rglorenz wrote: Lake Superior could be smooth as glass on one day and the next rolling in 3 - 30 foot waves. Sometimes it can change that fast in a few hours.
It was early September 2011. I was on the Ranger III (headed to the island) and we were getting close to the Middle Island Passage (about 1:45 PM EDT). The lake was glass. Paul (the boat purser) and I were gazing up the entire length of Conglomerate Bay in amazement, as with the bay running a mile deep or so into the island's shoreline, it looked like a picture postcard. Paul commented that he had never before seen "glass conditions" that late in the season.
I was getting off at Mott and if the "gettin' was good", planned to paddle my canoe solo to Chippewa Harbor that same afternoon. In preparing for the paddle at home, I had noticed that if I could cut straight across the big lake from the SW corner of Mott Island to Saginaw Point, I would save about 1/2 mile or so in travel. So when I saw the "glass" conditions, I thought to myself: "Hey, I can take the shortcut!", which is what I did. In my at-home preparations, i didn't measure the maximum distance at any one point that this shortcut would take me from either shore - over a mile.
Disembarking at Mott (2:00 PM), I made sure not to dilly-dally before I got underway, paddled to and under the walkway bridge that connects Mott to East Caribou, and within minutes I was out on the big lake, though it was difficult to make out Saginaw Point from such a distance. To my disappointment, the lake was no longer glass, but instead slow rollers coming at me ("shucks!"), and 15 minutes later, akin to a mild roller coaster ("oh shit"). Of course, by this time I had already committed to my shortcut and I continued on. It was a very uneasy feeling being that far from shore. I never saw another boat. I did adjust my "aim" however, so that I would reach the shoreline (headed toward Saginaw Pt.) sooner than later. In the end, I didn't save much distance, and actually expended a lot more energy than if I had just stayed in the harbor all the way to the Rock Harbor Lighthouse. I will never venture out that far away from shore in a canoe again, solo or tandem.
The ironic part of the story is that on the return paddle (a week later), as I travelled from Saginaw Point to the Rock Harbor Lighthouse, it was the mouth of Conglomerate Bay that nearly capsized me. The last thing I expected was that the "picture perfect postcard" spot was going to give me the most trouble!