July 24, 1999

Hidden Treasure

Trip #37

11.5 miles

MAP

This would be another trial of a Greenland paddle I've been working on. It started out several weeks ago at nearly 5 1/4 inches wide. This monster was much too heavy and I switched to another paddle before going 100 yards with it.

Today the paddle had been trimmed down to 4 1/4 inches. Not nearly as heavy but after a nearly a mile from the Mason Neck launch I switched to my skinny, ol'reliable Greenland I brought along just in case. The paddle still felt heavy but it mainly was too hard to pull through the water. This required a lot of torso rotation and pure muscle and I was tiring quickly.

After switching to my cedar Greenland, at about 3 1/4 inches wide, it seemed like I was paddling with a feather. My wide paddle will need to go on a diet again,

I paddled out to the south end of Conrad Island. The channel is narrow through there. There are 2 schools of thought here, and I can't make up my mind which is better. With the narrow channel, it doesn't take long to cross. Look for a large gap and shoot across in about 5 minutes or so. On the other hand, because it is the only channel, and all the surrounding water is shallow, the big boats all have to pass through here, so it can be busy. Should I cross here or out in the wider open water where there is more maneuverability for the big boats?

I decided to cross here for now, and managed to cross without any boat traffic in sight. Only bass boaters rise early in the morning. Just below Taylor's Point I turned south to follow the shoreline which appeared heavily wooded. I didn't notice it till much later, but there is a fence near the shore covered with honeysuckle which will hide it for the rest of the summer.

I turned westward after passing Deephole Point and paddled up Marumsco creek. I had set out specifically today to look for this creek because I had seen it on the map, but never explored it. Except for a few houses on the left side, this is an excellent place to go birding. I recommend not going at low tide, as the channel is sometimes hard to find. Generally if you stick to the outside of bends in the creek and the middle on straight areas, you'll stay in the channel.

About a mile into the creek I came to several downed trees blocking my progress. After backtracking a short distance I crossed to the other side of the marsh looking for another path, and finding nothing, started my trip back out to the Potomac. For those who like Kane's Creek, the trip across Belmont Bay for this little creek will be time well spent.

Featherstone Shores looks a little like a big metropolis from a distance, but as you get closer you see it is only a dozen or two big houses. Big yards and big windows. Just south of Feathersone though, the shoreline becomes wooded again as the National Wildlife Refuge takes hold of the river. I was on the lookout for the second creek in this area - Farm Creek.

I thought I had found the mouth of it but the little creek I ventured in was shallow and I had to turn around and come back out. This little creek - I would classify it more like a ditch - was heavily polluted with tires, bottles and other sorts of rubbish.

I paddled down a little further and saw what I though might be another ditch, but as I zig zaged around the fallen trees it opened up to be fairly wide. This area was shallow with the tide running low and I found myself poling more than paddling. The swamp gas I stirred up with each poke of the paddle brought back memories of growing up in Florida. For about 3/4 of a mile the water was just barely enough to float my kayak until I got to the remains of a wooden walkway. The other side of the walkway the water immediately got deeper and for the remaining 1/4 mile I had no problems. Near the mouth of Farm Creek a park ranger had pulled up a spot to sun himself and eat lunch.

From the southern mouth of Farm Creek to Leesylvania State Park is about 1 1/2 miles, but I decided to head back towards Mason Neck. Instead of following the shore back up to the narrow channel to cross over, I head out across the Occoquan. As I got by the little concrete island near the middle I saw some folks fishing so I backed up a little and went around the other side as not to disturb them. The boats were much thicker than when I came out in the morning and I constantly had to look all around for them. I'd swear that on seeing me, most boats would alter course to aim directly for me before veering off. I think they could first see me, but not know what I was so they headed over to check it out. Most resumed course once within a good visual range. Others insisted on blasting through a hundred feet or so off my bow or stern which made me pretty nervous at times. Of course, they'd wave as they went by.

I beached a little south of a small rock jetty to stretch my legs and eat lunch. After a short rest I decided I would try out the wide Greenland for the rest of the trip back. After a hundred feet or so I really made sure I rotated at my waist. This paddle almost forced me to paddle that way, which is good I guess, but I'm going to trim it down some more anyway.

Just as I got near the Mason Neck launch site, the first clap of thunder came echoing across the water. By the time I had the kayak on the car and on the road it started to rain and lightning all around.