December 26, 2004

The sound of Ice

No one was at the park and the wind was sharp on my face as I carried gear down to the water's edge. It took me a long time to get my gear squared away, as it always does in the winter, but before long I was pushing away from the ice that had formed on shore.

The water was shallow, being close to low tide, so I headed out several hundred feet before turning north to follow the shore. I leaned over for some sweep strokes to see how far up on edge I could get the boat. I felt constricted and held back by the clothes I was wearing. How I longed for the warm water of summer. But despite the layers of clothes under my dry suit I headed towards Kanes creek for a short paddle and to get out of the wind.

Nearing the creek I could tell the water was too flat. Ice extending 50 feet or so beyond the wide mouth of the creek and as far back in to the creek as I could see. I paused outside the ice which suprisingly was over a 1/4 inch thick along the edge. The ice creeks and groans against the waves coming in along its edge. The sound grates against my bones, in a good sort of way, but in short order I decide to see if I can get out of the wind along the north shore of the bay.

The wind bites my cheeks as I head north and before reaching the shore I reach up to pull the front of my hat down closer to my eyes.

Only it isn't there. In the winter I wear a skull cap to protect my head in the event I go into the water, and pull on my normal kayaking hat over that to help keep the sun off me. The down side is I often loose my kayaking hat without realizing it.

I turn back to the launch, sweeping the water with my eyes looking for my hat. It wasn't till I was about 50 feet from the launch before I saw it - washed up to the edge of the water and partially frozen to the ice and sand.

After retrieving the hat I played near shore with my paddle and spending some time evaluating 3 new pairs of gloves (in Gear Reviews). In the end I spent more time loading and unloading gear than I did paddling.

Woody