate islanders. More to the point, they both believe as I do, that we are on the cusp of a fundamental shift in publishing. They not only are producing our interactive eBook, but see the various ingredients we have available as a way to showcase this new technology.

Thanks to Donna’s talent with words, Tony Dekker’s generosity with Great Lake Swimmers’ instrumental tracks, a large library of images, river sounds, slideshows and video along with Doug and Caroline’s multimedia skills, we believe we will be able to tell the story in a vastly richer way than text alone. We’re hoping that come summer, possibly spring, we’ll be able to share it with you as an App, so don’t forget to get that iPad you might have been thinking about!

We all have a part of the river that resonates with us. This is that place for me. With the book's title, “One in a Thousand,” I thought I’d show it to you now, in hopes that you’ll share thoughts about whichever place on the river resonates with you.

Enjoy!

Ian Coristine 

Download wide-angle version

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