After I called in the audio update, we paddled a few km and decided to stop short of our island goal and make camp because the grey clouds were getting greyer and the wind was picking up again. We hurried and got the tent up, the boat secured and the few things we needed unloaded. Marian was getting things set up in the tent and I got a quick supper on the go. It was about 9 pm. The long days can play havoc with routines and the cues related to daylight are all off.

I took the two pictures above when I realized that the wind had died off and the evening looked like it was going to be a beaut! I boiled water for hot drinks and then started to warm some dishwater waiting for Marian to emerge before starting the main course. She popped out and I thought, we’d best get the dinner cooked since rain is on the way ( we’d picked up a forecast in Wrigley).

Just as the quesadillas were finished, Marian said, “Look at that.” It appeared smoke or steam was rising from the island we hoped to reach. Then the water turned jade green (it’s usually steely grey or deep blue) and strange patterns we being woven into the current. The wind rose furiously and sand began to blow. Marian grabbed dinner and ran to jump into the tent to weigh it down.

I jumped into action to get the stove put away before it became clogged with flying sand-quite a challenge since it was still hot from cooking. 56 days of putting the kitchen away came nicely into play as I got it all back into place without feeding the hungry wind.

I added a few more rocks to every guy line on the tent and crawled into the tent for dinner which I’m happy to report wasn’t full of sand. “What was that? I exclaimed. “It came on so fast!” The tent shuttered and shook as we gulped down dinner and then it got quiet again and we emerged to check on the canoe and tent. We added more rocks, decided to have a wee bit more wine, and shared my last birthday Crunchie Bar for dessert.

It may be a long night as the wind has picked up again and rain is forecast. We just heard a low rumble and wondered what the wind was delivering to us now but it was the barge boat going by with supplies for communities and projects further North of here. Our boat already pulled up high because of the threatening winds, was safe from its wake.

So, it may be a long night but we’ve hunkered down, secured the tent, our boat, and ourselves and consider sitting through this kind of weather, the price of admission for views such as this.