January 9, 2005

When the Wind Blows Still

It was nice to play in the warm water and I could tell that my roll was getting a bit rusty as my paddle plunged deeper than I wanted. To give myself a little extra help I took the loaded water bladder off the back of my PFD and sat it down at the edge of the pool. The load lightened a bit I found the rust start to disappear as it was washed away by the chlorinated water.

After loading the boat back on the car, and dinner at the local dive with Joan I didn't get home till about 9:00. Tired from an afternoon of play I went to bed early, falling asleep wondering if the wind would keep our group off the water the next day.

The sun rose Sunday over a calm day, but quickly disappeared behind clouds. As I pulled my car away from the car top launch to park along the road, Mary and Vitas pulled up. Before long David, Nelson, and Barbara arrived and we were underway toward Farm Creek.

As we crossed the deserted boat ramps, the Park Ranger flushed a young couple off the rocks with the loud speaker in his car.

The paddle was quick to the mouth of the creek - a bit over 2 miles, but a short distance into the creek we ran aground hard so we made our way to some semi-solid ground for a snack. We thought we might paddle back out to the Potomac and around to the other entrance of the creek. Maybe by the time we got there there would be enough water to paddle back through the creek.

The new moon was working against us keeping the water very low. We paddled a mile north to find the entrance semi blocked by dead falls. Undaunted, Vitas worked his way past the fallen trees, but the shallow water on the other side turned him back.

From the north end of the creek we paddled on north a little under a mile to Marumsco Creek (I can never remember the name of this creek) and paddled back until the dead falls kept us from going further.

When I first discovered this creek, the older houses were set back and somewhat hidden from the water by the trees along shore. But these older homes have now been razed along with the trees that once hid them, and replaced by bigger homes. The illusion of seclusion this creek once projected is now gone.

We headed out of the creek and pointed our bows back toward Leesylvania. My feet were cold all day and it dawned on me during the trip back to take my skull cap out of my PFD and put it on my head. My feet began to warm and I was kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner.

Having turned our 8 mile paddle into 10.5 - 11 miles, we slowly cruised back in to the launch. I was disappointed that Farm Creek had been too shallow to paddle, but was gently reminded by a few of the others that any day on the water is still a pretty nice day.

We put our gear away as the sun dipped low and as our conversations wound down the Park Ranger announced over the loud speaker in his car that the park was now closed. Too early for me, I look forward to the longer days ahead and the warm water of summer.

Woody