Here is the story of a very lucky kayaker saved by unexpected rescuers on Lake George. It seems a kayaker got into trouble and was rescued by a group of priests out for an afternoon excursion on a floating Tiki Bar. If you are not familiar with Lake George, the story sounds frankly weird. If you know a bit of the lake’s history, it all sort of makes sense.

A bit of background. Lake George is a 32-mile long lake in the Adirondack mountains in the State of New York. Averaging 2 to 3 miles wide, it drains into Lake Champlain. For most of human history, Lake George formed part of a waterborne highway between the Atlantic Ocean at New York harbor and the St.Lawrence Seaway on the border with Canada. Lake George and Lake Champlain were the sites of several major battles in the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution.

When steamboats arrived to replace canoes and sailboats as the primary mode of lake transportation in the 1800s, the focus shifted from lumbering to tourism and has remained so to this day for good reason. Lake George is nicknamed the “Queen of American Lakes.” After Thomas Jefferson visited the lake in 1791, he wrote, “Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a contour of mountains into a basin… finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal, and the mountainsides covered with rich groves… down to the water-edge: here and there precipices of rock to checker the scene and save it from monotony.”

OK, so what does this have to do with the kayaker, the priests, and the Tiki Bar?

Having done considerable kayaking on Lake George, I can understand how the gentleman in the kayak got into trouble. The lake can turn from tranquil and inviting to really nasty in a relatively few minutes. On a choppy afternoon in early September, Jimmy MacDonald was kayaking with his wife and kids and got distracted while taking photos. In brisk winds and choppy water, he capsized and lost his paddle.

As he drifted ever farther from shore and failed in his attempt to right the kayak, MacDonald began to fear that he was going to die in the water. At that moment, a motorized Tiki Bar appeared, full of Paulist priests, and pulled MacDonald from the water. It just so happens that MacDonald is a drug counselor and a recovering addict. “How funny is it that I’ve been sober for seven years and I get saved by a tiki bar?” MacDonald laughed.

This still doesn’t answer the questions, “why a Tiki bar?” and “why Paulistst priests?”

It so happens that the village of Lake George often seems slightly stuck in time. It never fully recovered from the Tiki craze of the 1950s. There is still a Tiki Resort on the village’s main drag where you can enjoy a Polynesian experience while in the heart of the Adirondack mountains. I do not believe the Tiki Tours boat that rescued the kayaker is necessarily associated with the resort, but the boats are certainly not out of place on Lake George.

And what of the Paulist priests? The short answer is, “Oh, course, Paulist priests. Where else would Paulist priests be?” The order, the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, was founded in 1858 in Albany, NY. The priests began camping out on the shores and islands of Lake George as a spiritual retreat shortly thereafter. In 1891, the Paulists bought five islands near Hullett’s Landing in Lake George. On one of them, they built a chapel on a promontory over the lake, a distinctive landmark for kayakers paddling by on the way to camp on other islands.

The Paulist’s headquarters on the lake is on the southeastern shore, St. Mary’s on the Lake, which they operate as a retreat.

So, while the rescue of an errant kayaker by a Tiki Bar full of Paulist priests might, at first glance, seem strange, given that it is Lake George, it all kind of makes sense.

Priests on floating tiki bar rescue man in Lake George