Great morning for an 8 mile bay crossing (day 4)

Brrr.....we woke up to frost. Frost covered our kayaks and our gear, and everything exposed to the chilling air. Thanks to our friend Dr. Ed Johnson from the Chippewa County Rotary for allowing us to borrow the marine radio because we expected the bitter conditions. Though it didn't make it much easier gearing up in the cold at 4am. We got up early to take advantage of the morning calm because we were crossing the Little Traverse Bay,which is 8 miles across. After a brittle protein bar and some ice cold water we packed up camp and geared up to push off by 6am.

After a short warm up run we got into position and pushed off. The sun was still behind the hills, however it was beginning to light up the sky along with the help of the florescent bright blue moon. Together, the sun and the moon reflected a brilliant violet-gray color over the misty glass like surface of the lake. I felt like I was in a dream or on another planet. Then, I remembered that I was living reality and that we were attempting to make an 8 mile open water crossing, so I returned the focus back to the task at hand. We paddled endlessly for 2 1/2 hours until we reached the other side. After a quick call to the Charlevoix Coast Guard and family to let them know we were safe, we ate a meal of Ramen noodles and pancakes and headed back out.

There was a bit of a head wind, but the sun was shining and it made for a pretty good paddling day. Along the way we saw swans and eagles, and even a relatively large snake. We paddled through a couple of small bays and took in the glorious creation surrounding us.



We came to rest on top of a sand hill in the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay. We will attempt that 10 mile crossing tomorrow.