A Sunday in Annapolis

We both slept fitfully that Saturday night. I personally think it was the couple of drinks that kept me awake. I get insomnia very easily and booze does not help. Also, hotels are really well lit. I understand why, but at night there are so many light sources that it makes the insomnia-prone more so.

All taken into account, it was a lovely little get-away with romantic highlights. And some paddling, that is- kayaking.

The next morning we packed up after, again, eating the delightful breakfast included with our room package. We arrived at Truxton Park, from which we have never launched, around 10:30. Lo-and-behold who do we see coming up from the water's edge but Tom B and Madeline. Howdy strangers! We had not actually run into Tom in at least a year or two. Every now and then we hear tell he has been spotted, but not by us until just then.

Madeline asks "why are you launching so late?" and we both cough, um, "lingered over breakfast," cough, nudge...Truly we also had to pack to leave the hotel, choosing to drive home on Sunday, missing the horrible traffic that Labor Day Monday always brings.

This day the sun sparkled off every surface. It seemed like a magical place, at least some of the time. Mainly in between the uncomfortable interludes of passing next to much larger vessels. I get nervous, antsy, when surrounded by much larger craft under motor power. This is partly because it seems we paddlers are some times "slow moving targets" for the motor boat crowd. But rather than give a reader a bad impression of Annapolis, I have to say the boat operators there have many, many smaller craft to avoid and it is really a wonder a paddle boarder or kayaker is not run under almost any busy day there. All the vessels, large and small, seemed to be operated by mostly kind happy people.

"hey you!"

real estate envy tour on Spa Creek

we passed many many large expensive vessels

the Naval Academy from the water

inside "ego alley"

                                        break on the dock at ACK

heading back to Truxton on Spa Creek from ACK

 Leaving town we ate lunch at Sammy's Italian Restaurant by default. I was too sun-stricken to walk far. But it turned out to be fine as the ravioli special was so fresh and wonderful, and James liked the antipasto salad. Weird, we were at the shore, and we ate pasta and salad.

A Saturday in Annapolis

Funniest thing I heard all weekend:

James and I paddled back to Beverly-Triton Beach. He went back out to play but I got my paddle float out, unrolled it, put a little air in it to make a pillow, and laid down in the beach. I still had all my gear on. I just wanted to chill for a few minutes in the sun. I was dosing when I heard some of the young men walking towards me talking.
One says "looks like a kayaker washed up on the beach."
Another says "yeah, I hear they're good eatin'!"
The first says "Really, how'd you know if it was dead?"
and the first says "well, it's not movin'!"
At which point I sit straight up to look at them. I'm amused and smiling. They, all three, look embarrassed.
I could not help but chuckle...

Just a little slice of this very nice local beach

With the Labor Day weekend almost upon us, and our plans to go down to Brian's beach house canceled due to his flood of relatives, I hastily made reservations at the Sheraton near Annapolis. The plan was to paddle from Beverly-Triton Saturday, doing the Thomas Point Lighthouse and generally finding some rough water. Then Sunday we would do the harbor and "ego alley" in downtown Annapolis, maybe stopping by Annapolis Canoe and Kayak (ACK).

Friday night we cruised up to the Sheraton and found we had a very nice room on the top level, the club level actually. We ate a late "supper" at the Green Turtle (don't bother). We crashed early. The club breakfast and coffee hit the spot in the morning and off we went to the beach.

Packing safety gear

We launched around 0945, paddled across the mouth of the South River, took a break on the shore of Thomas Point Park, and then paddled out to the light. By the time we turned back to our launch spot the tide was beginning to change. Between the tide coming in and the wind coming from the south-east I began to struggle somewhat to control my boat. "She" is not always cooperative when I have less than a full tank.

Shore break at Thomas Point Park

Thomas Point Park in the background

Video James shot during trip


James first played in the waves with his Whisky and then we floated around for a bit before packing up. Around this time I overheard the "dead kayaker" conversation mentioned above.

Playing

James floating

A rare sighting of me sans glasses while outdoors. Bravo James!

We returned to the hotel wet, tired, and happy. We showered and then proceeded to the hotel bar for happy hour. We had some ahi tuna done sushi-style for an appetizer, which was nice. A couple of hours later after collecting steak house recommendations we chose to stay close to the hotel due to the long boats on the Outback. The place we ended up at was utterly forgettable, but the cocktail they brought me was strong. I don't even remember the name of the place. Neither of us finished the meal. We turned in before 11.

Full Moon Paddle

The name says it all. No, really it doesn't. The rivers continue to rise around here. This spring has been really wet and the rivers are at or over capacity. This has led to the canceling  of some of my paddles. But others have gone off with just my core paddlers, not newbies. Friday night's (Almost) Full Moon Paddle, May 24,  being a good example.

Dusk but the camera was functioning well, and my post-processing wasn't too shabby either

This is the moon, 9:00 pm or so and fully dark, yowza!

Really, this is the moon, just hard to believe, huh?

The river rose at least 6 inches or more during our 11 mile paddle over three hours. It was nice to land and stretch at the park down river but that made for a heck of a workout going up river against the briskly moving current.  And while there was a steady 10 mile an hour wind , there were also 25-30 miles gusts that would just swoop in on us and then vanish. My neck was sore the next morning.

Moving along, I note when I blogged last that I seemed to feel some despair over my apparently poor choice of boats. I've totally gotten over that feeling. It lasted maybe a day. It was like buyer's remorse, something I've never actually experienced so I am just guessing here. Anyway, when I paddled that boat the next time the feeling that I had bought the wrong boat had completely evaporated. This was probably due to the fact that I was out with a relatively fast paddling crowd and the Solstice kept me from falling miles behind.

She's a long skinny tricky vixen

Truthfully I don't really enjoy speeding along. I like to take my time, photographing wildlife and just soaking up the scenery. Everything is prettier from the water. It's just a fact of paddling life. So, the fact is I LIKE to paddle slow. Weird, huh? Rather than being concerned with how twitchy my Solstice is in rough water I think I should be more concerned with the fact that my paddling companions are a bunch of speed-addicted gorilla-armed freaks.

I mean, seriously, what's the hurry?? I even created a little niche club for the soak-it-all-in crowd. But the only paddlers I get regularly are the hairless gorillas. Oh, there are some ladies too, but mostly they are also speed freaks, just less overly muscle bound and testosterone laden.

So I deliberately scheduled a leisure paddle for Friday morning. I will report back on the topic of speed. Of course, from what I can see I only have myself and two other paddlers so may not have much to report on after all.

Catching up

So I guess keeping up with a blog isn't as easy as I supposed it would be. I have less trouble keeping up with my tumblr blog as it contains mainly just photos and very few words. That blog is really dedicated to art and so I tend to only post stuff I have just made or good pictures I've taken.

Let's see, last time I was here I talked about a bike ride. Since then I have paddled a bunch. The water has warmed up nicely and I am able to sit in my boat comfortably for about two hours at a time. At about the two hour mark I start needing a stretch. After a little stretching and walking around I can paddle some more. But I'm afraid the days of sitting in my boat for hours on end might be drawing to a close. As I said in an email to a kayak instructor I have great respect for, "Sucks getting old. Youth is wasted on the young. And one last cliche, if only I'd known then what I know now I would have done it all differently". To which he replied, in kind with cliche, "fight the good fight, never surrender."

Words to live by sir.

Some pictures. Work, play, love:

Jojo Bob, our office mate, creating a work stoppage allowing me to stretch and laugh

gathering for a Full Moon Paddle 4-26-13

Pulling away from Bull Run Marina as dusk falls

Taking photos with available light from a moving kayak  isn't ever easy 

Just as the moon clears the tree line

Happy Hour Paddle 4-24-13

Sculls everywhere, river right river left...5-3-13

Becky's fabulous new (to her) boat 5-3-13

5-5-13 Paddlers at Jug Bay on the Patuxent

I always love wandering back into the log jams and strainers of the western branch of the Pax

Going just a little bit further

Our furry "love children." Such it is with empty-nesters in our country. Work, play, and love.

Fall is almost here

I love the fall, my favorite time of years. Sweaters and pashminas, mmm. I also like gearing up for cold water paddles. The trees from the water are so lovely, and the air so crisp. The water becomes more challenging. The choking water weeds die back too, allowing us to paddle back into the marshlands. Love, heart, fall paddling.

But then, we haven't paddled the last two weekends, we got caught up in real life.

I am not biking right now either. My hip is killing me. The orthopedic surgeon says I need surgery for a labral tear. It is certainly painful but I am not ready to go under the knife again. At this rate, if I let them keep cutting away the malfunctioning parts I will be missing a quarter of my body in 10 years.

So I am seeing a chiropractor instead. I was really dreading the first visit. When I see them on tv cracking and popping joints, I cringe. That stuff isn't good for your joints long term. Don't let anyone tell you different.

This fellow came highly recommended so I took the plunge and went. First visit he sounded like he didn't even want my case. This wasn't a surprise, I am a medical disaster, I get it. Second visit, and I was pleasantly surprised. So far so good. He wants me to change my diet, no problem. I'd cut anything out if it will help.

He said to give it a month. If he can't help me feel more comfortable in a month, then he can't help me. Sounds reasonable. I hate to be hopeful, but am.

Holiday weekend paddles

My paddling life might be killing my hip but that won't keep me off the water!

8/31/12 Did a full moon paddle from Bull Run Marina. The Marina is a park service site but one has to buy a key to it every year. Luckily for us our friend Scott has one so a group of us dropped in about an hour before moonrise and paddle down river on the Occoquan Reservoir. The moon came up, stunning. Then we paddled back in the pitch darkness, an adventure all on its own. No photo I took did it justice:

Our little group

Kat with the glow lights

Scott in the dark

Saturday took a day off paddling, my flipping hip and lower back are killing me! Ack! Better not keep me out of my boat.

Sunday 9-2-12, put in at Fountainhead Regional on the Occoquan again with the woman buying my Eliza. Took her out for three hours to make sure the boat would fit her needs. Money traded hands and I, somewhat sadly, watched my boat drive away on her truck after the paddle.

The boat is a good fit for her

By design we ran into one of the clubs we paddle with:

My three favorite paddlers from the left Scott, Kat, and the Lorax

We first went down river and then up, passing Fountainhead. Then we ran into a sight we don't often see amongst kayakers:

The dog's person says the dog loves riding on her boat. :-)

For whatever reason our paddle was turned around here as we wasted a bit of time chatting with the two ladies with the dog. We were in a hurry to catch the rest of the club over at Ledo's Pizza so we beat paddles back to Fountainhead.

Lunch was great and I got to see paddlers off the the water I had never gotten the chance to really talk to. What a great day!

Labor Day found me laid up with a bag of ice. I told my husband "I think my paddling season is over until the docs do something about this hip." But I don't think that has stuck, after a weekend off paddling I am now planning a trip this weekend after all. Wish me luck!

Yesterday's paddle

Along the lines of getting outside an hour a day: I posted a "happy hour" paddling event on my club's website for yesterday evening. I had 9 paddlers attend including myself. Fountainhead Marina on the Occoquan Reservoir has a wide boat ramp with rubber mats to one side for "car-top" boats. The Reservoir is rarely an exciting place to paddle, the water is typically flat, really flat. The current moves downstream at about a 1 mile an hour pace. This means it's not a big fight going upstream but it boosts your return pace, a bit.

It was advertised as an "exercise paddle" but we had a beginner/renter tag along so this hamstrung us to a 2 mph pace. I like beginners and welcome them on some trips but I had envisioned a different kind of paddle entirely. I began to feel like a shepherd, moving my flock along a pasture.

But the high side was I got a lot of good conversation out of my fellow paddlers. Deke made a great recommendation, which I am rolling around. He suggested we club leaders create a speed scale based on the different leaders' speed and style. I.e. "this paddle will be Andy speed, or Madelaine speed," etc. This is a rockin suggestion! How do I enact it without pissing anyone off? Will Andy feel he's slighted if I place him below Madelaine? Will DJ feel he deserves a higher slot? hhmmmm...

My "flock"

Scott helping Deke retrieve his lost water bottle