Big skies and little Muskoka boats 

“The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.” — Edward Gibbon

It was a cliffhanger of a day; lots of action on the water and in the sky. I was now a member of the Disappearing Propeller Club fondly referred to as dippies and was getting ready to circumnavigate Skeleton Lake with my new boat group. Although I have known these people for years it was great being part of the team.

Dippies are unique wooden boats, bigger than a rowboat and very sturdy. They have a novel little device that can allow the propeller to be lifted above the hull while still in motion. They can motor over rocks, sunken logs and sandy beaches — hence the name dippy for disappearing propeller.

Our group met at Skeleton Lake Marina where we off-loaded the dippies. When you look at a map of Skeleton Lake, to me it resembles a skull with mandible at the bottom (where we started our journey) to parietal bone at the top of the skull’s cranium (where we headed for our first stop for a picnic lunch). There was a foreboding feeling of mystery and intrigue and, to add to the adventure, the sky kept changing hourly.

I was in John and Mary Storey’s 1947 Greavette Dispro named Muggins — after the famous 1950s television series on CBC TV called Maggie Muggins. Maggie was a freckle-faced girl, with long red pigtails in a gingham dress, who always had adventures with her animal friends.

In our flotilla were ten dippies, and they were off the trailers and in the water in no time. The gods were co-operating and blessed our group with a postcard perfect morning. Once in the water, we decided to discover this skull-shaped lake and find out about the mysteries around Skeleton Lake. It was named after surveyors found two skeletons resting on rocks. They asked a local chief who the people might be and he said that his people had wintered in that area but food was scarce so they moved on. A young woman opted to stay with her sick son and they both perished from the elements — hence the name of the lake.

We chugged past stunning islands, past the Wilson Lodge in Wilson’s Bay and north to the rock cliffs. Leaving the mandible of the lake, we headed for the temporal bone which is famous for being the Devil’s Face Cliffs as, at certain light people can see an outline with a likeness to the Devil.

Majestic does not do these cliffs justice; it was like a wall of rock, like the Grand Canyon of Muskoka. I had a super wide-angle lens and I waited for one of the dippies to pass under the rock face. When the boat came out into the sun it came alive with colour. And you would swear the cliff had eyes watching this small but mighty boat brave the 200 ft. plus deep water and defy the rocky crag above it. Devil be dammed, dippies are brave.

After the Devil’s Face our destination was to the back of the cranium of the skull to the Salvation Army Camp at Newport Beach. This was so amazing watching all the little boats line up along the big dock outstretched in the shallow sandy water.

As the day continued the weather changed from piercing azure blue sky to giant rolling candy-floss cumulus clouds. It was a theatre of the sky and a real bonus to look up at the heavens and witness a halo around the sun. This optical phenomenon appears around the sun or moon when thin cirrus clouds with ice crystals produce this stunning effect. I’m an avid sky watcher so this was marvellous to witness and photograph.

We had a lovely picnic at the camp and headed out to the frontal bone area of the skull near Tomelin Bluffs. Now the clouds had changed to giant thunderheads and a haunting feeling came over me as these monster clouds rolled in. I was in awe to watch those mighty dippies defy the gods again and putt-putt away from the nimbus nuisance.

We passed the eye socket of the skull under flashes of lightning and coal black skies. Secretly I was hoping it would rain to produce a rainbow but the rains never came until late in the evening. It was hot and sunny again and we continued south on the lake back to our original entry point. We had so much camaraderie and fun with each other, blowing horns and waving at the cottagers who came out to photograph the spectacle. I didn’t want the day to end. I would have loved to have stayed out on this giant lake and watch a sunset — must be stunning.

Thanks Mary and John for allowing me to tag along in Muggins. I loved it. You can read more on Skeleton Lake and Wilson Lodge in the book by Lenore Young published by Bayvista Publishing.

If you want to see the boats, circle your calendar for next Saturday July 5, 2008 for the ACBS Toronto classic wooden boat show at the Muskoka Wharf in Gravenhurst.

Bev McMullen is an award-winning photographer who specializes in images of Muskoka. Her most recent book, “Carve your own Totem Pole” published by Boston Mills Press, is now available in local bookstores. She can be reached in Muskoka at 705-645-8771.