Chris,

If you look closely at the 3rd photo, you will see the so called eddy line in the water stretching off into the distance about 15-20 ft out from the earthen berm.  It looks like a region of calm water that suddenly develops ripples at the eddy line.  The region to the left of that line is calm and safe.  The region to the right of that line is flowing towards the rapids.  So, you can see how far I had to travel westward along the berm before I could turn south towards the MDNR boat launch.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 21, 2020, at 1:48 PM, ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
> 
> ?Chris,
> 
> Some people complain about their in-laws.  I go on wilderness camping trips and do “stupid stuff” with mine.
> 
> Roger Pihlaja 
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium  
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Jul 21, 2020, at 1:41 PM, Chris Geankoplis <chrisgeankoplis at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> ?Ah, guys doing stupid stuff, I can relate to that. My brother is a master
>> at that too
>> Chris Geankoplis
>> Sv Enosis
>> 
>>>> On Tue, 21 Jul 2020 at 13:13, ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Chris,
>>> 
>>> The backwater eddy was upstream of the rapids and protected from it by a
>>> little sand spit.  We never had to run the rapids.  By going well to the
>>> west and then working my way back east along the Wixom Dam’s earthen
>>> embankment, I was able to stay out of the strong current and into the
>>> eddy.  I have done quite a bit of whitewater and had scouted the site
>>> before attempting this.  No, it was not idiot proof!  My brother-in-law is
>>> used to us doing stupid stuff like this together.  He regards it as chapter
>>> 1 in the Pictured Rocks Sea Kayaking High Adventure Trip.
>>> 
>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>> On Jul 21, 2020, at 12:49 PM, Chris Geankoplis <
>>> chrisgeankoplis at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> ?Roger, that is better than the landings and Inchon!  I still an not sure
>>>> how you got past the rapids.  Great job.
>>>> 
>>>> Chris Geankoplis
>>>> S?V Enosis
>>>> 
>>>>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2020 at 12:09 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Last Saturday, my brother-in-law, Ken Mild drove up from Pennsylvania
>>> with
>>>>> his 12 ft LOA aluminum Jon boat.  We drove over to a MDNR boat launch on
>>>>> the West Arm of Wixom Lake.  With the lake level much lower than normal
>>>>> summer pool, the boat launch is closed.  The 1st attached photo shows
>>> how
>>>>> much below the level of the launch ramps the water level is now.  But,
>>> Ken
>>>>> and I were able to carry the lightweight Jon boat down the slope.  We
>>> used
>>>>> my Minn Kota trolling motor to get back to the M-30 causeway, a 1-way
>>>>> distance of about ¾ mile.  The 2nd attached photo shows the rapids under
>>>>> the blown out section of the M-30 causeway now.  Obviously, this is not
>>>>> something you can safely navigate in a Jon boat with a trolling motor!
>>>>> But, I had scouted the site prior to this attempt and there was an eddy
>>>>> just upstream of the rapids.  I was able to tuck the Jon boat into this
>>>>> eddy without getting sucked into the rapids.  Then, we hiked about 300
>>>>> yards over to Johnson Mini Storage, gathered up two kayaks, paddling,
>>> and
>>>>> camping gear, and portaged it all back to the Jon boat.  It took 3
>>> trips to
>>>>> portage all this gear.  The 3rd attached photo is Ken by the loaded Jon
>>>>> boat with the two kayaks all rigged for towing.  We motored back to the
>>>>> MDNR launch site, hauled everything back up the hill, loaded the kayaks
>>> and
>>>>> gear into/on top of my minivan, and drove home.  Mission accomplished!
>>> We
>>>>> started about 7:00 AM and were back home by 11:00 AM before the real
>>> heat
>>>>> of the day.
>>>>> 
>>>>> So, now the SCUBA Shipwreck Diving and Pictured Rocks Sea Kayaking High
>>>>> Adventure Trips can really happen next month.  Life is good!
>>>>> 
>>>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>>>> 
>>>>> [cid:image003.jpg at 01D65F57.B24925A0]
>>>>> 
>>>>> [cid:image005.jpg at 01D65F57.B24925A0]
>>>>> 
>>>>> [cid:image009.jpg at 01D65F57.B24925A0]
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
>>>>> Windows 10
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