West Wautoma women conquer Lake Ontario

Out of a 10-day trip, you can't really complain about one day of rain, at least according to Gwen Comstra, one of the "West Wautoma Wenches" who just returned from a jet ski trek around Lake Ontario. But that one day made for a bit of a long, cold ride, she said. "It was pretty miserable that day ... cold, rainy and the waters were rough," she said, adding that in addition to that, she and her comrades had to pass a very large ship in order to make it to shore.

"You hear this humming and all of a sudden, there's this huge ship right next to you," Comstra said. "It's kind of eerie the way they just come from no where."

Comstra and her fried, Susie Cotsworth have chalked up two trips around Lake Ontario, while their other rider-friend, Joanne Toates, counted the 2004 trip her first. The women set off on their trip the morning of July 17 and pulled back into their home docks 10 days, and 800 miles, later. Their journey was marked by a travel log at www.wenchfinders.com.

Cotsworth said the trip was excellent. "It was just great, we got to camp more this time because we had better weather, we got to enjoy the islands and different marinas," she said. "The people when we camped treated us nice. One night we had no food and one family cooked us their last can of beans and gave us some coffee."

"We just can't get over the wonderful people we met on the trip," Comstra said. "We had some people stop us because they heard we were coming through and we even had some people who remembered us from our trip last year."

Because this was the second trip for the women, Comstra said they knew enough to pack bigger tents and more comfortable mattresses. "We camped out every night and it was just beautiful," she said.

The roughest part of the whole trip, Comstra joked, was the morning she had to go more than six hours without her first cup of coffee. "It was incredible ... we just couldn't find coffee anywhere."

In addition to one day of rain, the women were fogged in for one morning so they spent that time "treasure hunting" and exploring on the beaches.

As for memorable moments, Cotsworth said one was the trek around Ginna Nuclear Power Plant. "Someone called in and said we looked suspicious so the Coast Guard came to check us out," she said. "We had all of our papers, fire extinguishers, so we were alright. But they were so nice."

Comstra, who is an associate care director in the Primary Care Network at the University of Rochester, Cotsworth, who is on the verge of opening a new business - House of Thirteen Moons - and Toates, who is also starting a new business called Smiles & More, all live on the lake at West Wautoma and say they have an affinity for the water.

As to what is next on the jet ski travel agenda, Comstra said they are pretty determined to try Lake Erie or Lake Michigan. "It would be nice to go back around Lake Ontario and see all of the people we have met these past two years, but I think I want to try something new and different," she said.