My Watermark is Sand Bay Beach within Meldrum Bay, Ontario.

This is a sheltered area at the northwest end of Manitoulin Island, where the North Channel and Lake Huron begin.

This shoreline is special to our family because we spend most of our summer here. We have a secluded cabin surrounded by 300 acres of bush. We spend our days hiking, swimming, and fishing, and our evenings relaxing around the campfire, stargazing, and playing cards and games.

We love Sand Bay beach, as it is only accessible by the water. Most of the time, we spend the entire day without seeing another person! We are constantly amazed by the crystal clear water, the ever-changing dunes and shoreline grasses, and the varieties of insects, fish and creatures that live in this area. When we are in Meldrum Bay, we are reminded how truly beautiful our natural world can be!

This is very different from what we see at home. We live minutes from Grand Bend, Ontario, an extremely crowded tourist beach. Whenever we are in Grand Bend, we notice that the water is murky, the beach is packed (and often littered!), and all we hear is loud music and people. There are no signs of nature to be found here, even though we are within the same body of water as our cabin!

It is our hope that the beauty and serenity of our northern getaway remain forever, and that closer to home, people learn to do what they can to return Lake Huron's southern shorelines to the natural world that it once was!