Man, it took a long time to get on the water in the new year.But this morning looked lovely, so we got the boats ready. Catherine showed up for what looks to be her inaugural paddle with the Sunday morning group; she enjoyed herself and it certainly sounds like she's going to be a regular. But even with Catherine, it was still only three of us this morning.
The tide was at +2.7 metres at 8:29 am--which means the water was almost up to the seawall, all the many logs on the beach were afloat, and many had floated out from the beach--making it a maze of logs out to about 30 metres or so. We launched from next to the outfall, as that was the most accessible part of the beach today.
the trip was fairly short; just out to Flower, across to the Yacht Club, and then back to the beach. But it was nice to be back on the water after so many weeks away from paddling.
We were joined for coffee afterwards by Alison and Louise, and we hatched plans for several future paddles.
A long time to get on the water in the new year? Well, I paddled on the 5th, so nah, nah. And at least we were polar bears on the first.
ReplyDeleteThe logs were what made it hard to launch. Bernie perched the Pamlico 100 across two logs, loaded Catherine in and got her spray skirt settled around the big (biiiiiiig!) cockpit coaming, and when she was ready, he waded out and pulled the Pam into the water.
For my Eliza, he held the boat next to one of those logs and I crawled in as it floated. The incoming waves were suddenly quiet and cooperative.
I have no idea how Bernie launched his own Cape Charles, as Catherine and I were rocking in bigger swells and got out of his way. The storm drain blocked our view of whatever brilliant acrobatics got him launched.
The logs seem to have increased in number. My guess is that about three dozen escaped from a passing log boom and were driven into Cadboro Bay by the last storm.