Note to self: Sean and Dana don't like small craft warnings!

The second day of our trip was a short and eventful one. It began at 9am (we needed the sleep from the excitement from the day before) with pancakes and oatmeal. While we were packing camp the weather radio was giving the forecast and we heard that there were strong winds from the West which produced a small craft advisory in our area of intended paddling. From what we saw it looked fine, so we thought that we would give it a shot and hug the shore in case things got out of hand.

About a mile into our paddle we encountered white caps and swells of about 2-3 feet. Not a huge deal as long as we weren't battling a head wind. Further we experienced larger waves and less predictable patterns of their type. All fun and games until we started getting 6-8 foot waves coming in all forms and from all angles. We had waves rolling under us and waves that we could look straight up at and then would crash on top of us. We paddles nearly right next to each other, but the swells and waves made the other person disappear. At this point some waves would hit us and turn us a full 90 degrees. We thought that it would be a good idea to pull over and set up camp for the day since it was getting "too wild." So we set our sights on a point about 200 yards away and aimed our bows for the destination.

I said a prayer that we would get there safely, and right then, I saw a large low flying eagle shoot out from the pines, and like an airplane lowering its landing gear it lowered its talons and ... whoosh! it grabbed a large fish right from the water and kept on flying with it in his grip. I yelled, " did you see that?" I thought that it was a sign and we would be blessed with safety. About a minute later a big roller approached me and I prepared for it. Unlike the others this one didn't let me up. instead it pulled me under. My brace wasn't strong enough and before I knew it I was looking up at the sky from underwater, upside down in my boat. I pulled the skirt and bailed. Luckily Dana was nearby and he paddled along side as we performed a two person rescue. I got back in my boat and threw on my skirt quickly as water kept crashing on top of us. During the heavy impacts of the waves crashing into and onto us, my paddle float was washed off and it floated into the distance. Dana and I held onto each others boats and rode the waves to shore. We set up camp right on the beach where we landed. We were cold, shook up, and tired, but safe.

The power and roaring of the waves sounded like Niagara Falls and lasted into the cold, dark night.