A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
Go to sleep. everything is all right.
– Roy Orbison

So then there was the day we took 3 novice paddlers out to see Cave Point near White Fish Dunes State Park in Door County, Wisconsin. It was all going along swimmingly until the waves began to build. Chatting with the students and watching their kayaks rise and fall over the ever steepening waves I began to ask myself, “ Which would be more fun for our charges; trying to round the point and paddling another mile in broaching seas, or turning around right here and making a big surf landing to re-evaluate?”. 

The day started out sort of funny in that I was looking at guiding a 3 mile sightseeing tour see some small caves on the south-eastern side of Door County. This was certainly light duty. Not that I minded considering the day before it took me most of the day to navigate the standard fracas that often dominates my days. Taking a few beginners out to see some limestone caves under a warm sun sounded just peachy. Besides, they told me this trip was “protected” from the incoming weather.

That evening I packed everything away for the next day and switched on my new replacement ICOM M34 VHF to check on the weather. It sounded to me as if they were saying the weather and the winds would be building as the day progressed. The wind coming out of the south. Checking the driving map I had in the truck it sure looked like that meant we would be facing waves pushing us into the caves. But what do I know.. So by 10pm I was off to sleep.

The day of the trip arrived with warm sun and clear skies as our small caravan of kayak aficionados headed south on the back roads of the Door County Peninsula. After getting lost a couple times along the way we finally arrived through a long twisting tunnel of dark pine forest that opened up a framed, clear blue view of sky, horizon line & lake. Roy Orbison was singing, “In Dreams” with full volume through the 6 bum kicking speakers of the optional Alpine stereo. I slipped in by the other cars,and slid the sun roof closed just as the final notes of the song faded out and the call of the sea gulls took over.

As we were leaving the calm, clear waters of the protected bay, my partner expressed to the group that we could expect a bit more “weather” as we came out from behind the protection of a distant point. We showed them the demarcation line between the calm waters we were now in and the more turbulent waters ahead. When we did finally cross that line we were only met with a bit more wind and the occasional cats paws racing across the water. It wasn’t a sudden shock, only the sense that the heat had just been switched on somewhere far below the belly of an unsuspecting frog.

It was not long however before the waves began to steepen. Soon we were running 2-3 foot waves separated by short shallow troughs. I ran forward to check on one student who had put his head down and began to let the adrenaline push him into a higher gear. He noted that he is usually the one in the back of the group.

After a bit of paddling we could see the caves. It was obvious as well that we would not be getting anywhere near them. Our first thought was to simply paddle past the caves then round the next point for lunch on the sand beaches of Whitefish Dunes. The problem was that we also knew that meant our students would be dealing with not only with waves much bigger than they had ever paddled before, but have them broaching the whole way in. I also noted we were seeing an occasional 4 footer begin to join the relentless chain. I could envision spending the next half the day doing rescues while being pushed ever so slowly into the limestone caves. Of course this whole time we were also checking in to see how the students were feeling. As is most often the case it’s hard to discern confidence from peer pressure but I was not comfortable with the broaching wave scenario.

Our other option was simply to turn around and angle back toward the beach for a bit of a think which is what we opted to do. Yeah, we may lose someone turning around out here, but they had to turn eventually. They would also have a challenging surf landing at the end, but the beach was fairly friendly and it seemed we could cope even if they did do a bit of inverted learning along the way. So we turned back and road the waves into the beach. Everyone came in beautifully, one with an exhilarating rocket ride.

Once on the beach we were happy for the decision. One paddler was having balance issues, even on dry ground.. another expressed nervousness in his new Explorer even on flat water. I suggested we hike along the shore to the caves and take a trail up and over.

From our view above the caves and pools we were again happy to be out of the tempest. Between myself and Bill, a whitewater certified coach, we discussed the conditions below, how a kayak may react in them, and why we don’t want to get caught in a cave in these conditions. We also noticed high clouds and haze begin to obscure our view to the south west. It was time to go.

Upon our return to our kayaks we faced the challenge of a rock shelf and dumping surf. We talked to our students about general observation, sets, and breaking through. I went out first and waited. I had to work a bit to hold my place as the sea was pushing pretty hard and the waves had become a bit taller than when we had landed. The first student came right though. The second came forward, hit the wave and was pushed back. She put her head down and went forward again only to be shoved backwards once more, the 3rd time she came through. The last student also made it through without incident. We turned and let the waves push us toward home. Along the way one of our students discovered the comfortable feeling of a deployed skeg…

Once back in our protected by it was hard to imagine the conditions we had just safely navigated in. Once again the water was blue and crystal clear. The sun was still warm and the breeze was gentle. We paddled up to the sand. No one wanting to be the first out of their boat.

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