18May2010 near Mandaree, ND - I slept extremely well yet was aware that the wind did not decrease meaningfully through the night. So early on it looked a bit iffy for my chances of getting across to the south shore today. Concluding - incorrectly it turns out - that the wind would not get faster, I delayed my departure until Ronda had begun work and I could get some coffee. Pushing off at 9AM I went a short distance into the lee of Telephone Island. There I bailed a bit of slap water and readied my self mentally for the challenge ahead. Rounding the east side of Telephone Island I made steady progress across the lake for over 600 paddle strokes. At that point I began getting wind from more than one direction at once, causing a confusing mix of waves and wind. Eventually the inevitable (well, I suppose) happened, an east wind pushed the bow too far west and I was not able to bring the rest of the canoe around. Rather than continue progressing west, I opted to paddle backward. This allowed me to go SE ... but very, very slowly. I was making scant progress and had not recovered the position I had held before I was pushed west. Then a sudden wind speed increase hit me and I gave up. Playing the cork role, I was back on the north shore in probably fifteen minutes. I stepped out at campsite 10 and walked back to McKenzie to tell Ronda I was back.
Rather than sit and wait all day I got my net book and began walking around looking for an internet hot zone. I never found one, but I did knock on the door of retired dentist Kenneth DeLap and his wife Jean. They found my trip to be interesting, fed me a wonderful lunch, allowed me to use their dial-up internet and let me sleep at their house. The wind did not let up; the weather report stated the speed at 32MPH with gusts to 38MPH.