Apr 20, 2022

Georgian Bay boaters are familiar with the prehistoric landscape of the Bruce peninsula and are aware of the wrecks that make the Tobermory area the freshwater diving capital. Now it’s captured in a very special documentary called Tripping the Bruce.  If you enjoyed the real-time voyages we experienced on TV in Tripping the Rideau and Tripping the Niagara, Tripping the Bruce will go even further in creating a visually striking boating experience.

This doc, the third in the series, premiered on TVO last weekend but worry not, TVO will show it again on May 23 at 7 and 11 (and again several times over the summer because people love them, if the last two are indicative). As well, the trip can be streamed on quite a few services including:

 LG: TVO, TVOkids

Apple TV: TVO, TVOkids 

Amazon Fire TV: TVO, TVOkids 

Roku: TVO, TVOkids 

Android: TVOkids

Flowerpot Island

Like the first two, the trip along 34 km of the tip of the Bruce Peninsula is conducted in real time filming at the speed of the boat we’re on. Silently tracing along the escarpment with its dramatic cliffs all the way to Flowerpot Island is an incredible path backed with real sounds of wildlife and boat spray.  Perhaps we may not have realized what an astounding geographic treasure we have right here at home.  On top of that, the film is highly informative with a a steady stream of onscreen facts and date (as befits TVO) and a very special plus – extensive underwater footage of the wrecks on the lake bottom. There’s also some engaging animation showing the fierce Georgian Bay storm that sank some of the boats that lie beneath in the crystal water.

The Wreck of Sweepstakes in Big Tub Harbour, in the Fathom Five National Marine Park, one of 30 wrecks in the waters off Tobermory

The onboard footage is shot from Dove II, a 1973 Allied Princess 36’ Ketch, full keel, blue water sailboat, mizzenmast removed for maintenance, 4 cyl. Diesel engine 30 hp, built and designed for offshore cruising. Fully refitted in 2008, she is a veteran sailor of the north channel cruising, and easily singlehanded In addition, the film uses extensive drone shots (as did both Tripping the Rideau and Niagara so successfully) and the extremely interesting wreck footage. The shore Dove II crawls along at close range appears dotted with rocks and potentially very dangerous but, in the film at least, there’s no keel bumping.

If you are a boater in that area and even moreso if you are not, you won’t want to miss this very interesting exploration of the Bruce, its bays and remarkable shoreline and its underwater secrets in the Tobermory diving area.

- JM