Helping boaters to safley navigate and discover Lake of the Woods

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The Purpose of ESCAPE

The ESCAPE, Lake of the Woods power boat cruise, was organized in 1974 by avid boaters on the lake with a goal of meeting new boaters, instructing new boaters and for a having a good time. One of the original organizers and the ESCAPE'S first Commodore,

The purpose of ESCAPE is to show boaters how to safely navigate Lake of the Woods and have fun.

Hank Henderson and his wife Ginny of Warroad, MN, still take and active role in each year's events. The ESCAPE is open to all power boaters on Lake of the Woods and all Canada and the United States boaters who would like to trailer their boats to Lake of the Woods ESCAPE events and learn how to explore the entire Lake of the Woods safely.

The ESCAPE Cruises are held three times per year, plus a Winter "No-Boat" ESCAPE in January or February. The Spring ESCAPE is a one day Cruise on the lake around June 1st The Summer ESCAPE is a three day cruise starting on the first Thursday after the 4th of July. The Fall Escape is also a one day cruise held on labor day week end.

The first year of ESCAPE, 1974, participants pick Hank and Ginny Henderson to be the first commodores of ESCAPE and Bob and Lori Johnson from Canada to be vise commodores. Each year the Commodores and vise commodore alternate between Canada and the U.S. This year it is the Canadian's turn to be commodores for 2008. It will be their responsibility and privilege to choose the resorts we cruise to on the lake and the activities we indulge in at the resorts during summer ESCAPE, plus the activities such as anchoring out together during the day between resorts fishing, swimming, eating, and telling sea stories. The vice commodores will be from the U.S. for 2008. It will be their responsibility to help the commodores with their responsibilities and to be in charge of the "games people play" which takes place during the big summer ESCAPE. In 2009 the U.S. vice commodores will be the commodores and a new couple from Canada will become vice commodores for the 2009 ESCAPE and so it has alternated since 1974.

Traveling in groups of 10 boats or less is important during the big summer ESCAPE as there are close to forty boats on summer ESCAPE and traveling between resorts can be over 25 miles apart. As ESCAPES cruise between beautiful islands and narrow passageways they will encounter treacherous areas marked by red and green boys. You must stay on the proper side of these red or green boys to stay off of underwater obstacles such as rocks or reefs. By having divisions with ten boats or less it is possible to cruise safely from resort to resort with a designated division leader for each division who has knowledge from years of experience on Lake of the Woods and a tail end Charlie, the last boat traveling in the division who also has knowledge of Lake of the Woods and makes sure no division boat gets left behind. This system insures each division will cruise safely. Each boat in the division should have a marine radio on board for communication between division members. Communicating on the radio while cruising is ideal for passing on pertinent information about what is coming up around each island as you travel to the next destination.

Since 1974 over 2,000 boaters have experienced the awesome, vast, wild beauty of Lake of the Woods through ESCAPE. ESCAPE cruises on Lake of the Woods are here for you. Give us a call.