Good story Jon and very illustrative of the potential for miscues when getting split up.

On the other hand a good many folk would rather paddle at their own pace without a bunch of boats and noise cluttering up the scenery........uh, that would be me. So what's to be done?

My solution, at least with my guys, is that you portage and paddle at whatever style you prefer (MT's philosophy of everyone doing want they want). Do you want to do a side trip on a lake to view pictos or a waterfall? How about paddling the shoreline versus beelining across? Need a snack? How about some water? One time I had a guy take a 30 minute nap.

BUT, here's the catch..........No one portages to a new lake until everyone is together. So paddle separate, portage together. If something happens it is very reassuring to know that your partner/s are somewhere on your current lake. It is way to easy for a comedy of errors to occur otherwise IMO.

Here is a good example of potential miscues.........My partner and I (solo boats) were coming from Conmee (where we did not catch many walleye  :P ) and ended up in Burt. As per our agreement we were to meet at the portage to Marj. It's been said I portage fast and my pal is more steady so I ended up gone before he had his boat in the water. I trolled my way through Burt (very nice) and ended up at the Marj portage where I entertained myself with some fishing. An hour later still no Dan........what's up with that? I broke out the map and noticed 2 possible portages to Marj. I had assumed the route.........fortunately our self imposed restraint worked perfectly and I knew he was somewhere still on Burt. A few minutes later I see him coming having finally figured out what had happened.

Some can argue that speed and efficiency are compromised. I have not really found that to be the case. What I have found is happy campers that feel no pressure to live up to what they imagine are others expectations. The do what you want philosophy has worked very well so far for me. If I have to do more camp chores I could care less. What I want is folk with happy faces and if someone needs a nap instead of collecting firewood so be it..........no biggy.