Harmony Bilge Pump

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

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!

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.

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DIY rocks.

Island Creek to Castle Hayne

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.

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

Snow

photo by Aimee Wilson

Backyard Kayak Storage

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.
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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

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.

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From Dredge Spoil, South End of WB and Masonboro Inlet