Day 23 - Do these Waves make my Boat look Small?!

River Mile - 760.5

Today’s Distance - 17.5

Trip Distance - 581.9

Woke up this morning to a very wet camp. It rained from midnight to 4:00 am but thankfully the wind did not get too crazy. It was one of those mornings where everything was wet. Packing wet gear on a wet morning in a wet boat is not one of the more glamorous parts of this type of trip.

For the first time in 23 days, I was in my boat before Jon. The last thing we discussed before launching was, “do you think we need our spray skirts?” Of course, we both agreed, no we’ll be fine. We can always put them on if we need them. More to come on that.

We paddled out on a very gloomy, foggy morning. Based on the weather forecast, the winds at our backs, I thought it was shaping up to be a good day and way better than yesterday. About a mile in, we knew that all the things we thought, were not going to be our reality. Even with the wind at our back, the waves were chasing us down. To try and stay near the shore we needed to paddle almost broad side. Well, that was not working at all. Next thing I know, Jon is putting on his life jacket, that is when I knew this shit was getting real. Remember the whole, “we won’t need our spray skirts” conversation? We’ll we sure did need them! 

We selected a point to aim for that we thought was a mile away. There we would put on our spray skirts and all would be well. Funny thing, it took us 90 minutes to get to the point. So, either it was way further than a mile, or we were making really slow time.

We did make the point, don our skirts and set back out. The conditions however, did not improve. In fact they continued to get worse. We were tempted on many occasions, to get off the water. All we kept thinking was, stopping now means we will have to finish Pepin tomorrow. In the end, we agreed “Let’s finish this and get on to the next part of the river” As we continued, the wind gusts got stronger and the swells continued to grow. 2 foot swells, turned into 3 foot swells and eventually 4 feet. At one point, Jon said that when I was in the trough, all he could see was my head. Crazy!!

We originally were planning to get to Alma, WI for the end of the day but with the strain of keeping out boats upright in the big water, we knew that was not going to happen. We set our sights on Wabasha, 7 miles shorter than Alma. 

Finally arriving in Wabasha, we found a camp site just a block from the landing and less than a block from Slippery’s bar and grill, made famous in the Grumpy Old Men movies. 

My friends Pam and Wayne Benbow came down with a cooler of beer to visit with us. Both the visit and the beer were much appreciated.  

As I write this, we are sitting at the bar at Slippery’s listening to Mississippi delta blues, watching football, eating Gumbo and charging our electronics. What a great way to end a challenging but fulfilling day on the river.

Today’s Learnings

• When Jon Wunrow has his spray skirt AND his life jacket on, buckle up. It’s gonna get wild!