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Bryan McDonald

@sailing314

19025

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5.9K

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Surfer, skater, swimmer, photographer
Former US Windsurfing National Champion
Member of the collegiate sailing hall of fame
Dad, mechanical engineer

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When you paddle to Three Narrows Lake via Kirk Creek, you can have paddlers literally paddling above your head due to the different levels of water. You don’t see that every day…pretty cool sight to behold…

Grateful to Rufus and Neira for inviting me on a lovely 10.76 mile trek up Kirk Creek to Three Narrows Lake, then hike to topaz for a dip, then back again (Matt Stanich, Max and Djoli were also present). The many portages made for a fabulous workout (close to 22,000 steps), especially when you miss the trail and go straight up the rocky gauntlet of the creek by accident (which Djoli and I did once which included wading through waist deep water on black ‘rocky bottom’ style rocks that are impossible to see invoking thoughts of StarWars esque monsters below you that could consume you at any moment (so glad I was wearing my Hooka running shoes while standing on those rocks :)). Great way to burn 2,485 calories and my watch said I gave it over 800% :)

Matt, like boss, flipped off the rocks into Topaz…thank you Neira for the clip 🙏🏻

So much natural beauty to behold. We saw a deer crossing one of the ponds. A highlight was a turtle sunning herself on a log barely sticking out of the water, in a rather precarious position, where her back legs were fully extended, to soak in all the beautiful sun energy. I told Djoli that the next time we sun, we’ll have to try that style too.

🛶: Rufus, Neira, Matt, Max, Djoli
📍: Kirk Creek
🎥: @sailing314 and Neira for Matt’s flip off the rocks into Topaz by @sailing314

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2 hours ago

So many rocks to hit on the portage side of split rock channel <3

🛶: @mimitowle
📍: Canada
🎥: @sailing314 by @sailing314

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2 days ago

Happy birthday @london_surfs

📍: Santa Cruz
📸: @sailing314 by @sailing314

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3 days ago

Just returned home after my third - as in third-times-a-charmer - visit to Bryan’s wilderness fantasy land, McGregor Bay Canada. 🇨🇦

It’s hard to describe the experience in a few words. The natural beauty surrounds you from the sunlight dancing on the multicolored river rocks beneath gin-clear warm water to the millions of stars that appear at night. The community = multi-generations of families who return every year to unplug (before unplugging was a thing), you don’t earn your place here with dollars, you earn it by showing up, participating and contributing to pot lucks, water festivals and helping out a neighbor if needed.

I’d love to say come visit us next year - but it’s a days worth of travel, and there’s nothing easy about being there. You need to have a boat to get from whichever island/ cabin you are in to …. any other cabin. Speaking of boats — you’re supposed to show up with the utmost confidence of using a navigation app so you don’t hit a shoal, the ability to dock without first hitting the dock and a perfunctory knowledge of how gas cans work. The closest grocery store is about an hour and a half away… am I painting a picture.

It’s paradise - It feels old-timey and a rare getaway opportunity in our world of Starwood’s and timeshares. Thank you Bryan for your patience with all the above water craft fails on my part … and my almost oxygen deprivation reaction to not having WIFI … but you’re welcome for blocking all the bug bites 😍.
Highlight reel.
1. Flight to Sudbury cancelled and finding an all you can eat Sushi/ Thai (wine) restaurant in the town or Barrie
2. Watching Bryan steer his childhood boat standing up
3. Cheering on the sailors.
4. Getting to know the Bay people
5. Making food for the water festival
6. Being dive bombed by a territorial seagull.
7. KIlarney, KIlarney, KIlarney (bear sighting, paddle and WiFi!
8. Exploring Pardsay Crag (his island ) taken in Mcgregor Bay Birch Island Ontario by @sailing314

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4 days ago

Happy birthday @johnny.heineken

📍: San Francisco
📸: @sailing314 by @sailing314

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4 days ago

Baie Fine Entrance by A.J. Casson

On a blazing hot July afternoon, in 1947, after a shore lunch in Marianne Bay, Group of Seven artist A.J. Casson with his daughter Margi, Bruce Brown, and Stuart Fraser Cork climbed Frazer Bay Hill. Near the top, on Table Rock, Casson painted a watercolour, looking west, with the mouth of Baie Fine in the near distance. Frazer Bay, on the route of the Voyageurs, and the LaCloche Islands in the mid distance, and Manitoulin Island on the skyline. Some years later, Stuart Fraser Cork’s ashes were laid to rest on the summit of Frazer Bay Hill, Casson Peak, and are marked by a stainless steel memorial plaque designed by A.J. Casson. - https://northchannelpreservationsociety.org/history/

Painting by AJ Casson
📍: Frazer Bay Hill, Ontario Canada
Photos by @sailing314
❤️: @mimitowle by @sailing314

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4 days ago

Last night’s sunset through the trees <3

📍: Canada
📸: @sailing314
❤️: @mimitowle by @sailing314

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5 days ago

Washing the canoe out before @mimitowle and my first paddle (clip from over a week ago). After a winter in the boathouse, all the bat droppings needed to be washed out. In the background is the sun setting over split rock bay as seen from the portage side off the cooks cabin on Pardsay Crag island. Original artwork on the canoe by the talented @max_lust , son of my older bro, Conrad <3

📍: Canada
🎥: @sailing314 by @sailing314

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6 days ago

Loon family

📍: Travis Bay, Canada
📸: @sailing314
❤️: @mimitowle by @sailing314

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8 days ago

“This historical black-and-white aerial photograph of the Killarney Mountain Lodge was taken in 1952. situated on the shore of the Killarney Channel in Ontario.
The image shows a large main lodge building, a marina with docked boats, and several cabins scattered along the rocky shoreline. [love the winding roads that lead to each cabin : ]
The rustic resort is known for its log structures and proximity to both Georgian Bay and the North Channel.

[in 1952] at this point in time, the property was owned by the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation. They initially built the property in the late 1940s and early 1950s to serve as a private corporate retreat. Because Highway 637 had not yet been built to connect the town to the rest of Ontario (the road was completed later in 1962), the lodge was completely landlocked and only accessible by boat or floatplane.

Notable guests, including Jimmy Hoffa frequently visited the Killarney Mountain Lodge in Killarney, Ontario, during the late 1940s and 1950s.“

Source: Wikipedia, YouTube, google ai
📍: @killarneymountain
📸: unidentified by @sailing314

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9 days ago

Mimi enjoying the view of the skillet at breaky <3

Visiting one of our fav spots, Killarney <3

📍: @killarneymountain
📸: @sailing314
❤️: @mimitowle by @sailing314

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9 days ago

A few mins ago, with @mimitowle at the wheel, close to the middle of Frazier Bay, total visibility black out, in terms of seeing any horizons, due to the smokey conditions…navionics for the navigational win : )

Don’t think I’ve ever seen it this smokey before…had our navigation lights on for better visibility in case we saw anyone (and still had over 1 mile of visibility)

📍: Canada by @sailing314

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10 days ago