February 13, 2000

Cold, Cold Hands

Trip # 76/3

10.5 miles

MAP

Water Temp 38f

Finally. After something like 6 weekends I returned to the water. The longest non-paddling stretch in the last year. Which is a good thing since I think my wife was getting tired of me being around every weekend.

Not that there wasn't any decent paddling weather. Maybe it was the winter doldrums keeping me home. Each weekend I would get up early and look for a smidgen of a reason to stay home, which I usually found. In any event, when I told Joan I would meet her at Leesylvania State Park on Sunday, I knew there was no backing out unless I could come up with a real good excuse.

The weather was supposed to be light winds and 40, so I had no excuse. I headed down to the park for our scheduled meeting time of 9:00 am. As I was pulling up to the fee area, Joan was pulling away! This had NEVER happened where Joan beat me to the launch site! I really must be dragging my feet.

At the water I looked out and was terribly disappointed. The week before ice had been everywhere. Today I could see none. So much for listening to the ice this winter. My dry suit was a little tighter. Much more of this winter blubber and I won't need any additional layers underneath. In fact, much more and I'll need a new dry suit!

About 9:45 we were finally ready to go. I took just as long to get ready as Joan. Contrast that to me normally standing around watching her load her boat. Did I really want to go out today? By the time we were on the water I was already tired.

Joan was having problems gripping her paddle with the new gloves she was wearing, so she traded them off for the pogies stored on my rear deck. I've owned 2 pairs of pogies, but I don't think I've ever worn them.

We paddled North into the Occoquan Bay and as we approached a tiny little island lined with concrete block, it appeared to be covered on one side by snow. As we got closer though, the snow turned out to be giant slabs of ice stacked 5 feet high. When the ice broke up and left the bay, some of it was driven up and onto this tiny little island. Huge 1-2 inch thick slabs piled layer after layer to form a giant ice wall on the northwestern side of the island. Cool. I had to get up close and inspect the little icicles dangling from the bottom just above the water.

We paddled on towards Mason Neck State Park. I had always wanted to make this trip but never had managed. As we entered Belmont Bay we could see a few ice floes and next to Mason Neck, a HUGE ice sheet. From the water it looked like there may be no place to land. This could be bad as my hands were getting chilled and I needed to stretch. I could tell I had not paddled in a while too as my muscles were having a mild rebellion.

But as we got closer to shore we found the launch site clear of ice, but I lingered near the ice sheet listening to it crack and buzz. We beached without too much difficulty, but I did have to pull my kayak ashore quite a ways to prevent it from slipping over the shore ice back into the water.

We beelined to the bathrooms and I found that the hand dryers are not the useless contraptions I once thought they were. Nothing like several blasts of warm air across the cold paws to get the spirit back. Before long we were on the water again and my hands were immediately cold. Cold. Painfully cold. I had switched to my Euro paddle before leaving the launch in hopes to reduce the amount of water flushing across my gloved hands. A few minutes later my hands began to warm. Joan also noticed things got warmer.

We poked on out into the bay and I noticed I was a bit tired. Little wind but the Euro paddle was taking a lot more effort than the Greenland, both from its traction through the water and its swing weight. My hands started to chill a bit and I frequently stopped to rest and allow my hands to warm. I gave up on the Euro and switch back to the Greenland. By now it felt like it was made of balsa wood and I didn't need to stop nearly as often as before. Only my hands caused me to pause now and then.

Switching to the Greenland caused an immediate decrease in my hand temperature. Especially my thumbs, which were dripping water on every stroke. I've got to attach some drip strings to this paddle. The trip dragged on and on as all I could think about was my hands.

We finally did make it back. I thought it felt colder at this point than it did when we launched. Not close to the 40 degrees predicted. I made a mental note to add "make sure Joan brings her own pogies" to my gear checklist. We loaded up and I headed off to Burger King for a cup of coffee.

It was a dreary day, and went perfectly with my dreary mood, but I wouldn't have traded it for any other day. The water was mostly quiet and I don't think I saw a single boat on the water, although I was constantly looking for them. The birds were not in numbers as I had expected, probably driven away by the ice. The light sprinkle and fog that rolled through on our return trip fit the scene perfectly. Desolate, quiet - It was a winter trip on the tail of the season. It won't be long before the boats begin to return and the water starts to warm. But today, the water belonged to us.