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By JOHN WRIGHT _ Sun Times staff Some years ago. the OPP launch H. H. Graham encountered a solo windsurfer halfway between Tuber mory and Manitoulin Island. His clothes and money were wrapped in a plastic bag lashed to. the top of the board. He wore no anti-cold gear such as a dry suit. "I toldhim he’d bettar'get aboard and he refused,” OPP Const. Art King said recently. “When I then ordered him to get into our boat, well. he became downright indig- nant.” King said police discovered he was trying to sail to Killarney on the north shore of Georgian Bay and had toldlno one of his plans. That encounter of a few years ago is. just one of. the many stories Constables King and Bill Pearson tell of their patrols in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. They were off Lion’s Head last ' week when that story surfaced from the King storehouse of memories and memorabilia. "I don't think he realized the life expectancy in these waters,” King said, referring to the cold temperaâ€" tures. At that moment, he was navigat- L ing through broken ice pans. the last ice of winter heading out to its final graveyard in the open waters. A measurement just minutes before had revealed surface temperatures 7 of inst a tad above freezing. Keeping our waters safe The occasron was the voyage of the 9.9‘metre OPP launch from Tobermory to Owen Sound, "the earliest we‘ve ever had the vessel operational on the lakes". said Const. Bill Pearson who is not Called a captain but is referred to as Officer in Charge of Launch 2 H. H. Graham. Oddly, fishing is the reason the Graham is out early from her win- ter berth at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula and on station in south- ern Georgian Bay waters. Pearson said the earlier opening of the Georgian Triangle spring trout derby. its extension from two Weeks to a month, and the expecta- tion of a high number of boaters prompted headquarters to bring the boat out early. Bristling with electronic equipâ€" ment such as radar, underwater so~ oar and radios, it will be the Gra- ham's job to watch over the flock of small boaters during the derby to make sure fishermen enjoy their re- creational pursuit safely. Though she will be on station to rescue any boater in an emergency, Pearson explained their main job is to enforce the laws of Ontario and Canada. "We’re police officers first and marine officers second.” be ex- plained. Over the rest of the boating sea- son from Grand Bend to Thornbury. they will check boats for any in- fractions of The Canada Shipping 7W 1-4 zit“.â€" M"'/7 ( :‘U‘J, smdl£ gulati-u', Criminal ' p ncial ‘ . such as the i, ’ ',ence . n3; any environ Right ml: machines 1 6:5 DVEl' r sobriety 1 15 under t ._ ,, "Most lawn-m ~ we ‘ "“ 3 See OPP on past 4 :25?"