At 5 o’clock, I need  a bathroom break so I stop in Hanover. I am about ¾ of an hour south of the Bruce Peninsula and I want to go up on the Georgian Bay side as I was told the route from Owen Sound to Wiarton is very tasty .I got this tip from Max Burns who writes a column for Cycle Canada and is an acquaintance of mine. I picked up County Rd. #1 right away and looking at a map you get the idea you would be riding the coastline along the peninsula, but instead you are 100 or so meters from the water and its view is hidden 95% of the time by properties and tree line. It is a nice windy road with little to see but I was under whelmed. Maybe I was bothered a bit by having to be on reserve for 25kms.



I gas up in Wiarton and head north up the center of the Peninsula to Tobermorry which is 70 km away. The sheepskin is making a difference. Quite a difference I must say. There are no hot spots on my tushy and I am not squirming about. Another 50 kms later and I am  getting uncomfortable for the first time on this trip. I started out at 10 o’clock and it’s now about 6 and I have traveled over 400 kms and yeah I have had a lot of stops along the way, but have avoided monkey butt for the first time. For the last  part of the ride to the ferry I tried something I heard about on this forum. I don’t recall who said it and I have done it on other motorcycles but I didn’t figure it was possible on a Savage. I slid my butt onto the passenger seat and this had the added benefit of finally allowing me to extend my legs. In fact I could lock my knees and push against the pegs. My arms also were released from the pullback position. I got instant relief from my butt and I actually rode the entire 20 km distance like that. The time just flew by. One thing about this funny position is you sit very high on the bike and have to adjust your mirrors way up to see behind. Being way up there also delays your reaction time, because you would have to get back into the riders seat to do any serious maneuvering.
I arrived at the ferry terminal an hour before loading time, so after I bought my ticket I lay in the grass under a shade tree and drank a Vanilla Coke and ate pepperettes that I had stashed in my saddlebags. There were only two other riders on the crossing who both rode Honda’s. One was a VLX and the other a Shadow Ace with a bald tire. I started to chat with them but they didn’t speak English. I then noticed the Quebec license plates.



The ferry M.S. Chi-Cheemaun holds 200 cars and makes 8 crossings from  7AM to 10PM..The ferry crossing takes one hour and forty five minutes and there are lots to do on the boat. It has a bar; cafeteria, store and plenty of lounge areas. The day I was crossing someone was making a movie on board so I hung around and watched.
The Chi-Cheemaun arrived at the Southbaymouth terminal on Manitoulin Island and I rode off at 10PM in a slight drizzle. The camp is located in an area of Manitoulin known as The Slash and is a short 15 minute ride for me. I rode into camp and met with my in-laws and chatted for an hour before retiring for the night.

To Be Continued

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