North Hero Island dipped out of sight as I looked up at two converging waves. Both were cresting, the southerly wind blowing spindrift over my head. My hands, already seized from a vice-like grip on the paddle to defy the wind, gripped even more tightly as I nosed the bow of my canoe into the slot between the waves. I began to wonder how long I could muster the strength to continue into this wind.I had started several hours earlier in Swanton, Vermont. My wife, Viveka, had informed me that the weather was forecast to be the roughest so far: heavy rain and very strong southerly wind, the worst possible for paddling south on Lake Champlain. Her advice was to sit out the storm in the motel, but sitting still is not my style. Nor is getting behind schedule. My canoe is one I designed for fast solo travel and built light for easy portaging. For the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, I added some extra fiberglass on the bottom to better survive the inevitable collisions with rocks. Even with the reinforcements, the canoe weighs just 37 lbs.
Peter Macfarlane
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