January 17, 1999

Sunday's trip report

Trip #3

Map

What a great day for a paddle! Sunday morning at Leesavania State park and not a soul around. The kayak is loaded and I'm in the water by 7:30 am. Because of all the control problems I've been having, I want to spend a little time playing with trim to see if that helps. The heaviest thing I can move around is me, so I take out my seat and experiment with me in different places in the cockpit. The kayak runs straight as an arrow with me at the front of the coaming. So much for that idea. Beach, put the seat back in and I'm off for a Sunday stroll.

The water is quiet. Glassy water with waves only an inch high. As I round Freestone Point I look up and see a Bald Eagle flying in the trees at the top of the point. This is going to be a good day.

Time for paddling lesson #3. Track straight. There is no wind today so the only excuse I have is the boat and me, with me sitting higher on the scale. Like my previous two attempts I'm tracking like a sidewinder snake. I would start veering to the side and I would pull hard on that side a few times to bring me back in line. Only problem is I would swing on through to the other side and have to paddle hard on that side to start the whole process over again.

Time to stop. "Slow" I tell myself. I start paddling slow and lightly. Almost like using just the weight of my paddle to pull me forward. I focus on my compass mounted just to the rear of my forward hatch. I pick a heading and paddle lightly. Only when I veer to one side do I paddle a little harder on that side. Hey, this is working out pretty well. The downside is that looking at your compass all day is downright boring.

Time to try something new. I pick a point out in the distance, and try to keep my bow pointed right at it. This works too. I check my paddling: Not reaching forward enough - Leaving the blade in the water too long - No torso rotation - My hands are too low.But I'm going straight! I try to add a little reach and I'm veering off course again. I try to correct and swing through to the other side again. Stop. Accelerate slowly.

After getting back on track I try to rotate my torso. Off course again. Practice, practice, practice. This may sound terrible, but compared to my first time out where I managed to paddle in circles all day.I've made major progress! I've never been able to hold a line more than 20 feet before and now I'm paddling 100 yards or more in a *fairly* straight line. I'll work on style later.I want to just go straight for a while.

I fall in line behind some ducks. They're showing me the way, I'm just not sure where. After a few minutes they get bored and fly off. I managed to snap a picture or two.

About 4 1/2 miles out from the launch site I look out over about a mile and a half of open water to Mason Neck Park. For an instant I consider heading away from shore and across the open water, but quickly banish the thought from my mind. The water is just too cold for me to get far from shore. Instead I break out an apple and some crackers for a little snack.

This is the farthest I've been from the launch site, and even though I'm not yet tired, I decide to play it safe and head back. This is the calmest the water has been in my 3 trips here and if the wind picks up it could be a long paddle back. I notice that up ahead the water looks unusually smooth. Not a ripple.it looks almost like.. ICE!!! My bow cracks through the paper-thin ice with a noticeable crunch. The ice is so thin I wouldn't have any problem getting through it, but I don't know what lay ahead. I back out and go around.

Shortly after my close encounter with the ice, the first boat appears in the distance. I know from watching powerboats that there are 2 speeds: wide open and stop. This one is running wide open. I keep an eye on him since he is headed in my direction and he passes to my port about 50-60 feet away. The river is several miles wide here and this guy just wanted to make sure I saw him I guess. Fortunately for me, the boat is on plane and the wake is small. Other boats are seen screaming now from the boat ramps at Leesavania. When summer gets here I wonder if I'll have to find another place to paddle.

I finally make it back to the beach and I'm still feeling I have more energy. I decide to eat lunch and pull in next to a guy fishing off the bank. He's had no luck at all but we chat anyway for about 10 minutes while I munch away on my sandwiches. I wish him luck and I load myself back in the kayak to head south of the park.

Paddling south will take me across the boat ramps so I decide to paddle inside the no wake zone near the ramps. There are 3 boats all in the process of loading or unloading. I pass through quickly and round the corner into Powells Creek. This was full of ice last weekend so I didn't get a chance to explore it. Just past the train trestle I see a couple more men and a little toddler fishing. The water has gotten so shallow my paddle blade is scooping up mud so I decide to head back.

Back across the boat ramps one final time and pull in close to the beach. After a little sculling and bracing practice my arms are feeling pretty heavy so I decide it's time to go. I've got on last thing I need to do and that is a full immersion test of my new wet suit. I hate being cold, but there are just some things you need to test under controlled conditions before you need them in an emergency.

My paddling attire is my new wet suit I bought yesterday (2 piece sleeveless vest and pants), a pair of nylon pants (the kind teenagers like to wear.just don't tell my son I had them 8^), and paddling pants with neoprene seals at the waist and legs. Up top I'm wearing a heavy polyester football jersey, a liner from my field jacket (nylon shell and polyester filling) and a paddling jacket with neoprene neck and cuff seals.

I had a little trouble getting the water to work itself into the suit. After a minute or so I opened my neck seal to speed it up. My arms are quite cold. Much colder than with my other full body wet suit. I play around for about 10 minutes and decide I've had enough. I don't yet have a neoprene hood and my ears were cold with my now wet wool cap. This setup is good enough to keep me alive long enough to either get back in the boat or make it to shore..as long as I'm not too far from shore.

As one last final step (the old guy fishing thought I was crazy by now after seeing all this), I climb back in the boat and see if I'm able to warm up. My wool hat stayed cold until I thought to wring out the water and put it on just damp, then it worked ok. I wouldn't have wanted it in any wind though. My arms quickly warmed up after just a minute or two of paddling in a circle.

I beach one final time and pack everything into 3 bags and head for the truck, I get my homemade yak cart out of the truck and after strapping the kayak on and hauling it up to the truck I'm glad I took the time to build it. Half way back to the truck I see 3 deer standing by the road. My arms are dead tired and having the cart handy left me enough energy to heft the kayak up on top of the truck. My kayak only weighs 45 pounds, but after this trip it feels like 145.

One more trip under my belt and a much improved tracking ability. I'm far from having the kinks worked out, but getting better each time. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Woody