How a shipwreck from 1965 still haunts some Kagawong locals today

Looking across the North Channel from the shores of Kagawong, one can see the shoal where the Rhu and her six passengers from Sudbury ran aground almost 60 years ago.

Author and journalist Mike Strobel can see it from his home, and says he often kayaks to the site of the tragedy that claimed the lives of four people – including two children.

"You're out there in the middle of the North Channel and yet you're only up to your thigh and water and it's spooky knowing what happened there," he said.

Strobel met one of the survivors, Jim Huffman, shortly before his death in 2012. 

"He said he has never forgiven himself," said Strobel. "But he came to terms with it and he turned it into something." 

Strobel says many locals remember the story of the two "exhausted and heartsick" survivors that washed up on a tiny island close to the community after having spent 17 hours in freezing and violent waters.

"People identify with it, families being on a boat in northern Ontario, out for a weekend with little kids."

 "Lots of people do that and don't even think about something bad happening. And in this case, something really bad did happen," he said. 

Strobel told the small Kagawong crowd about the lives of the passengers, which included Jim and Shirley Huffman. 

They were in their early thirties, travelling with their daughters aged four and two. Wyn and Bonnie Rhydwen were also on board.

The red marker that usually signals the presence of the shoal had been torn off during a previous storm, and their 26 foot long mahogany boat got stuck in the middle of the North Channel for two days. 

"The children didn't stand a chance"

A violent storm destroyed their boat and forced them to tie themselves together and abandon ship in an effort to reach the shore.

Strobel says the children did not stand a chance.

"I think the father knew what was going to happen as soon as they jumped in the water," he said.

The three-foot waves drowned the two year old within the hour, with the four year old dying shortly after. Huffman told Strobel their mother Shirley "was overcome with grief, struggling against the rope holding the living and the dead all together." 

She died that night, and so did Wyn Rhydwen. The two remaining survivors then had to cut their dead family members loose so they could reach shore. 

"The guilt lasted a lifetime," said Strobel. "But Jim rebuilt his life with a second family. He became a renowned grief counsellor, trained teachers in suicide prevention, and introduced crisis support teams." 

Strobel says the tragedy of the Rhu eventually evolved into a story of recovery and redemption – which is why he wanted to share it during Kagawong History Day. 

The event's organizer, Kagawong museum curator Rick Nelson, says history is everything to him and the retelling of stories honours the lives of those who died on the Great Lakes. 

"It's a passion. I've had it since I was a kid, always wanting to learn stories about our past," he said. "And if we can tell and retell and share those stories to others, I mean, that's fulfilling for me."