Day 1247 – Two Harbors

As most of you know i’m currently living in Minneapolis Minnesota while my wife completes a PhD. While the kayaking opportunities in Minnesota might seem a bit, limited, there is nothing better than a chance to paddle on Lake Superior. And that’s just what the Two Harbors Kayak Festival is all about.

Two Harbors, a town of about 3,000 people, is located 30 miles beyond Duluth on hwy 61. It is, among other things, the birthplace of 3M. It is also a major taconite loading point, and is still visited by at least one of the massive Great Lakes Fleet ore freighters per day. As a side note, the great lakes freighters do not have thrusters. It is quite the sight to watch these super-tanker-length monsters maneuver alongside the huge ore loading piers. Tugboats were used during the heyday of great lakes shipping, but those days are long gone. The lone remaining tug in Two Harbors is now privately owned and open for tours every day except Sundays.

The kayak festival is modest compared to other kayak events (there are no off-water classes or lectures), but it has a homey feel and a pervasive respect for the Big Lake. The primary events of the festival are races. There is an 18 mile race, a 9 mile race, and several shorter sprints. Annette had signed up for one of the on-water classes: advanced paddle strokes.

We arrived on Friday before noon, set up camp (much easier now that we’re driving a VW Westy and not pitching a tent), and hung out. I got into my drysuit and paddled around the bay, around the point, and stared out at the lake for a while. The sun, when it appears, seems to strike rather than shine, but for the most part the lake effect fog, much like the maritime fog on the Pacific coast, keeps the whole place cool, damp, and green.

Saturday opened to rain and more low fog. By 8 am there was a stiff breeze blowing in across open water out of the southeast. The waves in the bay were already about 1 foot and the white caps and spray evident at the upwind point suggested it was gnarly farther out. We watched the start of the 18 mile race. There were at least 50 paddlers all bunched up at the starting line. The horn blew and, like a pod of excited killer whales, they were off their paddles churning up the water and throwing spray. The outbound leg was almost straight into the wind.

We broke camp and loaded Annette’s Pintail on the roof and drove over to where the classes were to be held. We thought they’d be held right there in the bay, but they were in the *next* bay over. A fact that escaped some of the participants. By the time we had her ready to join the class the wind had picked up to about 15 knots and the waves onshore were 1.5 feet and very close together.

I drove back to the festival, suited up, and busied myself trying boats. It is hard to get a feel for a boat when your launching into 1.5 foot surf, but i tried a beautiful strip built hard chined kayak that a local guy is trying to market. I then played around in my second-favorite kayak, a Current Designs Gulfstream. I also tried a Looksha IV High Volume. What a barge! But surprisingly nimble and happy to lean.

Annette’s class was to be over at noon, so i returned the Looksha, got into my own barge, a VCP Skerry XL, and headed out for the next bay to the North. I made it around the first point, but was already facing 2 foot waves that were annoyingly steep and still very close together. I made my way for the next point knowing i only had to round it to be able to duck into the next bay. After fighting for about 10 minutes and not making much headway i was joined by one of the race marshals who was in a Current Designs Solstice. He came alongside.

“How’re you doing?”

“Getting nowhere. How are the racers?”

“They were fortunate to get past here earlier in the day… the wind and waves have been building steadily.”

“I was going to join my wife at Flood Bay, but i’ think i’ll get my car and drive over instead.”

“Yah, good plan… if you paddled over, you’d just have to paddle back,” he said with a grin.

I pulled up my skeg and swung around trying to spend a little time as possible with my beam to the oncoming waves.

I paddled for a while with the waves on my port stern then turned so i could surf all the way back. Sure enough i caught several waves and made it back to the beach in a fraction of the time it took to get out to the point.

I got over to where her class was happening in time to watch her and cohorts get very wet doing assisted t-leans, paddle float leans, and assorted degrees of bracing. The rescues class was having a rough time considering the waves in the bay were about two feet high and coming one right after the other. Granted these are good conditions to test your mettle when doing self-rescues, but the problem was they kept getting blown onto the beach.

While i was watching the class several racers rounded the point to the North. There was a great deal of spray and wave activity to be seen at that point. Suddenly all i could see was hull; one racer had flipped right at the point. Watching, watching, watching… there… he’d exited and was hanging on the side of the boat. Now he was hauling it up on the rocky shore… now he was walking off into the woods with his boat. Hmmm?

More racers rounded the point. Another one flipped! He tried to roll, but didn’t make it back up. The guy behind him came alongside and worked an assisted rescue. This pattern was repeated at least twice more while i loaded Annette’s boat up on the van.

That evening the awards were given out at the big barbecue chicken hoedown held in a giant tent across from the beach where the demos were going on earlier. The speaker opened the ceremony, “ok, racers, whoever performed a rescue today please stand.” Several names were read. Despite the weather the fastest boat came at just under 3 hours for an average speed of slightly better than 6 mph. Turns out several racers bailed along the route due to capsizes. The one i’d seen walk off into the woods with his boat hitched a ride back to the campground and driven back to retrieve his boat.

We departed early the next day, but did not drive straight back to The Cities. Instead we drove North out of Two Harbors up route 2 to Ely (pronounced Eelee) Minnesota. Route 2 traverses a large part of the Superior National Forest much of which is virgin white pine. It is some of the best old-growth forest left in North America… and the whole region feels extremely remote.

So… ready to move to Northern Minnesota now?

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