I arrived at the Camp for my second tour of duty fresh off completing junior high school. To say I was a skinny kid would be an understatement at 6'1" and 125#. The first week I spent carrying insulated panelling in 4x8 sheets that weighed about 130# each. Every gust of wind threatened to carry me off the island.
Fresh off a growth spurt, I struggled with coordination and balance like all teenage boys do. I found myself constantly wet from plunging into the still chilly waters of Gohere Bay. The docks were wet and slick from the week of rain that arrived as I did. The fact that the next chore, after insulating cabins, was to re-plank the main dock, didn't help. The main dock is over 90 feet long and consists of a series of deck built atop previous decks. The nature of the glacial drag on the south side of the island necessitates the length of the dock. The sandy bottom of Gohere Bay continues to swallow cribs and decks year after year. We had to do some realignment and cut away some previous crib platforms that had shifted, creating hazards to boat motors and hulls. I don't know if you've ever seen a chainsaw used in the water, but it is a spectacular sight.
The lowlight of my greenhorn experience came when I broke my first hammer pulling nails. I was taken to task for using a hammer to pull nails, seems I should have known that's what crowbars are for. The fact that Raj was, at that very moment, driving nails with the crowbar in question, only added to the teasing.
Figuring that I would be a little more helpful with a job that require less finesse and ballast, I was sent off to collect the gas barge. (cue Arlo Guthrie guitar riff) The gas barge was a converted SteelCraft cruiser. The SteelCraft was a 1940's contraption and extrapolation of the sturdier is better approach to boat building. This thing was 23 feet of steel with gunwales about 5 feet high. It had been gutted and fitted with two 500 gallon tanks and a 250 gallon tank. On the back was a bracket meant to hold an outboard motor but the adjustments were frozen by rust and layers of paint. My assignment was simple, pick up the barge, take it to town and dock it at the Government Dock where the tanks would be filled.
Nothing on Lake of the Woods is ever that simple. The barge was moored in a bay that was so full of reefs as to be non-fishable making safely securing it a challenge. The cove was sheltered and calm so I chose the safer technique of paddling in, making note of the location of reefs and shallows. Once the barge was secured side-by-side with my boat, I cut it loose from the buoy to which it was tethered and headed slowly out of the cove. No sooner did I clear into Split Rock Narrows than the wind gusted pushing the barge which was riding high in the water as it was empty. Being tied side to side with the barge limited the steering as well as speed. I resigned myself that the ten mile trip to the Falls would be a long one, but once I sorted out the steering issues, I relaxed and began to sing, a habit of mine on long boat rides. If only I had packed a lunch.
Of course the ride was not smooth, the wind was blowing straight up toward Cyclone Pointe. As soon as I cleared the narrows at the western end of Wolf Island, the waves began rolling, pitching my boat while the wind played havoc with the barge. To make the ride complete, the rain started. I have not had many rides take as long. The rain was blowing at my back, so at least I could see. I inched along the angry waters of Sabaskong toward Cyclone Pointe. I figured when I made the turn to head toward Par-a-dise Island, I would pick the shelter of the Alneau Peninsula, however this was my first solo experience with the changing weather of the lake. As I rounded the point, clearing the ring buoy with a wide berth, wind and rain met me head-on. I couldn't see through my glasses for the rain, but if I took them off, the rain was blowing hard enough I couldn't keep my eyes open. Finally, I found an angle where the brim of my baseball cap kept the rain at bay, if only slightly.
Heading into the waves, the water splashed between the boats, soaking whatever was left dry on my body. I pulled in, past the Falls, to the Government Dock and parked the barge, just as the rain ended. I peeled off my soaked windbreaker and sweatshirt, hopped back in the boat and headed to camp for hot coffee and beef stew when the realization hit that I'd be back the next day to pick up the loaded barge.
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