March 4, 2000

Mason Neck State Park

5 miles

Water Temp: 44 degrees

I always manage to screw something up. Today is no different as I told one person we launch at 9, and another at 8. Luckily Amigh was a little early so we didn't need to wait long. Once on the water we turned right and headed into Kanes creek. I had announced low tide was at 7:00 am so we should not have to worry about getting stuck in the mud.

It sure was shallow though. And the further we worked our way into Kanes the harder it appeared to find the channel. As we worked our way out of the channel it looked to me like the water was still working its way out of the creek. I would later learn I had looked at the current table and not the tide table. 7:00 am was slack for high tide. I'm O for 2.

Once back at Mason Neck park we took a quick break and had lunch. We then loaded back up and headed out to Conrad island for a quick look and a short lesson on channel markers. I had been testing using one pogie on my paddle and found it suitable for most of the time. I would just alternate hands when they got cold and it eliminated a big portion of the claustrophobic feeling one gets with hands in both pogies.

But what to do with the second pogie? Since it was warm, I had been laying on the water now and then to cool off. Each time my water bottle would come loose from the deck bungies and slip into the water. Finally I took the second pogie and attached it to the second deck line in front of my cockpit. This made a perfect pocket for my water bottle and after securing the other end of the bottle under the first deck line I would not have any other problems with it the rest of the day. I am so pleased that a pogie might become a permanent fixture on my deck...

Two cool things happened on the way back from Conrad island: The first, a Bald Eagle treated us to catching lunch right smack in front of us. The second, something whizzed by me in the water that I thought was a fish. It turned out to be a little water bird of some type, which entertained us for several minutes. His little wings seemed to keep him from flying as he scurried out of the path of the kayaks, and he seemed unafraid of us and more interested in fishing under the water.

Back on shore we packed our stuff for home. We had barely covered 5 miles, and had spent 5 hours doing it. A calm and sunny day to remind us spring is not too far away. A sprinkle of boats was on the water today. Too far away to pay much attention, but a reminder of what is to come...