Over and Under Water

The weekend of the Brock/Johnson departure, Tony and I set forth to find and conquer (by which I mean snorkel and photo) a wreck or two.  We loaded up the kayaks and some trek snackage, and off we went!  Using the GPS coordinates, we hunted for some public access along the northern tip of Good Harbor bay.   Alas, the winds were against us.  Literally.  We descended some stairs to find a huge, nearly deserted beach with waves rolling in that we didn’t dare chance in the kayaks.  Instead, we body-surfed and frolicked sans boats in the water.

Looking south at the beach

Looking back to shore from out in the waves

Not scary to play in, but I wasn't going out there in my kayak. We watched another group head out...and right back after just a couple minutes.

Splash!

The following weekend, we decided we’d try to find another wreck: the schooner Metropolis.  We left from Haserot beach, which is tucked back in from the open bay, and is always quite calm.  Had we thought about it, the day’s 14 mph breezes were nearly as bad as the previous weekends 16 mph winds.  Fortunately, we didn’t know that ahead of time, so out we paddled.  After about 2 1/4 miles and a few GPS checks, we arrived.

Just us and the reeds

Because the winds were so strong, it was nearly impossible to see from the shore – such as it was – where to go, so we took turns: one above and one under water.  Despite being quite stirred up from the waves (and what seemed like a current…but what do I know?  I was just out in the water and have no real idea about these things), the visibility was impressive.  The wreck, at least the part that is not at 100 feet, was cool.   What was more interesting to me was the development of sedimentary rock.  Along the bottom on the way out to the ship’s  remains were places that looked like slate.  When you picked up a stray piece though, it easily fell apart. (Guesses and/or commentary, Timmi?  BJ?)  I’d show you pictures if I had them.

Metropolis wreck

...upon closer inspection

So what did we discover?  An awesomely empty beach, cool lake floor formations, and a wreck Tony’s been itching to explore since before we moved.  And if that weren’t enough, we also found that kayak surfing is really fun.  It turns out that the waves were headed in our direction on the return journey, and that if you paddle really hard in time with the waves (thanks for the surfing instruction Meg!), you can get the kayak to plane for a short bit.  I am sure if you were better at it and had bigger waves, you could do quite a bit more than that.  In fact, I imagine my play time surfing the kayak was quite like my surfing in Maui: fun and very short lived.  Maybe we should have gone out the previous weekend!

There and Back Again, by Bilbo Baggins. Actually, it's just the approximate route of our outing...