December 19, 1999

Racing Dusk

Trip #72

20.7 Miles

MAP

Water temp: 44 degrees

I could have given this trip many titles. "The 20 miler", "Injury on the water", "Stuck in Mud - Round 2", any of the several things I thought about on the last 3 mile leg of the journey.

I was supposed to launch at 7:45. But after getting delayed looking for (and not finding) my GPS battery cable, I didn't get to the park till about 7:25. I would later find the cable before getting on the water, so plotting the on-water distance was still a go. After spending some time trying to find an open bathroom at Leesylvania State Park, I managed to pull away from shore about 8:05. Before leaving, a park ranger out walking his dog and myself had a discussion about kayaks as I was putting the final touches on my packing. "Staying close to shore?", he said. "Nope, crossing the river." "What, about 2 miles of open water?" "Right around three", I returned. "Choppy out there." "Yup, just the way I like it."

"Just be careful since it is much bigger out there in the middle"

I had some time to make up in order to get to General Smallwood State Park before 9:15, my agreed upon time to meet Joan and Mardi. After getting up to speed I flipped my paddle over to use the flat side as the power face and dug in. Having to work hard as the wind was kicking up some one foot waves that kept slapping me broadside, and I wasn't sure how long it would take to cover the four miles to Gen. Smallwood Park. An empty barge passed a few miles in front of me, and I noticed as I finally entered the channel that he made a left turn and headed in towards the Occoquan.

Except for a few fishing boats entering and exiting Mattawoman creek, the barge would be the only boat I would see for a while. As I rounded the tip of Indian Head and headed for the park, I could see Joan's red boat sitting on the ground, and her white Jeep. I beached at about 9:10, with a whole five minutes to spare. Just in time as my shoulder was beginning to ache from the hard paddling.

I'm not sure why, but it takes these two forever to load up and get underway, so even with them getting there early, we didn't get on the water until a few minutes before 10:00. I mentioned to Joan and Mardi that I needed to turn around where ever we were at noon, in order to make sure I got back to Leesylvania and loaded up before dusk. I had never done a 20 mile trip before, and thought I may be reduced down to just poking along after a while.

Joan was trying a new boat - a fiberglass Dagger Meridian. The skeg cable had been damaged so it had been removed awaiting a new one, but Joan was trying it out for fit and function on this trip.

We paddled hard into the wind. The last time I was here was my birthday and I thought I recalled we would end up out of the wind and behind some trees after about a mile. Four miles later we were close.

As we got to the end of the Indian Head explosives area, I mentioned to Joan that it seemed like the last time I was here I had to make a sharp left turn. This big bay looked deep enough though so we tried to cut across it. Before long we were in thick mud. At times I could look down and see as my kayak pushed through it would push the mud above the water. This is the second time in just a week that I've managed to get us stuck in a mud field. We each took separate routes out but I started following Mardi towards what appeared to be a channel. After what seemed forever we broke through and we paddled back down the creek to wait for Joan, who was taking a different route.

Once Joan was free, we headed up the creek again, stopping to stretch our legs at Indian Head City Park. We then paddled another two miles until we finally started seeing some birds. I had suggested this trip as a potential birding trip and we had seen few up until this point. But in the last half-mile of our journey we finally started seeing birds of significant quantity. We even spotted an eagle staying low near the water and out of the high trees.

After turning around to head back, I noticed it was a half-hour beyond my 'must turn around' time. Mardi also mentioned she had pulled a muscle polling through the mud and would have to paddle back at a slower pace. We took it easy to within a mile of the City Park and stopped for a quick lunch.

A couple had stopped as well, and had built a fire to cook pepperoni on. We gratefully shared their fire and warmed our hands as we ate lunch. It was colder on shore than in the boats so we hurried up and got back on the water.

This looks like a good point in the story to talk (again) about cold hands. I was wearing some polartec look alike type of gloves with a synthetic liner inside. These gloves soaked up a lot of water and I found my hands became cold shortly after I would make a fist to squeeze out any water. I surmised that squeezing out the water only made room for fresh, colder water. On shore I again squeezed out the excess water and found my hands got cold after a few minutes. I'm not sure what this means, but it is a noteworthy observation.

As we paddled slowly towards the City Park, Mardi insisted Joan and I paddle on so I wouldn't be caught in the dark. Joan and I decided that Joan would paddle with Mardi since she was injured, and I would head back on my own. I would paddle the next 9 miles without stopping.

As I got near General Smallwood State Park, I tried to decide if I should pull in for a short break before crossing the Potomac. Since Smallwood was a half-mile out of the way, I decided to press on. The sun was sinking and Leesylvania closes at dusk. So here I was, me and the kayak, against the impending onset of darkness. I was equipped with lights so there were no worries there, but I didn't want to have to go explain to the park ranger why he needed to open the gate to let me out. Or worse, I could be reported missing. If it looked like I wouldn't make it I would dig out my cell phone and have my wife call the park to fill them in. At this point, the only thing I was sure of is that at some point it would get dark.

I paddled the one-mile out to the tip of Indian Head. There were now three miles between Leesylvania and me. Time hack - Good, I had enough time to get back before sunset. But on such a gloomy overcast day, would dusk come before sunset? I would later discover that parts of my trip up to this point had exceeded 8 miles per hour. Attribute this to a strong tailwind, and not any burst of strength.

The wind was now coming in from my right side, along with the waves. The one-foot wave forecast was a bit low. Waves were often a foot and a half. No big deal, I had dealt with worse. Just in case, I stopped to put on my neoprene hood. Until I had started my dedicated skills practice a few weeks ago, this stuff made me nervous. But today I was confident and well within my skill set.

Before making it out to the tip of Indian Head, I had heard a barge and tug on the radio winding their way through parts unknown. I heard them talk about clearing channel markers with less than eight feet to spare and the wind trying to blow the barge sideways. Now I could see the barge as it followed the narrow channel to the south of Mason Neck. The channel runs east-west at that point and once getting into the main part of the Potomac the barge would turn and head my way.

Should I venture out into the channel? Should I stay and let it pass? If I stayed would this delay me from making it to the park before dark? Should I go for it and radio the barge to let them know I was there?

I decided to power hard across the channel. If the barge entered the main channel on the Potomac before I got across I would radio them as to my location. I kept my eye constantly on the barge as I crossed and since the waves were coming from this side it helped me maintain my balance by watching this side.

The barge was moving slower than I had anticipated, and I easily made it beyond the green buoy before the barge swung into the main channel. It would be smooth sailing from now till shore. There was 20 miles in my muscles, although it felt like more because of the need to push hard about thirteen of those miles. But I would win the race against dusk this time.

I wonder, as I was loading up my kayak, if anyone tried to guess why I had that grin on my face? I had battled challenging conditions, fought off shoulder pain and made record speed. I was prepared for what I faced and took each minor challenge in stride. I had finally recognized that my abilities had far exceeded what I was capable of just one short year ago. I hadn't paddled in gale force winds or monstrous waves, but I had faced some challenges that only two or three weeks ago would have made me nervous. The dedicated skills practice was paying off. Near the end of my first year I had finally completed my first twenty-mile paddle.

My thoughts turned to Joan and Mardi. How well had they faired? I was wishing I had launched from the same place as they so I could have stayed with them for the trip back.

Next Sunday, if things work out, I'll make my last trip for the year. I don't have anything special planned. A simple five mile retrace of my first trip a year ago. I'll finish the year with about 680 miles under my belt. I've been lucky this year being able to get out as much as I have. But I've learned that it is quality, not quantity that matters. My second year's pace will be somewhat slowed in comparison as I carefully choose those conditions which extend my abilities.