Dancing with Mr. D

Over Memorial Day weekend, our club has an annual "rendezvous" in the Apostle Islands.  We stay at a campground on Little Sand Bay and take day paddles to various destinations. 

Last year was the first year I attended, and on the first day we paddled around Sand Island.  The second day we split into different groups.  One group paddled to Raspberry Island, one drove to Meyers Beach and paddled to the mainland sea caves, and the third paddled from Little Sand Bay to the sea caves.  I was in the third group, and was delighted to be out paddling in my new boat on the big lake sharing a splendid adventure with Dan, Pete and Jeff.  The sea caves were spectacular, and the day was one of my favorite paddles of the year.

This year we again paddled to Sand Island on Saturday, making it out to the lighthouse and back (returning is always a good idea).  In the evening we had a potluck with lots of yummy food, and then gathered around the fire as it got dark.  It cools off fast up there, and the fleeces and down jackets came out with the setting sun.

Eventually the conversation turned to what to do on Sunday.  We had several  paddling options:  the estuary, Raspberry, the two approaches to the mainland sea caves.  I casually mentioned that Devils Island was only 25 miles round trip, but those who bothered to respond were clear and definite in their lack of interest in that idea.

Then we went around the group and everyone said what they'd like to do.  Raspberry seemed to be the favorite destination.  When it was Jeff's turn, he said quietly "I'd like to dance with Mr. D."  Sam was next, and said he would like to as well, but that we probably needed a third to make it a safe group.  I confessed that I had been the instigator of the trip.  (I'd planted the Devils Island seed a few weeks ago by email, and Jeff has a rubber arm for ideas like that.  Or maybe he'd been planning on it all along.)  At any rate, we had our three.  Nobody else signed on, but later on that evening, I stopped by Pete's (he was camping with his family), and he was in too. 

We weren't a 100% go yet, though.  Jeff and Michelle had been volunteering for the past week at Wilderness Canoe Base, and had just joined us that evening.  Jeff wanted to get a good night's sleep before committing to the trip. 

In the morning we checked the weather, and the front that had been on its way from South Dakota was still on its way, expected to cross our area in the afternoon.  Sam and I were thinking the conservative thing to do was skip the Devils paddle, but then Jeff joined us, coffee in hand, and said he was in.  So we decided to go.   (There was more than one rubber arm in the group.)

We launched a few minutes after 9:00 and headed for the east side of York Island.  After a quick break there and a weather radio check (no change), we were off to Bear Island.  The wind was northeast, 10 to 15 knots, so we were paddling mostly straight into it.  The waves were under two feet, but there were some whitecaps and there were definitely some good sized waves that the boats would ride up and pound down over.  Definitely not Lake Calhoun, and it was a good day to work on forward stroke efficiency.

We landed on a rocky beach towards the north end of the west side of Bear.   It was about noon, and we listened to the weather again while we ate lunch.  The details were getting filled in a bit more as the front got closer.  Forty percent chance of severe thunderstorms;  most likely in north western  Wisconsin.  Time frame was between 2:00 and 8:00.  Where storms occurred, expect winds of up to 40 miles an hour, lightning, and dime sized hail.  The storms wouldn't last long in the locations where they occurred … "only two to three hours."

It was time to decide whether to continue on to Devils or return.  We all had gear with us to sit out a storm or even to spend the night on an island if needed, but we still had two open water crossings of a mile and a half each before getting back to the mainland.   The western sky was clouding up, though there was nothing alarming in sight yet.  It would be 1:00 by the time we launched after lunch. The longer we continued to paddle forward, the more time we would spend on the water in the 2:00 to 8:00 window of possible storm formation, and the closer to dark our return would be if we had to sit out a storm.  Continuing on to Devils would add another 3 hours to the trip.  But … we all wanted to go on, and knew that at any given place, the chance of a storm was quite low.  We had a good view of horizon, and should be able to see signs of a storm before it hit, and there was shelter on Devils and Raspberry if needed.  

In the end we decided to turn back.  Being caught on a crossing in a severe storm would not be a good thing.  We re-visited the decision more than once, but turning back was the conservative thing to do, and the right thing to do.

So back we went.  This time we paddled south along Bear, then crossed to Raspberry.  (I've added one more island to my count now (16?) although the lighthouse tour will have to wait for another visit.)  The western sky was getting darker, and there was rain in the distance.  As we started the second crossing from Raspberry west to Point Detour, the north wind coming from our right was noticeably stronger, with frequent whitecaps.  I was paddling behind Pete, and there were several times when his head was nearly hidden by the waves, which meant that they were approaching 3 feet.  (A kayaker's head is about 3 feet off the water, so looking at another kayaker as you and he/she bob over the waves and observing "under 3 feet, 3 feet, or over 3 feet" are the only wave height measurements that don't involve guessing.)   My rough water skills have definitely improved in the past year, which was nice to see.

A fog bank had developed north of the islands, closing off the view of North Shore.  There was no lightning in sight, but we were all eager to get across to the mainland, and we spread out more than we should have as we all focused on getting across.  I had been able to see the paddler behind me out of the corner of my eye most of the way across, but about three quarters of the way across, I lost him and we stopped and re-grouped.  Our lead paddler set a good pace and it was easy to fix on him and paddle hard, and it probably got the group as a whole across in the least amount of time, but it was definitely an undisciplined crossing; we should have stayed together.  We were too far apart to help each other if needed, and too far apart to communicate if a change in plans was needed.  Lesson learned – don't let adrenalin override group cohesiveness.

With the last crossing completed and still no sign of inclement weather, we enjoyed an easy paddle back to Little Sand Bay and landed about 3:45.

In the end, on this particular day we would have been able to go to Devils without getting caught in a big storm (though we might have been caught in a fog bank – looking behind us, Devils could no longer  be seen), but I think everyone was comfortable with our decision.  Another day could have turned out differently.  Dave O. had looked at weather radar in the ranger station, and while we were loading boats onto our cars after the paddle, he told us the storm cells had gone north and south of the Apostles.

But joining three other paddlers on a 17 mile paddle (14.8 nautical miles) in the Apostles through a variety of conditions can be considered nothing less than a treat.  Devils Island is a magnificent destination, though its location on the outer edge of the archipelago, exposed to the big lake's wind and waves, make it an elusive goal.  We often try to dance with Mr. D, but he can be a fickle partner, and the big lake always calls the shots in the end.