This summer marks our fourth living on the Toronto Islands, and this season our arrival for our summer berth was rather disjointed. I was so gung ho for our Island return, it had been a very rainy winter. It then rained more and more. And it’s still raining… I don’t have to rehash how these record levels of rainfall have affected water levels all around Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River… it has been all over the media. ( I have shared many articles, pertaining to the Toronto Islands particularly on our Facebook Page)

Our departure to the Island was consequently delayed to the rising water levels, which were causing a myriad of issues in regards to power. I think it’s fair to say there was a bit of panic across the Harbour in regards to power outages, who had power and who didn’t. Water too. In the end we spent only 2 nights without power, both in the City. The first night was mild enough but we dressed warmly for bed and threw an extra blanket on. We sat around our table over drinks by the light of our battery operated candles. We reminisced about our passages at sea, and how days at sea revolve around the daylight. You rise and sleep as the sun rises and sets. This gave Gordon the next day to do some basic maintenance on our Onan generator, it was a complete unknown as to how long we would be without power. We ran our gennie for a few hours the next night to top up the batteries, heat up the boat, and watch the Boy’s favorite TV show. And luckily, we havn’t had to use it since.

We soon felt as though we were in caught in limbo. There were rumors whirling and it was a rather chaotic time looking back. We ultimately decided we wanted to be on the Island, power or not. With the weather slowly warming we were prepared to be self sufficient. We wanted to go home.

Now, well over 6 weeks later the waters are ever so slowly starting to dissipate. The Island is on the verge of opening to the public once again. I have to say I have enjoyed the peace that has blanketed the Island. Despite the devestation, and the tremendous loss of revenue, the Island and the waters have been beautiful in their own right.



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