The Wind Will Cease to Blow

Some people who read this blog might argue with me, especially if they were out in the canoe country recently.  I know I have written about this before but it is worth repeating. If it is super windy and wavy and it is too scary to paddle then stay off of the water. Some of you are nodding your heads with me in agreement right now while you are on dry land reading this in the comfort of your own home or office but something happens when people are out in the woods and the wind starts to howl.

Somehow the wind has the ability to change a situation. Does it carry with it a spell that puts people into a zombie like state? With arms stretched out straight in front of them people begin to chant, “We must leave the safety of our campsite and venture out into the water to risk life and limb to make it home safely, four days early.”

I don’t believe this really happens but something about the wind blowing compels people to pack up camp and head out into a perilous situation. It doesn’t make sense to me how one minute a group is content to camp on an island for a week but then the wind begins to blow and their situation has changed from camping to being stranded on an island.

When the wind blows it never fails. We have groups struggling in high waves to get back to Voyageur a day or days earlier than they were scheduled to return. The other night we rescued a group of campers who decided to paddle on Saganaga during super high wind and they capsized all of their canoes. Their gear was blown away along with their canoes and if it hadn’t been for Canadian homeowners all would have surely perished. What happens next is what really bothers me and it isn’t just because I’m tired of helping people like I told the Voyageur Crew, it’s because I worry for the safety of my crew more than the safety of everyone else. I care way more about our crew than I do about finding gear for someone who chose to paddle during inclement weather.

Now that I’m older and yes, a bit wiser, I realize things can happen in a split second. Boats can take on water, heads can get hit hard and people can die. While my summer crew is in my care I prefer that doesn’t happen to one of them. So, when we get called out to rescue someone or pick someone up three days early it bothers me. I don’t want to send our drivers out in windy and wavy conditions but because of the wind we are forced into doing it.  So when I act mad and righteous it really isn’t because I’m mad, it’s because I’m scared.  Will we continue to send people out to rescue others in this situation? Absolutely because I would want someone to do that for my loved one and it’s the right thing to do.

However, please do me a favor. If you are out on a lake and the wind starts to blow take advantage of the situation. Play cards, relax around a campfire, enjoy the fact there are no bugs and wait to paddle until the wind quits blowing.  It will cease to blow, it always does.