Duluth's Superior Bay  
A story I am lucky to tell.   

I plan on paddling the Saint Louis Bay today, but a rookie mistake leads me down Superior Bay with only the narrow Minnesota Point protecting me from an irritable Lake Superior.

The wind continues to strengthen and I am on edge the entire way. I watch the charter boats hurry off the most temperamental and unforgiving of all our Great Lakes. I am the last one on the water other than a 40 foot sailboat from Chicago. As they pass for the last time they shout, “Are you O.K.?”

I yell back, “Yeah. It’s a beautiful day to be on the water.” Certain they didn't hear me, they continue and I wonder why they were asking about my safety.

​As I approach the 80 year old 501 foot freighter J.A.W. Iglehart, the wave action is nothing like I have seen before. I realize too late that I am caught up in an area where Lake Superior’s waters entering from the north and south channels, 30+ mph winds coming off Lake Superior, and waves bouncing back from channel’s west wall all collide.​

There is no rhythm to these choppy white capped waves. I am perilously close to tipping in Lake Superior’s chilling water in an area where there is no escape, no one else is around, and no one knows where I am.