Picking their lines along the shore, Jay Thurston and Mike Kinziger were canoeing down the length of the Petenwell Flowage late Tuesday afternoon.

With strong winds from the north and northeast, large waves dominated the middle of the lake, giving Thurston and Kinziger a challenge to try and hug the shore and find calmer bays and inlets to paddle through.

Diana Thurston, Jay’s wife, said the pair had reached the half-way point on the lake, near New Miner, which is just to the west. However, their next stretch of paddling on the Juneau County side of the Lake would offer them no protection from the wind.

“They’re going to have to stop and take a look before they go,” Diana Thurston said from the Wilderness Point boat landing. “If they don’t handle this water just right, they’ll capsize. They’re goal was to make it to the Petenwell dam tonight, but that may have to wait until tomorrow morning.”

If they were to reach the Petenwell dam, they would start the morning paddling on the Castle Rock Flowage. The Petenwell Flowage is the second largest lake in Wisconsin. The Castle Rock Flowage is the fourth largest lake in the state.

Earlier in the day the pair had a long portage at Nekoosa and then stayed off the water from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., figuring a strategy to cross the windy Petenwell.

“The wind hasn’t died down yet,” Diana Thurston said. “It’s constantly giving them trouble. When they come around a point the wind catches them, then they have trouble getting straightened out.”

Kinziger and Thurston are more than half way through a 436-mile trip down the Wisconsin River. They’re running about a day behind schedule, but could pick up some speed on the Lower Wisconsin Riverway if the wind allows them to continue.

The Broadcaster hopes to have an update at about 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, but cell phone reception may make that impossible. Website updates will be available subject to cell phone reception and the support needs of Thurston and Kinziger as they head downstream. Jay Thurston, 75, of Viroqua and Mike Kinziger, 60, of Moscow, Idaho, are attempting to paddle the length of the Wisconsin River. Their itinerary calls for them to finish in six days and 10 hours, which would set a new speed record for canoeing the river. Jay and Mike appreciate the support they’ve received from family and friends through the internet posts they’ve received on this chain of stories.