If anyone was out on big water Saturday they understand the importance of good decision making when it comes to getting your canoe into big swells and waves. We probably had sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts to 45 on Basswood around US point. We had a pickup on Lincoln Island at 3:00. About 3 miles away the winds picked up to where we had to tuck in behind an island, stay put and wait it out.We didn't make it back for our pickup but camped another night right where we were. We watched as 3 boats tried make it in and one swamped in that big open water. Two other boats swamped as well and most of you may know how big that water is in Basswood. Guys were in destress. Not worth it.
There is no pickup time or anything else worth risking a life or most of your gear for. STAY PUT!! Wait it out. The outfitters have a policy of staying until the last minute before they leave out on these wind events like Saturday. If you don't make it in they will send a tow boat out the next day. Its OK to wait, I knew the world would make it fine without me another day. Please be safe and don't take these chances. Make the trip fun.

Straight Ahead my friends.

We were on Knife lake and ended up staying on the site all day, made for a longer paddle out on Sunday but we definitely made the right decision to stay put. When we met our tow at Indian Portage they told us they had to enter into Canada waters with motors to rescue those canoes. Luckily they all were wearing life jackets or it would have likely been a retrieval and not a rescue. Big water is no place to be in big wind!

We spent the whole day lounging around camp on the north end of Insula. Although more protected than some areas it was crazy how windy it was. My weather radio reported gusts of 32 mph.

In windy conditions, I try to figure just how much i can safely navigate and then actually reduce that by one third. Never plan to be close to having a safety issue.

quote Chainsaw: "If anyone was out on big water Saturday they understand the importance of good decision making when it comes to getting your canoe into big swells and waves. We probably had sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts to 45 on Basswood around US point. We had a pickup on Lincoln Island at 3:00. About 3 miles away the winds picked up to where we had to tuck in behind an island, stay put and wait it out.We didn't make it back for our pickup but camped another night right where we were. We watched as 3 boats tried make it in and one swamped in that big open water. Two other boats swamped as well and most of you may know how big that water is in Basswood. Guys were in destress. Not worth it.
There is no pickup time or anything else worth risking a life or most of your gear for. STAY PUT!! Wait it out. The outfitters have a policy of staying until the last minute before they leave out on these wind events like Saturday. If you don't make it in they will send a tow boat out the next day. Its OK to wait, I knew the world would make it fine without me another day. Please be safe and don't take these chances. Make the trip fun.

Straight Ahead my friends."

Good move,
about 5 years ago we came out of North bay and the wind was dead calm. Within minutes the wind was as strong as you mentioned. We made it to a small island just off of US point and stayed their for about 5 hours until it calmed down enough we made it to the first site on US point and camped.

I also hope the Tow boat people mention safety first so people don't push the panic button and ignore safety to meet their scheduled meeting time.

That was our exit day. Had camped near the north end of Fourtown and were headed to Mudro. Knowing via wx radio the wind was coming, we were paddling by 8:00 - good thing - it was already beginning to freshen!

Sometimes if a person knows it is going to be windy it pays to do start paddling before daybreak and I actually enjoy it.
One thing when canoe camping or any outdoor activity many times you adapt to nature and not try to beat it or change it. Go with the flow.

quote Pinetree: "Sometimes if a person knows it is going to be windy it pays to do start paddling before daybreak and I actually enjoy it.
One thing when canoe camping or any outdoor activity many times you adapt to nature and not try to beat it or change it. Go with the flow."

+1

+1 on having a weather radio with you. You will know ahead of time when winds are coming and how strong they will be. As Pinetree suggested ... you often can get an early start to avoid windy situations that may be brewing. I may even leave my base camp one or 2 days early so I am not windboud and putting fellow party members at risk due to severe winds.

+1 on WX radio as well. My job is in meteorology and the guys at the National Weather Service are the best forecasters that I have met and been able to talk to. So a weather radio is just one of the best ways to get information from them while away.

We were on Gull (small lake) when it kicked up Saturday afternoon. Had to paddle up wind til in line with our campsite and then 'surf' back across the lake. It was fun, but we were certainly cautious. With the whitecaps on a lake this size, I can only imagine what a larger lake would've been like on that day.....extremely risky to be on the water.

We tried to get to a campsite next to portage on Snowbank lake. Of course the site was taken. We ended up getting stuck on a little point on Snowbank. Setup a tarp shelter and waited for the wind to die down. We ended up spending the night there because the wind was blowing hard until dark.

quote Chainsaw: "If anyone was out on big water Saturday they understand the importance of good decision making when it comes to getting your canoe into big swells and waves. We probably had sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts to 45 on Basswood around US point. We had a pickup on Lincoln Island at 3:00. About 3 miles away the winds picked up to where we had to tuck in behind an island, stay put and wait it out.We didn't make it back for our pickup but camped another night right where we were. We watched as 3 boats tried make it in and one swamped in that big open water. Two other boats swamped as well and most of you may know how big that water is in Basswood. Guys were in destress. Not worth it.
There is no pickup time or anything else worth risking a life or most of your gear for. STAY PUT!! Wait it out. The outfitters have a policy of staying until the last minute before they leave out on these wind events like Saturday. If you don't make it in they will send a tow boat out the next day. Its OK to wait, I knew the world would make it fine without me another day. Please be safe and don't take these chances. Make the trip fun.

Straight Ahead my friends."

Excellent post! I've had a few close calls over the years. Once, on Seagull, we were met with nasty winds portaging in from Rog. I wanted to wait it out, but one of the guys was adamant about getting back because they had to leave that afternoon so he could get back to work on time. Long story short, one of the group of 3 canoes swamped. We pulled them in to that steep, rocky spot about 1/2 mile from the Rog Portage. It's no place to stay, so we re-grouped and I had the two aluminum canoes catamaran together. We made it to a campsite and they swamped again about 100' or so from the campsite. I whipped up a fire and my buddy got his stove out and made hot chocolate and, except for one impatient tripper, had a nice, relaxing rest under those huge red pines. We still made it in before dark.