A typical teenager may have a summer job working for a coffee shop or at a grocery store. Not I though, I work as a kayak guide in the Apostle islands. The summer of my Junior year I was guiding a group of ten on a tour of the Sea Caves with my fellow guide Scott. We packed the gear on the trailer and loaded the customers into the van like any other day and headed for Meyers beach. When we got there Scott checked the weather while I unloaded the gear along with the customers. The conditions were good and we would head out as soon as everyone was together. There was about eight-inch chop and the wind was no more than eight knots.
As we headed for the caves the wind started to gust but we noticed that all of the customers were paddling great. We entered the Crack and paddled under the arches and into the Garage. The waves had picked up to be about a foot and a half so we avoided the smaller caves. Because the group was paddling well we decided to paddle on to the Cathedral. We made it through the Cathedral with no worries but on our way back the wind picked up to the upper teens and the waves were approaching three feet. I noticed that the rough conditions were wearing on a few people. We made it safely back to the far end of Meyers beach but we noticed that a few of the other outfitter groups were struggling to keep everyone together and a few boats had capsized. The waves were about three and a half feet and the winds had to be about twenty knots. As we took a break on the beach we ate a quick lunch.
By the time we finished lunch the waves had turned to swells and were nearly five feet. There was a steady northwest wind of twenty knots and gusts preceding twenty-five. We knew launching would not be easy. We made sure that each boat cut the surf head on and paddled out to the smother, rolling seas. All but two of the boats managed very well. Two of the boats had been turned sideways to the surf and Scott and I had to throw our towlines. The boat that I was towing nearly capsized me as it got launched atop the bow of my boat by a large wave. I managed to maneuver out from beneath and continued on to tow. Once the boat that I was towing was safe and under control I unhooked my towline and sprinted over to catch another boat as I watched them nearly flip. I was using all my strength keeping pace with the group and towing. I switched my towline six different times as folks fought to keep their boats alive.
When we were roughly strait out from our launch point we turned and rode the waves in towards the beach. When we finally reached land we scurried to get our boats pulled up and out of the fierce crashing waves. A feeling of success was brought to all of us as we sighed with relief. What was usually an easy fifteen-minute paddle from the end of Meyers beach to the launch site had turned to a ninety-minute battle against brutal, stormy seas.
By the time we finished lunch the waves had turned to swells and were nearly five feet. There was a steady northwest wind of twenty knots and gusts preceding twenty-five. We knew launching would not be easy. We made sure that each boat cut the surf head on and paddled out to the smother, rolling seas. All but two of the boats managed very well. Two of the boats had been turned sideways to the surf and Scott and I had to throw our towlines. The boat that I was towing nearly capsized me as it got launched atop the bow of my boat by a large wave. I managed to maneuver out from beneath and continued on to tow. Once the boat that I was towing was safe and under control I unhooked my towline and sprinted over to catch another boat as I watched them nearly flip. I was using all my strength keeping pace with the group and towing. I switched my towline six different times as folks fought to keep their boats alive.
When we were roughly strait out from our launch point we turned and rode the waves in towards the beach. When we finally reached land we scurried to get our boats pulled up and out of the fierce crashing waves. A feeling of success was brought to all of us as we sighed with relief. What was usually an easy fifteen-minute paddle from the end of Meyers beach to the launch site had turned to a ninety-minute battle against brutal, stormy seas.