Yesterday morning was my favourite game: The Land and Sea Game. This is the 2nd biggest event of Colour War…..

The goal is simple: Each team must find (hidden on land) wooden blocks in their team’s colour. To get points, those blocks need to get to the Voyageur canoe. Sounds simple. But the Voyageur canoe is anchored on the far side of the lake, and there are multiple challenges to get each block from its hiding spot on the land out to the Voyageur canoe. It goes like this: When a team’s runner finds a block, they run it to their team’s dock depot. They must then complete an obstacle course. Only then can the runner deliver the block to the end of the dock. There, two of their team members in a canoe or kayak are now allowed to pick up that block. They then paddle out into the lake. They must deliver that block to a sailboat or windsurfer being sailed/surfed by their team members. The sailors/surfers must then get the block to the far side of the lake, but they’re not allowed to approach the Voyageur canoe. They must give the block to a canoe or kayak from their team – and finally THAT boat takes the block to the Voyageur canoe and gets points for it… To complicate matters, there are “Bag Guys” staff (dressed in black cloaks) in canoes and on windsurfers who throw tennis balls at every watercraft.If they hit a watercraft, those people forfeit the block they’re carrying…. We play this game every year at Colour War. I love it because it’s such a fun game, but even more because there are SO many campers on the water and they are SO competent at paddling, windsurfing and sailing- competent enough to play the game and have the watercraft skills be second nature. Most years there are 25 canoes (2 campers each, so 50 campers in canoes), 17 sailboats (40 people sailing), 18 kayaks and 14 windsurfers.

Yesterday morning in our regular morning management meeting (our daily planning and problem-solving meeting) we worried aloud about the predicted rain and high winds, and whether Land and Sea was safe given the weather. To solve that problem, we went to every team and every instructor and changed the numbers, requiring three campers in every canoe and three or four campers in every sailboat. We also upped the lake supervision from the usual three safety motorboats to five safety motorboats, and prepped the staff in safety canoes even more rigorously than usual. In risk management, what we do is expect the worst, plan for it, and hope for the best.

And guess what happened! Yes it was windy. Yes the lake was FULL of campers in watercraft. And not one boat dumped!!! Our campers sailed, paddled and windsurfed in big wind with 100% competence and confidence.   Which adds up to a lot of campers with impressive water skills. Fun and learning, a magical combo!

Then came the triathlon – swimming, canoeing and running, with a photo finish in front of the Main Lodge.

Then in the afternoon was the Marathon, a giant relay involving every activity in camp and lots more. It starts with the whole team lining up (there are four teams) and filling a big garbage can with water from the lake. As soon as the water overflows, the team can rub to Event # 2. Every camper does at least one event – swimming, sailing, riding, putting up a tent, taking it down, etc. etc.  And lie all relays, the way the Marathon works is that each camper must be tagged by the camper doing the previous event before they may do their event.  The Marathon climaxes in front of the Main Lodge – with all the staff watching and cheering on their campers. The third last event is a senior windsurfing from the surf dock to the sail dock. Then another senior swims (with a safety canoe) from the sail dock to the main dock. Then the co-captain of the team lights a candle and runs it from the main dock to the front of the Main Lodge. There the captains must build a fire to burn a rope that’s stretched between two chairs– they finish the Marathon when their fire burns the rope – to wild team cheers.

Yesterday’s Marathon was unusual in that big rains were predicted for late afternoon. We knew the fires had to happen – without them, Colour War loses its climax! So we decided to tarp the entire area in front of the Main Lodge, where the fires happen. We started setting up the tarps at 3:40 pm and at 4:50, when the captains ran to the front of the Main Lodge, we had tarps set up high enough not to burn, over the entire space of the four fires. We call that “Arowhon Engineering Ingenuity.” And then it didn’t rain…. but we were ready.

It was also lovely that the guys from Cabin 3 (Inter Boys) of 1952 were here for a visit yesterday and they got to witness the Marathon from start to finish.

Then we went into the Main Lodge to hear the four team’s alma maters –written and sung by them. And after that the Colour War final skit to announce who won.