October 28, 2007

The Beginning of Fall

Windier than I expected. Just the type of weather Patty likes. I hate the wind. I like the way it creates waves, but other than that, I just hate it.

We launched from Leesylvania and headed north. We crossed the boat ramps in short order, but we could see that out in Occoquan Bay the white caps. We knew that as we passed Whitestone Point we would be in the full force of it.

We paddled out from shore to stay out of range of the fishermen on the pier. And the closer we got to the point the louder we had to talk to hear each other. Once we rounded the point Patty mentioned going to Farm Creek, which lay directly up wind of our position.

"Do you want to paddle straight across or hug the shore to stay out of the wind?" I asked. She didn't need to reply as I already knew her answer. So off we headed into the wind. And an adventure it was. It started as gusts, but turned in to a steady blow. I gripped my paddle so hard to keep the wind from taking it that this short paddle would make a nasty blister on my right hand.

As the wind picked up we started to notice that the duck blind along shore wasn't moving. More accurately we noticed WE weren't moving. We dug in. The ache in my arms grew louder as we continued - inch by inch - toward Farm Creek.

Then it began to slacken. Just a tiny bit at first. As we moved toward the wind shadow created by a clump of trees ahead of us, the inches became feet until we were fully inside the creek and protected by the wind.

The relief was shocking. It almost seemed as though I was suddenly super human - moving my kayak forward with the lightest of strokes. We flushed ducks out of the creek for a short distance before the vegetation blocked our way.

We exited the creek the way we came in, passing some fishermen at the mouth. With deliberate purpose we headed out toward the river. We wanted to catch the full force of the wind for the ride back. At speed it almost seemed quiet. We could hear each other speak without shouting moving in this direction - A trick one should remember if you need to have a conversation with someone while paddling in high winds.

We surfed a few waves, but they were really too steep and short to get any good rides. But the wind pushed us along very fast. What took us an hour and 15 minutes to go out, took only 45 to get back. We rounded the end of Leesylvania by the car top launch and fell in to the lee. A short day but I was tired but satisfied with the paddle, despite the blister....

Woody