what started as a calm outing turned into one of the most exciting adventures of my life. on august 17th one of the most powerful storms in the history of the mazury region hit the lakes. we were smack in the middle of the lake and got caught in the boiling water and massive windstorms between two extreme fronts. it came very quickly, even a sailor as experienced as my uncle was caught by surprise. we saw a white wall of water racing towards us across the lake, overturning boats as it hit them.

the pressure change was so dramatic, that we couldn't breathe for more than 30 seconds, it was like being in a vacuum. the boat was laid flat almost completely on it's side, water pouring into the cockpit, water flying sideways from the wind, and even upward from the pressure change, but my uncle's expert hand guided us out this dangerous position. it was all over in 15 minutes. we sailed home on the jib, our main sail having been torn to shreds, and saw many overturned boats, and many which were lucky enough to be close to the shore and to hide in the reeds.

some were not so lucky. when we got to shore we found out that over 30 boats were overturned, and six people drowned on the lake.

kodak supra 100, fuji astia and provia-f, eos-3, 28-135mm lens.