Paddling and Pedaling the Big Bend of Florida

Cat Vomit

2011-10-08T21:32:00.002-04:00

Among all the pleasures associated with cat ownership, vomit is surely the most revolting. I don't know why this should be. I don't consider myself a queasy person. I can eat spaghetti while I watch Faces of Death or The Biggest Loser, but as soon as a cat starts retching I'm fleeing the room. Anyway, I've developed a new process for dealing with cat puke. My old procedure went like this:

Cat starts dry heaving.
Step 1: Curse God for inventing household felines while suppressing involuntary gag reflex.
Step 2: Vacate space in which said puke resides while going to great length to neither look at nor smell it (note that I'm trying not to do things I have little or no control over, like breathe or smell).
Step 3: Inform Aimee that one of her cats threw up and wait for her to finish "taking care of it" before coming back into the room.
Step 4: Pretend it never happened.

But what about if it happens when Aimee's not home? It depends. If she's not home but will be soon (within a couple hours), my policy is to let it be. But today a cat puked in the kitchen and Aimee's not going to be home for many hours. I can't let cat vom just sit there while I try to make my bachelor weekend dinner (frozen pizza), but I can't look at or approach it without the very real threat of adding to it's volume. What's a grown man to do? First I thought I would get up off the couch and head in that general direction to get a paper towel and clean it up, but before I even got off the couch I was dry heaving. OK, control yourself, I thought. Think about this! Navigate around vom while staring at the ceiling. It's tricky, because you need the puke to be in your periphery (so you don't step on it and need an amputation), but you can't look directly at it either. I managed to get to the paper towels and found a plastic grocery bag. My plan was to drop the paper towels on the puke and then get the whole mess up with the plastic bag the way that dog owners pick up poop. I gathered my courage and made my approach but had to abort and run around the vom and out of the room and try not to go all Linda Blair all over the place. Now I'm getting stressed out. New plan: delay cleaning it by placing a bowl (very quickly) over it, so that I don't have too see it and can move around in its general vicinity. Then I did a bunch of other things while I tried to work out a better way in my head. In the end, I found that I could bunch up the paper towels and hold them with a plastic bag bunched around my hand (so that my skin doesn't actually touch the paper towels, and therefore cannot possibly come in contact with vomit). With one hand I could lift the bowl and hold it just so, such that I can't see the puke. With my other hand (the plastic bag paper towel hand) I wiped it up without really being aware of any texture (I just gagged a little thinking about it) and pull the whole disgusting mess back into the bag then run to the trash and deposit it. Whew! A new paper towel and some Fantastick! lemon scented antibacterial spray eliminated any vestiges and I can face my girlfriend with pride. So for the future, I will stick with the old plan when Aimee is around, but when she's not, I shall:

Step 1: Curse God for inventing felines. Especially curse the particular ingrate who spat up the expensive damned food they're spoiled with.
Step 2: While barely holding back your own lunch, find a bowl and gingerly cover the puke with it. Leave it for as long as necessary to gather you nerve.
Step 3: Bunch several paper towels together and hold them with a hand inside a plastic grocery bag, poop collector style.
Step 4: Gently lift bowl at an angle the gives enough room for wiping hand without exposing the vom to your field of vision. It's best to do this while staring at a fixed point nearby, so that the bowl and your hands are just in the edge of your vision.
Step 5: Quickly wipe up vom with paper towels and retract into the plastic bag.
Step 6: Deposit into trash can.
Step 7: Disinfect the puke surface.
Step 8: Wash hands.
Step 9: Mix yourself a drink and gloat about how you're a "responsible cat daddy."

Good luck.

Slave Canal

2011-04-18T22:23:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I tagged along on a trip down the Slave Canal with The Wilderness Way. It is, without question or reservation, the prettiest piece of water I've seen in N FL. Rivers have a funny way of going underground in this area, such that they don't always make their way to the ocean above ground (read navigable for shipping). In the canal craze of the early 19th century some local big wigs got it in their heads to connect the Wacissa, which isn't open to the gulf, to the Aucilla, which is. Thus they cracked a scheme to dig a canal from the point where the Wacissa goes underground to the Aucilla some 3 miles away. They didn't actually get started until the 1850's. As the name might suggest, slaves were used to dig it. Records are slim on info, so no one really knows how many worked or what casualty figures might have looked like, but the work must have been grueling between the swamp, heat, biting insects, and heavy manual labor. They finished it a few years before the start of the Civil War, and then it fell into disuse because the war so disrupted trade in the region.

All that sounds kind of grim, but now it is an absolutely beautiful and pristine piece of wilderness. Put in is at the sound end of the Wacissa (Goose Pasture). The Wacissa narrows and snakes along in its crystal clear fashion for a while until a right fork into the canal (there's a sign, but it'd be easy to miss). From there it's only a few miles to the take out on the Aucilla, but it's a time consuming few miles, as there are lots of logs that necessitate getting out of the boat and dragging over. You could not do this trip and stay dry from the waist down. Luckily the water is pretty clear, sandy bottom, and ranges from 1' to 3' deep almost the whole time. It averages about 15' to 20' wide. The weather was perfect, cool morning, 80's afternoon, breezy, blue skies. The sunlight filtered through the pine and hardwood and palms most wonderfully and the birds were singing and it felt like some remote central American rainforest. We saw a few gators, mostly tiny, but one bigger one, 6' or so, which walked along the bottom right under us. There were lots of gar and mullet, and prothonotary warblers, woodpeckers, owls, snowy egret, cattle egret (out of place), Mississippi and swallow tail kites. It was spectacular and it considerably improved my opinion of N FL.

After such a great day on the water there's not much to do except make a good dinner and drink good wine, which we did. While we were grilling (Buffalo chicken sliders and grilled okra, mmmmm) a barred owl swooped overhead and into a tree not 20' from the back patio and caused a ruckus from all the birds that were nesting in the viburnum. He stayed a few minutes and we ogled him until all those little chickadees and mockingbirds and crows pestered him too much and he flew away. It was really neat. All told a great Sunday. Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather before summer gets here and it gets stupid hot.

Cheers.

Ochlockonee Swimmers, an Incident and Analysis

2011-02-20T21:11:00.002-05:00

Today I had my first real rescue situation. We underestimated current in an S bend in the lower Ochlockonee (which is an Indian word for "wet white woman from Colorado") River and a guest got shoved into some brush. She stiffened up and turned right over. A guide was right on her and directed most of the other guests out of the current river right. The swimmer's boyfriend was still in the middle of the river and went over to help. I hung back where I could see both the guide/swimmer and the rest of the group, and upstream where I could help as needed. The swimmer was jammed into the brush, against a boat (mostly submerged), with a guide and her boyfriend immediately upstream. After some struggling with the brush and current they managed to get her to the bank and pull her boat up. She's cold and rattled but OK. Boyfriend tries to shove off into the current but also gets shoved into the brush and rolls right over. I'm still upstream and move to him. I asked him if he's OK, he is, and if he can float/swim the boat to the opposite bank, which is more or less out of the current, which he says he can. We get there and get him back in his boat fairly quickly. Meanwhile the other swimmer and guide get her boat out and they portage upstream a ways so that she can re-enter far enough above the bend to make the turn correctly. She accomplishes this and no-one is much worse off aside from a lost hat and sunglasses.

Could we have prevented the situation to begin with? Maybe, but probably not. We had scouted the trip four days ago and there was no cause for alarm, though the water had dropped a little since then and the Venturi was amplified in the corners and around strainers, which definitely contributed to this situation and complicated dealing with it. Everything was fine and then there was one, then another person in the water. In a perfect world we would have recognized that bend as a problem and given clear commands for exactly how to maneuver, though whether these commands would have been properly executed....who can say? All guests had paddled before and seemed competent enough, but when the conditions got a little more complicated they stiffened up and didn't really know how to deal with it, but that's not their fault.

OK, so once she was in the water then what? The guide that helped her was there immediately, and that was good. She directed the other folks out of the current and out of danger; also good. I hung back with a clear line of sight and ready to assist as directed. The boyfriend of the first swimmer sort of hung in the middle and then ended up piled into them. This was both good and bad. It was good in that he was reassuring to the swimmer and helped get her to the bank. But the current there was stiff and difficult to do anything in, and three people/three boats is more complicated than two people/two boats. Once swimmer #1 was on dry ground he tried to paddle straight from the corner across the current to the rest of the group, and he more or less immediately found himself in the same situation she had been in and fell out of his boat. Luckily rather than being wedged against the brush, we was swept out into the middle of the river and it was easy to get him over to the bank where we could dump his boat and get him in it. Had he gone with the rest of the group we could have avoided his involvement all-together and had one less cold wet person.

So, lessons learned:

1. Anticipate problems where possible and direct less experienced guests through them.
2. Do not assume that guests understand basic hydrodynamic principles or how to maneuver their boat, especially if they are a little freaked out.
3. Direct those not already involved firmly out of the way. "Helpers" quickly become victims and more often than not will complicate, not placate, the situation. We went from happy and dry to cold and wet in an instant.
4. A dry bag full of dry clothes was absolutely necessary. Swimmer #1 spent more than a few minutes in the water and it was fairly cold. Luckily we had this, but a cheap fleece jacket and some sort of tights or leggings would have been helpful.

In the end everyone was fine and they had a memorable trip. We dealt with it the best we could given the situation. It all happened in a few minutes and once we were in the situation, all we could do was react appropriately. I definitely need to brush up on my rescue and recovery skills. I feel pretty confidant about myself, but less so about a freaked out tourist from Colorado. We did a good job projecting confidence and remaining calm, and that helped a lot, but I want to feel like I can handle it on my own if that sort of thing pops up again. After we got back to the shop we had a good conversation about it and my boss was super positive and supportive of my judgment and actions, which was reassuring. All told it was a good experience, though I wasn't the one who got wet...

Winter

2011-01-26T20:57:00.002-05:00

It's been a while. Changes....I've taken up guiding again, after a long respite from the halcyon days with the best people I could have ever hoped to work with at the Salt Marsh Kayak Company in Wrightsville Beach, NC. After much beating around the bush, in November I went on 3 trips with The Wilderness Way. One on the St. Marks, and the other two on the Wacissa. It's fun to do that again and it gives me a reasonable excuse to take time from my "real" job to go paddling. No trips in Dec. but that's no surprise given the weather we've had. Off the water I traveled to Kansas and saw what I'm sure will be the greatest music experience of my life, Roger Waters performance of The Wall (thanks Mom and Dad). Regular Thanksgiving hullabaloo (20 hours driving in 5 days, but well worth seeing family. Busy holiday retail season at the bike shop. No travel for Christmas because my parents came here, which was really nice. Loads of new kitchen gadjetry, both high tech and low, like a stand mixer, food processor, the last wok we'll ever need and miscellaneous other things that help us produce food that regularly blows our minds. New bird feeder, birding books, and binoculars (super stoked about them). I'm doing a section of the Sopchoppy with my new boss on Friday, so I'll post a trip report on that.

More vs. Less

2010-10-13T19:47:00.003-04:00

There's a lot of stuff that you can get to enhance your paddling experience. It's true in most outdoor pursuits, and I imagine for enthusiasts of nearly any variety. I'd gotten to this point where I never paddled without the essential safety gear, maps, guide books, flora and fauna guides, binoculars, food, and so on. I didn't get too involved in it (like with GPS and all the other gear you can get) but I did find that I was feeling a bit bogged down by it all. It just seemed burdensome to need to make two or more trips to the car to get everything whenever I wanted to paddle for a while.

Simplicity is one of the things I think we're all looking for when we venture outdoors. We want a basic connection to the visceral existence that we know pre-existed our comfortable, air-conditioned, gore-texed, wrapped in plastic present. I think we need it at a genetic level. This had always been one of my favorite features of surfing, one that I would pontificate about if someone asked me. That is, surfing is an amazingly complicated synthesis of balance, speed, finesse, wave knowledge, timing, placement, weight distribution, trim, but requires so little in the way of equipment. A person, a board, some wax, and a wave. That's it. Body surfing is even more pure in this sense. Man and wave. Yet, there is a great gulf between those who merely do it, and those who do it with grace and skill. In the end, it's not the stuff; it's the man (or woman, I'm using "man" in that ungendered human being sense). Aimee just proofread this and suggested that it could sound like I"m suggesting that I'm skilled and graceful. That's not my intention, and so, with both skill and grace, I hereby proclaim the baseness of my skills. Someday I may achieve hard won grace.

I've long appreciated this about surfing, so I don't know why I got caught up in the "stuff" of kayaking, but I've recently decided to slough some of it off. Perhaps not permanently, or all the time, but most of the time. The last three trips I've taken (the last three consecutive Wednesdays) have all been familiar. I've paddled them at least once before. It's so much nicer to just pull up to the launch, drop the boat by the water, grab PFD, paddle, hat, and safety gear (bilge pump and paddle float) and go. No two or more trips to the car. Just get in the boat with the required stuff and go do what I'm really there for, which is commune with the world. Observe.

Today I sat in the middle of a school of tiny fish, a pod of dolphin 5 or 6 strong fed on whatever was feeding on the minnows, terns plummeted, and 3 manatees surfaced repeatedly mere feet away from me. That's why I'm out there.

Cheers.

Corporate Cup Challenge

2010-10-03T20:44:00.002-04:00

The Great Bike Shop submitted a team to the Corporate Cup Challenge yesterday (local race to promote wellness in the office). Teams consisted of 4 people and four events (one per participant); kayak, bike, run, and strength. I did the kayak event; my first kayak race ever.

Rick from The Wilderness Way was there running the event, which used their boats (had to be shorter than 13'). I came in second in my heat, and fifth overall. The guy who won I know by reputation. I've never paddled with him before, but I have paddled with a pal of his and I found his regular pace to be my fast pace, so he won by almost a minute. They guy who beat me in my heat just out-muscled me. If the course had been longer I think I would have had him, but he was some kind of fitness trainer and stayed about a boat length ahead of me. JC got second in the bike and our runner got third in the run overall. No results yet but I think we're in good standing to place top three.

Attempted to hike to Shepherd Spring today, but had no map and ended up turning back a little short. Oh well, still a beautiful morning to be outside. Cheers.

Giant Turtle Shell

2010-09-29T15:45:00.003-04:00

The unbearably hot weather has finally broken and it feels great outside. So this morning I paddled Wacissa headwaters. It was cool and overcast for the whole trip. Saw loads of birds like blue heron, little blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, tricolored heron, wood duck, white ibis, red shouldered hawk, common moorhen, kingfisher, and others. A family of river otter let me sneak up on them (to about 20'). When they finally noticed me they all stood up on their haunches and made a weird sort of coughing noise at me, then disappeared. I poked into several of the smaller springs on the E side of the river, so I saw about 5 in all, including Big Blue. Along one of the spring runs I noticed something huge and white just under the water, which turned out to be a big sunbleached and completely denuded turtle carapace (about 16" long x 13" wide). It's now drying out on the picnic table out back. A wildlife officer busted three guys hunting from a boat for something, and there were some nice folks on the river from Tampa who are on their annual N FL paddling trip. They spoke highly of the Blackwater River and Ti Ti and Whiskey George creeks. Perhaps I'll see them soon.

Full Moon on the Wakulla

2010-07-25T21:33:00.003-04:00

After waaaaaaayyyy too long off the water, Aimee and I took a trip with the local outfitters/livery last night. My friend and coworker JC and friend wanted to go and it seemed like a pleasant way to get back out and mostly avoid this heat. We launched from the US 98 bridge over the Wakulla (indigenous word for "mysterious waters") at about 7 and got out at the Fort a few miles down a little after nine. Highlights for me were chatting with the guides and the huge storm that was firing a few miles away mingling with the sunset and full moon that eventually appeared from behind the clouds. It was kind of a large group, but mostly pleasant folks, expertly led by friendly and informative staff of The Wilderness Way. They have to do a lot more work than we used to at SMKC, due mostly to not having a waterside local and therefore having to load a trailer and set up a shuttle for most all trips. It sounds as though I might be able to do a little work for them at some point? We'll see. No other big plans due to the heat and the amount of work we've been doing around the house, which is mostly of the painting variety. Someday I'll get to paddle more regularly and post more stuff. For now....

Wakulla Beach to Yonder Island

2010-04-06T18:24:00.005-04:00

How's this for convenient water access?

Short trip from Wakulla Beach this morning. I got down there at about 10 and while I was gearing up a bald eagle soared by. If you look real close at the photo you can see that there's an island behind my truck. I don't know what it's called yet, but I've got a FB msg in to someone who'll probably know, so for right now I'm calling it Yonder Island. As you can see, the launch at Wakulla Beach is pretty nice. You get off the coastal highway and drive 5 or 6 miles down a long sand road through the forest. Aside from the occasional beer can it's a lovely semi-tropical maritime forest of live oak, palms, pine and other trees. Sections of it are swampy. Most of it is owned by the gubment, so there are few homes or other man made structures. At the end of the road it opens onto the above beach and you pull right up to the water's edge, unload, then park far enough away that a high tide won't wash your car for you (about 50' or so). There was just enough onshore breeze to keep the heat and bugs down and chop up the water slightly, but it was plenty manageable. I didn't really know how far away that island was, but I guessed it couldn't be too far, and I was right. It took about 30 minutes to cross (against wind and incoming tide), and I guessed 1.5 or 2 miles based on that. I got right up next to the island, which is a typical low cord and needle grass sandbar with a few stunted trees on it, and made my way around slowly so I could see what there was to see, which wasn't that much. There was a pair of oystercatchers at one end, lots of hermit crabs, a Southern stingray (stingaree, as Mr. White would say), and random single sea squirts that weren't attached to anything. At other points on the trip I saw a bald eagle, laughing gull, loon, and willets. I was off the water a little after noon. It was a short paddle, but a nice one and a beautiful day to be out there. Cheers.

Spectacular Bike Ride!

2010-03-23T21:44:00.004-04:00

From the St. Mark's Rail Trail trail head just below town to St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge. Perfect temps, a little breezy, blue skies, beautiful day. I stopped at The Wilderness Way in Wakulla (the town of) and spoke with those folks for a while, and they graciously answered all my questions about trips and put-ins and equipment and such. Then I got off the trail onto Bloxham Cutoff Rd (SR 267) to Newport and then on down the Lighthouse Rd. all the way to the end. It was marvelous.

Bike is definitely the way to see the wildlife refuge. In a car you'll drive by too many things while you go from spot to spot, and you can cover more ground on a bike than by foot. On a fat tired bike you can ride all the dikes, and there are miles and miles of them. I had the good sense to bring my field glasses (knobblers) and a bird guide, so I just went through at a leisurely pace to see what I could see. What I saw was: common moorhen, American coot, cormorant, lesser scaup, redhead (duck), little blue heron, snowy egret, tricolored heron, brown pelican, pied billed grebe, old turkey vultures, a pair of adult bald eagles with a juvy in the nest, laughing gulls, Forster's terns, kingfisher, eastern kingbird, boat tailed grackle, mockingbird, indigo bunting (!), red winged blackbird. I also saw a plant called a Horrible Thistle, not quite in full bloom yet, but deserving of its name.

On my way out I notice an armadillo coming out of the brush ambling towards the road. I slowed down (he didn't) and came to a stop a few feet short of him. Aside from a couple pauses to look me over, he didn't seem that impressed by me, so he carried on across and passed about 3' in ahead of my front wheel and then waddled into the tall grass on the other side. Stupid animals, them. They're by far the most common roadkill around here. Cute in a funny looking kind of way though, so I was pretty entertained.

The bald eagles must be a fixture down there. I've seen at least one every time I've been on the property (except with Mike a couple weeks ago, but we only touched on the end of the road to eat our lunch). The nest was up in a tall pine tree maybe 50 or 75 yards off the road, but clearly visible. It was huge and dominated the top of the tree. The juvenile was also huge, and was very active and bounced around in the nest a lot, fluttering its big wings and facing into the wind (working up the courage?). They were a highlight.

The ride out was pleasant but uneventful up until the last 5 miles or so, when I started to cramp a little and my ass started to go numb. But that's alright. Just over 50 miles round-trip. I came home and cut a salad out of the garden and Aimee made dinner while I took a shower. Chicken Marsala, the freshest salad possible with homemade honey mustard dressing, bread, and red wine. Damn y'all. That's a good day. Sure to be a good night's sleep now too.

Merritt's Mill Pond

2010-03-16T21:48:00.003-04:00

Some customers in the bike shop recently told me about a lake an hour W of TLH called Merritt's Mill Pond, which was notable for being spectacularly clear. It's located right outside Marianna FL (page 32 in your trusty FL gazetteer, B1). MMP is very linear, never more than 100 meters wide, and runs roughly 4 miles NE to SW, beginning with Blue Spring at the N end and terminating at a dam. The water is, in fact, super clear where it comes out of the earth at the spring at a rather voluminous rate, enough to create some current the length of the lake. If you didn't know better, the flow and appearance of it would convince you it's a river.

With the help of a local or two, I found a sandy launch spot at the end of Day Loop Rd just down from the park at the spring (only open Memorial to Labor Day). I paddled the short distance up to the spring and spoke with a couple cave divers who were about to go down. The whole of N FL is world renowned for cave diving due to all the water that carves its way through the soft limestone (see previous posts about Lake Jackson, Leon Sinks, the St. Mark's River, the Wakulla). There was a 10'x10' swimming platform out in the middle of the spring, so I moored up to it and scrambled on. I stripped down to my trunks and dove into the cool clear water. It's 69 degrees year round, which is what I would call refreshing; you don't want to hang out in it too long, but it feels good to jump in for a minute. After that I layed on the platform and enjoyed the feeling of the sun on my skin for a while. When I'd had enough I headed S all the way to the end and then back up.

As a paddling destination, MMP isn't that great. Yes, it's very clear, but it's not that large, and aside from the water clarity, unremarkable. There's a lot of cypress stumps just below water level, which I ran into 7 or 8 times in my kayak (it'd be murder on a motor boat). It wasn't unpleasant, but I wouldn't drive the hour again just to paddle. With the park at the spring closed, though, a boat is the only way to access it, which keeps the crowd down. So maybe a place to escape the heat in the off season? Florida Caverns State Park is nearby, so maybe coupled with that.

I saw a huge flock of cormorants (you can see the double crest for which they're named right now, breeding plumage), great blue heron, great egret, red shouldered hawk, turkey vulture, crows, kingfisher, osprey, and one very large bass. I really will get some photos from the last few trips up soon; my hard drive is full and I've got to make some room before uploading new photos.
.

Minus the sliding board and such, it's a nice spot.

From the spring looking SW

St. Mark's River, Fort to Lighthouse

2010-03-08T18:52:00.004-05:00

After hemming and hawing a little about where to go for the Geezer's second day we settled on putting in at the San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park (the fort) down in the little town of St. Mark's. In addition to the little museum they run there's a public boat ramp and a nice grassy spot which makes for a great kayak launch. I had heard, again from Georgia at The Wilderness Way, that from there you could go about 4 miles downriver to a spoil island that made for a great lunch spot, and then either head back up or carry on towards the wildlife refuge, depending on conditions and your inclinations.

We were on the water around 10:30, slightly before low tide, so we had the last of the outgoing to carry us down. Warm temps and almost no breeze. We found the little island, and it really is a nice spot for a snack, or to overnight (it's designated as a camp site on the FL circumnavigation trail). We decided to go ahead and make the run for the lighthouse to eat lunch. By this point the sea breeze kicked up pretty good, and so that last mile or so was pretty arduous. The corner of the Refuge that you naturally end up at (on the Lighthouse Pool trail) has a fine little sandy beach for pulling onto, and a covered picnic table for lunching, which we took advantage of. After lunch we wandered around the lighthouse a little before heading back upriver. For the trip back up the tide was coming in, and more importantly, the wind was to our back. It chopped the water up pretty good. There are a bunch of oyster bars that are only a few feet wide, but are arranged in long arcs across the river, which can be a hassle for a kayaker, and a nightmare for a motorboat/sailboat, especially at night when you can't see them.

Birds: common loons, American coot, common moorhen, boat-tailed grackle, great egret, great blue heron, snowy egret, laughing gulls and several other gulls and terns, brown pelican, American white pelican (a first sighting for me), cormorant, ring necked duck, and others I'm sure but that's all I can recall right now.

I took a few pictures, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow because I'm tired and full and ready to fall asleep again. Geezer takes off tomorrow and I'm off, so I could paddle, but I don't think I will. A day of relaxing might be pretty nice. Cheers.

Venerable St. Mark's Light, begun in 1829, moved to present location in 1842.

Wacissa Spring to Goose Pasture

2010-03-07T22:52:00.003-05:00

This one is going to be short and sweet because I've had a full day on the water and I'm full of dinner and a cocktail or two and I'm about to crawl into bed for what's bound to be a very restful night of sleep.

My very good friend and former coworker from SMKC days, Mike aka The Geezer, is down visiting for a couple days. He got in last night and we made plans to do the whole Wacissa River today, which is about 10 miles. So this morning we loaded up two cars and he and Aimee and I drove out to the spring (about a thirty minute drive) and unloaded. Then we set up the shuttle, which is a pain in the ass. From the spring it's 15 miles on FL 59 to the coastal highway (98), and then a few miles to cross the Aucilla and turn down some poorly maintained and unmarked sandy roads to the take out at Goose Pasture Recreation Area. It's about 45 mins each way, when you know exactly where you're going, which is tough without the signs (it's not impossible, but I was glad there were a couple people along the way to tell me I was headed down the correct road; important note: when you get to the fork on Goose Pasture Rd you want to stay to the left). The morning started off very chilly (frost on the cars) but warmed up so it was comfortable for Aimee to watch the stuff and read a book and watch birds while we set up the shuttle. We finally got launched a little after 11.

The river was beautiful; pretty clear despite all the recent rain. Temperature was perfect at 65 F and there was just a little S wind every now and then in the open sections. We checked Big Blue Spring for a sec and then headed downriver. Found a lunch spot just above the old dam about halfway down for a nice break in the shady woods. Finally pulled into Goose Pasture at about 4. Along the way we saw a few gators, lots of big turtles (cooters? I'll have to check the books tomorrow), little blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, common moorhen, American coot, kingfisher, red shouldered hawk, greater yellowlegs, eastern phoebe, brown pelican, cormorant, turkey vulture, heard a few barred owls (who cooks for you!?). The great egrets are in their breeding plumage and have long delicate plumes and bright green lores. They were nearly driven to extinction at the turn of the 20th century for those plumes because ladies just had to have fashionable hats.

After we pulled out Aimee spent another hour or so patiently waiting on us to get Mike's car back down there to load up. It's a great trip but a very involved shuttle. Not one I'd want to do real regularly for that reason, but the river itself is lovely.

Big thanks to Georgia at The Wilderness Way who graciously answered all my questions and offered advice and unsolicited updates on the status of the dirt roads at Goose Pasture. Go rent a kayak or take a trip with them.

Now to bed to rest up for another one tomorrow. Cheers.

Kayaking in HELL

2010-02-16T21:20:00.003-05:00

Not that sulfurous lake of fire and brimstone, but on the Crooked River in Tate's Hell State Forest near Carrabelle in Franklin County, Florida. Tate's Hell came by its name about a hundred years ago, so the legend says, when a man named Cebe Tate pursued a Florida Panther into the swamp and became disoriented. He spent several days wandering in that wilderness, lost his gun, and was bitten by a water moccasin. When he stumbled out of the forest and into a couple of locals, who questioned him on his identity, he is said to have replied "My name's Tate and I've just been through Hell."

It's really not so bad, though I wouldn't want to spend a night out there lost and unprepared (lows are in the 20's down here lately).

I drove all that way down there because the rivers up here are still high from all the rain and the forecast called for enough wind to keep me out of the marsh. It wasn't so much the wind as the combination of the wind and the cold. I don't mind either one that much within reasonable bounds, but both of them at the same time is no good. So I figured that I could find some small tidal swamp crick where I could hide from the wind and not have to run any rapids. This morning that was the extent of my plan. I didn't know where I was going to put in or even what the name of the stream would be. I called the forest service office and they said they had some maps, but I gathered that those folks didn't paddle and thus couldn't offer much in the way of information beyond where the boat ramps are. There's a livery in Carrabelle that I'd noticed previously called Expeditions in Hell (great name, www.expeditionsinhell.com). I stopped and talked to a very nice lady there named Rama and she kindly suggested a few options and even gave me a map of the area (on sturdy waterproof paper with launches highlighted, no less). I took her first suggestion, the Crooked River. I put in on SR 67 just a few miles N of Carrabelle where the road crosses the river. From there I paddled E about 5 miles, to Crooked River Recreation Site #2, and back. I passed Rec Site 1 and both looked like great places to car camp. Birds were OK, mostly woodpeckers and kingfishers and the occasional green backed heron. It's a pretty narrow river, 20-40' across, very dark from tannin, through the forest, which is very swampy. The wierdest thing about this river is that the E end flows into the mouth of the Ochlockonee near the Gulf and the W end into the Carrabelle River. Both ends are tidally influenced. So there's no real direction the "river" flows. The section I was on changed directions several times. There are several launches that make for pretty easy access to the whole river. My section was about 10 miles total on an out and back trip in about 4 hours.

Lake Jackson

2010-02-09T19:43:00.005-05:00

We've been here for six months now and today was the first time I've been on Lake Jackson, despite its being only a couple miles from our house. It's a pretty good size urban lake that disappears every few decades when the silt plug in the limestone karst gives way and the lake goes into the ground until a new plug builds up and about a lake's worth of rain falls out of the sky. It's up now as high as many people have ever seen it. I've checked it a couple times now, but either didn't have a boat with me (just looking at the launches) or didn't find it appealing. Aimee's been bugging me to go since we got down here, but I wasn't excited about paddling on an urban lake that could turn into a giant flushing toilet. Besides, the part you can see on North Monroe Street looks like one giant lilly pad (not much water to speak of). On Sunday we went to the state park down the street from the launch on Crowder Rd to check out the Indian mounds and walk the nature trails. Afterwards we drove down to the boat ramp to look at the lake and see what there was to see. It was a pleasant evening with no wind and there were lots of birds, and for the first time I thought it might be nice to paddle there sometime.

Prospects for paddling were bleak today, as there was a 100% chance of rain, and it could last all day. It was already falling when I woke up at 7 this morning, so I pretty much gave up on it, especially after seeing the huge green and yellow mass on the radar. I ran errands and did responsible stuff for a couple hours. Then by noon it had started to clear and by one the sun was out and it was mid-50's and there wasn't any wind to speak of. I was on the lake by 2.

I didn't really go far, but I spent about 2.5 hours out poking into the swollen marshes and fingers watching birds. The birding was fantastic. I saw: pied-billed grebe, double crested cormorant, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, tricolored heron, white ibis, hooded merganser, turkey vulture, osprey (hit the water twice and caught a fish on the second try), American coot by the hundreds, killdeer, greater yellowlegs, belted kingfisher, eastern phoebe, tree swallow, European starling, yellow-rumped warblers (aka butterbutts), red-winged blackbird, grackle, and I'm probably forgetting some because that's a lot and I didn't bring a pen/paper with me, which I should in the future. Add that to all the warblers, wrens, cardinals, robins, chickadees, woodpeckers, and hawks I saw in the backyard this morning and that makes for a pretty good birding day.

There were lots of huge (almost fist-sized) snails that seemed to be associated with clumps of vegetation. Further research suggests that they are the Florida Apple Snail and the biggest snail in North America. I'll take a photo next time.

Back on the Water

2010-01-26T22:13:00.004-05:00

It's been over two months since I was last on the water, mostly due to poor weather whenever I wasn't working and traveling for holidays. Beyond the bad weather though, I've felt a sort of general malaise and lethargy. Perhaps I've been suffering from that seasonal disorder thing. The good side of it is that I've gotten lots of little projects done around the house and several books read and we've been taking the time to cook elaborately. The bad is that I haven't had the will to get outside. I tried last week; even loaded the boat up and drove to the closest launch, but found the river way too high for comfort. I then checked a second spot, Lake Jackson, and despite the decent day and pleasant launch, I wasn't motivated.

Today I got motivated. I left mid-morning and drove an hour S to Wakulla Beach, from which I've paddled once before several months ago. I noted at the time there being plenty of marsh to explore from the launch, and despite the preponderance of marsh time in NC, I'd had very little down here of late, and wished to reconnect, as it were, to the roots of my paddling experience. I launched a couple hours before high tide and in a bit more wind than was really fun. There wasn't much chop to speak of, but it took awhile to get out of the open and into a creek small enough to hide from the wind. From the launch you can either go right or left, with several creeks for exploring each way. Today I went to the right, around the point and back up as far as I could get up the nearest of the major creeks that way. It was pretty tough to find a channel, as there are loads of oyster bars and it was very shallow even at higher tides. Eventually though I managed to find the mouth of a creek and make my way up. After a while I noticed the predictable change from cordgrass to needle rush as I got nearer to the forest, but I also noted that the water was getting much clearer and that there was still plenty of outward flow despite the incoming tide. There is a spring in that area somewhere, which for a bit I thought I was on the track to find, but now I think there was enough water trying to get to the sea from all the rain in the region (all the rivers are up and low areas along roads are flooded) that it was overpowering the tide. Spring or not, the path narrowed to 6' or so and the mud turned to rocks, which was highly unexpected. The water was slightly dark from tannin, but very clear, and there seemed to be hundreds of fish trying to get away from me. As I really got into the woods (palm and cypress) there were signs posted which closed the area ahead from late fall to late spring for nesting eagles. I was curious as hell to keep going, but figured the eagles must need the space, and I don't need a ticket from a wildlife officer, though I doubt anyone would have been any wiser had I continued.

Along the way I saw several alligators (they must not like this cold) and a raccoon foraging for shellfish. I got to sneak right up on the coon cause I was downwind of him and he was walking away from me. He could neither hear nor smell me and didn't turn around and see me until I was almost on top of him. Then he scurried into the tall grass. There were tons of birds that you'd expect in that setting, and a few good surprises: brown pelican, great blue heron, great egret, tri-colored heron, miscellaneous gulls and terns, willet, yellow-legs, grackle, lots of peeps, hooded mergansers, cormorant, osprey, a juvenile bald eagle.

After I turned back I poked my nose into a few little side creeks, but none too far. I really wanted to find a good lunch spot and thought I had when I saw a little beach on a island under some palm trees, but there were signs closing that area til spring as well. Bird habitat. That's fine. So I ate the nabs in my PFD pocket and saved the sandwich for the drive home. The access (this is mostly for my memory) is at the end of Wakulla Beach Rd, which sounds pretty obvious. Thing is, there's no sign from the coastal highway, US 98, that says "Wakulla Beach Rd." At least not that I could find. So, from Woodville highway turn right onto 98, cross the Wakulla River and then turn left down the sand road that's opposite Tripplet Rd (on the right). It's a long sand road that could use some maintenance, but was passable in my truck in 2nd gear. After it dries out some there's beautiful walking/biking paths (unpaved) through the forest there. Worth a look.

Looks like I'll be paddling with the Geezer again here shortly...

Cheers.

Post Script: Upon further research I've found that the area I launched into is known locally as Goose Creek Bay. I was not on the Shepherd (referencing Shepherd Spring) Creek fork, but rather on Gander Creek. Maybe next time I'll wander up and try to find the spring.

Growling Alligators

2009-11-17T17:11:00.002-05:00

Today I learned that alligators growl. I launched the kayak at noon onto Lake Talquin, from High Bluff Landing on the N bank toward the E end of the lake, not that far from where I've previously launched at Coe Landing on the opposite shore. My intention was to paddle W to a large cove that is created where the Little River feeds into the lake, and then to paddle up the river for a few miles to the next access (MLK Blvd or SR 268, Mike). My book (Canoeing and Kayaking Florida by Carter & Molloy) suggests that it's a pretty tributary of the Ochlockonee and that "very large alligators have been sighted here." I didn't notice that large gator line until just now.

It was pretty overcast today, a little breezy, high in the mid-70's; a perfect day to paddle, I thought. At the launch there was an otter swimming around and staring at me unload my boat. I started W, hanging about 30' off the beach. About half a mile into the trip I heard this low, deep, guttural growling sound coming from the bank nearby. I couldn't tell if it was coming from the woods or the tall grassy swampy area in front of the woods. I stopped and listened and it kept sounding every 20 seconds or so. I didn't know what the hell to make of it; bear, bobcat, what? I spun around and paddled slowly in the direction of the noise, staying mindful of my distance from the treeline should a bear come flying out of the brush. When I was about 20' from the tall grass, something low lurched quickly and noisily forward, indicating a gator. I never saw it, but I backed off and headed on my way. I had no idea they could make that noise. A little research online returned this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCx8oFETyDQ

That was exactly the noise I heard. This is the wrong time of year for mating displays, so my guess is territory. Thing is, I've seen plenty of alligators, large and small. One friend suggested that I'm getting a little blase' about them. I've never heard this noise before. I didn't even know they made noises. It came from other places as well; either there was an echo on the lake or other gators were responding to this one's call (rather disconcerting). I saw a pretty big one a little further down, and the wind picked up enough to slap little waves into my beam. The combination of wind, chop, gloomy cloudy skies, and my perception that there were multiple large alligators all around me that were growling diminished my desire to carry on alone enough for me to call it quits. I know that it was probably fine, but no point in tempting fate and a possible future as alligator shit. I stroked back and loaded up. I spent the afternoon improving the garden and reading; very comfortable.

Ochlockonee River, Tower Rd. to Old Bainbridge

2009-11-03T17:52:00.003-05:00

I had some responsible adult stuff to take care of today, so after I got it done I rewarded myself with a kayak trip nearby on the Ochlockonee, from Tower Rd. up to Old Bainbridge and back. I've done the first two miles of this before. It's not a remarkable section of the river, but it was a really pretty day, highs in the lower 70's, blue skies, light wind, so it didn't really matter as long as I was on the water and enjoying the day. I saw alligators from 9' to 1' (the little fella was pretty funny looking), lots of turtles, turkey vultures, hawks (broadwinged?), juvenile white ibis, juvenile little blue heron, and an eastern kingbird. I got out at Old Bainbridge to stretch my legs and snack and noticed that there was a hog's head and feet sitting in the water right by the boat ramp, just a few inches under. It looked like it had been there a couple days. I'm surprised a gator hadn't drug it off to chew on. This section of the Ochlockonee is about 6 miles long, so I did 12 miles, in about 4 hours.

Torreya State Park

2009-11-01T19:06:00.002-05:00

Aimee and I enjoyed the wonderful fall weather today by hiking at Torreya State Park, about an hour west of Tallahassee. It's pretty hilly by FL standards, with bluffs over the Apalachicola River. Not counting connectors (in blue above; map available at trailhead) there are about 14 miles of trails. We started from the picnic area and walked down to the stone bridge then hung a left (onto the orange trail) to start the loop on the left side of the map. We lunched at Rock Bluff Primitive Camp and then took the shortcut back to the car via the main road. It's crazy how much the flora changes. One minute it looks like Appalachia and then there are stands of Needle Palm (like palmetto) and bamboo. We saw deer, northern flickers, one bald eagle, and a ton of piliated, red-bellied, and other small woodpeckers. The flower below is called a blue curl; we found it in a sunny meadow/pine stand along with lots of other wildflowers. We're definitely going to make an overnight trip here soon. It was practically deserted and it was beautiful and there were nice amenities like stacked firewood near the campsites.

In Other News...

2009-10-25T20:13:00.004-04:00

...I've acquired a few new things that will compliment my paddling (and other outdoor pursuits) nicely. First, a Camelbak Unbottle, which is basically like one of the popular hydration backpacks, without the straps. Its designed to be strapped to a PFD or the deck of a kayak (where I used it today). I rather like it. At 70 oz capacity, it's plenty for a full day on the water without having to carry multiple smaller bottles. Details at http://www.camelbak.com/sports-recreation/hydration-packs/unbottle.aspx

Second, after paddling today we went to the local paddle shop, The Wilderness Way, which was quite conveniently located just a couple miles from the launch, where I purchased The National Audubon Society's Field Guide to Florida, which should help me ID the random plants and animals I come across in my wanderings. It's an overall sort of deal ("birds, animals, trees, wildflowers, insects, weather, nature preserves, and more"), so not too specific, but enough to get me pointed in the right direction in our new environment. N FL is different enough from NC to necessitate some ecological education.

Finally, I got us both USCG approved whistles, which makes us legal, and safer. I read recently of a Wisconsin man who went missing while kayaking on Lake Superior. He was apparently both skilled and experienced, which should serve as a reminder for the rest of us (http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/65917347.html).

Wakulla River, and MANATEES!

2009-10-25T18:45:00.008-04:00

Aimee and I paddled the Wakulla River (pronounced wuh-KUL-uh, or WAW-kul-uh, depending on the prominence of your southern accent) today. The Wakulla flows crystal clear from a massive spring (where there's a state park) to it's confluence with the St. Marks River about ten miles downriver, and then on to the Gulf of Mexico (all water around here goes to the Gulf of Mexico) just a few miles further downstream. We put in at the highest accessible point, which is CR 365, aka Shadeville Rd. Just above this access there is a fence down to the water level which prevents upstream travel (unless you're a fish, turtle, alligator, or manatee). The river is never more than a couple of miles from the St. Marks Bike Trail (which we've ridden and posted about). The bike trail ends at the same place the river does, the Town of St. Marks, which makes for a very convenient bike shuttle. I locked my bike up at the take out (San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park) and then drove back up to the launch. We were on the water a little after ten. There are occasional private docks, but houses are rarely visible, and due to the abundance of manatee on the river, all of the upper section is a no wake zone, so motorized traffic is a non-issue. Despite the minor intrusion of humanity on the banks, the river is beautiful. The forest is thick, the water clear blue-green. It's fairly small for the first few miles with lots of little cypress swamp islands. The cypress and cedars hang with Spanish Moss and palmettos blanket the floor. It's lovely. The next access is under US 98, where a livery operates (I gather that many people fore go the shuttle and put in at 98 and paddle upstream and float back down). After 98 the river opens up and gets pretty wide, which marsh on either side as a buffer between the river and forest. By the time you get to the take-out it's getting downright marshy.

The wildlife was great. There were a couple of broad winged hawks in our backyard this morning when I was loading, which I took for a (very non-superstitious) good omen. Just before we got to the launch we saw a (live) deer on the side of the road. This is a great birding river; we saw double-crested cormorant, anhinga, pied-billed grebe, osprey, eastern kingbird, great egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, yellow crowned night heron, piliated woodpecker, american crow, turkey vulture, misc. gulls, and even a bald eagle circling high overhead (unmistakable white head, black wings, white tail, and HUGE). There was an alligator or two, and raccoon on the banks. The highlight, and real reason for choosing this trip for today, were the manatee. The first ones we encountered a mile or so down from the launch, feeding on grass beds under water (there were two). They seemed completely unconcerned about us floating just a few feet overhead. Every once in a while they came up to breathe, and then went right back down to keep feeding. Another guy was a little further down. He had a tracking buoy attached to his tail and was easy to spot because it floated a few feet behind him when he was close to the surface. He swam along with us for quite a while, practically serving as our guide for the better part of a mile. A few others popped up to breathe once in a while. It was so cool. They were only a few feet away.
.

Aimee with manatee in foreground. Her boat is 14'6" long.

My paddle blade in the frame, which indicates how close this big guy is.

We finally reached the takeout, where my bike was still safely locked up and untampered with. Aimee hung out and read while I pedaled 8 miles up the bike trail to pick up the truck. It was a nice ride. I'll definitely be doing more bike shuttles in the future. It was a great day on and off the water, and now I'm about to eat dinner (chicken stir-fry) and relax. Cheers.

Pork Chops

2009-10-20T20:24:00.004-04:00

Hot damn! We ate excellently tonight. Dinner consisted of: bone-in pork chops in herbal dry rub, seared and cooked to perfection in the cast-iron skillet, topped with sprigs of fresh rosemary (from our herb garden), apples and onions sauteed in brown sugar and butter, mustard greens boiled to death southern style complete with ham hock, and cornbread muffins (with an egg that came out of a chicken that will live it's whole life less than 30 miles from right here), washed down with Sailor Jerry's Rum and coke. I'm pretty proud of it. It was homey, but refined. If I'd paid good money in a fine restaurant for it I'd be singing its praises. And we ate it all out on the slab, by citronella candlelight.

Graham and Kennedy Creeks

2009-10-13T20:18:00.005-04:00

Back on the water today courtesy of N FL paddler and bos'n, Michael (http://www.solitaireboats.com/). We had big plans to launch from Carrabelle down on the gulf and circumnavigate Dog Island, a smallish barrier island about 3 miles offshore and 6 miles long, but weather wasn't fully cooperative. The fog was thick and the forecast shaky, so we opted for more protected water in the Apalachicola National Forest not too far away. After discussing the options, he suggested that we knock down two interesting paddles that were a short drive away.

First was Graham Creek, which can be accessed right under CR 65 in the forest. It's a small blackwater (quite literally, the darkest water I've ever seen) creek on the edge of Tate's Hell State Forest that snakes through fascinating cypress/tupelo swamp on its way to the East River and then the Apalachicola River further downstream. The banks aren't really visible (though water was pretty high); there's just a tree-line that forms the edge of the creek. Michael said that when the flowers on the tupelo trees are in bloom you can hear the bees from a half mile away. The only wildlife we saw was a gator. He was big enough and moving fast enough that he made a wake. This one will be worth seeing again in the winter when all the leaves are off the trees and again in the spring when the trees bloom and the bees are in. We didn't go far because we wanted to spend the bulk of the day at the next spot, so we were on and off the water again in about an hour.

The second trip was on Kennedy Creek, another blackwater creek a little further up CR 65 and deeper in the forest. The launch is from a place called Cotton's Landing (there's signage) a few miles down dirt forest roads. Somewhere along the way to the Apalachicola River the flora shifts from the cypress/tupelo swamp seen previously on Graham to cypress/tupelo/pine/willow mixed forest more typical of other regional rivers I've seen so far. Near the mouth of the creek there are a few houseboats. We went into the river looking for sandbars to lunch on, but the water was so high (from all the recent rain in GA) that they were all submerged. We managed to find a spot on the opposing bank where we ate and rested for the trip back. Out and back was 12 miles (on Michael's GPS). A few birds: little blue heron, green heron, great egret, hairy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, piliated woodpecker; I'm sure I'm forgetting some. A good trip and worth another look.

Despite being over twice my age and having children older than me, Michael's pace is fairly grueling. He called our pace today, "a little slow." I thought we were moving along pretty well. He's got a crew of like-minded paddlers that I'm hoping to join for a few trips, if I can keep up. We'll see.

Ochlockonee Evening

2009-10-04T20:48:00.004-04:00

I opted for a late trip today after yard and house work. I've been working my way up the Ochlockonee River from Lake Talquin, but I was stopped this last week by fallen trees obstructing the river within about a mile of the next launch at Tower Rd. Tower Rd is very conveniently located for us, about 5 miles away, so I figured I could put in and paddle down, perhaps to the same blockage that turned me around from the other end. I didn't make it quite that far, but I think I was close. It's an interesting little piece of river; there are lots of trees down under the surface of the water, so that the limbs climb straight up and the water flows around them. In places it's almost creepy looking. When I got to the first area that I couldn't really paddle through (it's an easy portage though, over a sandbar on the bank) I worked on it with hand-saw and garden shears and cleared a little, but I realized that I'll need better tools, or more people to help, or more time to really get anywhere with it. The trees that have lain there for a while have had all of their soft wood worn away by the sun and wind and water, leaving just the hardest densest portions. So a branch the size of a forearm looks pretty easy, but it's so damn dense, you've got to work pretty hard to get through. Not wanting to kill my evening huffing and sweating alone in the woods to no avail, I decided to paddle back upstream past the launch to the railroad bridge that's just below Monroe St. where it crosses the river. This also is an interesting piece of river, alternating between long straight sections and twisting meanders. There are some really crazy cypress formations along the rather high banks (partly because the water is low and what's usually under is now exposed). Lots of white sandbars for resting or camping. Because of the downed trees, you can't really put a motor boat on that river right now, so it was very quiet, and I didn't see another soul on the water (but I also didn't cover much area either, about 4 miles, 1 down from the launch and 3 up). Despite the proximity to civilization, it feels pretty remote. I'll use this paddle as the quick and easy one when I just need to get out on the water and think or don't have time for a real excursion.

Old Books

2009-10-01T22:33:00.003-04:00

Aimee brought home a couple of volumes tonight (for research in her Victorian Lit class), of Cornhill Magazine, an English publication, from 1870 and 1894 respectively. While those are the dates of publication , it's not immediately clear when they were bound, and thus how old the books we now have in our house are. They are obviously very old though. If they were bound within a short period of publication, which would have been normal, then the books in my living room right now are quite ancient by our standards, and it's remarkable to hold them. The older was published when Ulysses Grant was president. We were in the midst of Reconstruction. The Civil War was only recently finished. As for the second volume, Grover Cleveland was president, Hawaii was not yet a territory, and America was still a backwater. So much has happened while these bound volumes of pulp sat safely on shelves that the world would be barely recognizable to period readers of the time. They have a wonderful musky smell that that feels like history itself, and a satisfying heft. The leather binding is cracked and one turns pages gently, lest they break and fall out. Just think about it for a moment; to hold a snapshot of culture from the world as it was in 1870...no WW1, no WW2, no automobile or airplane, an America less than 100 years old, cowboys, Indians, the birth of baseball, 40 acres and a mule, and so on. That is an amazing thing.

Ochlockonee River, US 90 to Tower Rd

2009-09-29T20:59:00.003-04:00

I was thrilled this morning to find the air a little chilly, as the weather finally has a little feel of fall in it in North Florida (high of 82 today, 92 yesterday; a considerable improvement). To celebrate the cooler weather, I paddled the Ochlockonee solo again today. I put in at my turn-around point last week, under US 90 (Tennessee St.) and paddled N, with the intention of going all the way to the next put in, but I was stopped by felled trees about a mile from the end, and thus stopped short. The launch is fine, public boat ramp under the overpass. As soon as the sound of the traffic on 90 faded the sound of traffic on I-10 became audible upstream. There were men working on the bridge, breaking large chunks of concrete off the railing which plopped loudly in the water beneath them. Despite this intrusion (the sound of traffic), which faded quickly then, this section of the Ochlockonee is actually quite beautiful. After I-10 I never saw another soul until I got back there; there's no development, and it feels very remote. There are lots of willow trees (I think) and cypress, pine, and palmetto (note to self: get a FL flora book). I used my little saw on the leatherman to clear some small paths through the tops of trees that had fallen over the river, but when I reached the point seen below, I called it and turned around. There were several alligators, ranging from small to large, and belted kingfishers, green heron, little blue heron, vulture, ducks, anhinga, and woodpeckers. Wrestling with the trees showered me with little spiders, so I found a sandy beach to de-spider on and eat lunch. There are several sandbars on this section that are good for that sort of thing, which is a nice change from the previous section (US 90 to Lake Talquin). Estimating my turn-around on Google Earth, I think I made it about 4 miles upriver before I turned around, so 8 total, in about 3.5 hours. It was really a nice paddle, despite the the road noise at the start, and it'll be worth putting in at Tower Rd. and paddling down to see if I can work a clear path through with shears and a real saw.

Lake Talquin/Ochlockonee River

2009-09-22T17:46:00.005-04:00

I finally made it back out on the water today, opting for something closer to our side of Tallahassee than what I've previously done. Lake Talquin (so named for Tallahassee and Quincy) was formed when the Ochlockonee River (pronounced ok-LOK-uh-nee) was dammed, and is thus fed by the river at one extremity, and drained at the other, roughly 15 miles SW. I launched from the quiet public ramp at Coe Landing Rd, about twenty minutes from home, and paddled E toward the river. The most interesting thing about this paddle is that in the space of six miles you're in a lake, a freshwater marsh (where the river opens into the lake), and a blackwater river. I poked through the marshy area (good birding) into the river and went up to the bridge where US 90 crosses, which is about 6 miles upstream from the launch at Coe Landing. I wondered briefly if I would have a hard time getting back through the marsh to the lake, as there are myriad ways of doing it and it's easy to get disoriented (follow the current), but it was no problem. The banks often consist of white sand, but there aren't many places to stop and get out, as they're either high or overgrown with vegetation. The plants in this area are a blend between tropical (palm, palmetto, huge leaved things) and what I was used to in SE NC (pine, cypress, cedar), which is interesting. I saw two small gators and one very large one. As for birds, there were anhinga, cormorant, great blue heron, little blue heron (adult and juvenile), great egret, green heron, osprey, some hawks that circled like vultures (I've got to learn my buteos), white ibis, florida gallinule (common moorhen), and others. There were lots of very large osprey (or maybe even bald eagle) nests in the marshy section worth checking again in the spring. All told I covered twelve miles out and back in about 4 hours.

One of the little guys

Upper St. Marks River

2009-09-07T14:42:00.002-04:00

Aimee and I paddled the upper section of the St. Marks River this morning. The put-in/take-out is just beyond the Natural Bridge Battlefield State Park. The spot we used was immediately past the park, but there's a better one just a little further up. The trip is supposed to be 2.5 miles upriver to Horn Springs and back, for a total of 5 miles, but we weren't able to get to the springs due to rather large trees that have fallen across the river. We portaged around the first one (somewhere around 2 miles up), and quickly encountered another. We were looking for a short easy paddle today (thus the choice of this one), so we decided to call it quits and float back. Someone suggested that the hunting club that owns the adjacent land cut a few trees to limit access by paddlers. It's going to take a good bit of work to get all the way through. Next time I'll take a handsaw so I can at least clear some OK portages and deal with brushy blockages, but the trees aren't coming out of there without a chainsaw and a lot of hard work, so I'll let them be. Despite not making it to the springs, we still had a nice time. The river isn't very wide, ranging 15'-35' across, running through remote cypress/pine forest with dense undergrowth (a lot of palmetto). We didn't see any wildlife besides a couple of birds, but there were a lot of animal droppings where we portaged and it was very undeveloped, so the potential is there. I want to see a bear. It's a nice spot for a short paddle, but be prepared for the portages/haulovers. I'm going to wait for cooler weather to thin the vegetation and then see if I can get all the way up. There were lots of spiders strung up in the overhanging branches. Cheers.

Wakulla Beach

2009-09-06T21:58:00.003-04:00

Paddled this afternoon with new friends, Zach and Ellen (via Brooke), in the marshes at Wakulla Beach, which is a little west of St. Marks. The "beach" is at the end of a long unpaved road through beautiful St. Marks Refuge forest off of the Coastal Hwy. At the end there's a small lot and a sandy water access that's about 40' long. It looks a lot like the Basin at Fort Fisher (for you folks back home). From here you launch into a big shallow bay with numerous marsh creeks and little marsh islands. The water is brownish, but alive with mullet and something else that was feeding on schools of fish from below. We poked into a couple of creeks and then paddled back across the bay. Along the way I saw some gulls, great egrets, osprey, black crowned night heron, and willet. Something bigger than a mullet made a huge splash, but all we saw was the splash, so who knows. On the sand road out of there I saw a big snake, which I'm pretty sure was an Eastern Diamondback Rattler, but I didn't get a photo so I'm not %100. It was at least 3' long. I stopped and stared, but veered safely around him so he could go about his business. It was a pretty short paddle, but entirely worthwhile because they showed me a launch that has several trip options from short forays to as far as you want to go, and I got to paddle with nice people who will hopefully become folks we can trip with regularly.

The rest of the day was spent putting tricolor sage, silver thyme, and garlic in the herb garden, reading, cutting my hair, and hanging with Aimee. Tomorrow we're paddling the short upper section of the St. Marks River from the Natural Bridge to Horn Springs. I'll post the results. Cheers.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

2009-09-02T21:44:00.004-04:00

Read it. It's quite digestible and informative. Here's my quick synopsis:

Diamond is an evolutionary ornithologist who spends a lot of time in New Guinea. An indigenous New Guinean man asks him one day why Diamond's people, meaning people of European ancestry, have so much cargo (stuff), while his people (and by extension the rest of the colonized or formerly colonized world) have so little. He thinks about it for twenty years, and this book is his attempt to answer the question. In a very simplistic form, his answer is this: geography. Eurasia had the good luck to have an east-west orientation in which there is less climatic variance than is found on north-south oriented continents (the Americas and Africa). Additionally, Eurasia possessed abundant natural resources which included plants that were both nutritious and domesticable, large mammals that were domesticable, and the minerals that could be manipulated into metal tools and weapons. Plants that could be domesticated and were nutritionally rich enough to supplant hunter/gatherer lifestyles led to settled and semi-settled populations and a food surplus. A food surplus frees members of said society from the otherwise constant duty of feeding themselves and allows them to become specialists in other things, which leads to innovation (in things like metal tools, weapons, and writing). East-west orientation means that new knowledge in farming is easy to transmit over a landmass because the climate is more constant and in Eurasia there are fewer geographical barriers (like the Andes or the Isthmus of Panama) to inhibit the flow of information and technology. Settled populations with access to domesticable mammals learn to use those animals and therefore live in close proximity to them, which leads to the germs that infect those animals eventually learning to infect humans too (which is where we get the flu and all of the other modern and historical epidemics). Those humans develop resistance to those diseases. So by the premodern period we have cultures in Eurasia (like the Spanish, English, Dutch, and French, among others) who have the good fortune of centuries, millenia, of information passed along to the from the trials and errors of their ancestors, writing to pass information along with, a host of diseases and resistance to many of them, metals that have been shaped into swords and guns and armor, domesticated horses to ride into and out of battle or to carry information quickly over long distances, and food enough to supply (with varying degrees of success) long open ocean voyages of discovery. Transport those people to other parts of the world, where large mammals succumbed to quick extinction upon the arrival of humans that they hadn't evolved to fear and thus were easy dinners, and were therefore without animal borne disease or resistance to it. Diamond estimates that 95% of the pre-1492 population of the New World was killed by disease before they every saw a white man. They had much less advanced metallurgical technology with which to defend themselves, and thus the survivors of the sicknesses had to contend with guns and steel swords and armor with wood and bone weapons. This is why the Incans were subdued by the Spanish rather than the other way around. Diamond expressly dismisses any notion of racial superiority. He points out that people, the world over, have become adept at surviving and even thriving in the geographical and natural situations in which they have developed. Most of us would die if we were suddenly dropped in the Congo or New Guinean rain forests, where those respective peoples have managed to live for thousands of years.

So that's the meat of it. I just reduced a four hundred page book to a few hundred words, so of course you can poke holes in it. But Diamond makes a good case for his theory while recognizing that he is, himself, spending 400 pages on the whole of human history, and thus necessarily simplifies. On the whole, though, I'd say he's got it right. In any case, you'll learn a lot about the world by reading it.

St. Marks Trail

2009-08-30T16:11:00.005-04:00

Aimee and I biked the St. Marks Trail (SMT) this morning from the "trail-head" on Woodville Hwy to the town of St. Marks and back, about 16 miles each way. The trail is part of FL's Rails to Trails program and actually begins in town very near the FSU campus and proceeds S to the point where we accessed it. It's a nice little lot with restroom facilities and a bike wash. The trail is very flat (3' elevation change on the section we did), reasonably smooth, and mostly straight. It runs alongside the highway, but there's often enough of a forest barrier to obscure the sight and sounds of the roadway. On the way we passed several cow and horse pastures and through lots of pine forest. We saw 5 red headed woodpeckers in one copse of trees and a pretty big deer. We stopped at San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park at the end to snack and rest up for the return trip. The area, which is at the confluence of the St. Marks and Wakulla rivers, was utilized by Spaniards in 1528 as the first site of non-native shipbuilding in the New World. It has been the site of numerous wood and stone forts, belonged to Spain, then England, then the US, then Florida, was controlled briefly by Andrew Jackson, and was used by Confederate soldiers to keep the Union blockade from moving any further upriver (Tallahassee was the only state capitol east of the Mississippi River not to fall to the Union). Now it's a quiet grassy area with ruins, picnic tables, and a public water access (that I'll be using shortly, despite the pesky $5 launch fee). After wandering around a bit, we rode thru St. Marks (not much to it, and not all that charming really) and then biked back up the trail to the car. All said we went about 33 miles (Aimee's longest ride yet). We started at 8:30 and got back around noon. Now resting and reading. Cheers.

Locust menage a trois

Figs

2009-08-29T20:15:00.004-04:00

Figs are in right now at the local grocery store. Buy one get one free, in fact. So we've been sampling the biblical fruit. One of the last meals we had in Wilmington was served by our friends Colin and Barb, and was begun with a plate of figs wrapped in prosciutto, which was delicious. Right now we're snacking on fresh figs stacked with prosciutto and blue cheese, which really ties the flavors together and is very fricking good, while we sip peach lambic beer and make the main course, lemon pepper chicken with roasted potatoes, small onions roasted in balsamic, olive oil and sea salt, and a salad. It's a nice way to end the day. Tomorrow we're biking the St. Mark's Trail. I'll post on it. Cheers.

St. Marks River, US 98 to Springs

2009-08-25T20:28:00.005-04:00

OK, I can't seem to find the words to write this trip report with any poetry, so I'll just stick to facts. Paddled solo yesterday on the upper section of the St. Marks River, launching under and returning to the bridge on US 98. On the water around ten. 6.5 miles upriver/up-current through remote forest to some houses at the N end, where the otherwise narrow waterway opens and expands to several hundred yards wide. At this point the river goes underground and reemerges a little further N. There were loads of birds in this open marshy area, as well as bulls foraging and feeding on the water grass in the knee high water. Took a short break to eat a peach and some nabs, splash some water on my face, then float the current back to the launch. Almost 5 hours on the water, about 13 miles covered. Pretty trip, but kind of unremarkable aside from the completely unexpected siting of four huge bulls with 2' horns that I had to paddle within 30' of. I only saw one alligator, and it was small. Good birds in the open area, but little on the trip up.

After the trip I stopped at The Wilderness Way to inquire about a guide book to help trip planning. When I asked the proprietress, Georgia, how tidal the St. Marks River is, she replied, "very." I had launched on a mid falling tide, and thus fought the worst of the current as the force of the normal flow of the river coincided with the pull of all that water trying to get to the Gulf of Mexico just a few miles further downriver. My return was all with current, but it had slowed substantially as the incoming pushed against the normal outward flow, and was thus not the torrent I had expected to carry me home. Still, my return took half the time as my ascent. Next time I'll start the trip with the last hour or so of the incoming tide and return on the falling. The book was out of stock, but expected in later this week, so hopefully I'll have one soon. It's a good paddle shop and I'll be happy to get information and other paddling needs there.

Options

2009-08-24T21:51:00.003-04:00

I've got the day off tomorrow, so I'm trying to figure out where I want to paddle. Not that there's a shortage of options; there's a ton of possibilities. But I don't know anything about any of them. In NC I was familiar enough with local waters to choose a trip based on the local weather, wind strength and direction, tide, and my mood. Too many consecutive trips on the river sent me back to the marsh. Too much time in the marsh sent me looking for blackwater trips; and so on. Sometimes I wanted to do things I hadn't done much like paddle into the ocean, and other times I wanted something comfortable and familiar like looking for birds in the waterways behind WB. Furthermore, a fact I've long been very aware of and grateful for, I had paddling friends with loads of experience in regional waters. When I had a day off, I would look at the weather, consider what I wanted to do, and plan a trip. Or the Geezer would call me and say "Hey, the tide looks good for X, let's go." I was rarely disappointed. Right now I have neither the experience to choose a trip based on its character, nor a friend to advise me. Of course, these things will come with time, but in the meantime it makes my trip selection somewhat arbitrary. So I'm sitting here with my Florida Gazetteer and Google Earth trying to figure out the best trip. It's looking to be a launch in the gulf village of St. Marks, which will give me a choice of three directions: up the St. Marks River to the St. Marks Spring, up the Wakulla River towards its spring, or down the St. Marks River into the Gulf of Mexico, where'd I poke around in the marshes around the rivermouth. I'll shoot from the hip.

Wacissa River Headwaters

2009-08-23T14:32:00.003-04:00

We FINALLY got to get out and paddle this wonderfully cool morning, after a little more than two weeks of the seemingly endless process of settling into a new house and town. For the first excursion I chose the Wacissa River (pronounced wah-SIS-uh), which is a pretty short spring fed river typical of this part of FL, roughly 30 mins from Tallahassee. The parking lot was nearly empty when we got there to unload the boats at the headwaters. We paddled S from the launch, pulled into a small creek or two looking for a place called Big Blue Spring, which we found, and then downriver about 3 miles to a small river island called Cedar Island, which we did a little loop around and paddled against the light current back to the launch. Big Blue is a huge azure hole in the earth that is about 45' deep, with precipitous walls that seem to go straight down. There are two swimming platforms, but we didn't use them this time. The water is about 70 degrees year round, so I'll be using it again to escape from the heat down here. The two most striking things about the trip were the water clarity (crystalline) and the wildlife, especially the birds. We saw great egret, tons of snowy egrets, great blue heron, little blue heron, tricolored heron, green heron, white ibis, swallow-tailed kite, common moorhen, American coot, kingfishers, cormorant, anhinga, osprey, ducks, a hawk, and probably, but not positively, a purple gallinule. We also saw plenty of Suwanee Cooters (turtle) and one little gator. Aside from Big Blue, opportunities to get out of the boat were non-existent, so we were both glad to get back to the lot at the end after over 3 hours in the cockpit. It got warm, but it's really not too bad today, even as I type this in mid-afternoon it's not that bad outside. Now we're going to work in the yard and do standard Sunday stuff like read and nap. Cheers.

First Bike Ride in Tally

2009-08-18T20:31:00.002-04:00

This morning I undertook my first commute by bike in my new city. I hadn't done it yet because I was trying to figure out a good route. Again, it seems that I was a little spoiled back in Wilmington. My ride there was slightly less than 4 miles, almost entirely on quiet residential roads that were designated bike routes, with negligible elevation change (due to the coastal plain). Here, it's almost 7 (which is fine, 4 wasn't really enough), on busier roads, with a lot of hills to climb (about 130' in elevation change). I'm definitely not used to hills. There were a couple on my route that were very long, at least by my standards. I finally figured a way to the shop that is almost all on roads with bike lanes or residential. Unfortunately, I only got to go one way, as there is an evening thunderstorm around 6 pm every fricking day right now which is really starting to piss me off. My boss says that this weather pattern will change soon and the riding will be great. I hope so. In any case, the more arduous ride is a good thing. It's better for me that way. And along the way I pass a meat market and an old man selling produce out of his garage. Cheers.

Tallahassee

2009-08-13T21:31:00.003-04:00

If you know me, or you've paid attention to the little hints, you know that I've been planning a move to Tallahassee, Florida, for some time. I'm following my girlfriend, Aimee, who starts a Ph.D. program in a couple of weeks at FSU.

So now I'm in N FL. I'm very sad to leave my friends and paddling partners and waterways of SE NC. But in the trade I get a whole new set of creeks, rivers, and open water (the Gulf this time) to explore. I hope that those of you who were kind enough to leave nice comments or check regularly will continue to do so, even though you don't stand to learn anything new about paddling in the Cape Fear region. Maybe you'll learn some of the same things I'll learn about paddling and biking here in the panhandle of Florida. So far it's pretty good, though I've been too busy unpacking and getting settled and starting a new job to hit the water yet. I've got a couple of trips planned though, and I'm stoked to meet people and find new water down here.

I know it might seem like a bit much, but Aimee and I decided that the easiest way to keep friends and family abreast of us is to make a new blog about the house and what we do with it. You can see it at 4032elderlane.blogspot.com.

Here's a photo of our new hanging herb garden:

Parsley, Chives, Spearmint, and Basil

I AM a Monkey's Uncle!

2009-08-06T19:43:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I posted about soon becoming an uncle. It's been my most popular post to date. Today I actually became Muncle Josh (see the previous post for that explanation). Here he is, little baby Max:

And here's a photo of a baby monkey:

See the family resemblance?

Google Earth

2009-07-26T21:20:00.003-04:00

Google Earth is an awesome tool for lots of things. I like to use it to find new routes, see where random creeks eventually end up, and keep track of where I've been. When I started this blog I also started logging my paddling trips on Google Earth, mapping them out and using the ruler to figure out how far I went. Now the image is covered with lines and it's neat to look at it and see everywhere I've been. Above is Wrightsville Beach with some of my trips mapped. The white lines represent aproximations of where I went. I've been into many a little creek that isn't indicated on there, so it's still not complete, but you get the general picture. I guess it's a little OCD, but I think it's cool, so what the hell?

Marsh

2009-07-26T18:33:00.002-04:00

I paddled with some of my old SMKC folks today in a super high tide and increasing wind. It was Aimee and I, Colin and Barb, Geezer, Brooke, and a friend of hers. We launched at Jasmine and fought the current S down Bank's Channel to Shinn's and then flowed thru Hidden Creek to the old dredge spoil, where we stopped for a break. We walked all the way to the other side and enjoyed the elevated view. Geezer showed us a fox den he'd come across and we found a couple of sand dollars. It was blazing hot on there. Back on the water and to the takeout. On the water a little over two hours. Then we all cleaned up and went to Incredible Pizza for their killer $5.99 lunch special (a personal pizza, salad, and drink). It was gooooood. Now we're packing for our upcoming move, which is kind of sad, but exciting to go somewhere new too. Cheers

Handsome Fellers...

2009-07-22T21:01:00.004-04:00

Look at 'em. Me with Geezer (still sporting his SMKC gear) and Sharkbait at my Bon Voyage party this past Sunday evening. There's almost 50 years of SE NC paddling experience in this photo. Those boys are two of my favorite people, on and off the water.

Geezer's response when he saw this photo was "How come I'm the only one that looks half in the bag?"

I reckon I look a bit loose myself.

Pound Cake II

2009-07-16T22:29:00.004-04:00

Tonight we had fish tacos with Mr. Geezer and his lovely and charming lady. The fish was cod, breaded in panko and topped with a cabbage/cilantro/lime juice/zest mixture, fresh tomatoes, cheese, and secret cream cheese sauce on corn or flour tortillas with side of black beans and queso fresco. For desert we served the pound cake again, toasted as before, with vanilla ice cream, but this time with crushed raspberries. Once again, it was friggin' delicious. Man, what would life be like without good friends and good food? I don't want to know.

Find some people whose company you enjoy and share some good food and drink with them.

Cheers.

Pound Cake

2009-07-15T21:28:00.004-04:00

Aimee and I had the good fortune to dine at Colin and Barb's last night, where we ate crab cakes, corn on the cob, and good bread (among other things). We brought the desert, which was my mom's pound cake (a real no-shit true to the name pound cake, I believe), which we toasted and topped with vanilla ice cream and ripe nectarine slices tossed in fresh chopped mint and a wonderfully thick balsamic vinegar that was bottled in 1975 (if you're saying "wow!", I was too). It was amazing. There was universal agreement that mom's was "the best pound cake I've ever had." Which brings me back to a friendly argument I had with my good pal Wildwoman (a pseudonym, some will know, some will not) some two years ago, in which we both insisted that our respective family matrons made the best pound cake. Her's was made by her grandmother, and while I'm sure that it was fabulous, I submit as evidence the testimony of Colin, Barb, and Aimee that my mom's is the best pound cake that has ever graced the South. Originally I had placed my grandmother's cake against her grandmother's, but my grandmother has quit making pound cake because she recognizes the superiority of my mom's and feels she can't compete, so that's where the argument lays.

It was hilarious when it happened, because it went something like this:

Wildwoman: My grandma's pound cake is the best ever.
Josh: No it isn't, because my grandmother's pound cake is the best.
Wildwoman: Everybody in (insert god-forsaken little rural NC town) knows that my grandmother made the best pound cake in the land.
Josh: Well they're all wrong, because everybody in my town knows that my grandmother's pound cake is the best.
Wildwoman: Well I guess we'll never find out, because my grandmother is dead.
Josh: Then I guess I win, because mine isn't. (Don't worry, it's cool, we have that kind of friendship.)

The customer who observed this exchange was thoroughly dumbfounded. It was really funny.

So, not that I love to kick the shit out of dead horses, but my mom's pound cake is better than my grandmothers. Therefore, my mother's pound cake is better than Wildwoman's grandmother's.

My logic is Fort Knox-like, no?

While I may have the best pound cake in my family, Wildwoman has a respectable advantage on the homestead farming front. Check out her blog at: http://bluefieldacres.blogspot.com/

As for the future of this pound cake discussion, I'm quoting Julius Caesar upon his crossing of the Rubicon on his way to becoming the head of the Roman Empire: "Alea iacta est."

Do your worst, Wildwoman. Do your worst.

Longboat Surf Session

2009-07-12T14:19:00.003-04:00

I paddled with some CFPA folks (Rezac, Layne, and a nice couple from the mountains) from Trail's End to Masonboro this morning. Launched about 2 hours before high tide, 10 mph W wind, not too hot. Through the marsh via a pretty small creek to the island. After checking conditions and a little swimming/bodysurfing, I decided to carry my boat over and try a little ocean side paddling. Chris joined me, which I was glad for because he's very competent and while the conditions were great for my first surf launch/land with small 2' waves, it didn't hurt to have some supervision and someone to ask questions on technique. The launch went fine, paddled over a couple small waves and I was out (this wasn't a big accomplishment, it was small and breaking close to shore). I stayed just outside the surf zone and paddled for waves. Most of them I caught unbroken and just sort of got a short little fast ride, but on 2 or 3 I was able to ride in roughly to same position I would on my longboard, as far as where I was positioned on the wave. I'm tentatively pleased with the Tracer's handling in the surf, as it caught waves fine and even handled pretty well. I never got flipped, even when the waves closed out and broke over my bow. I just braced and leaned into the wave until it passed me and spun around to go back out. We played around for 20 mins or so, and then I decided to attempt the landing. I waited for a break between the small set waves and caught a little one in, braced into the shorebreak, popped my skirt and jumped out in a few inches of water and pulled the boat up, basically dry. It went fine. Afterwards we messed around a little while longer and then paddled back to Trail's End, arriving around noon. It was a fun time and a good first experience riding waves and launching and landing in the surf zone. Thanks to Chris for posting the trip and answering my questions. Cheers.

A Bright Shining Lie

2009-07-08T09:17:00.004-04:00

Today is the day that I will finish the 792 page Pulitzer Prize winning book by Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie, which endeavours to explain the American involvement and subsequent failure in SE Asia through the vehicle of John Paul Vann, first a military advisor and then pacification director who spent a decade in country until he was ultimately killed at the end of our involvement in a helicopter crash (wow, that's one hell of a sentence). It's been very good, and very informative, but I'm excited to move on to something else now, as I feel like I've been reading this book for a long time. I'm off to work now, but there's only 19 pages left, so I've got a date with the end this evening. Cheers.

Poor Masonboro

2009-07-06T20:58:00.004-04:00

This photo was taken by a Star-News (the local paper) photographer on either Sunday or Monday. It doesn't matter what day it was taken, because it's absolutely fucking absurd on any day at all, ever. I don't know of words strong enough to express my anger and confusion at this sight. What the hell is wrong with you people? Every year on the 4th of July every tool in NC gets in his powerboat/jetski/partybarge and takes his idiot ass and all of his idiot friends over to Masonboro Island, which is a beautiful place that's protected by numerous laws, to drink cheap beer out of styrofoam coolers and celebrate with all the other shitheads. This happens every year, and afterwards we always look at the photos and say "Gosh, that sure is awful that they trash it like that." And then we act like nobody can do anything about it. Bullshit. We need to get on the horn to every organization that has pull over there and demand that this problem be dealt with. If that means policing the island and no beer for a weekend, OK. Great. Problem solved. I don't care what we do; stone people who litter, whatever, but I know that this shit has to stop.

End rant. Sorry about the language, but I'm not mitigating it because it's an accurate representation of how I feel.

Kure Beach Double Sprint Results and Reflections

2009-06-28T14:40:00.006-04:00

Race #3 completed this morning. I was up at 4:30 to load the car and get some oatmeal and coffee down before leaving. I got to KB just before 6, got my timing chip and marked (they write your bib number on your arms and legs), and headed to the bike transition area for tech support. Tech support was the usual pumping up tires. It's sort of amazing to me that triathletes aren't generally more bike savvy. I'm no genius, but I can pump up a tire. I was on the beach by 7:45 to set up my beach transition area before the 8 am start time. This race is unusual in that there are two transition areas rather than one. The beach TA is used for transitioning from the swim to run, and then back from run to swim at the end of the race. There I place a bucket of water to rinse my feet, my running shoes, and socks. The bike TA just housed my bike and helmet. I didn't get really nervous until right before the race, which went like this:

Swim 1 (375 meters): The water temp is a very comfortable 80 degrees. The wind wasn't bad, and the Frying Pan Shoals buoy predicted 2' at 7 secs, so I planned on decent swim conditions. Despite this, there was a fair amount of chop on the water, and the waves were 2-3'. I still had my best race swim yet though. I was in the second wave, which started at 8:04. My coworker Covi and I stood at the back of the pack to avoid being run over by better athletes. At the buzzer we all ran out into the water and started pushing through until it was about waist deep, which was a bit out. I think there was a little bit of a rip, because before I knew it I was rounding the first buoy. I still sidestroked a lot, but there was more crawling than previously, so that's good. I eventually made it back onto the beach, where I dragged my ass through the soft sand to the TA, dropped my swim cap and goggles in my water bucket to await my return, and put on my running shoes.

Run 1 (1.5 miles): I'm a slow runner, especially after a swim. My legs felt like dead weight. It got better the further along I went. There were lots of nice folks standing on their lawns (the run went through a residential area) cheering us on and spraying hoses into the street for anyone who wanted to cool off. It was a very hot run. Volunteers did a good job distributing water at 3 or 4 points on the run course. Covi and I ran the last half mile or so together. Arrived at bike TA and slapped my helmet on.

Bike (20k or 12 miles): The bike course was almost perfectly flat and smooth and very fast. It ran out and back in 3 mile legs, and so was done twice to get in the full 12 miles. Heading out there was a little headwind, but not bad. Covi and I jockeyed for position. A lot of people passed me. I drank my bottle with electrolyte replacement and snacked on GU Chomps. Overall the bike went pretty well, but there isn't a lot to say about it. I checked my computer when I got home and I averaged 19 mph (its probably a little higher because my ride to and from the TA and any walking around with the bike is included in that average). The bike is still my favorite part. Into the TA, racked the bike and stowed my helmet.

Run 2 (1.5 miles): Out of the TA and back to the water the way we came originally. Not far into this run I had to stop and stretch my legs for a minute, which wasn't good for the rest of my race. Second run was hotter, because the sun climbed higher while I was biking, and there wasn't much breeze in that neighborhood. Finally got back to the beach, stripped the shoes and socks and picked up my cap and goggles, which I put on as I ran up the beach to the swim start (about 250 yards on soft sand, brutal).

Swim 2 (375 meters): I kept telling myself that the last swim would go fine, and mostly it did. It felt sooo good to get in the cool water. Once again I was around the first buoy in no time at all. I sidestroked very little this time, I think because my nerves were settled and I was almost done. Usually the swim is first and I think I get psyched out by the fact that I'm racing and swimming in the ocean. This time I relaxed and just freestyled along at a comfortable pace, breathing every other stroke and checking my heading every now and then. I felt cramps looming in my legs, so I trying not to use them too much. They set in after I rounded the second buoy and turned towards shore. At first it hurt a lot, but it didn't really matter because part of my swim training has been with a float in the pool so that I don't use my legs at all and I use my upper body to pull through the water. But when I got to where I could put my feet down I did so because I was exhausted, which exacerbated the cramps. I bodysurfed in as much as I could, but I had to run up the beach about 20' to the finish line, which was very hard and very painful because my thighs were locked up in a continuous cramp. Still, I managed across and just got out of the way and started rubbing the muscles to relax them. I hobbled over to a water table and sat down and kept massaging my thighs and drinking water until I could walk.

Then I was done. I got my stuff and packed up and drove home.

Results:

Swim 1 (375 meters): 11:00

Run 1 (1.5 miles): 15:11

Bike (20k or 12 miles): 36:14

Run 2 (1.5 miles): 16:33

Swim 2 (375 meters): 13:46

Total Time: 1:32:42

Place Overall Men's: 229/289

Place Men 30-34: 32/33

Still not last in my age group! Not the improvement I was hoping for, but that's ok. TRAIN HARDER. This may have been my last tri for this year. We're moving to FL in August. So now I'll go into a long term training mode, and hopefully by the time I pick it back up again I'll have something to show for it. Either way I'm having fun and getting fit.

Kure Beach Double Sprint Triathlon

2009-06-26T22:42:00.004-04:00

Sunday morning I'll be in my third race, the Kure Beach Double Sprint. Once again, the format is a little unique. It begins with a 375 meter ocean swim, then a 1.5 mile run, a 12 mile bike, another 1.5 mile run, and finishes with a repeat of the swim. It's called a double sprint, but the distances are actually the same, so it's really just a normal sprint with more transitions and wacky order. I've been training with some intensity, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. Right now they're calling for warm weather, light offshore breeze, and small seas, which is good for me. I'll post my thoughts on the race on Sunday afternoon/evening.

Good luck to folks paddling around Bald Head tomorrow. I'd join you if I weren't racing the next day. Cheers.

Geezer's Exercise Loop

2009-06-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

Today I paddled with the Geezer again. We did his fitness loop, which begins at Wynn Plaza at WB and heads N up Lee's Cut to the ICW to Shinn's and back up Bank's Channel, with the option of going out Masonboro Inlet, which we took. We took a short break at the swimming hole to refuel, put a skirt on, and practice a re-entry or two. Then we fought the current out (incoming mid-tide). At the end of the jetties I decided that it was rough enough for me there without heading out, so I waved Mike on and he did the trip around the sea buoy while I screwed around in the chop at the mouth of the inlet. The wind was pretty stiff from the S, and there's a few feet of swell in the water (boding well for my early morning surf sesh tomorrow), so it was pretty rockin' out there. Mike told me after that he wouldn't have gone out in a decked boat either (he paddled a surf ski). We didn't see any remarkable wildlife (pelicans, terns, gulls, oystercatchers, and great egrets all made appearances), but it was a good trip due to company and the challenging conditions. Paddling twice in as many days; that's pretty good. If I get some quality waves in the morning I'm going to call this week very successful. About 8 miles in ~ 3 hours? Cheers.

Night Mission on the Cape Fear

2009-06-18T09:10:00.004-04:00

On a recent evening walk along the riverfront near our house I observed how lovely and smooth the water looked at the end of the day once the wind calmed and the air cooled off. I thought it would be great to do some sunset paddling, especially since the put-in is so close to where I live. I mentioned it to the Geezer and he said that he'd been wanting to do that for a long time and had just never gotten around to it. So we hatched a plan to look for the right night, and last night worked.

I got off work at 6, rode my bike home, and loaded my gear on the car for the 6 block drive to the launch (I know, driving 6 blocks is a little ridiculous, but it's too much to carry that far solo and I don't have a paddle cart). We were on the water a little after 7. Tide was about two hours into falling and the breeze was light out of the S. We paddled against the current about 3 miles up river to an old rice marsh and explored that a bit. The tide was ripping out of there, so the paddle out of the marsh was fun because we were really hauling ass. The grass in there is really high, almost double the height of cordgrass at the beach. At one point there was a loud noise, like something crashing through the marsh right next to us. I thought that a gator would come flying out at me at any second, but it ended up being birds lifting out of the grass. It's amazing how much noise little creatures can make (ever thought there was a bear running through the woods only to discover it was just a squirrel?). As we got out of the marsh and back into the river for the return trip, the last light was just disappearing, and we were soon in complete dark. It was really nice and the lights twinkled and the air was cool. There was almost no boat traffic. When we got back towards town we paddled along the edge of the riverwalk. Wilmington is a pretty town from the water. It was funny to watch people react to us. Due to current we were moving pretty fast, so to them it must have seemed like these two people in boats just appeared from nowhere, silently gliding by, and then disappeared back into gloom.

We got off the water around 9:30. We covered around 8 miles. It was a really good time and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.

Fun Day

2009-06-14T19:41:00.004-04:00

Last night Aimee and I decided that today would be a play day. So this morning we got up at 7 and made a pot of coffee and breakfasted on leftover ham and cheese casserole (delicious and made up as we went) before loading the bikes up for a trip to Wrightsville Beach. We were on the road by 8. I called our good friend Barb to see if she wanted to join us, which she did, and we all rode up to the north end of WB where there's limited parking and plenty of space on the beach (a directly proportional relationship). After a couple hours of sunning, swimming, and bodysurfing we were joined by her husband Colin for lunch at my favorite local pizza joint (her treat, thanks Barb). Then we rode home, with a brief stop at the market to wait out an abrupt summer storm. The rain began slowly in big portentous drops before we got there, and afterwards there was a wild fog from all that water evaporating off the still hot pavement.

We rode 26 miles all told, which was Aimee's biggest day yet. Bikes rock. It was fun to ride down, there's absolutely no headache at all to find a place to park, and it's free, both in respect to gas and parking (a whopping $1.50/hour and friggin' stupid).

It was a good day. I spent the rest of it reading and watching surf movies (Sprout, by Thomas Campbell, an old favorite for its art house eccentricity and admirable departure from the surf film norm of the same pros riding the same waves on the same equipment to the same pop punk soundtrack) and eating pork tenderloin braised in milk, bolognese style. Now I'm going to have a rum and ginger soda with fresh mint and beat Aimee in dominoes. Cheers.

Eagle's Island Solo Circumnavigation

2009-06-11T16:14:00.004-04:00

After some hemming and hawing over where to paddle this morning I decided to launch from the closest possible place, which is the foot of Castle St., about 6 blocks away, into the Cape Fear River and paddle around Eagle's Island. I did the trip with the Geezer back in March, so I felt comfortable enough with the distance and the route to go it alone. Tide was high in Wilmington at 12:46. I launched on the incoming at about 10 am and paddled to the S end of the island, against the flow of the river (due to tidal influx). Once I was in the Brunswick River I was able to just float with the current and light S wind all the way to the Cape Fear. The last leg I was going into the wind, which picked up a little, but not bad. I never did see the tide top out and turn around, despite being on the water until almost 1:30. All the crab pots were still pointing N. Go figure.

I saw one smallish alligator; we cautiously regarded each other for about two minutes and then went our separate ways. The birds were pretty good: several osprey, great blue heron, green heron, snowy egret, great egret, one lucky little blue heron, cormorant, gulls, red-winged blackbirds, etc. All very handsome right now. The birds seem a little more vibrantly colorful at present, particularly the little blue heron was a very rich hue and the epaulets on the red-winged blackbirds are striking. I saw one osprey that looked perfectly black and white in all the proper places.

It was interesting to be on the water for almost 4 hours by myself, just observing and thinking about music and books and food and whatever came to mind as I paddled along. Good trip, but better to time it so that you hit the S tip of the island as the tide hits dead low.

Local Sessions

2009-06-08T21:47:00.003-04:00

The second image is my article in the new issue of our SE NC surf pub, Local Sessions. See www.capefearhodad.blogspot.com for the full story. It took almost ten years of surfing, but I've finally gotten my photo in a surf mag. Super cool.

Shakespeare on the Green

2009-06-07T09:30:00.001-04:00

Aimee and I went last night and it's pretty good. Support your local arts scene (by going to free shows!).

Rescue and Recovery 101

2009-05-31T21:38:00.008-04:00

Roll Attempt (successful) a couple summers ago with Jasmine Park visible across the waterway

Photo by Hunter Brown

Aimee and I paddled with Colin and Barb this morning. Launched at about 9:30 into a light S wind from Jasmine Park on Harbor Island at WB. Tide was fairly low when we started, so we went up the fairway to the ICW to Shinn's and then into the old swimming hole behind on the Masonboro side of Hidden Creek. Colin and Barb chilled on the banks while I practiced my solo re-entries, cowboy and paddle float assisted. It's the first time I've done them since the end of last summer, and the first time period in my Tracer. Both went fine, though I could definitely use some practice and a little more grace. I suspect that had I been in rougher water (the kind that I'm likely to have problems in anyway), it would have taken a couple of attempts. Then we talked Aimee through the wet exit (roll over and fall out) and I talked her thru a T rescue while we were performing it. She's pretty lithe and slipped right in. Then I fell out and she T rescued me (still with me directing from the water and Colin and Barb coaching from the beach). The water feels great right now. I think with a little practice we'll both be pretty darn competent with 'em. Once the tide was sufficiently high, we paddled back across Shinn's and into Hidden Creek and back to Jasmine Park. We saw the usual avian suspects, like tri-colored heron, great egret, snowy egret, great blue heron, green heron, least tern, brown pelican, cormorant, osprey, american oystercatcher, willet, and other miscellaneous peeps.

After the trip they hosted us for a great Sunday lunch of quiche made from Lydia's local Bladen County free range eggs (super rich) with shrimp, sliced tomatoes tossed in olive oil and balsamic and sprinkled with parsley, mint, and two kinds of basil (all out of their garden, I believe), a loaf of good crusty french bread, sliced apples, Roquefort cheese, and Spanish olives. It was delicious. Killed the rest of the day reading and napping on the couch. A pretty successful Sunday in my estimation.

Holy Ghost Tent Revival and Bike Dude

2009-05-30T21:41:00.010-04:00

Life rolls on comfortably, for now. Foot's all healed up from the fire ants that camped with us last weekend, where we saw a great band, The Holy Ghost Tent Revival (available on iTunes or at http://www.holyghosttentrevival.com/). It's a little bit jazz, a little bit ska, a little bit bluegrass, and a rockin' good time, especially live. Plus, they're from my old stomping grounds in the Piedmont. It was such a great surprise, because the music at this thing is usually kind of not my thing, but these guys really brought a lot of energy to the party.

In other news, a dude came by the shop this week on a bike that was loaded down as heavily as I've ever seen one, with Bob trailer loaded and modified to hold another rack. It was nuts. He says that he's been traveling continuously for three decades, on the bike for 14 years, and has 84 thousand miles logged by bike in that period. He weighed the bike at a truck stop at 300 lbs. He even had a cat for a while (though she never did get used to biking, damn willful animals). He has no address, just where he lays his head at night. When I asked him where he was from, he gave me the most interesting answer I've ever heard to that most common of questions. "I'm from Earth; I'm an Earthling." Then he started talking about the evils of personal property and national borders (I'm not entirely unsympathetic) and wanting to meet Douglas Adams at the restaurant at the end of the Universe. He also objected to having his picture taken, for reasons I didn't pursue (something about native peoples and souls and having rights to his own image, fine). A little odd, but perfectly harmless and very interesting. The free-est person I've met in a while (though I was in a crowd of similars last weekend).
.

Bicyle Super Tourist Kelly something in an unauthorized and clandestinely taken photo

Last night was May's Critical Mass. Had about 60 or so on the ride, including several friends and coworkers. We broke off from the ride when it got downtown to stash bikes at my place and then walk down to the waterfront for the FREE Journey tribute band that was playing. The show was fun, the band did a great job imitating Journey, and lightning played in the background close enough to be interesting, but not dangerous.

Tomorrow Aimee and I are paddling and lunching with good friends, and I'm planning on a little rescue and recovery lesson for her, review for me. I'll post it. Cheers.

Roasted Bruschetta

2009-05-24T22:09:00.004-04:00

I don't usually post about food, but this was so good and easy that I'm going to.

Ingredients:
3-4 small-medium fresh tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic
fresh basil
1/3 of a medium onion
red pepper flakes
salt/pepper
olive oil

Slice the tops off of the tomatoes and put them on a dish (I used stoneware and it worked great) that has been rubbed with olive oil. Place in oven under broiler and roast until skin is easy to remove. Top the still whole tomatoes with crushed red pepper and sea salt, add sliced onion and garlic cloves (tossed in olive oil) and put back under broiler. After everything gets good and roasted pull it all out. The onion and garlic cloves should be soft. Coarsely chop fresh basil in liberal quantity and throw in a bowl. Add still hot and whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped onion, and finely chopped garlic. Run a knife thru the bowl to slice the tomatoes up a little (don't do this on a cutting board, you'll lose all the juice). Add salt/pepper to taste and serve spooned onto toasted bread.

This was amazing. The best part was that it just came together spontaneously. I've made bruschetta before but never roasted the ingredients first. I don't know where I got the inspiration, but we had a bunch of tomatoes and fresh basil from the local farmer's market and I grubbed through the kitchen and found the other stuff and just did it. It's the best appetizer I've ever made. Try it. Change it. Let me know how it turns out. Cheers.

Fire Ants and Cankle

2009-05-24T17:53:00.005-04:00

Part of the deal with outdoor activity, especially in wet environs, is that you are bound to abuse the hell out of your feet. I was bitten by a fire ant this weekend camping. I'm not absolutely sure that it was a fire ant. I never saw the bugger, but I've my foot as evidence and there was no shortage of fire ant mounds around the site. At first it was just a little itchy spot, but then it started growing. It's been two days now, and I think it's peaking and should start going down again soon. In any case, I've got one raging cankle. The first photo is from the end of last summer, when I don't know what happened, but my left foot swelled up (note cool tan lines from my kayaking footware and even cooler reef scar from surfing in Hawaii). The second was taken today. I'm off to take care of the old dogs so I can use 'em for a while longer.
.

Good Times...

2009-05-19T19:23:00.002-04:00

...will begin in 5 minutes. You either know, or you don't.

Scotty, Dad, Cindy, Willy and I. 4 of ~2000 Friends that I'll see again this weekend.

Surf and Turf Super Sprint

2009-05-16T19:43:00.001-04:00

Finished my second race today, the Surf and Turf Super Sprint in Surf City, NC. Woke at quarter til 5, got my stuff (prepacked) and drove up to Topsail. There by 6. Met the boss, got my packet, helped set up Tech support area, set up my transition area, and then pumped tires for an hour. Nothing too exciting here. I ate a Clif Bar for breakfast and downed a gel 15 mins before the start at 8.

The Swim (750 meters): was brutal. Ocean swim, comfortable at 70 degrees in my ls spring suit. I started with the second wave. Seas looked fairly calm to me from the beach at 7, but I think the tide was coming in and it picked up by 8 to fairly choppy for a swim (my first ocean swim). Had I been surfing I would have called it waist/stomach high. Getting out through the breakers was pretty rough, despite my comfort with being in the surf zone from almost 10 years surfing. Once I made it around the first buoy I settled into a pace that was OK, but all I could think about was getting it over with. I finally rounded the last buoy and swam for shore. The run across the beach to the TA was pretty rough and my legs felt like they would give out, but I was stoked to be done with the swim and going into the first bike leg.

Bike 1 (4 miles): Into the wind on the first half, with it for the second. Averaged 17/18 into the wind, 20/21 with. Drank some water from my bottle with GU2O electrolyte replacement to stave off cramps.

Run 1 (2 miles): Not too bad. Ran my standard pace of 10 min/mile (too slow). It seemed longer than 2 miles. There was a beach leg, mostly on hard sand, but the stairs over the dunes and soft sand on the upper beach was rough.

Bike 2 (4 miles): Better than the first bike, same average into the wind, but picked it up slightly for the second half. Ate a GU gel halfway thru to help me through the last run.

Run 2 (1 mile): A little faster paced than R1. Jubilation at being almost finished.

Times and Places:

Swim: 22:21
B1: 15:12
R1: 20:58
B2: 13:12
R2: 9:27
Finish Time: 1:21:07

Place Overall Men's: 96/131 competitors
Men 30-34: 11/13 competitors

Lessons Learned and Reflections: Again, I need to get better (if not faster, at least more comfortable) at swimming. Specifically I need to practice swimming from the beach out through the breakers, and then back in. I'm going to spend as much time in the pool (and ocean) before Kure Beach as I can. I've got to run and bike faster, and in succession. I WILL IMPROVE BY MY NEXT RACE (June 28). I was finished by 9:30 and Aimee was there, so we walked over to the beach and I stood in the water for a few minutes to cool down, then packed up and rinsed off, changed, watched half of the awards ceremony, then drove home. Halfway home I was suddenly exhausted and starving. At home I showered and ate 3 black bean enchiladas and then went to work for the day. Tonight my folks are in town and took us to our favorite restaurant for my favorite curry, and it was excellent as always. I'm not too stiff yet, but I'm sure tomorrow will be a different story.

Race Bike

2009-05-15T14:56:00.000-04:00

The Bike I'm Riding Tomorrow

24 Hours to the Surf and Turf Super Sprint

2009-05-15T08:39:00.000-04:00

Right now tomorrow I should be either running or on a bike in my second triathlon in Surf City, NC on Topsail Island. I've got to get up there by 6 a.m. to get my race packet and help with tech support for Two Wheeler. I've been training some; not dedicated swim/bike/run for hours every day, but making sure I get some physical activity in. I joined the Y and I've been using the elliptical and swimming there. I ride my bike rather than use my car all the time, and I've gone on a few runs too. Today I'm resting, getting my stuff together, and hanging with my folks. I'm a little nervous about the swim; it could be calm and glassy or big and mean based on what the wind does in the next 24 hrs. Otherwise I'm looking forward to it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Friends

2009-05-13T23:20:00.001-04:00

In the bad economy (and afterwards), make sure you take time to do little things that actually matter. Go for a bike ride or a walk, hold hands with your partner, eat a good meal, have friends over for dinner. There are lots of things to do that don't cost money and can be more rewarding than the things that do. Life isn't about cars and houses and rings and material; it's about experience, and knowledge, and relationships. We had dinner with friends tonight, and played a game. It didn't cost much, but it was a great time, and I'm grateful to be able to share with people who've had an impact on my life, and whose lives I think I've impacted in return. Thanks to all my friends, you know who you are. Cheers.

Barrier Island Solitaire

2009-05-10T14:10:00.000-04:00

I've been reading Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey; it's amazing and I recommend it highly to anyone who likes nature lit. On Friday evening I got inspired, checked the weather, and decided that if the forecast held I would paddle over to Masonboro Island to spend Saturday night alone among the dunes and sea oates and stars. Saturday morning I threw the essentials in my car, loaded the boat, stopped at the store for food, and went to work. I got off at 5, on the water at 6. I put in at Trail's End because there's plenty of (free) parking and it's further behind Masonboro, so I can get a more private campsite than the spots on the N end of the island where all the motor boaters go. I launched into a stiff SE sea breeze and paddled into it for a bit, trying to find a new way to the back of the island through the marsh. After 2 failed attempts to get through all the mud and grass, I decided to get back in the ICW and head north to more familiar territory. I took a wrong turn, but it ended up being a good one and I paddled through a huge back bay to a sandy beach on the back side of the island, landing at about 7:30. I walked over to the beach side, not too far (the island is wider at some points than others; the thinner the better, less distance to carry gear/boat), and found some dunes to hide from the wind (still strong). I hauled everything across and set up camp in the lee of dunes while the sun set and turned the sky psychedelic. Camp was very simple: tent, tarp ground mat, sleeping bag, dry bag full of extra clothes for pillow. I figured a clever way to anchor the tent to the ground also (standard tent stakes are almost worthless in loose sand); I put my paddle at 0 degree feather and then ran it between the fabric and the spars that give the tent some form, then piled sand onto the blades. After I got everything squared away, I stripped to nothing and jumped in the ocean to wash the labor and the grit off. It was brisk, but not uncomfortable, and the wind felt wonderful on my bare wet skin. I put on my favorite running shorts and a synthetic t-shirt, cleaned my glasses of salt crystals, and sat down to dinner: apple, beef jerky, naan, bruschetta, gouda, and screw top wine, and watched the last of the light fade away to darkness. I wasn't sure what phase the moon was in, but she wasn't up yet, so I pulled out the head lamp and grabbed my book, which I figured I would finish that evening (correctly). It was a fitting place to finish it, laying in my tent with the doors open and the breeze (abating now) flowing through. There were no insects and the temperature was perfect (I never got too cool in just my shorts and t-shirt). After a while reading I glanced up, out my tent door, toward the ocean, and saw the full moon, deep red, rising on the horizon above the dark ocean. I've never seen it like that. I flipped off my lamp and got out and stood watching it rise, turning from red to orange, and finally to yellow as it climbed higher in the air. It was so bright that when I turned away I could clearly see my shadow stretched out in front of me on the sand. Looking up I could make out the Little Dipper and a few other stars (I don't know my constellations very well). I returned, eventually, to my book, and reading Abbey's reverie pondered my own, sitting alone in my tent on an island, the only sign of other humans the lights back on the mainland and up at WB, polluting the view of the stars (though the full moon helped that too). I finished the book and turned my light off and fell asleep on the hard sand with nothing to block my view of the sky but the thin nylon mesh screen of my tent. I woke occasionally (damn hard sand like concrete, get a sleeping pad) to roll over, always checking the position of the moon as it moved across the sky.

I woke a little after sunrise to a very light westerly breeze and the waves expending themselves onto the sand 50' away. As soon as I opened the tent (if you leave the doors open all night ghost crabs will come in, I heard them scurring around the tent) mosquitoes and no-see-ums pored in, which sent me scrambling for the bug spray (grabbed as an afterthought as I left my vehicle). Properly protected, I grabbed a banana and walked down to the water to sit and eat my breakfast and consider my day's paddling options; I can either put in where I took out last night, or I could surf lauch and head N to the inlet. Being alone and still respectfully cautious in the ocean, I opted for the marsh. Decision made, I checked the water level at my launch and broke camp and carried everything back across the island and loaded up. This is hard work, so on my final trip to grab the last few things I stripped again and ran into the cold ocean to bodysurf a few waves without the drag of boardshorts. Getting out, it felt so good to feel the breeze and warm sun on my skin, so I just stood there on the beach for a while without a stitch on and smiled like an idiot at the lovely morning and my good fortune to spend it here.

Camp, a little after sun up

Back across the island again, last few things loaded, I pushed off into the marsh and headed N. I remembered from the maps (which I didn't have with me) that the big marsh bay I was in connected via creek to a familiar creek and then to Masonboro Channel. I figured that if I kept the dredge spoils to my left and kept taking creeks that seemed to head toward the back of the island I would eventually reach the creek I know. Along the way I saw an osprey with a fish clutched in his talons, and whimbrel with their long gonzo beaks, common and least terns, laughing gulls, great egret and tri-colored herons, semi-palmated and black-bellied plover, and plenty of pelican. Fish darted away, stirring the mud in the shallows. Eventually I realized that I was in familiar water and from there paddled up Masonboro Channel across the inlet and up Bank's Channel. I stopped at Wynn's Plaze by the bridge and walked over to Robert's Grocery for a cup of coffee. After this I paddled back to Trail's End via my old SMKC fairway and Cut-through Creek to the ICW. I got off the water at about 1. I paddled about 4 miles last night and almost 10 this morning. It was great.

White Lake Official Results

2009-05-08T18:56:00.000-04:00

They're finally in, my official times.

Swim (750m): 19:53
Bike (14 miles): 50:11 (includes transitions 1 and 2)
Run (5k): 30:01
Total Time: 1:40:04

Place Overall Men's: 222/324 competitors
Place in my age group, Men 30-34: 20/27 competitors

Check for yourself at:
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=1284

Obviously, I'm no star triathlete, but for my first race I'm pretty happy with my results. Like I've said before, there's plenty of room to improve in every discipline. I'm working on it for next weekend. Stay tuned.

...Tri, Tri Again

2009-05-07T21:08:00.001-04:00

I've signed on for my second race, the Surf and Turf Super Sprint Triathlon in Surf City, NC. The race is next Saturday morning (May 16) and consists of a 750 meter ocean swim, a 4 mile bike, a 2 mile run, a 4 mile bike (again), and a final 1 mile run to finish. It's a strange format. It's pretty soon after White Lake, but I can't think of any good reason not to do it. My entry is comped by my employer, I already bought all the essentials that I needed for the first race and therefore have what I need for the second, and I get a T-shirt out of it. I rested on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and then started training again. Yesterday I ran to work (almost 4 miles) and today I rode the bike to the Y, joined and swam. I'm wearing about ten too many pounds of fat right now, so I'm going to up my cardio and burn that crap off.

I haven't posted my official results from White Lake yet because they've got my time off by 10 minutes. I've been assured by the organizers that it will be fixed, at which point I'll put it up.

White Lake Sprint

2009-05-03T19:07:00.000-04:00

I finished my first race this morning in about 1:40. I drove up to our cabin (Two Wheeler Dealer is a sponsor and does tech support, so we warrant a cabin) to spend the evening and prepare for the race. There were about 8 guys in the group. My boss, Jim, was kind enough to cook burgers and walk me through race procedure. Reggie Barnes hung out with us, which is pretty cool because he was a pro skater and is pretty connected in the action sports world and owns Eastern Skateboard Supply, which is one of the biggest skate product distributors in the country. I once met Tony Alva and Skip Engblom at his annual open house, which was super cool. Anyway, I never got nervous last night like I thought I might, and even managed a decent night sleep. Today began before dawn. I had a cup of black coffee and a banana for breakfast, then took my stuff to the transition area and set it up, again with Jim's able guidance. We did the tech support thing for a while, which mostly consists of pumping up tires, and at around 7:30 I left to get dressed and ready.

Because of the previously mentioned mix-up (the event folks had me registered for the Half-Ironman rather than the Sprint) I got stuck in the first open place available for the start time, which was female age groups, the 5th wave, starting at 8:12. Immediately before the race I ate a powerbar, went to the john, put on race shorts and wetsuit (courtesy of Kim, thanks), grabbed my swim cap and goggles and walked down to the water to wait for my wave.

The Swim (750 meters): I jumped in when the 3rd wave was starting and started to make my way up to the start line. I got some pretty funny looks because everyone else in my wave was female, and I was a little scruffy this morning from not shaving for a couple days. At about 8:15 they announced our start in 10 secs, I started my stopwatch, listened for the air horn, and started swimming. The swim course consisted of three pretty evenly spaced legs, forming a big triangle. I immediately swam over to the left of the pack to have a little space for myself and started swimming. At the completion of the first leg I was getting a little winded from the freestyle stroke and switched to a sidestroke for the rest of the swim. I have got to become a better swimmer. I'm surprised that it was that bad, because my training went pretty well, but I think that I was caught up in the fact that I was actually swimming in the race and not in the pool and didn't focus on a pace that was comfortable for me. Also, Kim's wetsuit was a little small for me and it was the first time I swam in it, so I think that didn't help either. Regardless of these excuses, the answer is that I need to become a better swimmer. The second half of the swim was pretty much all sidestroke, I was breathing heavy, and I wanted the swim to be over. I crawled out of the water 20 mins after I started and started jogging down the pier. I stopped and stripped out of the wetsuit and carried it into the transition, where I pulled on my socks, shoes, and helmet, downed some water with an electrolyte replacement powder mixed in, grabbed the bike and trotted to the bike start line.

The Bike (14 miles): consisted of two laps around the lake, each 7 miles. I spent the first half of the first lap recovering from the swim at a pace of about 18 mph. After that I was feeling pretty good and picked it up to around 20 for the remainder. I think I could have gone faster, but I was concerned about leaving myself enough to run, so I settled into a pace that I was comfortable with. The course was flat and mostly smooth with two spots where you had to make right turns. On the second lap I was starting to feel really good, and passing people who had passed me before (though there were some fast people that passed me throughout the ride). I tucked into aerobars and focused on racing, and it was a thrill. I don't know exactly how long I was on the bike. The computer says the wheels were moving for 46:05, but that includes moving into and out of the transition area, so I'm guessing 45 mins on the bike (I'll know more when the results are posted on the web).

The Run (5k): My run transition was pretty fast, I think. I biked in my running shoes, so all I had to do was rack the bike, take off my helmet, put on a hat, and start moving. I did take the time to finish my electrolyte drink and grab a pack of Jelly Belly energy beans (which I had pre-opened). The first couple of minutes running felt pretty weird, coming off the bike, and I was a little worried that my calves would cramp up, but they never did. There were people packed around the start of the run, which was also the finish (it's an out-and-back course), and they were all cheering and yelling, which was motivating. I felt OK during the run, not great, but I was doing it, and I was excited to be almost done. I saw Jim and a few other people on the run course. At the turn around I was getting pretty anxious to get to the finish, but I maintained a reasonable pace. I picked it up with about a quarter mile left, and sprinted out the last 100 yards or so. People were yelling and I heard my name announced and that was it. I was done.

Aftermath: Aimee came to welcome me across the finish line, and I gave her a sweaty hug. I exchanged congrats and handshakes with friends and coworkers. Aimee and I walked down to the lake and I sat in it for a minute and waited for my heart rate to drop to a normal level. She brought us a picnic lunch, which she went to get while I took a cold shower and loaded everything into the car. We ate ham and avocado sandwiches and sat on the pier listening to the awards ceremony. Then we left. I came home and took a nap, then we went for a walk downtown and got a coffee. I feel a little stiff, but pretty good (of course, there are a couple of Advil and a rum and ginger ale helping that). I'm happy with my race. It was new and it was fun. I'm glad I did it, and I think I'll do some more. I need to get better at all three sports. I'm interested in seeing how I compare to my peers, so I'll post the official results as soon as they're available. Cheers.

Race Prep

2009-05-01T22:47:00.000-04:00

Tonight is my last night at home before the race. Tomorrow morning I'll go to work, after which I will leave straight for White Lake. Since we're doing race support, the shop has a cabin right at the finish line. I'll crash there tomorrow night, wake up in the morning very early, pump up some tires until it's time to go, and then start swimming at 8:06. Tonight I'm gathering everything I need, or think I need, for the race. I dreamt last night that I was in the race and didn't have all kinds of things that I needed, like my race number, goggles, or helmet. It was a stressful dream. When I told my boss and coworker, both Ironmen, about it this morning, they laughed and told me I was on the right track, which I interpreted meant that it was good I was worrying because that would make sure I had everything I need. Right now it's all laid out in on the guest bed.

There was a little mix-up in the registration, so right now I'm registered for tomorrow's half Ironman race, which I laughed heartily at. I've been assured that it'll be worked out. We'll see.

I got a haircut for the race. I'm ready. Check Sunday night to see how it all went down.

Alligator Creek

2009-04-26T17:44:00.001-04:00

Aimee, Pete Brown, Mike and I paddled Alligator Creek today in search of the waterway's namesake. I was so stoked about seeing that one on Thursday that I wanted to see some more and Mike knew where to look. We weren't disappointed. The weather was beautiful, maybe even a little hot. When we launched from Belville Park there was no wind and the Brunswick River looked like glass. We weren't 10 minutes up the creek when a medium sized gator slid off the bank ahead of me and cruised out into the water, eyeing us for a minute before submerging. We continued on under the roadway and into the "lake" in the middle of the island, where we split up to search different banks. Aimee and I were the lucky ones, spotting a really big guy pulled up onto the bank up to his hind legs just a split second before he spun around and went under. I think he was even bigger than the one I saw on Thursday. He looked long and fat and prehistoric. At the other end of the lake there is a small creek that dumps into the Cape Fear just north of town. You can only get through on a full tide, which we had, so we wound our way through there at a very cautious pace. I found a dead turtle. We poked into the horseshoe and up creek off it, then lunched on a small bit of high ground on Eagle's Island. Then up to the N end of Alligator Creek and back through, where we ran into several more gators and a couple of osprey in the nest. We also saw an anhinga, unusual here, and tons of red-winged blackbirds. The trip back across the Brunswick River was a little breezy, but no big deal. Pretty day on the water again. Now to cleaning and bill paying. Cheers.

White Lake Sprint Triathlon, 7 Days Out

2009-04-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

I rode 47 miles on the bike today! That's the most miles I've ever clocked in a single day. I did about 15 before work on my FX, and then my coworker and friend Kim asked if I wanted to ride out to Snow's Cut on River Rd. after work (about 28 miles round trip). I need the training, and she's done multiple tri's including an Iron distance race, and has been a personal trainer, so I said hell yes. At 5 I grabbed a Giant Defy 2 from the store and we hit the pavement. The ride out was into a reasonably stiff headwind, which made for a tailwind on the return trip. I hung with her for the first 2/3 of the ride, but she was waiting for me at lights by the end. I probably bit off a little more than I could chew, but that's OK cause I got a good ride in. At one point we were going 25/26 mph and it was awesome. I was absolutely starving by the end of it, but I still had to switch bikes back at the store and then pedal home, another 4 miles. I got some killer cramps about a mile from home and had to stop and stretch/rest. Then I devoured a meal of spicy spaghetti w/ spicy sausage meatballs, Caesar salad, and bread.

Lessons learned:
1. I need to work on my endurance and speed.
2. I need to make sure I take enough water and nutrition with me all the time, so that if my body is craving calories and hydration, I can take care of it.
3. Invest in a good pair of bike shorts. Tonight I wore tri shorts, which have less padding, and it felt like it.

Tomorrow Aimee and I will be joining Mike for a paddle up Alligator Creek on Eagle's Island in hopes of recreating Thursday's encounter for Aimee. Then I'm going to cook my baby dinner. Have a good Sunday. Cheers.

Critical Mass

2009-04-24T19:06:00.000-04:00

An Old CM Flyer

I participated in my second Critical Mass ride tonight. For those who don't know, Critical Mass is an international bicycle awareness campaign with local rides in hundreds of cities around the states and the world. Rides occur on the last Friday of every month. There is no central leadership; riders gather at an established spot, start at the given time (usually about 6 pm), and monopolize one lane of the road. In Wilmington they meet at 6 under the clock tower at my alma mater, UNCW. Tonight we turned left out of the uni up to Oleander, Oleander to Wooster, Wooster to 5th to Market (at which point I break off since I live a few blocks from there). This is different than last time I rode it, but the idea is to ride down major thoroughfares on a Friday night in rush hour traffic for maximum effect. Most people smile and wave, some people stare, and every now and then I guess one or two drivers will get upset. Tonight there were no negative incidents. It's surreal to ride down College, Market, or Oleander in jammed traffic on a bike with 50 other people and feel totally comfortable. Dig around on the net or check out your local bike shop or ask cycling friends if there's one near you. It's a cool experience. Cheers.

In Good Company, photo by Garrett Grimsley

Mill Creek, Varnamtown

2009-04-23T20:16:00.000-04:00

My good friend Lydia, host of the party I attended last weekend, is starting a new job this spring down at Holden Beach renting various beach gear like surfboards, bikes, and kayaks and running tours by bike and kayak. She's doing some reconnaissance for tours, so today Mike and I drove down to help her explore a possible tour location in the area. We launched from a boat ramp in Varnamtown, which I had never heard of until today and paddled across the Lockwood's Folly River into a marsh creek called Mill Creek. There was absolutely no wind when we were launching, and I was being eaten alive by no-see-ums. There was also a haze of smoke from the fires that are burning down in Myrtle Beach, and the air smelled of smoke. The bugs let up a little when we hit the water, but shortly a little breeze picked up and that was the end of the bug problem. At first I was kind of non-plussed on the paddle, but figured it couldn't go wrong since Mike and Lydia are two of my favorite people. Shortly though, it got interesting as we stroked up the creek against the outgoing tide as the creek meandered through a large marsh. Mike gave us a lecture, at Lydia's prompting, about the plant life. The standard local marsh grass is spartina alternaflora, which is very familiar from our days guiding at SMKC in WB (also known as marsh cordgrass). As we moved further into the marsh, however, the species changed to black needle rush. I've seen this on Bradley Creek at WB. It's interesting to see the change from all cordgrass to a border zone of both grasses to all needle rush. There were plenty of marsh periwinkle's along the way. The highlight of the paddle, by far, was having my first alligator experience by kayak, and it was a doozy. Mike and Lydia stopped for a quick restroom break and to scout a lunch spot, which wasn't very good. From his standing vantage, Mike suggested that there might be a better spot a little further along, so I decided to paddle ahead and check it. I got about 50 yards up when I saw a mud bank where all of the grass was flattened down, as though a gator had been sunning there. I was aware of the possibility of seeing gators from convo with Mike, so I noted it but kept paddling. All of a sudden I was aware of fast movement ahead of me, and when I looked, there was a HUGE alligator in mid-air, lauching from the bank into the water. He didn't slide in; he jumped. All 8-10 feet of him sailed through the air and splashed loudly down into the muddy creek, just 20' off my bow. It happened so fast that I'm not positive of his length, except that he looked very long. What I am positive of is that he was very big, and that his girth was more impressive than his length. There is no way I could have wrapped my arms around his middle. I was thrilled and shocked and scared, all at the same time. It was amazing. I paddled backwards because I didn't want to test or follow him by myself. I kept going, in reverse, as fast as I could, all the way back to Mike and Lydia and started excitedly yelling at them what I had just seen. We paddled further along until the marsh became forest and the water looked more like blackwater than marsh creek, both to try to find the gator and for a better lunch spot. We found neither, and ended up eating in our boats just across from the gator launch pad. The entire way back, and still some 7 hours later, I glowed about how awesome it was. In the bird category we saw great blue heron, great egret, spotted sandpiper, red-breasted merganser, green heron, laughing gull, common tern, red-tailed hawk, osprey, and wood duck. On the way back I started feeling the effects of forgetting sunscreen and wearing short sleeves, which I remedied by rubbing the cool black marsh mud onto my forearms, which worked quite well. It was a nice trip. I can't tell on Google Earth how far into the forest we got, but I'd estimate the trip at 8 or 9 miles total, out and back. On the way home I got a Nehi grape soda in a glass bottle. It was a good day. Get your ass outside and do something fun! Cheers.

BFE

2009-04-19T19:01:00.001-04:00

I spent this weekend with about 25 of my favorite people eatin' pork and paddling in BFE. This was the 3rd iteration of the party, which has previously consisted of a Saturday night oyster roast and potluck dinner at Scott and Lydia's homestead, camping out on their property, and a blackwater paddle on Sunday. These are group photos from each:

The 1st Annual BFE Oyster Roast and South River Paddle

BFE 1.5 Oyster Roast and Lumber River Paddle

BFE 2 Pig Pickin' and South/Black River Paddle

This time a pig was roasted instead of oysters. We had a perfect night for an outdoor party and camping. Temps in the mid 50's. In addition to the pig, we had excellent pickled shrimp, my jalapeno cheesy cornbread muffins, various sides and salads, and a selection of deserts. It was quite a meal. There were some new faces, and some old ones, and we all had drinks and talked story around the bonfire. The highlight was the Naked Virgin Foot Race, which was hilarious but not photo apropos. Aimee and I camped on the edge of Scott's long-leaf pine forest without the rain-fly on the tent and both slept wonderfully. We woke to the rooster's crow and a very persistent whip-poor-will. Scott worked his magic in the kitchen again with made-from-scratch biscuits and homemade sausage, eggs fresh out of the coop in the backyard, a big ol' tub of grits, homemade jams and apple butter, coffee, and macerated strawberries (Lydia deserves some credit for manning the grits). After breakfast we packed everything up and drove to the launch some 45 minutes away.

The river trip:

Another Magic Bus

We paddled section 10 of the South River, which ends on the Black. The put-in is off of Ennis Bridge Rd, and is familiar to me as the take-out from the previous section, which I've paddled twice now. The morning started off a little cool, but comfortable, and warmed up as the day wore on. Water levels were pretty high at 7.5', and this was manifest in the fairly swift current and the swollen look of the river. We were 16 folks on the water, which is a pretty big group, but we managed to hang together fairly well. About halfway in we found a little beach and took a break for lunch. At the end of the South River, the river braided out into swamp and was hard to follow, but we worked our way through and found the Black for the last few miles. All said we were about 5 hours gone and 13.4 miles covered. It's a lovely paddle through cypress forest with high banked and swamp sections, very green and pretty. The highlight for me was a barred owl that Brooke and I saw perched on a branch about 10' off the water. He wasn't the least bothered by our watching him from pretty close range. After snapping some pictures we just sat there staring at each other for several minutes. It was really amazing.

Shaken Creek

2009-04-16T21:06:00.001-04:00

The Geezer and I paddled down Shaken Creek today. We had plans to launch from the WB drawbridge and head N as far as the F8 bridge and then explore marsh creeks on the way back, but it was pretty blustery and the N wind chilled things down considerably. Given those conditions, it made more sense to paddle some blackwater instead, and Geez knows plenty of good ones. Shaken Creek was his suggestion, so we drove out of town and got to the launch at Old Maple Hill Rd just of NC Hwy 53 in Burgaw. It's a smallish creek bordering Holly Shelter Game Land, averaging about 15' wide (my guess), winding through cypress and pine woods until it fetters out into swamp. Due to recent rain, levels were up and we were able to get pretty far back in there. The only sign of humanity once you get away from the launch is the occasional old catfish line hanging on branches into the dark red water. Most of the way the banks are pretty high, which was wonderful help shielding us from the wind, and there are lots of pretty little mossy/grassy spots that make for good lunch stops. This is a perfect time of year for this sort of paddle because everything looks so fresh and green, but without being overgrown and thick, and the bugs and snakes probably get pretty thick back there in the summer. We saw two deer, a dead wild turkey, a couple of broadwinged hawks, and several prothonotary warblers (pictured above courtesy of the Smithsonian). There was a pretty good current flowing (we paddled upstream and then floated it back down), which given the smallish width of the creek and plenty of cypress knees for downed limbs and trees to snag, created a couple of spots that required some work to get through. It would be advisable to carry a small saw and some line to clear the worst of it. All said, great paddle.

After that I went to the Y to swim, my first time in a pool in a long time. The tri that I'm doing in less than 3 weeks begins with a 750 meter swim, which is over twice what I thought it would be when I volunteered to do this thing. It went pretty well, and I think I swam about 20 laps or so, which is 500 meters. Right now I have to stop and take short breaks on the walls at the end of every few laps. Hopefully I can build up my endurance to swim longer without needing the breaks. We'll see.

Tally Photos

2009-04-12T18:15:00.001-04:00

Here are the more interesting of the photos I took in the Panhandle:

Swamp Walk in Leon Sinks area of Apalachicola National Forest

Fence Lizard in the ANF

ANF Trail

Luke Smith, Wakulla Springs Park Ranger

Wakulla River

Wakulla is pronounced "wuh-KUH-luh," but Luke pronounced it "waw-KUL-luh." He was a great tour guide and had all kinds of funny stories and such. We're back home now and ready to fall back into our routine, which we have realized is one that we really love. I'm definitely going to have to make the most of Wilmington while I'm still here. Looking at another place made us realize how nice this place is and how good we have it.

Worm Gruntin'

2009-04-11T20:51:00.000-04:00

Aimee and I had a big day today. We checked out a couple of houses before going to the Farmer's Market in downtown Tally (that's what locals call it) and had an excellent breakfast casserole of potatoes, cheese, and kielbasa (plus dill and onions, we must recreate it). Then we went to Wakulla Springs State Park, which is about 20 minutes S of town. It's a massive freshwater spring, the deepest spring of it's kind in the world. The water was unusually clouded due to recent heavy rains. The spring gushes 400,000 gallons/minute according to our very entertaining tour guide and boat operator, Park Ranger Luke. We saw several manatee, gators, brown water snakes, and Suwanee Cooters (turtles). Among birds, there were common moorhen (formerly Florida gallinule), pied-billed grebe, barn swallow, anhinga, American coot, little blue heron, cormorant, great egret, green heron, yellow-crowned night heron, and great blue heron. We spent a little over an hour at Wakulla Springs, then went to Leon Sinks in the Apalachicola National Forest for a hike of about 5 miles through beautiful mixed pine/deciduous forest in karst country. It was amazing how quickly the forest changed from longleaf pine to magnolia to hardwood and back again. The "sinks" are big depressions or even holes in the ground, some filled with water, created by water eroding the limestone underneath and the ground sort of caving in on itself.

From the sinks we drove down to Sopchoppy for the 9th Annual Sopchoppy Worm Gruntin' Festival and partook in the festivities. There were lots of people milling around, eating food, listening to the live music, and checking out the sellers of crafts and goods. We bought a 5 lb bag of earthworm poo, which is apparently the best fertilizer in the world, we'll see. We got our official festival shirts and sampled some homemade hot pepper jam. The best booth we found, aside from the worm crap, housed a touch-tank filled with marine life. They had several species of sea star and sponges, horseshoe crabs, spider crabs, lighting whelk, channel whelk, banded tulips, the biggest Florida horse conch I've ever seen (estimated at over 100 years old), crowned conch, and sea cucumbers. The festival was a definite highlight of the trip. Worm grunting, holy crap that's authenticity at its finest. For more information on worm gruntin' and the festival, see the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qro_Gn7Gdg

From the Worm Gruntin' Festival we drove down to the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast for a bit to Carrabelle, then back to Panacea and on to Tally. We stopped at one little white-sanded beach and walked a little. It was pretty, but there wasn't anything remotely like a rideable wave, which doesn't bode well for my surf habit. It was full day and we're wiped out. I got lots of photos, but I'll have to load them when we get back to Wilmington tomorrow night or later. Check back soon, pics to come, probably with minutia about the above as it comes back to me.
Cheers.

Tallahasee, the Wilderness Way

2009-04-10T20:10:00.000-04:00

Aimee and I are in Tallahassee to see if we want to live here. We've got to choose between here and Eugene, Oregon. We were hoping that Tallahassee would blow us away and make the decision easy, but we're still riding the fence. Almost everyone we meet loves it, so that's a good sign, and there are several other bright points, among them paddling. I stopped into the local paddling shop, The Wilderness Way (www.thewildernessway.net), where I spoke to Georgia and Jesse to ply them for information about paddling in the area. I found them both friendly and informative. It looks like there are plenty of spring-fed and blackwater rivers in the region, and the Gulf of Mexico is an easy day trip. The birding should be fantastic. We'll have to get used to paddling with gators, which they reassured me was rather easy. Jesse recommended a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean market-eatery called The International House of Food. After a walk around Lake Ella and an exploratory house-hunting expedition this afternoon we swung by to grab dinner and it was amazing. It's a humble hole in the wall, and the owner/operator Hussein was as friendly as we were advised he would be. I had yellow chicken curry with basmati rice, a salad of diced tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers marinated in oil & vinegar & herbs, and toasted pitas. The chicken just fell apart, the curry was delicious, and the portions were large, all for under $8. What a find!

Tomorrow we're doing more neighborhood exploration, and either a nature walk in the Apalachicola National Forest, a trip to Wakulla Springs, or the Sopchoppy Worm Gruntin' Festival. Choices, choices. Perhaps some combination can be achieved. It would be tough to be anywhere near the worm festival and not get a "unique festival t-shirt." Unique indeed. More to come.

Benchmade

2009-04-05T21:33:00.000-04:00

In my previous post I mentioned that I almost lost my knife today, and that this was something of an odd coincidence. It was given to me by a former girlfriend some 6 or 7 years ago. While I don't know knives very well, I know that this one cost over $100, which makes it plenty nice enough for me. Today I almost lost it while kayaking. It was in my dry bag, which was on the deck of my boat, stuck under, but not attached to, my deck rigging. It was a little choppy for a spell, and a wave washed the bag off my deck, which I didn't immediately notice. Lucky for me, one of my fellow paddlers noticed it and grabbed it and that was that. I was very relieved.

Ok, the coincidence. In late March of 2003 I was fresh out of the Navy and crashing at my folks place between road trips. They live on a "lake," more properly a glorified pond, and there had been considerable recent rain. So much rain, in fact, that the lake had swelled beyond its normal banks and submerged all of the docks. As a result, things like gas cans that normally rested on said docks were floating around in the lake. Our neighbors had some very short rec boats that we enjoyed open invitation to, so I decided to be a good samaritan and grab the detritus via kayak, which would also allow me to check out the lake in its tumid state. The lake was made in the '30's by damming up half of a shallow valley and allowing it to fill with rainwater. Today you drive over the dam to get to my folks place. On one side of the dam there is a boat ramp which serves as an overflow when the lake level gets too high. This particular morning water was flowing over the spillway pretty fast. It appeared as though after flowing over the narrow spillway, the current spread out and slowed down (reverse Venturi effect). I thought, "That looks like fun. I'll paddle over, get pulled through the fun part, then just stand up in shallow water and drag the boat back over to the lake and be on my way." As I paddled over towards the spillway, a little voice in my head suggested that this didn't seem like a good idea. In a moment of stupidity, I ingored it and paddled into the current. I didn't slow down the way I expected, but I was still able to get out of the boat and put my feet down. What I thought would be maybe one or two feet deep was waist high, and moving swiftly. I was standing immediately downstream of the kayak, holding the coaming of the cockpit in front of me. Ok, I thought, not what I expected, but there's dry ground 10' away, so no big deal. I just needed to pull the boat over to the edge of the current and re-enter the lake and paddle away. I lifted the boat slightly, by the coaming, and because of the current pushing against it, the lip of the coaming went under and the boat immediately filled with water. It bowled me over before I even knew what happened, and I was under water. I flowed, with the current, into a gully that sped through about 30 yards to a ledge, dropped 12', then went another 30 yards or so. I was under the whole way, but I knew I was very close to the surface. Still, the water was moving so fast that I couldn't get my head up and couldn't stop. I remember thinking that it was very bad, but that I shouldn't panic. I needed to stay calm and just get my head above water, get a breath, and figure out what to do. All the while I was reaching out and grasping for anything that would stop me, like a root or a tree branch, but all I got was rock and concrete, which cut my hand up (I still have scars). There was a moment of weightlessness when I went off the ledge, and I crashed into something hard, bumping my leg. After that I slowed down and stood up in knee deep water. It was March, so it was still fairly cold. I think the air was in the 40's and water in the 50's. I immediately pulled off my winter coat, which was shredded badly down the side and back. I started to check myself out by moving everything and patting myself down. My hand was bleeding some, but I knew that was just cuts and scratches and not a huge deal. It hurt a lot when I put weight on my right leg, especially in my calf and ankle. Satisfied that I wasn't seriously hurt, I limped up the hill and started walking down the road (it was about a mile back to my parent's house). A neighbor saw me soaking wet, bleeding, and limping and picked me up. At home, I got into a tub of hot water to warm back up. I squeezed my calf and there was a clicking noise that coincided with pain, which indicated a broken leg. I called my best friend, who worked for her orthapedic surgeon of a father, and arranged to come in and get checked out. Long story short, I broke my fibula and tore ligaments in my ankle. I was very lucky that I didn't drown. I later learned that I was out in flash flood conditions. I traveled almost 75 yards in underwater.

So how does this relate to the knife? I had my knife in my pocket that morning when I got into the boat. When I came out of the water, it was gone. I guessed I would never see it again. It's only 4 inches long closed, and it's black, so even if it was laying in grass it would be hard to see. There are a thousand places where I washed through that it could have settled down. It could have gone under a log, been buried in mud, washed into a crack somewhere. Anything. A few days later, after things dried out a bit, my dad was walking around down there, looking at where I went and marveling that I wasn't hurt worse, and there was my knife hanging by the clip on a small thin branch in some brush. We were blown away because it seemed so improbable that it would ever be seen again.

So today makes twice that I've been in kayak, had a spill of some sort (one rather serious and the other very minor) in which the knife was lost, assumed it wouldn't be found, and then returned to me by another person. That's kind of wierd.

The Knife

Fort Fisher to Battery Island Loop

2009-04-05T17:27:00.000-04:00

Finally, after two weeks of bad weather on my days off, BIG paddling day today. We covered a lot of territory, both thematically and geographically. The Geezer picked me up at 7:45 and we rode down to the Basin at FF. There we met Lydia and Scott, Virginia and Curry, and Chris and Laine. The trip was proposed by Virginia as part of her research for an article on migratory birds in the area in a local pub. We launched into the falling tide and no wind at about quarter after nine. There were a couple of dolphin in the channel. Mike had heard tell of a dolphin carcass from his old ferry mates, so that was a first stop. All that was left of flipper was the poor animal's head. Strangely, he still looks kind of happy in a way.

Since that one above is a bummer, here's a picture of a live, happy dolphin that's still in water and has an entire body in a similar pose (I guess the pose is really only similar from the neck up):

http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/1f11747d-53d3-47df-83ab-9fc99475a9da.jpg

After that charming little break we rode the river further down and stopped at this old defunct lighthouse, purportedly built during the Civil War. There are recently built steps inside.

I didn't check my watch, so I'm not sure what time we made it to Southport, but I'm guessing roughly 11:30. We ate and chatted at a conveniently placed picnic table and then walked around a little in the town.

After we got back on the water is when things really started to get interesting. The wind picked up a bit while we lunched, and due to the very nice spring day there was a fair amount of boat traffic on the water. In combination this resulted in considerable chop as we crossed the channel to Battery Island. About half-way across I heard someone yell "man overboard." Despite the well known fact that it's not a good idea to swim shortly after eating, a paddler rolled over. I didn't see it happen, but I'm told that it was a perfectly executed half-roll. Lydia and Rezac were both there immediately, so I continued across to get out of the worst of the chop. They got the paddler back in boat and the only real casualty was sunglasses. I was having fun punching through the waves in the channel when I realized that my dry bag, stowed in my deck rigging, was no longer there. This was bad, as it held my camera, cell phone, wallet, and favorite knife (a pretty expensive Benchmade that was a gift, more on this later, as there's an interesting coincidence here). I remembered exactly the wave that took it, because it washed my whole deck and splashed me pretty good, but that had been over 45 seconds previous. I spun around hopeful of finding it, but figuring that it was a lost cause in the chop, wind, and current. Luckily, Virginia saw it bobbing and snatched it out of the drink. All was dry and I was much relieved. From this harrowing experience, I learned a valuable lesson: always keep an observant paddler behind you so they can grab whatever washes off your deck (or, always lash your crap securely to you or your boat). There was a copse of trees on BI that looked, from afar, like they had giant white flowers in them. Lydia asked Scott, an accomplished arborist, what kind of tree they were. His reply, "Ibis tree." There were hundreds of white ibis perched in the trees, and they came and went in like numbers.

I also saw a little blue heron land nearby. From here we rounded the southern end of BI and paddled over to the marshes behind Bald Head Island. After one failed attempt through the marsh (where there were lots of turtles sticking their heads up), we found the right route into the big basin south of Zeke's. I never realized how fricking big that basin is. After paddling for eternity in 6" of water, we rounded Zeke's and paddled to the parking lot. The birding was quite good throughout the day. In addition to the hundreds of white ibis, I saw: ring-billed gull, laughing gull, herring gull, misc. tern (royal and/or caspian, and probably common), cormorant, pelican, great egret, snowy egret, little blue heron, tri-colored heron, american oystercatcher, willet, red-winged blackbird, grackle, osprey, turkey vulture, hooded merganser, common merganser, ruddy turnstone, yellowlegs, and misc. peeps. I'm probably forgetting something, but you get the idea. It was good. All told we covered about 14 miles, about six hours on the water. We enjoyed the falling tide on the trip out with no wind, and rode it back with a following wind on the return. It was a great trip with great people and I can't wait to get back out there again.

Foiled

2009-04-02T15:40:00.001-04:00

No paddling today. Damned ugly weather has kept me inside, paying bills, cleaning, doing laundry, and reading. All worthwhile pursuits, but not what I was hoping for on my day off. Better luck Sunday perhaps for my paddle with friends in the lower reaches of the Cape Fear River.

Filling the Gap

2009-03-30T20:05:00.001-04:00

This past week has been sadly devoid of paddling, mostly due to weather. Hopefully that will change this coming week. But, in the meantime, life continues in a reasonably interesting fashion, and there are several things worth noting. First, I finished Down the Great Unknown by Edward Dolnick, which is about John Wesley Powell's 1869 exploration of the Grand Canyon via the Colorado River. It was good, not great, but I learned a good bit and it was a nice follow-up to my previous read, The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. Second, I saw two good movies; Waltz with Bashir, an animated pseudo-documentary about an Israeli man's attempt to retrieve his forgotten (blocked) Lebanon experience, and A Bright Shining Lie about John Paul Vann and the Vietnam debacle. I recommend them both. It's funny how my entertainment tends to center on themes (the books on the West and the desert, the movies on war and personal experience). Yesterday I ran almost 7 miles (but at a slow 11 min/mile pace) in my continued training for my first triathlon (in only 1 month!). Finally, due to clever shopping, I spent $58 at the grocery store today, but saved $59! Pretty awesome, and my freezer is full of meat. We also finished The Living Planet series previously posted about, and it was fascinating and worth watching. Lots of indoors sorts of endeavours, but not a terrible way to spend a rainy/windy week. Big plans for a paddle later this week! I'm off to watch my favorite show on the telly, 24 (besides Jeopardy, of course). Cheers.

I'll Be a Monkey's Uncle

2009-03-23T22:35:00.001-04:00

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle." Aimee used this quaint little phrase the other day and it reminded me that I'll soon be an uncle. My little brother Zak and his wife are having a baby. They told the family at Christmas. We're all glorified monkeys, so it really is kind of appropriate. I like to portmanteau it into muncle. So, I'm going to see if I can get the kid to call me Muncle Josh. It works a couple of ways. First, it implies that the kid is, in fact, monkey-like, and that's funny. Second, when spoken aloud, it sounds like "My uncle." Zak will probably go for it, but I'm not so sure about his wife Jo. I guess we'll see. Since visuals are good:

Here's a picture of my mom at the moment she realized that Jo was pregnant:

To prove my point, here's a monkey making a similar face:

Here's my grandmother coming to the same conclusion:

For comparison:

Finally, here's a sonogram. Zak pointed out that in the bottom photo he (they're having a boy) is giving us all a thumbs up. That's pretty cool

Since this post is sorta about hominids and ancestry, here's a pseudo-historical tidbit. Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. In 1860 the leading scientific minds of England gathered to discuss and debate various ideas of the day. Darwin's most vocal supporter, T. H. Huxley (Brave New World's Aldous Huxley's grandfather), spoke on his behalf on the theory of evolution. As legend has it, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce sarcastically asked Huxley if it was through his grandfather or grandmother that he claimed descent from an ape. Huxley calmly replied that he would rather be descended from an ape than a bishop, and there was much uproar. It probably didn't happen, at least not quite this way, but I like the story anyway.

The Living Planet

2009-03-22T22:18:00.000-04:00

Aimee and I are making our way through The Living Planet, a 1984 precursor to the very excellent Planet Earth series, hosted by David Attenborough. Since $ is tight, we've been taking advantage of Aimee's employment at the local university (English teacher, mostly to idiots, occasionally to the reasonably intelligent) by checking out movies from the university library. We like documentary, and we like nature, so it was a natural (no pun intended) fit. The reason I'm posting it here is the "Margins of the Land" episode. If you paddle in the coastal plane, or are interested in the coastal evironment then you should check it out. It's a little dated, but very familiar. There's all kinds of good stuff about oystercatchers and miscelleaneous sandpipers, crabs, mollusks, pickleweed (glasswort), tube worms, anaerobic bacteria that expell hydrogen sulfide (that smelly low tide deal), and so on. We're about halfway through the series, and we've found it all pretty good, but this episode should be particularly interesting to people like us because the place they're expounding upon is our playground. The more you know the more interesting it gets! Cheers.

NE Cape Fear, Croomsbridge to Whitestocking

2009-03-22T16:42:00.000-04:00

Aimee and I went on a CFPA trip today on the NE Cape Fear, from Croomsbridge Rd. to Sawpit Landing on Whitestocking Rd. There were about 15 people along, including Geezer and Marie, Virginia H., Rezac, Pete Brown, and a crew that I didn't know. It was more people than I usually like to paddle with, but once everyone got launched it spread out nicely. Aimee and I lagged behind everyone else by 50 yards or so most of the trip. The weather was coolish, but sunny and nice. There was a moderate breeze, but it didn't really matter because we were sitting down pretty low between the banks. Along the way we saw an old abandoned school bus that reminded me of Chris McCandless' Magic Bus in the Alaskan wilderness (see Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer). We saw a couple of hawks that I'll have to dig through the book to figure out (I think red-shouldered), turkey vulture, tufted titmouse, cardinals, and heard several woodpeckers, though never saw any. It's quaint country, with one side of the river peppered with domiciles that ranged from the very basic to the reasonably ostentatious. I'm a fan of the little rustic places. There were lots of nice folks out on their porches and docks enjoying the day and most of them quizzed us on where we came from and where we were heading. I'm not sure that they see a lot of kayakers on the water, especially groups of that size, judging by their questions. It was an interesting group that ranged from the extremely experienced to one poor guy who had his paddle backwards and upside-down and was slouching like he was in an easy chair watching a football game. It's a pleasure to watch Rezac maneuver his boat. I've never seen anyone edge and turn so proficiently. We were under three hours on the water, covering almost 9 miles. It seemed like a really short trip, but it was a nice one.

Magic Bus

Triathlon

2009-03-21T21:43:00.000-04:00

I've embarked on training for my first triathlon. It's the White Lake Sprint, the first weekend in May. I'm announcing it to the world, and I'm committed to doing it (now I can't come up with any silly excuses for not doing it). I've got a bike and new running shoes. All I have to do now is train, which began yesterday with a two mile run. I know, two miles isn't very far, but I want to ease into it so I don't hurt myself. Today I rode from my house to Greenfield Lake, roughly a mile, and then sprinted two laps around the lake, almost 9 miles. I averaged about 16 mph (on my Trek 7.3 FX). I'm going to keep it up. I've never done a tri before, but I've wanted to for a while and now I'm surrounded by triathletes and ironmen at work, so that's got me motivated. I think it's going to be really fun, and it's a great way to get on a training regimen and get back into good shape. I'll start posting about that journey too.

Eagle's Island

2009-03-19T18:16:00.000-04:00

The Geezer and I paddled around Eagle's Island from downtown today. I've been wanting to do this trip for a bit. Today the island is marsh and dredge spoil, but has seen periods as rice plantation, shipping center, and shipyard. The tides were right and weather perfect. Underway a little after 10:30 from the foot of Castle St. We rode the last of the falling tide to the southern tip of the island and hung a right into the Brunswick River. After WWII the Brunswick River housed hundreds of Liberty Ships built in the Wilmington Navy Yard during the war. They were mothballed and sat there for over a decade until scrapped sometime in the '60's (I think). There are still wooden crossbeams planted in the ground that ran power to the ships, now used mostly as perches for osprey and heron. We had a nice lunch break at the lovely Belville Park, and then continued to make our way around. We rounded the north end of the island some time later into the Cape Fear for the final leg back towards town. During the trip we saw a few red-tailed hawk, great egret, great blue heron, a snowy egret, laughing gulls, a couple of tern, killdeer, brown pelican, osprey, cormorant, and a probable juvenile bald eagle. We covered 13 miles in a little over 4 hours (at a pretty leisurely pace). It was a great paddle and a gorgeous day to be on the water. I missed a little surf for it (surf usually trumps paddling), but I had a really good time, so that's OK. I hope you did something interesting today. Cheers.

Opening Up

2009-03-18T19:11:00.000-04:00

This blog is primarily about paddling. I've searched around and I've found that the best blogs, or what I perceive to be the best blogs, are centered around an activity, not a personality. Some people use their blogs to keep their families abreast, or tell everyone how awesome their dog or their kid is, and that's fine. But I don't find that interesting. I like to read blogs that are arranged around something that I identify with: bikes, surfing, kayaks, literature, food. Still, while the title of this blog may be Paddling in the Cape Fear, the web address is my name, and sometimes I think that someone looking at this might think that all I do or care about is paddling, which isn't true. I love kayaking, but it's not all I am. I work in a bike shop, and I've noticed that there are some people who can't talk about any thing other than bikes or triathlons. They just can't do it because they don't care to learn about anything else. I'm not like that. I want to die old and reasonably acquainted with as many things as possible. I want experience and knowledge and scars. I want to see the world, and know it, and touch it, even when it's not comforting and easy, because I want the fullest experience that I can have while I'm here.

So, I'm going to keep this thing primarily about paddling, but I'm gonna talk about something else here and there too. After all, nobody is following this thing and no one leaves any "I really love your blog" comments, which means that most of the people reading it already know me.

I was in the Navy. More specifically, I was a submariner. We never "sailed," but I was a sailor. "Sailor" has taken on a broader meaning; one who plies the ocean, or spends time on the water in a vessel with a bow and a stern. I don't know, you can come up with lots of definitions. Being in the Navy ties me to a long tradition of (mostly) men who went to sea for a myriad of reasons that don't matter here. What matters is that they were people of the oceans. They lived and died by it. I like being part of that tradition, even in such an unorthodox way as submariner, or (here we come back to the point) as a kayaker, surfer, free diver, swimmer, whatever. I grew up away from the ocean, but when I was 18 I joined the Navy, and since then I have lived close to, on, in, and under that big beautiful playground, the Ocean.

OK, ok. The point that I'm building up to is far less grand than what I've written so far, which is: rum. Sailors drink rum. It's naval tradition. I've been a rum and coke drinker for some time. It's my go-to drink. I'm not a beer drinker, and while I like a glass of wine with dinner sometimes, good wine is largely lost on me. But rum, I've been developing a taste for rum for years. I started off drinking really sweet crap (think Malibu). I suppose that it's not absolutely awful, but it is terribly sweet. Malibu and coke, then sometimes just Malibu over rocks. It's a little embarrassing now, but what the hell? I'm honest. Like I said before, experience. Trial and error. Then there's the easy stuff, Bacardi and Captain Morgan, both of which are still respectable, but not preferential libation. I've graduated to darker things. My favorites are Pusser's and Myer's. Sailor Jerry's is quite good (http://www.sailorjerry.com/). In a pinch, Cruzan Gold is pretty good (the handle costs the same as a fifth of Pusser's) as the discerning economical choice. It's pretty good without breaking the bank. I've been considering buying some of the least expensive stuff to see if there's anything drinkable down there on the bottom shelf, but I've got standards, and even in this economy, it's hard to let go of them. Tonight I tried a new one, Bacardi Select. It's dark and robust. Mixed with ginger ale, an excellent Dark and Stormy (a new favorite to replace the rum and Coke). The D&S has replaced the old Cuba Libre because I'll drink Coke even when there's no rum it in, which isn't a problem with ginger ale. I don't want to drink Coke, because it's bad for me and expensive (but I get over both of those things if I make it worse on both accounts with good rum). Dark and Stormy solves the problem. I don't drink the mixer in the absence of rum, so we still have mixer around when it matters, and I still get to have a drink when I get home from work that I really like. Life's pretty good. Purists on the Internet argue that it's not really a D&S unless you have Gosling's Dark and ginger beer, not ginger ale. But hey, I'm a sailor. We're not that finicky about our rum drinks.

See you on the water.

Smith Creek

2009-03-12T18:43:00.000-04:00

Paddled Smith Creek with Mike and his pal Pete this afternoon despite the chill and wind. We launched from Kerr Ave and wove our way to the Cape Fear River to the takeout at the foot of Castle St. The first section is pretty and quiet until you get to the airport, where it's interesting to watch the planes land since the creek is perpindicular to the runway and they pass overhead at very low altitude. The next section mostly consists of winding back and forth under the MLK bypass, which means that you're very aware of your proximity to traffic and civilization. We poked into Burnt Mill Creek as far as we could and paddled through another little marsh creek. Along the way there were belted kingfishers, laughing gulls, ring-billed gulls, a great blue heron, turkey vultures, cormorants, great egret, a couple of osprey (first sighting this year), and a little blue heron (the highlight of the trip, my second in the area, my third ever). We were about 3 hours on the water, covering about 10 miles. I'm glad I got out, but I'm not sure I would padde it again. Because of the bypass there is a significant portion of the paddle that you're listening to trucks rumbling down the highway. Part of the reason I paddle is to get away from all that, and there's plenty more remote waterways to explore. I'm experimenting with nutrition and energy food for longer paddles (which today was not). Today I ate a Clif Bar on the way to the launch and snacked on Jelly Belly Sport Beans (orange flavor) along the paddle. I like the jelly beans for keeping energy up along the way. A bag is 100 calories, about 15 beans. I just popped a few every thirty minutes or so and that seemed to keep me going without any fatigue. They're a keeper. Today was the first time in a week I drove my car because I've been riding my bike more consistently in the warmer weather. That, friends, is a beautiful thing.

Wrightsville Beach Circumnavigation

2009-03-05T16:48:00.000-05:00

Today I paddled around Wrightsville Beach with friends Lydia aka Wildwoman, Roberto aka Sharkbait aka Bobby Love, and Ryan (the nicknames were our radio handles when we guided for SMKC). Looking ahead at today's forecasted warm weather, light wind, and small seas I had originally proposed that we do the sea buoy paddle again, but after looking at the tides we realized that a circumnavigation might be better. So we met this morning at the WB drawbridge and launched at 10. We headed north up the ICW to Mason's Inlet, which is a shallow water inlet I've surfed many times. There was a decent waist-high wave breaking, which was a surprise given that the Frying Pan Shoals buoy registered less than a foot this morning. Once again, I feel so fricking lucky to have the paddling partners that I do. Everyone else on the trip holds ACA certification and has extensive ocean-side kayaking experience. One of them is an instructor (http://www.watersmythkayaking.com/), and one has two world kayak surfing championships under her belt. They're all very capable, they give me information and advice without being pushy or preachy, they trust me to take care of myself, and they've got my back if I get into trouble.

This was my first shallow water inlet navigation, so I was slightly nervous when we got within eyesight of the inlet and I could see waves breaking. From the calms inside the inlet it was hard to tell how big the waves were. I commented to Lydia that I couldn't tell if it was 1' or 4'. We proceeded forward into the mouth of the inlet at a slow pace to assess the situation and look for a channel. We never found a clear channel, but after pushing through a couple of waves I could see that I only needed to cover about 30 more yards and I'd be out, so I paddled hard and cleared a few more breaking or broken waves. I feel great about how my boat handled pushing through. It was fun to punch through and then drop down the back of the wave. The hull slaps down into the water with a loud "boof" noise. Lydia's advice to me was to "point your nose into them and paddle as aggresively as you can." I did and it worked fine. We all got out reasonably dry and headed south, staying just outside the surf zone (Roberto rode a few in). At Johnny Mercer's Pier Lydia paddled in through the breakers for a beach landing (she left a car in the lot there so she could cut out early). The rest of us continued south, straying a little further out onto the open water. Eventually we rounded the end of the jetty at Masonboro Inlet and landed on the south end of the island for lunch. After the lunch break we paddled up Bank's Channel to Mott's Creek to the ICW and under the bridge to where we began, arriving around 3 pm. All in all we were about 5 hours out, and we covered about 9 miles (WB is 4 miles long, so there's 8, plus getting from the ICW out to the ocean and back). If you click on the Google Earth image above it looks like we paddled through Figure Eight, or portaged, but we didn't. Those images don't reflect the movement of the inlet from just above the hotel (Shell Island Resort) to well north of there, about .5 miles (a guess). It was a beautiful day to paddle, particularly on the ocean. I can't wait to get out there again.

Lunch Break

Hungry Meters

2009-03-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

Sadly, it's time to start paying for parking at Wrightsville Beach again. It always sneaks up on me. Seems like just yesterday I was rejoicing in the end of the tourist season, and here we are back at the beginning again. At least we have a couple of months of there being plenty of parking to pay for before all the spots are full and you have to drive around for a while searching. If there's anything I've learned from this economy, it's to be grateful for the little things.

Too crappy to paddle today, so I'm going to stay warm and dry with a good book.

Lollipop Land

2009-02-26T16:36:00.000-05:00

Aimee and I went for a short paddle from the North side of Harbor Island to the Lollipop (as it's known to locals) this afternoon. Winds were light and tide was low. We launched from the closed down gas station, which was pretty nice. We saw the usual avian suspects like ring-billed gulls, white ibis, great egret, great blue heron, tri-colored heron, belted kingfisher, brown pelican, cormorant, hooded mergansers, yellowlegs, etc. There was a opossum eating shellfish in the marsh adjacent to the lollipop. At first I thought it was a glossy ibis because I couldn't think of any other bird that would be that size, black, and digging around in marsh mud. It's funny how it's hard for your brain to process things that it doesn't expect and that you perceive to be out of place. I'm used to seeing birds out there, but not rodents (even though I know that opossum and raccoons live on spoil and marsh islands), so it took a second to realize that it wasn't a bird. He was surprisingly unconcerned about us and let us study him for a couple of minutes from about 20 yards until he lumbered slowly back into the grass.

We weren't out long, but it was good to paddle. The last time I paddled was over two weeks ago (see previous post). I'm going to start doing some long (15-20 mile) solo paddles to prepare for some stuff I want to do this spring and summer. I have a top secret paddle planned for mid-March, so stay tuned to find out what that's about. Details of the trip will be posted when it's done.

Sea Buoy

2009-02-08T18:16:00.000-05:00

I spent the day on the water today and I'm stoked on it. Based on today's forecast of warm weather, light wind, and small seas my paddling buddy Mike (the Geezer) proposed a trip out Masonboro Inlet. I jumped on it because I want to get out into the ocean more. The wind was a little more than predicted, but all in all it was a great day to get out there. At 11 we met at Trail's End (great launch). The group consisted of myself, Mike, and local veteran paddler Ryan Taro (I'm so lucky to be able to paddle with people whose experience and skill level far exceeds my own). We floated the tide out the ICW to Masonboro Channel into and out the inlet to the sea buoy. It still blows my fricking mind being in the ocean. Even with the Frying Pan Shoals buoy registering only 1', there was still fairly large swell at the mouth of the inlet and out toward the buoy. There was just enough wind to give it some texture and keep things interesting (WSW becoming SW consistent 10-ish, gusting toward 20). We needed to kill some time so that we could ride the tide back in, so we paddled toward Crystal Pier and then down the beach to the jetty. Once we had the jetty between us and the wind the sea surface calmed down a lot and almost turned glassy. It was so cool to slip down the south end just beyond where the tiny waves were breaking. I've spent hours and hours down there on a surfboard, but today was the first time I've been out in a yak. There were tons of folks on the beach enjoying the nice day (one girl went into the 48 degree F water in just a bikini, and a little one at that). I paddled to the jetty and then followed it out, did a loop around the sea buoy again and then headed back into the inlet. We took a lunch break on the spoil island across from Masonboro, where I found a smallish lightning whelk and a live sand dollar that was providing safe haven for a couple of tiny crabs (blues?). We attempted to take a more interesting return trip through the marsh, exploring two possible passages, neither successful, where I found a banded tulip and saw a few tricolored heron. After finding too little water up either creek, we exercised our final remaining option and took the same route home that we had paddled out earlier. The wind shifted pretty solid S, so we fought it the whole way back (though we had the tide with us). At the end of about 5 hours on the water and over 13 miles (estimated on Google Earth, an invaluable post-trip tool), I'm spent, but happy. I pushed myself today, tended my confidence garden, built my strength, enjoyed some great weather, and saw some nature. Now all I have to do for the rest of the evening is sip rum and coke and eat what I'm sure will be a delicious dinner prepared by my beautiful gal Aimee (beef & mushrooms over pasta). I can't wait to get out there again, especially when the water warms up. I think this summer I'm going to be on the ocean a lot. Here's a photo or two:

Crystal Pier, looking N

Ryan, heading back toward the jetty

Harmony Bilge Pump

2009-02-05T21:10:00.001-05:00

Check out Harmony's low profile bilge pump design:

I just got mine in the mail from Austin Canoe & Kayak. I've always been annoyed by the discharge port sticking out and snagging on deck rigging, so hopefully this will work well and minimize that (very minor) problem.

Hidden Creek Masonboro

2009-02-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

Paddled the Masonboro end of Hidden Creek with Aimee today, and it turned into something of an adventure. The Geezer also led one of his Cape Fear Paddler's Association trips (Alligator Creek) today, but Aimee hadn't paddled in a couple of weeks so we opted for a more private excursion. Wind was fairly stiff out of the S when we started, but we made our way into the marsh where I knew we'd be a little more protected from it. I hadn't really planned on going all the way through (tide was already falling), but there seemed to be plenty of water so we pushed through to the ICW. It was fun to find my way, as I've only been through there once before, and that was almost a year ago. Once we got to the ICW we chose to go back through the marsh toward Masonboro rather than a boring ICW trip back to Shinn's. I made a lucky first guess at which creek to take and we were crossing the channel to lunch on the island in no time.

During our 30 minute lunch break the wind picked up. It had been 10-15 with higher gusts, but I think by the return trip it was sustained 20 mph. Surfchex.com, which has a weather station posted about 50 yards from where we launched and maybe 2 miles from our lunch stop, has the max gust at 32 mph. All was fine while we were south of the inlet, because current and wind were both with us. The inlet was interesting, as it usually is with all that water converging and going different directions, but we crossed without any real problems. Bank's Channel, on the other hand, was pretty intense due to opposing the opposing current and strong wind. I'd say it was the biggest chop I've seen in that channel, with 2' and 3' waves and plenty of whitecaps. Aimee was outside her comfort zone and pretty frustrated (luckily, with the wind and herself and not with me), but she did really well and we both pulled up onto the beach dry and warm.

Post-trip ruminations: I've gotten to where I feel pretty comfortable in shitty conditions like that. Particularly because we were only 50' from land and houses and people and help if we needed it. But I've also got to remember that I've a longer, faster boat, a lighter paddle, a skirt and paddling jacket, and who knows how many hours of being out on the water. I can't project my comfort level onto Aimee, who did really well despite her frustration. Still, I've got to view these sorts of experiences as growing pains. If we only paddled in warm, calm conditions we wouldn't get to go out much and we wouldn't be very good kayakers. As paddlers, as people entering the great outdoors, as (dare I say it) watermen, we must be able to deal with changing conditions. A calm day can turn into a bloody nightmare, and we must be able to handle that or we will reap the consequences when, not if, we are caught out there in poor circumstances. Today was a learning experience, but learning and experiencing are why we're out there. Sometimes it'll be easy and beautiful, but sometimes it's going to be hard. We just have to remember that it being hard doesn't make it any less beautiful.

Backyard Kayak Storage, Now with Padding!

2009-01-25T11:48:00.000-05:00

Finally, after weeks of wanting to do this, I got the materials and time. Outdoor carpet was 50% off because it was dusty and creased, neither of which bothers me in the least given how it'll be abused, around $6. Strips of wood about $3, nails $2.50. So all said and done, I've got maybe $40 in it. I probably could have spent a little less, but what the heck, I've got it how I want it, and you can't put a dollar amount on that.

DIY rocks.

Island Creek to Castle Hayne

2009-01-24T19:07:00.000-05:00

Geezer and I paddled on Thursday (Jan. 22) from Island Creek Rd to the little park in Castle Hayne just beyond I40 on the Cape Fear, a distance of roughly 9 miles as traced out on Google Earth. It started off pretty cold, with an ice crust in several spots where there wasn't much current, but warmed up reasonably well by mid-day. Wind got pretty stiff on the river for a bit, but backed off toward the end of the paddle. I'd say we were about 4 hours on the water with a 20 minute lunch break on limestone riverbank just above the old cement plant that Titan Cement has proposed restarting operations. We checked a couple of little side creeks, and on one found a great camping spot; worth an overnight trip this spring perhaps. We didn't see much wildlife at all, but it was a pretty little paddle anyway. At the end we passed under I40, which was interesting because I've driven over that part of the river so many times. I think paddling through the ice was my favorite part, just because of the novelty of it. It was thin enough that bow and paddle both sliced right through. If you rock your hips to make a little wake it makes a crazy crackling/pinging noise as the little waves move away from you. Once again I'm grateful to Mike for his wealth of knowledge about local water and paddling, among other things. I really enjoy our conversations. Hoping for a break in the rain tomorrow to get a Sunday trip in, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. I've got to do a little review of my new paddling jacket. It's keeping me warm and dry. Cheers.

If you look closely, you can see the crust of ice on the water.

Snow

2009-01-20T18:25:00.001-05:00

photo by Aimee Wilson

Backyard Kayak Storage

2009-01-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

This is the kayak rack I built in my backyard. I know it's just 4 posts in the ground and a couple of cross beams, but this is the first thing I've ever made in my life with wood and tools. I got some hand tools for Christmas; pretty standard, hammer, saw, level, tape measure, screwdrivers, etc. I got the wood at Home Depot (two 4x4x8' and two 2x4x8) for about $25.
.

Drilling into the 4x4's gave me a little trouble (density), but otherwise it went pretty smooth. So less than $30, and a couple of hours on a sunny afternoon, and now my boats are well off the ground. As an added bonus, the rack will double well as a work horse and surfboard ding-repair station in the future, and there's even enough room for another boat (like I've got the $ for that). All I need to do now is pad the beams with carpet or foam and I'm good. Cheers.

Hidden Creek

2009-01-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

For our first paddle of 2009 Aimee and I met my former boss and current friend Colin (Doppler) for a romp around our old digs down at WB. We launched from Jasmine Park on Harbor Island about 2 hrs after the low tide. Air temps in the low 50's, no wind to speak of, overcast, light fog. The launch isn't great; you've got to lower the boats off a 4' bulkhead onto a little sand spit (which wouldn't be there at a high enough tide). The bulkhead is framed so it's easy to scale up and down though, so that helps. We made our way towards Shinn's, over to the old swimming hole in Hidden Creek Masonboro (where some idiots have stashed a floating dock and sofas), back out and across the channel and up through Hidden Creek WB to the old fairway and back to Banks Channel. We were inspected by a couple of inquisitive porpoise in Shinn's, one of whom stuck his head up to check us out. We could clearly see his beady little black eye looking our way. The water was perfectly glassy and amazingly clear the entire trip, enabling us to see channel whelks and other critters along the bottom, as well as avoid running over the oyster beds. We got great looks at loons and cormorants, pelicans, Forster's terns, hooded mergansers, various gulls, great egrets, great blue herons, white ibis, yellowlegs, tri-colored herons, a belted kingfisher, and a probable American bittern (a first for me). The tide floated us right through almost the entire trip and the temp/conditions stayed about constant. I got the best look I've had at a hooded merganser, but I'm afraid the reason why is that he was probably injured and couldn't take off to fly away from us, despite multiple attempts (hunters perhaps?). I got to use my new paddling jacket for the first time (an IR Zephyr LS), and I'm very pleased with it. I was almost too warm today, with just a thin synthetic LS tee underneath, but I'm going to be glad for it on colder and windier days. A beautiful trip altogether. It was nice to paddle my old SMKC haunts. Next time I go down to WB on a similar tide I want to get up Bradley Creek to collect a bucket of periwinkles for a chowder. More later.

From Dredge Spoil, South End of WB and Masonboro Inlet

Castle St. to Rat Island

2008-12-28T15:33:00.000-05:00

I launched from the foot of Castle St. at the Public Water Access (just beneath the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge) and rode the incoming tide ~6 miles to Rat Island with the Geezer and his friend Pete this morning. The temperature was perfect, about 70 F, which burned off the light fog we launched in pretty quickly. There was almost no wind for the first half and conditions were super glassy. We checked a few side creeks that ran into cordgrass marsh and cypress stands that have been killed due to the increasing salinity in the river in the last few decades (due to dredging and blasting the channel for shipping). During our lunch stop just north of Rat Island the wind picked up substantially (sustained 15 mph w/ gusts to 20+) out of the SW, which made for a stiff headwind the entire paddle back. When we got back to town we did a little loop around the battleship, which was neat, and then crossed the river, which was a little hairy due to the opposing wind/tide and boat traffic. There were a lot of turkey vultures, a couple of red-tailed hawks, gulls and terns, pelicans, kingfishers, and an egret/heron or two. When the osprey get back there are several excellent places to sit and watch them in the nest at the top of dead cypress on the edge of the river. Sitting under the battleship gives you a great feeling for the sheer size of those ships. My favorite perspective was sitting under the bow. It's amazing how much stuff is rotting on the edge of the river: boats, old factories, piers, etc.

Wilmington from Castle St. launch

Bow to bow w/ the USS North Carolina