A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner - English Proverb

December 26, 2004

The sound of Ice

I
wasn't motivated this morning, but forced myself all morning to make little adjustments that finally led up to me walking out the door. The drive to Mason Neck was mellow with DMB singing 'The Christmas Song'.

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

Course plotted by Woody at December 26, 2004 1:32 PM
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