Day two began warm and bright. The Pearl Bay Chickee has special features
for handicapped canoeists: a special landing area,
railings, and an wheelchair accessible outhouse. We found it a very hospitable
place to wake up, make coffee, and prepare for what we thought would be an
easy day of paddling. Little did we know!
Once
on the water, we decided to head down the East River to the eastern edge
of Whitewater
Bay. We did this partially because the wind looked favorable and partially
to prevent paddling the same river route twice. As we entered the bay,
the clouds blew in and a warm rain began to fall. We had to paddle into the
wind to continue up the bay, so we decided to enter Robert's
River. The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the wind was at our back—for
about half and hour!
What
happened next was pretty spooky. We could see the wind shift and feel the
temperature drop rapidly, over just a few minutes. Soon it started
to rain again, only this time it was wind driven and cold. Suddenly we were
freezing our butts off! We headed up river, up wind, with mist rising all
around us. Fortunately the Robert's River Chickee was waiting for us,
out of the wind and unoccupied. After a bite to eat and a change of clothes,
we headed up river a short distance to The Cut Off, and turned
west out of the wind. From there we had an easy paddle down to the North
River Chickee. We were still
in the wind, but mostly dry! The rest of the
night was chilly, but we ate and slept well! »»»