Wind bound

Before I became an avid and experienced canoeist the term wind-bound intrigued me. The words became personal when on a 1967 June canoe trip in Northwestern Ontario I experience this phenomana. Two of us were on a ten day canoe trip through a series of lakes and portages.  We each had our own canoe along with our share of the gear.

On the fourth day, and after a long portage of canoes and equipment, we ended up on a sandy shore at the end of a long narrow lake. The map indicated it was named Windy Lake.  The wind was blowing down the length of the lake and large waves were crashing on the beach. We decided it was a good time to take a break, eat our evening meal, and rest until the wind died down. There were no roads or cabins in this wilderness area and no other person within at least fifty miles.

About an hour later, we had cleaned up after the meal and reloaded the canoes. The wind and waves were still strong but we thought we should be able to launch the canoes and get away from the beach. It was difficult to hold the canoe into the waves so we waded out to knee deep and then jumped in our canoes. It was impossible to manage more than three or four strokes with the paddle before we were driven up on the beach sideways with water gushing over the sides.  We took turns trying different ways to launch the canoe and get away from the shore but everything we tried failed. We spent a lot of time between tries, unloading the canoes and dumping the water. As a last resort we both got into an empty canoe and paddled like mad to no avail.

We could not get away from shore. We were wind bound!

We sat for hours on the beach waiting for the wind to die down but it did not happen. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered reading that wind usually lessened at the break of dawn. We had the habit of arising early every morning on this trip so we got organized to take advantage of the wind dropping. The canoes were left loaded with all the gear, with the exception of our sleeping bags.

It seemed like a long windy night but at dawn we were up and had the sleeping bags rolled up and loaded and we were ready to go. A little water left in the bottom of  each canoe near the nose was frozen. Now it was a cold windy day and we were going to get wet no matter if we got off shore or not. We sat watching the wind and waves like two race horses ready to charge down the track.

Finally we could feel the wind was dropping and the crash of the waves was lessening. To go too early was just as bad as waiting too long.  At some point we both agreed, it was time to go. The canoes were dragged off the beach as we waded into the cold water. With all the skill we possessed we jumped into the canoes and started paddling like mad. When we were off shore about ten feet the wind and waves seemed at their worst and it was all we could do to maintain our position. We dared not stop paddling or we would crash back on the shore.  If one of us failed, the other would have to go back as we had to stay together.

Then, slowly, we seemed to make some progress and soon the noise from the beach was dropping and we were free of the shore. Wind and waves continued to try and beat us backwards. It was necessary to keep the nose of the canoe into the wind or we would spin around and never get back in control.
As the sun rose and took the chill out of the air, the wind began to drop and soon the lake calmed down.
An hour later we were able to drop our paddles and catch our breath.

The rest of the trip was great but we never forgot what the term wind bound meant.