The weather forecast for Saturday, November 16 on the Central Oregon Coast.
Rain at times and winds out of the southwest with gusts up to 60 knots.
High temperature for the day mid 50's.

Sounded like an ok day to  paddle for Phil, Robert, Cheryl, Omar and new
guest Bill.  So off we went to the coast by way of Tomaselli's Deli and
Bakery in Elkton.  After a stop for goodies and hot beverages we swung on
down to Eel Lake which is south of Winchester Bay and just north of Ten Mile
Lake.  As we unloaded the canoes and gear we watched downbursts of wind hit
the water and spread in all directions.

"Oh well, it's not raining and there are no whitecaps, let's go paddling",
the intrepid canoeists warily whisper.  And so paddle we did, just as the
wind decided it was time to start blowing for real and the sky decided to
think about falling.  We paddled up the lake's west arm with the breeze at
our backs, staying close to shore and ducking into inlets to get out of the
increasing wind.  About two thirds of the way up the arm the wind is really
howling and the tops are being blasted off the whitecaps that have blown up
out of nowhere.

We have two choices, continue on up the arm hoping the wind will ease or
turn back now and fight our way into the teeth of the gale.  It didn't look
like the wind was going to get any less and it was starting to rain for real
so we wisely headed back.  We struggled for every foot when we had to paddle
out in the open.  At one point Phil in his solo Blue Hole canoe was paddling
forward furiously while being blown back about a hundred feet.  At every
sheltered inlet we stopped, caught our breath and worked up our courage to
face the next onslought.

Just as we came out of the last sheltered spot before the exposed run back
to the dock the wind settled down letting us almost relax and enjoy our last
bit of paddling for the day.   The rain picks up as we load up and we decide
that picnic lunch is out of the question.  So we go to Winchester Bay and
have bowls of chowder at the pizza place at the marina.  It was a wise
choice, the chowder was good and it was a lot more fun to be warm and dry
while watching the rain and wind from indoors.

Eel Lake is still a favorite place to paddle because even with the not great
weather the lake is a beautiful place to visit.  There's good wildlife and
lovely woods and lots and lots of evergreen huckleberries.  Let's do Eel
Lake in late September sometime so we can get lots of those great berries to
eat.

PS. Tomaselli's Bakery makes great fruit cake and will have it till
Christmas unless they sell out sooner.