February 15, 1999

An open water crossing

Trip #8

Map

It's my son's birthday and while the kids are at school I'm sneaking off for my first open water crossing. This time out I'm using a different tie down system on my - barely a week old - Yakima racks. After loading the truck and leaving the house I realize after getting up to about 35 MPH that I forgot to put a couple of twists in the straps. Hoowwwllll. I need to stop at the ATM anyway so I get some money and twist the straps a few times and I'm on my way.

I get to Leesylvania State Park about 7:45 and the creeks on either side are clear of ice. The temperature is supposed to get into the 50's today but right now it is probably about 25. For some reason it takes me a while to get everything down to the water and the kayak all set to go. It's almost 8:30 before I'm ready to pull away from shore. There is no wind and small waves. This afternoon should bring a light breeze out of the West which means I should be paddling mostly into the wind on the return trip.

Somewhere out there on a heading of 140 degrees is my first nav point. A green can buoy by the name of G47. I can't see it from here but I see something flickering in the water on that heading so I use this unknown item as my intermediate destination. The buoy is about 2/3 of the way across the Potomac from my launch point.

A mile out from shore the shimmering target I was shooting for turns out to be 3 soda bottles tied to something below. For some reason it occurs to me that I forgot to set up the tracking log on the GPS. Stopping just long enough to start the log, I notice the buoy now a little less than a mile distant. The tide is running out but I have no idea how fast. I steer to the port about 5 degrees hoping to compensate for the current. It doesn't appear to be running fast.

This is not enough and I turn more and more to the North to compensate for the outgoing tide. At the buoy I notice the current is moving at a good clip past the base of the buoy. I still don't know how fast it's moving. The GPS is no help because it shows me moving at 0 MPH even though I am drifting with the tide. Guessing these low speeds will come with experience I guess.

On across the river to Deep Point. There is a US Naval propellant plant there along with a lot of no trespassing signs. I pass a couple of kids fishing in a small boat as I round the point. They look pretty cold and miserable.

Having completed my first open water crossing I make my way towards Sweden Point marina. I notice over my shoulder a tugboat pushing a barge loaded with sand. I speculate that they are probably headed over to the cement factory I noticed during trip #4.

The rest of the trip to Sweden Point and General Smallwood State Park is uneventful. The small bay next to the marina is pretty icy, which caught me by surprise since all the ice is gone on the Virginia side of the river. After landing next to the boat ramps I grab my lunch and head up to a picnic table to grab a bite. I had bought some new waterproof hunting gloves the previous day and I had been using them on this paddle. Now that I had stopped, my hands were no longer warm and the gloves were soaked all the way through. I knew there was a reason I tossed some other gloves in my forward hatch before leaving.

The dry gloves got my hands warm again and I ate my lunch while I called my wife to let her know I had made it half way. She was just thrilled I had woken her to tell her I was alive. Geez it's 10:00, get up! I needed an excuse to use the new cell phone I had gotten her for Valentine's day, but she wasn't amused so I finished brunch and walked around the boat ramps a bit. This place was obviously equipped for fishing tournaments.

As I was packing up to go, a dad and young boy about 8 or 9 showed up. "What is that called?" "Is it made out of wood?" "Can you fish from it?" "Can I ride in it?" (Dad answered the last question for me) After chatting for a few minutes I shoved off for the return trip.

After passing Deep Point again I can't help notice the wind has picked up. Not real strong but enough I need to make some small zig zags through the water to keep on course and keep the boat from broaching. At the buoy I notice the current has slowed but the waves are picking up. My zigging gets a little bigger, first heading into the waves at a little more than 45 degrees, then turning to ride the following seas.

Two thirds of the way across and the wind now has about 12 miles of open water to blow across before getting to me. The Guillemot seems rock solid stable and even though some waves are now approaching 1 1/2 feet, her ability to turn on a dime makes this play fun. The zigs and zags are pronounced now as I paddle for a while directly into the waves with my bow lifting over and dropping down the backside in a gentle slap of the water. Then turn to run at almost wave speed at a slight angle to the waves. I could probably do this all day, but there is a birthday party to go to so I head on in to the beach.

Once on shore I decided to see how long it would take to pump out the cockpit with the electric bilge pump if it became swamped. Try as I might, I couldn't get any more than about 1/4 - 1/3 of the cockpit volume filled with water, even with me sitting in it. I'm starting to draw attention so I flip on the switch to allow it to empty. About 2 minutes later the pump is spitting out the last few drops while I strap on the yak cart for the trip back to the truck. I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have sat in the kayak while it pumped out. I think the low spot is behind my seat, but I need to check this at some time to be sure.

Lets go get some cake.