The decision to stay at Fluor Island was a good one: in the morning, the fog had lifted and I saw the view that I'd suspected was there. Better yet, by the time I wandered on down to the kitchen, David was already making a delicious egg concoction for breakfast (even if he did spill all the green onions and told us to pick our garnish from out among the pebbles!) and there was coffee on the go. Even with an elaborate breakfast, we were on the water in good time. We took a narrow channel that was a bit too shallow at the current plug pulled on the Great Lakes water levels and I actually had to get out 
when I ran aground on a sandbar. Ah well.
One of the things I really, really wanted to do on this trip was stop by one of the saunas. The most famous and best maintained of these is CPR slip, and for this we headed. When we arrived, a group of power boaters was just pulling out, and the sauna was unoccupied. Jim and I wasted no time chopping wood and building a fire, and while the guys did... well, actually, I don't know what the guys did, all I know is that as soon as there was warm water, I was in 
that sauna washing my hair and body (not that I was not part of the chilly bath at Agate Point experience...) Soon after that, it was hot enough that we all sat in there and sweated. I was the first to quit and jump into the lake but it didn't take long for the others to do the same (Jim did the hot-cold cycle twice.) We dawdled: Kevin did some more fishing, the rest of us explored, and we ate lunch. It had clouded over again, so there was not much point agitating that we hike the trail and I settled for goofing off with self portraits.
I had wanted to cross over to islands that were marked with notations such as blueberries, cliffs, and agates, but by the time we launched the wind had picked up and we were back in the fog. Sigh. We had no choice but to paddle following a bearing - and this time, the GPS was very valuable as there was surf to be avoided and visibility was back down to less than 100m. We had to paddle a bit harder than we were used to. Now me, I have a very fast hull (David does not), and I'm the lousiest paddler in this group and thus frequently rely on momentum in rough conditions. I was also the one with the GPS. I *thought* was throttling back - I certainly didn't dig in and give 'er the way I wanted to - and I checked over my shoulder and always saw the rest of them right there, but there were still some grumblings on my pace. This didn't go over so well with me, since at this point in the trip I had spent a lot of time sitting and waiting, and I got criticized for being a point to point paddler. I pretty much had enough, because liking to have a rhythm in my paddling *while following the shore* does not make me a point to point paddler, and the implication that I just blow by everything and see nothing does not sit well when I usually find I have better recall of what I've paddled after a trip than most. I figured out at that point that I would have a much better time if I stopped worrying about navigation and scheduling, and just became a follower. I resolved to bring up the rear from then on, and merely shrug if anyone asked what "the plan" was. Quite frankly, I was pissed off that I got the sense that the people I was traveling with thought everything about the way I trip was simply *wrong*, no matter how many compromises I make. If you'd asked me that day, I would have said that I would never organize another kayak trip - because if I'm this frustrated with people I know well and like a lot, sheesh... let somebody else do everything wrong, I'll just happily paddle along in the pack and not worry.
No matter how frustrated I was, though, I recognized that these are top notch paddlers. This was a good thing, the skill level in this group, because all the spots we looked at on Hope Island were very exposed and involved a surf landing onto boat-munching cobbles. We were tired and wanted off the water. Kevin is not afraid of surf or tricky landings or anything, really, so he elegantly got his boat in, and then helped the others. I purposely waited to land last, because that way, I'd have three men to make sure I didn't smash my boat. I totally suck at surf landings.
Despite the frustrations, though - and I'm dwelling on these, it seems - this was a beautiful route, and I genuinely liked (and still like!) the people I was paddling with, and the food was superb. I didn't really have much to complain about, now, did I? Especially not since we had stuffed plenty of wine into our boats, and 
there's something pretty special about lounging around behind a tarp (windbreak) on an isolated beach on Lake Superior while a delicious dinner is being cooked. There's also something special about getting to spend a week with such skilled and experienced people. Also, thanks to CPR slip, I was feeling very clean, and fluffy hair does make me happy!
(to be continued)
Posted by Johanna at August 16, 2007 07:40 PM