QUEST FOR THE BAY: Day 5 (Thursday, July 5, 2001)
Route Log
Departed from ‘Naked-Bottoms-Everywhere Beach’ traveling North on Lake Winnipeg, along West shore. Full day of sailing, finally coming to rest out of ferocious winds, in pitch blackness, on the southern tip of Hecla Island. Our campsite is on a beautiful little beach tucked in behind a long sandy point, appropriately called Sandy Point. (65km)
Quotable Quote
“This boat is finally doing what it really loves to do…” (Marits – Day 5)
Trip Log
Waiting out the wind-bound day instead of struggling against it seemed to work in our favour, as we awoke this morning to a calm and sunny lake. We hastened thru our oatmeal and tea, and set out bright and early.
We started rowing, but within the hour had the sail up and oars aside. Aaahh! Simply amazing to be sailing! We gave the boat a formal name today, too – the Hudson. But to us, he will always be BOB.
It’s sunny as we sail, with a cool breeze. I’m thankful we are gaining good ground, hoping we’ll get across Lake Winnipeg as quickly as possible. Yesterday, just looking at those waves it seemed insurmountable and terrifying. Today, it seems possible and thrilling! Can’t believe how much perceptions change out here from one minute to the next.
Today also turned out to be more of an adventure than we’d anticipated. We sailed for about 14 hours, wanting to get in as many kilometers as possible while we had the chance. In the process, though, it seems we lost sight of our need to spend time docking BOB. By the time we realized how late it was, there were no campsites to be had.
We sailed along the shore, looking for any kind of shelter from the wind, but there was no place to land. We debated crossing the lake, but there were only a couple of hours of daylight left, storm clouds brewing, and increasing wind. We were pretty split on whether to try and cross the great divide, or err on the side of caution. We chose caution – and I for one was relieved by that decision.
We looked for shelter, tried two bays, and quickly discovered that docking on the windward side way too dangerous for us and BOB. So our mantra became ‘run away!’ and we ended up with no choice but try to cross over part of the lake.
The water was really rough and rowing was hard. I was definitely nervous about it, and just wanted to get out of this f**king situation. We finally ducked in behind a long spit to get leeward. The only beauty of the moment was the moon – almost full, orange, and rising up from the lake behind some hazy clouds. Quite a spectacular site! It eased my racing thoughts a little.
We finally reached shore safely and calmly around 11:00pm – whew! Awesome but challenging day. Didn’t take long to set up camp, a shelter, and have a nice dinner. We have a great team, and it was a great ending to a long and tough day.
Further thoughts from the side of reason… We waited way too long to dock today, and almost got ourselves into trouble. We have some personalities on this trip who I sense just want to go-go-go at any cost, and part of me fears this is the kind of attitude that will cause us to make a mistake at some point that caution would have avoided.
I firmly believe we need to be patient, have the utmost respect for these waters, and wait for our windows of opportunity to cross safely. Otherwise, it can – and will – get the best of us.
