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Canada, Lake
Superior - Saturday 18th September 2011
Part 2- The calm
before the storm - Stormy Seas
The wind had picked up
in the night and the lapping waves nearly reached our tents.
I walked to the entrance to the cove and checked the water
conditions. It was certainly a lot worse than when we entered
it, so I knew we were going to be tested even further today.
The rougher conditions wouldn't please Alaine so I didn't
make a big deal of it.
When Alaine was out of earshot I quietly
told Leonie to attach the sponsons on each side of her kayak.
Sponsons are like outriggers and are attached to the side
of the kayak and when blown up they help to make the kayak
more stable.
We started paddling out of the cove
about 10.45am, destination Woodbine Harbour, another bigger
cove on Simpson Island only 8kms away. As we paddled through
the narrow entrance and started facing the lifting swells
I knew we were in for an interesting and exciting paddle.
A little further as we entered the lake proper the swell was
quite big and as we looked out into the biggest lake in the
world it was full of confused, breaking waves.
Leaving the cove
It was good to see that Alaine felt
confident enough to take a few photographs on the way out
but when we viewed them later they didn't really reflect what
it was truly like, out there on the lake. When it got rougher
we just concentrated on paddling rather than taking photos.
Looking back to the
cove
Conditions became more testing and
we started to bounce around like jelly on a plate and although
we were still well within our capabilities and only 8 kilometres
from the safety of the next bay and not far from the one we
left, I could hear a little fear in Alaine's voice. I was
proud of her though, as she was calm and didn't complain about
all the big waves dropping into her lap. Leo, who was focussing
on paddling still managed to look as though she was having
a great time in her kayak as she bounced around.
We continued along the shoreline, about
400 metres away, travelling at a fairly slow pace, but working
hard against the strong wind. The waves were hitting us broadside
so every time we saw a really big one coming we would quickly
change direction and try to hit them slightly head on. We
had much more control and stability this way. The coastline
was rugged and rocky with the surf waves pounding the rocks
and spraying high into the air.
After a few kilometres we were faced
with an open crossing to Simpson Island where there was a
sheltered bay. I was hoping the waves on the crossing would
start to have a regular pattern, instead of rebound and confused
waves we had been coping with so far along the coast. Unfortunately
it got no easier, it was still very rough. The swell must
have been 2-3 metres high, but it was the combination of the
confused wallowing waves, the breakers, the swell and the
wind that made the lake so rough. Even with such rough conditions
the Necky tandem felt so stable and even Alaine later said
that she felt safe.
Even though we were very stable there
were lots of waves that tried hard to rotate us horizontally
and vertically. It was important for us to work with the waves,
watch them closely and react to their fluid aggressive nature.
It would have been really good fun if the water had been a
lot warmer but with the lake being around 4 degrees Celsius
and near freezing we couldn't let down our guard. A capsize
and being in the water for a just a few minutes could kill
us. This was one of the reasons why Alaine didn't like Leonie
being too far in front. If she capsized and we couldn't get
to her quickly, she might freeze to death.
The conditions certainly needed some
advanced paddling skills and Leo in her more unstable kayak
was handling the conditions very well. I was impressed. She
looked quite comfortable in the kayak and there were lots
of times when the kayak was on top of a wave and it was only
touching the water by a few feet. We had to stay close together
just in case one of us capsized, but we also had to make sure
that we were far enough apart not to crash into each other
and cause a capsize.
When the big waves came through and
our kayaks lifted above the crest they often crashed down
on the other side of the wave with a big thud. They were so
forceful I was wondering if the kayak would stand the beating,
but they did. Alaine was still quiet in the back and I knew
that she was getting saturated by the breaking waves. I was
hoping the cold hadn't numbed her too much that she had frozen
up. She had put on a lot of clothes before we left, so just
maybe she wasn't feeling too cold.
The water continued twisting the kayaks
around like corks. A huge breaking swell came through and
Leo was sat on top of a breaker with all this white water
frothing around her. I thought her time was up as the wave
looked too big to punch through but she calmly kept control.
I was again impressed. (It was hard to know if she was calm
or not but she looked calm.) The wind got stronger the closer
we got to Simpson Island and it seemed to be taking forever
to reach it, but we battled on.
Leonie before the rough
stuff
With the average temperature of the
lake during the summer being about 4 °C. Lake Superior
is the largest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes. Apparently
annual storms on Lake Superior regularly record wave heights
of over 6m (20 feet). Waves well over 9m (30 feet) have been
recorded. Luckily we weren't experiencing such extreme weather
conditions.
As we got close to the shoreline the
waves were lashing the rock shores of Dunmore Island. Don't
capsize now Leonie, I thought. As soon as we came opposite
the bay leading into Woodbine Harbour I advised Leo to blow
up her sponsons so we rafted up with her to give her more
stability whilst she inflated the sponsons.
There was a big swell running into
the bay and all I could see were breaking waves at the end.
At that point I wasn't even sure if there was a safe way in.
In theory there should have been, but not having been there
before and with less than favourable conditions, I couldn't
be sure! We turned our kayaks into the bay and started moving
towards the end. The swells were big, real big, and even I
was cautious and more concerned than usual. Ahead of us, the
huge swells created deep troughs which reminded me of the
wave on the film the 'Perfect Storm'. I don't think the girls
really appreciated the danger and difficulty we were undertaking
which was probably a good thing. If the swells broke on top
of us we would be in for a ride that we just might not survive.
We had to be careful not to be picked
up by one of these big running swells and be forced to surf
down them. It wasn't the place and the time to speed up, to
have fun and try to ride a wave. I advised Leo to hold back
every time the swell rose and not to allow her kayak to accelerate
down the swell face. "Paddle backwards even and let the
swell roll in, but don't go with it", I said.
The swells and deep holes continued
moving into the bay but luckily we were able to avoid being
dumped by them. It didn't look good though when I saw waves
pounding a reef in the middle of the bay creating a confused
mass of white water that we desperately had to avoid. It looked
scary and even as far as half way in, I still wasn't sure
if there was a safe route through to the lower cove.
At last I saw a safe passage and I
steered the kayak over to the left and we were soon sheltered
by an indent in the shoreline of Dunmore Island. It was a
relief to be there. Leo was all smiles. She loved the experience,
but she was pleased that she had used the sponsons as they
had given her a lot more stability and she felt very safe.
I told her that if she had being sitting her advanced sea
kayaking award, she would have passed with flying colours.
When I knew we were safe I looked back at Alaine and she was
all smiles, a little chilled perhaps and I imagine relieved,
but all smiles. She had handled the conditions extremely well.
We still had to navigate around a couple
of reefs and an island, which were being slammed by waves.
Luckily there was a clear narrow channel without breaking
waves a few metres wide to paddle through. We paddled between
a reef and an island to get to the calm waters of the harbour
but the wind was still strong and we could hardly move against
it. We first checked a beach on the eastern side of the harbour
but it wasn't any good so we paddled across to the west side
where we could see a clearing in the trees. Soon after we
saw an old broken table, a fireplace and a camping spot. It
didn't look fancy and the temperature was below 6 degrees
but to us it was paradise without the sun. Alaine, who didn't
like the open crossings, was so relived to be on firm ground.
Within minutes I erected a clothes
line, slipped into warm dry clothes and we set up our tents.
It was early but we intended going no further today. You just
know when you shouldn't push your luck! Although the conditions
had been testing I was confident that we had the skill to
tackle them. Being safe on shore though is a nice feeling
and within thirty minutes we were eating hot soup and tortillas
and chatting about our ordeal. We soon felt at home in our
sheltered campsite but as we watched the waves crash violently
onto the reef about 400 metres away we expected that we would
be spending the whole day in camp tomorrow.
It was quite enjoyable watching the
conditions worsen while being safe and snug on land. The rain
started to increase, the wind was violent and although we
were camped on an island at least 25kms from the nearest civilisation
it felt really good. We had food to last us for a couple of
weeks and there was plenty of water in the lake. The rain
soon chased us into our tents and I took the opportunity to
do some typing, but an hour or so later it had stopped and
Leo had a fire going. As we had a late lunch we decided on
a light nibbly dinner. It was too cold, wet and wintry outside
to stay near the fire so we soon retreated back into our tents.
Monday 19th September
It rained heavily in the night. Alaine
was up first and she shouted out that the morning was misty.
I took her word for it and continued typing the day's events
on my ipad for a while.
Unbelievably the lake conditions had
dramatically improved, it was hard to believe it could change
so much in a few short hours. The reefs that were being pounded
last night were now free of waves and there was a way out
of the bay without having to dodge the reefs. We had conditioned
ourselves to be here another day, but with the better weather
conditions we decided to move on and paddle a little further.
With the weather worsening with every day that passed and
with winter already on its way, we needed to get a little
closer to our goal whenever we could.
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