Four Floating Females

During a camping trip in mid-June my wife and I sat at what was a near deserted beach and lake, but we nonetheless had some entertainment, which could have turned rather ugly. While at the beach we noticed four persons putting in at the boat landing, about 500 to 600 feet distant from the picnic table at which we sat.  The group turned out to be four women, each on a blow up inner tube or raft.  They had tied all these "floaties" together in one group. Thus, the adventure for four floating females began on a nice meteorological summer afternoon in the bright sunlight of northeast Wisconsin. 

Floating females too close to loon and nest

To us, on shore, the adventure was rather boring for the most part.  They seemingly seemed to float across to the other side of the lake, from south to north.  We were not there to watch them, but for us to relax, and read and me to swim.  My land girl is not a water girl, although she did kayak a few times. Here entrance in to water was limited to her feet getting in the kayak.  This lake has no channel that enters or leaves it, it is an enclosed water body, and I never thought of it having a current, but they floated across the lack from the boat landing which they had left.  They were several hundred feet from the boat landing, and near the opposite shore when they realized how far they were from "home base."  Two of the four had paddles, and this is where entertainment for my wife and I started.  First, one woman (I will call lead woman) who had the lead paddle complained that the other woman (I will call second woman) with a paddle was paddling the wrong way, and for every stroke the lead woman took she said that second woman took them back to where they were.  I am not sure if this is why the second woman then took a rather lackadaisical approach to paddling, or if she was somewhat inept.  I realize it is hard to paddle while on an inner tube), but as we watched she would dip the paddle in the water on one side and then switch and dip it in on the other side.  She did not attempt to move the paddle back in the water, in order to propel forward, she continued to dip the paddle in and out, in and out.

Loon still making a fuss right after the 
floating females passed by

While she was dipping the paddle the lead woman then complained that she would not take the other two unless "they also had oars" so all four could paddle.  With the lead woman doing the major share of the work, it was rather slow going, but offered some comedy to my wife and I.  

Loon on Patrol after being disturbed by 
the four floating females

Realizing how little they had traveled for how long they had paddled, the lead woman came up with the idea of heading toward the beach.  Gradually, and well, very, very slowly they made their way to the beach. At some point, she noticed me sitting in the shade on one side of the picnic table.  The lead woman then said, "Great, there is a guy up there."  She then said, "He can call 911 if we get in trouble."  I yelled back, "If I had my cell phone." Not to mention service, which is spotty in that area of the state. They then came to the small buoys that demarcate the swim area.  The crossing of the buoys required a five minute conversation. Earlier in the week I evenly spaced the buoys on the rope so to better demarcate the swim area from the rest of the lake, and have the rope float rather than sink below water level.  They decided to try and maneuver through and over a couple buoys, which they were able to successfully do.   As they got to the beach they finally noticed my wife, and were not too happy to know now two persons knew of their adventure.

Loon on patrol

I thought they would go to shore and walk, but the lead lady suggested walking in the water following the shore and pulling the floaties. It was at this point that I thought of making a suggestion or two to the group, but was hesitant to be viewed as a mansplainer.  I was going to suggest that they get out at the beach and take the trail from the beach to the boat landing if they can carry there floaties, or three take the trail and the other lady paddle the floaties back to the boat landing.  The trail can easily be managed in bare feet, as I have walked it before with bare feet, and if I can do so, any able person can do so.  After all, some of my siblings said I wore my shoes in the shower. That is how little they saw my bare feet when growing up.  One reason I was going to make the suggestion, is that I had a suspicion that a loon nest was along the shore on the way to the boat landing.  We have been at this beach many times, and often watch the loons.  I did not know exactly, but had a suspicion, given the loon activity we had witnessed in the past, and during that week.

Loon on nest next day

The ladies proved my suspicion to be correct.  They meandered right next to the loon nest and the loon went wild, gyrating, and splashing them. I certainly hope the ladies did not disturb the nest, but they sure disturbed the loon.  Mid-June is the time of year when loons lay their eggs or are the eggs are about to hatch.  As the ladies went by to the boat landing, I walked over and got a few photos of a very disturbed loon.  I came to regret not having made the suggestion, thinking either alternative would likely have saved the loon a good deal of stress, and anxiety.  I now realize I did not know the ladies why should I care if I was a mansplainer? Perhaps, suggestions, whether from a male or not, can actually be a good thing, and in this situation it certainly would have been. Loons only lay one or two eggs a year, and if eggs were lost due to the floating females, I would certainly feel bad for not having imparted some advice. 

Loon on nest the following day

After what was probably over an hour, of trying to get back to the boat landing, the four floating females finally reached their destination. The next day, on our trip to the beach, the loon was calmly laying on its nest.  For the four floating females, a nice day on the water turned into an adventure for them getting back to their starting point, and hopefully not a disaster for the loon.  

Photos by author, June 2021