Paddling Up a Creek

Off to Maine

2010-07-03T13:55:00.002-04:00

We are flying out tomorrow to Portland, Maine. We'll be doing 3 days of paddling and staying at the Harpswell Inn during the middle of the week. The headquarters of H2Outfitters will be the home base for day trips. The area is protected by the finger islands that extend into Casco Bay. It should be a fun way to get started with touring on the ocean in bona fide sea kayaks.

The Portland area, Bath, and L.L.Bean haven, Freeport, will be part of the trip.

Waves on a Lake

2010-06-29T21:30:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday, I went out for a technique-focused paddle. Not much sight-seeing but going to a secluded spot to practice various strokes. After watching recently acquired DVD's, I've been psyched to do more of this. I had good luck with most of the strokes I attempted. Since I was by myself and, due to warm temperatures, didn't bring the skirt, I didn't do much static bracing. I did practice a LOT of turns.

On way back to the put-in, I came around a corner of land and caught some decent waves kicked up by powerboats with skiers. This was great fun. With my Necky Manitou 13, the two-footers were enough to get my stern up and my bow down - even into the water. I didn't try to carve any turns. It was too much of a surprise and I had no time to get prepared. It was fun just trying to stay on them and ride them for a bit. I never felt like I would capsize. However, with a little coordination in the future, it seems possible to get some practice catching & riding little waves.

All the more reason to get a bona fide sea kayak in the 16 ft range.

Which Paddle?

2010-06-24T21:46:00.003-04:00

A bazillion options. Okay, maybe not that many, but the variations are a lot to sort through.

I borrowed a 220cm Werner Shuna Performance from Great Outdoor Provision Company to try with a neighborhood lake trip. For kayak touring, they have 4 blade sizes, 4 blade material types, 2 shaft types, and 2 diameter sizes. This particular paddle is a fiberglass blade, the smaller of the two high angle sizes, straight shaft, and the normal diameter. It was perfect for a demo because I've realized I was (unconsciously) using a high-angle paddling technique with my low angle paddle. Now, I could see how it felt to paddle that way with a blade designed for it.

I took my own Aquabound 230cm Stingray and the Shuna and spent several hours on our lake. It was quite a lot more exertion with the Shuna since it catches a significantly larger amount of water. After using the Shuna for a significant chunk of the out portion of the trip, I swapped with my Stingray a couple times to compare & contrast the paddles with high & low angle styles. I learned the following:

Paying attention to what I'm doing with my forward stroke makes a big difference.
The low-angle blade shape suits a low-angle forward stroke better than the high-angle blade. Duh! Same with high matched with high.
The low-angle blade seems to suit a high-angle style better than the high-angle blade with low-angle style.
I am now looking to be a two paddle kinda guy eventually: one low-angle, one high-angle.
Upgrade the low-angle paddle first: Camano or Kalliste
I'd be looking at a 210cm length whenever the time comes to get the high-angle paddle.

I'm more comfortable with the straight shaft instead of a neutral bent shaft. Instead of feeling natural, the bent shafts have felt weird to me. And I think I'm more likely to revert to a clenching grip with the bent shaft versus a straight one.

So, I ordered a 220cm Kalliste. We'll get small diameter shaft for Kathleen. She'll use mine to decide between a Kalliste and an Athena. She'll also use mine to see whether she should go with the 215cm length or not. These are the Werner suggested lengths for us in boats less than 23" wide. We don't have boats this narrow yet, but it's all part of the broader upgrade plan.

Trip #18, Paddling Asheville, June 2010

2010-06-13T20:27:00.004-04:00

I had a great time on a fairly nearby paddle today with Andy and Claire. It was a stretch of the Broad River in Rutherford County - trip #18 in Betsy Mayer's Paddling Asheville and Southern Appalachia. One of my favorite local trips so far is close to her trip #13. I'm definitely going to start working more trips from this book.

The put-in and take-out was somewhat steep. The put-in had a steeper incline - we used rope to lower our boats down. No pictures of my own since I dunked & ruined our camera at the May boat demo session with Great Outdoor Provision Company. Andy's will be linked here. The river had a steady, manageable current the whole 11 mile trip. It took about 5 hours with a lunch break and a tree hacking break. Claire and I got the break on the latter. Andy used his handy-dandy handsaw to cut some limbs to clear a way through a tree that spanned the river at one point. (We did use my tow rope to pull some of those limbs free. The next paddlers can thank Andy.) This, and an easy pull around, were the only serious blockages. We were easily able to navigate around other trees and rocks we encountered.

The water was clear enough to see some submerged stuff. And clear enough to see color differentials when the water went deep. This is an old theme for me - I'm just fascinated by the way the river bottoms change: sand, pebbles, big rocks; ledges of sand on an inside of a bend with deep drop-offs to the outside. The trees that were down gave me the impression that big water would roll down dragging behemoths from the river banks. That's probably not the case, but it was a compelling image in my mind.

We passed a pair of black cows, a pretty brown horse, a small dark heron, a great blue heron, several kingfishers, miscellaneous small brown things, a very big owl (that we didn't get close enough too), and a half-dozen turkey vultures by the water. Not a whole lot of wildlife, but the trip was very, very enjoyable.

I also got to put into practice techniques picked up from the Brent Reitz Forward Stroke Clinic dvd. This was recommended by a couple of guys I follow on Twitter, Bryan Hansel and David Johnston. Even with low-angle paddling, the "chicken wing" approach, of keeping the elbow up, even with the hand & shoulder, made a HUGE difference in how the torso rotation, and power in the stroke, felt. Brief description here.

Over the Mountain Triathlon 2010

2010-05-22T11:34:00.005-04:00

The Over The Mountain Triathlon is an annual event where the swim is in Moss Lake, the ride heads toward Kings Mountain, and the run goes back out from Kings Mountain. Since we got boats, I've wanted to help out with this event. The email arrived Thursday afternoon saying they needed more on-the-water volunteers. It was the first I heard about it, but fortunately I had no plans. While Kathleen was preparing for the Certified Pool Operation exam, I paddled toward the public access where the swim starts.

With minimal instruction and none of the promised equipment (flotation device & whistle), I was back out on the water and headed towards another pair of paddlers that were positioned at about the halfway point. The swim course was a 7 facing down for 1.5 km. At 8am, the horn blew for the lead group to start. The leaders tore up that distance. At intervals, trailing groups started. No one became distressed or needed anything to hold on to. Several swimmers got off course. Some more so than others. One boat was orange, as were the course markers, which caused at least one person to cut the corner, lose time, and add distance before getting re-oriented. The last person out of the water had a regular flotilla escort as all the boats along the course trailed in behind him.

Here are the leaders going past me (with a path buoy way in the background) and the finish line with a lady just out of the water and a blue-capped person still in the water but approaching boat ramp.

ECCKF Round Two

2010-04-19T23:25:00.004-04:00

We made it back to the East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival in Charleston SC this past weekend. No pictures this time. We jammed the weekend full of master classes (expert teachers, not old learners) on the water, tent classes, vendor tent browsing, boat demoing, and a beginner's class on rolling (me, that is; not Kathleen). We only went for the festival deciding to hotel it rather than rent a place on Folly Beach. It was a good decision. As it turns out, we were beat at the end of each day and didn't want to do much at night. Kathleen threw out her knee getting out of a boat after class on the first day. And, by the end of the weekend, I had a massive crick in my neck from poor sweep turn form on the windblown pond and then unsuccessful attempts to roll in the last class on the last day. No trips in the area this time. Next time! And next time, hopefully, we'll have better boats to take the classes with. The Charleston Park & Rec folks had nice boats available for the classes but it's harder to learn technique in an unfamiliar boat.

Winter Warmup & Brown Water

2010-02-21T20:35:00.005-05:00

It's been a cold snowy winter so far - very different from last year when we started kayaking; very few options for us to get on the water. It warmed up this weekend and I couldn't pass up the chance to paddle. I decided to do a quickie on our very own Moss Lake.

First decision was "what to wear?" Actually, it wasn't hard due to our experience last year and expecting the water to be colder. Even with temp pushing into 60's, I was going to wear my 3mm farmer john. I went with a lightweight long-sleeved paddle shirt to go over it. Oh, the other part that made it easy? A guy died a couple weeks ago on the South Fork Catawba River. Inexperienced, not dressed properly, then trying a river in flood stage. We haven't tried the stretch they did. It's a real mix of flatwater and rocks & shoals. Neither flatwater nor whitewater paddlers are fond of it - I think due to the mix of conditions that make it hard or unpleasant for one or the other. More later if/when we ever paddle it ourselves.

Second decision was "where to go?" This wasn't hard either. With Kathleen not able to go, I didn't want to go far or stay out for long. I wanted to go to the Mystery Waterfall and see if the higher rainfall this winter made a difference. This would also make it a short paddle. Since we were going to run an errand, I didn't want to stay out long.

As I'm prepping to go, I realized that last time, after a long break, I'd forgotten to take something. I meant to look at my checklist, but did I? Noooooooo! (Turns out, I only forgot a small face cloth to dry my hands.) Good to be doing this again none the less.

While the lake had some minor flooding during the big rains, the water level was normal full pond. There was floating stuff about. Less than what we've seen before when we were on the water more consistently. After all, a week of no rain had allowed some degree of settling or stabilization of the stuff that gets washed through the creeks. I picked up some floating debris in the open water.

The lake water was very brown. Not surprising, really, but it got me thinking. A pharmacist, who works where we get our prescriptions filled, lives on our lake and was commenting about the changing color of the lake water over the course of a year. A little Googling and I found this nifty explanation of lake turnover.

When I got to my destination, I was surprised to see the buildup of a sandbar that kept me from getting past the 'gatekeeping' tree. Disappointment. Compare this to
this:
And then I discovered this affordable lakefront home (only one of it's kind on Moss Lake that I've seen so far):

Finally .... I've speculated previously about proper clothing for days like this. I saw that NRS has a 3mm shortie and a 0.5 mm shortie. I think I'll try the thinner material. But then again, if I wait too long, I'll have even less reason to buy something.

No Paddling, but Interesting Observation

2009-12-28T22:24:00.003-05:00

We STILL haven't hit the water since October. However, I am amused to see posts on the Catawba Cruisers forum as winter paddling comes on. I'm very impressed with the activity of the group and the trips they plan - and megabummed about not being able to join them. The amusing part is the cold water experience of Jenny ... and how much it is paralleling our own. I will get a link to her site over there in the right column once Google fixes the JavaScript bug in their "Configure Link List" add link widget in Firefox 3.5.6. Until then, here it is: zen kayaking

Duck Cove - Osprey, Big Fish, & Really Big Snake

2009-10-08T17:16:00.013-04:00

We brushed the cobwebs off our kayaks and headed out to Duck Cove today. This is upriver from Mountain Island Lake along the Catawba River. It borders a waterfowl refuge. We didn't see much in the way of waterfowl at mid-day. We did see two osprey - which were much bigger birds than I was expecting. No pictures, but I did bring my birding binoculars and got a good look at the white of their underside. No diving for fish either. They just circled. We did see what they were looking for - big honkin' fish. I don't know fish. Maybe they were carp. But we saw lots of them, usually in pairs or threesomes, that were 2-3 ft long. [UPDATE: They were grass carp. Imported for vegetation control.] The cove is very shallow, only a foot or two deep through most of its stomach-shape. When we too close for comfort, they kicked up quite a dust cloud swimming away from us. Some even kicked up a wave. As for the leaf peeping, we saw sweetgums that had turned already and a number of drought-stressed poplars that were yellowish.

Our put-in was at Killian Rd. We started on a smaller cove/inlet and went up the main river channel just a bit to get to Duck Cove. After circumnavigating the cove, we went a little further north to find another creek scouted by others. On our way up, we caught sight of this:

From a distance, it looked like a branch/log, but it didn't move with the current. It kept cutting across heading for the other side. Kathleen wasn't too happy at the time. And she didn't want to see the pictures I took. I don't know snakes either. I'll update the post with an identification later. The impounded river had to be 150 yards across. I was amazed a snake would try to cross it. I wouldn't believe it unless I'd seen it. And, you can keep your Loch Ness monster jokes to yourself. I was moving. The snake was moving. I used my photo processing software to adjust the contrast. Unfortunately, I can refactor the focus. The thing had to be about 6 feet long. [UPDATE - Fellow paddler, Mike Slater, says it was a banded watersnake. According to that article, my "snake" story exaggerates it's length by 50%.]

The other creek was quite neat. Both Duck Cove and this creek had rather clear water. With the shallowness, it was quite easy to see to the bottom - of only a couple feet or so. Is with my previous post, when I can see under the water, I find what's there much more fascinating than the land above it - the undulations, the sand/silt patterns, the shells, the branches & other stuff in the water. With some leaves on the water, it was interesting to see their shadows on the bottom. For the most part, they did NOT look like the leaves. They were much more rounded. I guessed that the way the leaves sat in the water was part of it. But I also noticed that a small stick didn't have a noticeable shadow at all. The light refracted enough around it to make any shadow very faint. The big shadow here is my boat and paddle:

Finally, for posterity's sake, here are a couple shots of the put-in & take-out. I'm standing on the packed dirt road off the paved Killian Rd. The dip is deep enough that I didn't trust getting our truck through from both directions. We parked on the side of the road. If you can get through the dip, there is space to park offroad. The put in is just to the left.

Belated Trip Report with Neighbor

2009-08-30T18:09:00.003-04:00

Between weather, work, and activities, not much paddling going on. Two weeks ago, we geared up to go on our home lake, but on the morning of, Kathleen wasn't up to it. She suggested calling our next door neighbor, John. To my pleasant surprise, he said yes. This was his first time in a kayak. He took the more stable of the two. He took to it well.

Afterwards, I kicked myself for not bringing the camera. We saw a number of pretty flowers in bloom. Two stand out - an orangy trumpet-shaped flower that was rather small & delicate and quite abundant on the bushes - and a vine that profuse light purpley violet stems of flowers. We had seen the later floating on Buffalo Creek and wondered what produced it. And I was correct in my suspicion - it was kudzu!

John had a great time. As we were paddling up the creek, he was telling me that they're using a variety of grasses in wetlands to suck up and aspirate volatile chemicals and experimenting with a poplar hybrid with their deep tap roots for groundwater plumes. He's an environmental geologist that does polluted industrial site cleanup work.

Upper Catawba - Riverbend Park to Lookout Shoals Dam

2009-07-05T17:11:00.005-04:00

Today, we made it to the stretch of the Catawba River that we'd had to bail on at the beginning of the month. We were able to put in at the Riverbend Park, near Conover. We weren't able to start as planned because Duke Energy wasn't releasing enough water. We arrived at 8:30am to find Andy standing on rocks about a quarter way across the river. "Tide's out," he said.

Fortunately, a horn went off at 9am and a guy fishing gathered up his stuff and scampered up to the bank. Within a few minutes, we heard a rush of noise as Duke started running water through one of it's turbines (or whatever). With their re-licensing this year, Duke is supposed to be much better about these releases during the weekends to support recreational use of the river. So, we were to get started after all, and away we went:

The first couple miles, at this water level, had rocks to avoid but not enough to cause problems. We scraped over a few but nothing like the aggravation at Landsford Canal. We saw the bald eagle pair that nests nearby. Not much I can do picture-wise. The only picture I took has the bald eagle launching, but it's fuzzy enough to qualify for a "UFO In-Flight!" article.

At each island, we took the narrow path. At the second island, after the river bends south, we stopped at a sand bar to munch. After putting in again, Kathleen saw what she initially thought was an otter. We'd heard they were about. Upon our return, and discussion with Ranger Lori Owenby, it may have been a mink. No picture, but here are Kathleen and Andy at the bar:

After this, the trip shifted to placid, impounded river. Because of our "narrow side" of islands, we missed seeing the big rock outcrop to the wide side of the longest island. Oh well, it gives us something unique to look forward to when we return. For future reference, this island had 4 or 5 duck blinds along the narrow side. I'd not seen any around here before.

The trip duration was right at the 3.5 hours that Lori had predicted. According to the river map, it's a 9.5 mile trip. We loaded Andy's kayak into our truck at the Lookout Shoals Lake access and headed back to the start. Overall, nice trip. The temperature stayed in the upper 70's and cloudy. We were sprinkled upon occasionally but it was light and not really very noticable.

Demoing Tampico and Tracer

2009-06-21T22:13:00.010-04:00

In the search for a new boat for Kathleen, we drove into Charlotte, Great Outdoor Provision Company, today hoping to demo two boats from Hurricane Kayaks. We were able take out a Tampico 140S and a Tracer 165. I had looked for nearby spots to paddle and picked a launch point at McDowell Park which borders Lake Wylie/Catawba River. We arrived at 1pm when the store opened, loaded up the two boats and headed out. Here they are - all pretty in their trylon plastic colors.

Now, actually, I should have known that Sunday afternoons on a big lake were not ideal kayaking conditions. Well, I did, but I thought we'd be able to scoot up to one of the feeder creeks or rivers without much trouble. Unfortunately, the wind and waves proved to be a limiting factor so we didn't end up getting far upstream. All in all though, we weren't there to see the scenary so much as to try out the kayaks. Two demo lessons learned in the process:

It's better to paddle someplace you already know.
If you're trying a stretch boat, pick someplace calm.

I'd been kinda psyched that the Tampico would be a good replacement boat for Kathleen. I was real curious about the Tracer for whenever we decide to get second pair of kayaks. I'm still happy with my Necky Manitou. We may even keep it as a newbie boat in case we ever have guests. Here is Kathleen in each boat. Note the shape differences here and in the picture above.

Net-net: both of us liked the Tampico, even if we could not figure out the back band adjustment. Kathleen felt smooth in it and powerful. I had the foot pegs in as far as I dared and it still wasn't enough for Kathleen to brace properly. It's looking like we'll be asking for a specialized foot peg track placement with our next purchase (of whatever boat) for her. While the Tracer was tippier, I didn't notice it too much. What I did notice was it's tendency to keep turning once I started the turn. It looks like there are some techniques that we would need to learn to use this high-rocker boat effortlessly.

As we were puttering about in the cove area, we came across this unusual heron. It's rather small in the middle of the frame - my picture using the digitizal zoom on the camera didn't come out very well. The coloring looks like a Little Blue Heron, but the shape and legs are like a Green Heron. My bird books say the Little Blue stays on the coast. I look forward to a proper identification.

First Moonlight Paddle

2009-06-06T23:52:00.003-04:00

Various paddling groups in the area organize full moon trips at night. They inspired me to monitor the weather to do the same on our own lake. It seemed like a really good idea to try this on water we knew instead of water we didn't. After throwing in a late night long drive to some other place, the local option became a no-brainer.

Saturday, after church, looked best for us. We made it down to the access ramp around 8:30pm while there was still light. And we were out on open water before it started getting really dark. Armed with our nifty Petzl headlamps, we were night boating compliant. Errrr, not armed; headed, actually. These LED-based doodads are on a headband. Ours have several brightness levels and a flash mode. So, we're sure to catch anyone's attention, except for the bass boaters hellbent on getting to their next fishing hole. There were mostly pontoon boaters enjoying the night just as we were. We saw our next door neighbors on the water before it got completely dark.

We wore our long-sleeved summer weight shirts to try them out and reduce surface area for mosquitos. I brought bug spray but, surprisingly enough, didn't need it. The only thing that attracted bugs were the headlamps when in a cove. The temperatures were pleasantly cool so the long sleeves were perfect.

We headed up the cove to Kathleen's parent's house. She called them on the cell phone when we were coming around to their view of the water. I just know Bill was muttering "blankety-blank kids" then hollering "you look great, kid!" We continued on up their cove. It was near the end of this one where a pontoon boat nearly snuck up right behind us.

The moon was pretty. However, not having nearby objects on the horizon, it looked small the whole time. The lake surface had mesmerizing undulations. I think these are the longer wavelength waves, caused by boat wakes that reflect off the shores. Not being able to see them coming, we would just sit in the water and experience them going past us.

We puttered about for 3 hours total, not getting back to the ramp until 11:30pm. A very pleasant night out on the water. We'll be doing this again soon.

Lake Lure

2009-05-31T19:44:00.004-04:00

We finally made the trek up to Lake Lure today. It was Plan B. Plan A had been to paddle the upper Catawba River near Conover, NC. The idea was scuttled by the put-in being closed by high water from Duke Energy needing to bleed water from its reservoirs. We have wanted to go to Lake Lure since the very beginning of the year. This was the trigger. We needed a fairly easy out & back trip and I figured the lake would get more crowded as the summer kicks in.

It's a pretty reservoir, up in the mountains, and an easy 1.5 hr drive. The route via US74A/64, coming from the east, is very popular for motorcycle rides. The town has several restaurants with outdoor seating. Much better than the town of Chimney Rock, up the road a little further. We paid the $22 annual fee for each boat at the Lake Lure Marina and used their single lane boat ramp to put-in. Here's a view from the water (with a pair of blue kayaks that came in as we left):

The hills are quite nearby and have nice rock faces in spots:

We went up the Broad River, just past US74/64. We couldn't get far before the rocks blocked us. We found a small side creek that led to a retaining pond. The pond was home to scads of Canadian geese, their yung'ns, and a pair of white swans(?). The homes on the lake are a real mixed lot - some huge stone houses, some mobile homes, and lots of boat garages. On our lake, the lake-side "style" is plain old docks/decks, or roofed boat houses. The garages here were complete with wooden doors on them - kinda quaint. We also saw big turtles and a lot of swallows. There were fewer power boats than I expected on the water, so the mid-afternoon timing worked out just fine. We only went as far as where the lake tee's out to the north. Maybe that northern finger has more interesting hills and wildlife.

Look close in that upper pic above. Besides Katheen in the foreground far right, I think I've got a picture of Chimney Rock, complete with US flag flying, up in the rocks, about middle right.

We will definitely be back in the fall when the leaves are turning. Another summer trip is likely. It was rather breezy today. Hopefully, that breeze will be there when it's stagnant in the piedmont in July & August. We took NC9 south out of town. It was an easier and faster drive than coming through Rutherfordton. (Remember this for the next trip.)

Rocky Shoals Spider Lily

2009-05-24T21:05:00.003-04:00

We made the trip to the Landsford Canal State Park near Lancaster SC today. The draw was the springtime flowering of Hymenocallis coronaria, a rare lily that grows amongst the rocks in this section of the Catawba River.

The previous week's Catawba Cruisers group paddle sounded like quite an adventure. A number of new people, fast current from all the rain, grounded boats, flipped boats, and snakes. Andy was willing to go again. Gwen, from Great Outdoor Provision Company, was organizing an afternoon paddle. So, we decided to do this short stretch twice. We were joined by Terri and her son Blake, in the morning, and Pat Long in the afternoon. This was also our first shuttle experiment. It was also our first effort to dodge rain. It's been raining ALOT lately - which is really good for relieving our extreme drought conditions, but not so good for long distance paddle trips. The storm have frequently involved thunder too, so we didn't even try to paddle Moss Lake. But this time, only lightning was going to keep us off the water. Besides, the remnants of the canal, history, and prospect for stopping at GOPC, gave us enough rain-out options to make getting out of the house worthwhile.

We drove through some rain to get there and had a couple minor misturns on the way. But we got there only 5 minutes or so after the agreed meeting time of 10am. Andy was looking at his watch when we pulled in to the rather small and crowded parking lot; but he knows we're never on time. He, Terri, & Blake were already unloaded and waiting by the river. We dropped boats and gear by the parking lot ... And then I realized I'd forgotten to bring our paddles. Doh! I've done this on local drives down the road to our neighborhood access ramp, but it was a first for a road trip. Damnation! Andy had a spare paddle, just like ours, which Kathleen borrowed. I bummed a paddle from the park rangers. Terri, Andy, and I drove to the parking lot by the take-out. Andy drove us back and parked up the road in the increasingly crowded main parking lot. This is a nice little park - it's sized for normal use, not peak use when the lilies are blooming.

The river is flat right up to the park. We paddled out and tried to follow Andy as he traversed the rocky shoals. Now, I know what rocky shoals means - it is to be taken literally. There are rocks freakin' everywhere. We scraped over bunches of them. Got caught up on bunches more. Fortunately, none of us fell out. We did get rained on. It was actually rather enjoyable. I had my [brandname] hat from ECCKF and it worked really well. No lightning, so no scramble. I also forgot my camera so I have no pictures. But here are Andy's.

The lilies are indeed beautiful, both in mass and up close. They root into dirt filled crevasses in the rocks and need occasional flooding. This is one of the largest of very few stands in the US. I'm amazed they just let canoers and kayakers come and walk amongst them. Surely, they take abuse from the foot traffic during blooming. However, they seem to be thriving and the park encourages paddlers.

We thought the afternoon trip would be different from the morning one. I thought Gwen was going to be bringing flatwater boats but his entourage was almost all whitewater craft. I also thought he was taking a different route. But, alas, it was the same one, so we just did it a second time. We stayed a little more to the middle of the river this time. (We were river right in the morning.) It was very tiring and tedious to be pushing past the rocks. The repeat pass has put us off a second trip. We may come back to see the canals and paddle up the Catawba. But, unless we get whitewater boats, I doubt we'll be scraping up the bottoms of ours again.

Paddling Everywhere, Just Not By Us

2009-05-22T08:55:00.002-04:00

We've been kept off the water by a string of weekends with unpredictable heavy rain and thunderstorms. As the weather has warmed up, there are lots of people paddling in a variety of locations. All too distant for us to want to drive to & fro only to be rained out. I am now stir crazy and must do something. Hopefully, we won't be dodging thunderbolts. But come heck, or even high water, we're going to see the Spider Lilies at Landsford Canal State Park on the Catawba River!

Stroke Videos

2009-04-29T22:57:00.003-04:00

Via @SeaKayakStMarys and @bryanhansel ... a selection of short video clips demonstrating a retinue of kayaking strokes.

UPDATE - May 18: Check here for animations of various paddle techniques.

ECCKF Wrap-Up

2009-04-25T07:00:00.004-04:00

UPDATED: Apr 26 - added the pictures

Kathleen and I had a great time at the East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival in Charleston SC. We are definitely going again. We tried to take advantage of everything available, made several on-the-fly plan changes, and had some unanticipated coordination challenges. We took our two Italian Greyhounds and rented a 1 room cottage on Folly Beach for a week. Ray and Dorothy, some paddling buddies, were going and we wanted to hook up with them. Here's what we did - commentary follows.

Thu evening - Eastern Horizons movie
Fri morning - sunrise paddle on Folly Creek
Fri afternoon - lessons: Basics and Beyond the Basics
Fri evening - Russell Farrow on Glaciers & Narwhal (Vacation from Hell)
Sat morning - Nigel Foster demo on kayak control; Ken Fink on wind & waves
Sat afternoon - rescue demos; vendor viewing & gear gathering; Danny Mongno on low/high angle paddling
Sat evening - dinner ticket & traffic fiasco; late dinner; "ballet" with kayaks & canoe
Sun morning - lessons: Combine & Refine and Support Strokes
Sun afternoon - more vendor viewing; kayak demoing

The movie was my first exposure to top-flight sea kayaking. Beforehand, I was more leery than interested, now I can definitely see the appeal. Will, of Coastal Expeditions, led the sunrise paddle. It was a nice jaunt through a tidal marsh area. We saw a bottle-nosed dolphin. We had signed up for 3 of the 6 classes offered by H2Outfitters and ended up adding a 4th to round out their complete set on various strokes - very useful, since all of our previous stroke knowledge came from our watching DVD's not people watching us & providing feedback. H2Outfitters had a bunch of boats for the lessons. We were in Perception Sea Lions on Friday and Prijon Catalinas on Sunday. The Prijons felt very wobbly to us newbies - a good lesson to avoid hard chine boats until we're more advanced. I flipped mine while going gonzo practicing low braces - but it gave me an opportunity to try a heel re-entry seen demoed by Cathy Piffath the day before. Kathleen has gained a lot of confidence and now wants to step up from her Pungo 120. Since we didn't plan on buying a boat there, we are waiting. However, it probably won't be too long before we're looking to sell & buy. In retrospect, we regret skipping the BBQ dinner on Friday night. I salivated at Dorothy's description of the beer and others told me the food was better than Saturday's. We returned for the Vacation from Hell presentation - very interesting for capturing the on-shore experience, not nearly as much on-water shoots as in Eastern Horizons; overall, a good pairing though. On Saturday, we wanted to catch a variety of sessions. Nigel Foster is freakin' amazing in a kayak - now we know how graceful kayaks can be on flatwater. Jeff & Cathy's demo of rescues was interesting, informative, and, as already mentioned, timely. After Ken Fink's talk, we knew what a Sea Kayak Carolina staff member meant when he warned us on Monday about the fetch near the mouth of the Folly River. Danny, of Werner Paddles, was entertaining during his talk about paddling styles. Who knew that competition between paddling vendors is a trash talk sport? Actually, that was a tiny percentage of his session, he was very informative discussing technique and paddle/shaft shapes. Unfortunately, I left the dinner tickets at home and, unbeknown to us, had to fight Folly Beach Sea & Sand Festival traffic back to the cottage. I was an hour late to dinner, the crowd was thinning, and I missed Ray & Dorothy. I did have a nice, but short, chat with Steve, the Charleston Co. paddling program director, his wife, and the guy who was directing the festival. After dinner, and after bumming some bug spray, Alison Sigathy and Karen Knight were incredibly graceful in their greenland kayak and canoe respectively. After the second set of lessons and Sunday, we tried sea kayaks by Nigel Dennis, P&H, and Wilderness Systems. The Current Design folks had packed up, so we missed trying theirs.

We only missed one component this year - master classes offered by experts, but not necessarily for experts. With the basics under our belt, a season of practice, and we'll be signing up for a number of these next year. We didn't get to do any other paddles due to high winds. I look forward to paddling to the Morris Island Lighthouse next year.

Here's Kathleen at the H2Outfitter's location for on-the-water lessons.
And fellow paddlers on Folly Creek in the tidal marsh:

Consensus on Warm-Air Cold-Water Wear?

2009-04-01T22:51:00.002-04:00

I posted a question on the Mecklenburg Regional Paddler's forum about recommendations for clothing or "behavior" when the air temperature is warm and the water temperature is not. I'd previously speculated that I'd carry a scooper and pour cold water down my shirt if I wore my current gear - an 3mm Farmer John and a 0.5mm longsleeve top (both from NRS).

The general consensus was towards a "shortie" farmer john - single piece wetsuit with mid-thigh shorts and vest-like upper. The idea was ... protect the core in the water, allow the extremities to sweat to release body heat generated by paddling in the warmer air. At the ECCKF, we'll be talking with other folks too. Stay tuned!

Practicing a Self-Rescue

2009-03-22T19:01:00.011-04:00

After Kathleen's previous excitement, we bought a variety of extra safety gear and I got psyched to practice getting wet myself. Today, the weather was wonderful. I just had to do a bunch of yard cleanup chores before she would let me go play in the water. I enumerate here all the reasons why my experience was much easier than hers:

Planned
Calm lake
Wetsuit
Two float bags in the bow
Paddle float
Water not quite so cold
Watched self-rescue video beforehand
Kathleen ready to go with PFD, ropes, and backup paddle float.

As we were watching The Dolphin Eye's "Practical Kayaking" DVD, I realized that we'd never actually seen the self-rescue section. We'd only watched the buddy rescue demonstrated in Ken & Nicole Whiting's "Recreational Kayaking" DVD. Here's the spot we used. It's at the end of our neighborhood's cove; photo taken from the adjoining neighborhood's decent-sized dock.

Here's the video of the first attempt (with color commentary by Kathleen):

Here's the video of the second attempt (Yikes, I wonder if I can do anything about that dorsal still for the image preview. Thanks, YouTube, it's very flattering!):

Context for references in the videos: Andy is our friend who was with us on the South Fork. Walter & Patty are friends on the lake who came by, in one of their boats, while we were getting started.

A very fun experience. And I feel good about succeeding both times. (Afterwards, I was kicking myself for not having tried some bracing techniques to see if I could recover from a tilt.)

I did discover one thing about the kayak dress code... If you do, in fact, dress for the water temperature, you better get in the water on warm days like this, or you'll roast. I wonder if bringing a scooper and pouring water down my neoprene shirt would be the best practice. ;-)

First Rescue Experience - Lessons Learned

2009-03-09T22:27:00.013-04:00

In our exciting previous episode, I described our first experience getting wet in strong current when the water was COLD. Actually, it was Kathleen's experience. Here is a sideshot of the scene of excitement courtesy of Andy; as always, click on it for a bigger pic. Note the undulating surface. I don't know enough about river bottoms to know what causes this. We didn't see any rocks and Kathleen didn't touch the bottom anywhere. There had to be some variation in the bottom and a general decline.

Just downstream, where the river was wider and the flow slower, Andy measured the current at 2.4 mph. Definitely not whitewater territory, but way hard to paddle against. I tried measuring the water temperature with my Dakota carabiner UV/temp sensor watch but it didn't adjust fast enough. I'd guess it was 50+/-5 degrees F. You can see the tree stump on the far side of the river about a quarter width from the right edge of the photo. Kathleen's last attempt was on the far side of this tree. Andy figures her getting pushed against the stump, as the current overcame her effort, and an upstream lean was the reason she flipped. The eddy spot was by the bank, on the left edge of the photo, where the light-colored tree trunk is against the bank and going into the water. This is where Kathleen and her kayak ended up.

After getting back home, Andy re-read some of his literature on safety and rescues with renewed focus and intensity. Hear, hear; I second that! Nothing like a real-life experience to demonstrate the relevance of the information.

So, what did Kathleen and I do RIGHT for a river paddle with strong current?

had PFD's on and cinched snugly
had a bilge pump and sponge
had watched a video that showed a pair doing a self-rescue
had clothing change in bulkhead
each had a whistle (not that she used it to get my attention)
since the water was cold, and re-entry to the boat not immediate, get swimmer to shore first; then worry about the boat & stuff
Mike had another set of clothes at the car

How was Andy better prepared than we were?

had a tow rope that was pre-tied to his bow handle
had a spare paddle
was using paddle & deck rigging to help stabilize empty kayak

What did we learn about strong current river paddles?

lean INTO the downstream strainer (or obstacle), do NOT lean upstream into the current
do NOT let boaters get too far apart; when things go wrong, they go wrong quickly
stay especially nearby when trying a tough spot, but boaters need space to make their run; make sure a strong, designated, paddler is last in line
have multiple cell phones, or beacons, if you need to get additional help
get a sense for the flow rate of the river from USGS water gauges or resevoir release patterns

What else should we have done differently?

each kayak needs a bilge pump and sponge
have multiple tow ropes
have flotation bags (to make up for lack of front bulkhead)
have paddle float
pack an emergency blanket
have dry bags holding stuff in the cockpit
be more careful about really narrow spots; wider kayaks will have tighter fits & more difficulty getting paddles into the water for effective strokes (same for longer paddles)
practice self & buddy rescues (preferably in warm water)
experience cold water immersion in a safe situation
when in warm water, try using a partner boat for emptying a full cockpit; it'll be a lot faster than bilge pumping!

What about clothing? Should we have dressed differently? Kathleen was wearing splash pants and jacket for staying dry in the boat and warmth. Neither of us were wearing insulating layers for the cold water. I do have a neoprene top and farmer john - but I could not imagine wearing them for this warm weather trip. There is the adage of kayakers dressing for water temp, not air temp. And I can see that for sea kayaking and fast water trips. I've worn them on our lake when the air temp was cold too. I know it's risky; not sure where the boundary should be. Distance from shore should be a factor. South Fork wasn't more than 30 feet across anywhere along our trip.

In a previous post, I'd noted that paddling against the current will exacerbate any deviation of your boat from a straight line. The stronger the current, the faster your bow will be turned and you'll be going sideways. When pointed perpendicular to the current, you have the LEAST control over where you go. Be very aware of any nearby obstacles - they affect your options going upstream and you might see too much of them when recovering from a failed attempt. I was hoping to experiment and learn in current on the Broad River right next to the Greenway parking lot with Jeff, who knows the area. We could use more practice.

Regarding the flow rates, we're not quite sure about this one. Obviously, higher than normal CFS or water levels from water gauges says something about general conditions. However, width and depth of the channels does more to influence the current at any particular spot. Andy and I are both looking for more information on this one.

But what if it's just a lake paddle, or an impounded river? I'm not sure I'd drop any of this stuff. The extra paddle? Maybe?

South Fork, by Lincolnton

2009-03-08T22:53:00.019-04:00

Today turned out to be a remarkable paddle for a number of reasons. I'd wondered about the South Fork of the Catawba River - it's nearby, but not mentioned in the flatwater paddling references I've seen (either print or internet). Andy had scouted several put-in options but noted that there weren't as many as you'd expect. Some research revealed lots of dams for different mills and industries and a few spots for whitewater kayakers for elementary warm-ups or play spots. Also, in the past, South Fork was not known for it's cleanliness. Andy had scouted a put in on Laboratory Road near Lincolnton - a rail trail by a dam that appears to have powered a Civil War era plant that made medicine for the Confederacy. Well, maybe today's actual dam and actual factory weren't Civil War era stuff, but it was impressive anyway and served as the start for quite a day on the water.

Neither Andy nor Kathleen and I had been on the South Fork before. We crossed over it on various road trips, and Andy had driven around looking for put-in options. Betsy Ross Park, within Lincolnton, the most obvious candidate, doesn't take advantage of the river that creates one of it's boundaries. Andy and I had noted several places where paths led to steep drops into the river - good for fishing, I suppose, but not good for putting in kayaks. So, Laboratory Road it was.

The put-in, at the head of the South Fork Catawba River Rail Trail, can be found on Google maps with these coordinates: 35.442107,-81.25881. The parking lot was about 100 yard away from a decent put-in spot. This was a useful trial run at a portage. Andy had a homemade cart for the gravel path. We didn't bring our dolly and walked the boats one at a time. (Note to self: bring the dolly next time.) The river is impounded in this section by a dam. Photo courtesy of Andy:

Here's the put-in with a view towards the dam ledge and Kathleen & Andy ready to go. (Note Andy's accoutrements tied to the deck of his kayak ... this will be relevant later in this long post.)

We were heading upstream around 10:45am. It was a wonderfully warm day. Daylight savings time had just kicking in so we had the whole day in front of us. We planned on going up as far as we could but had every expectation that a tree might block our way.

The river wasn't especially wide or narrow. We could have paddled three abreast the whole way if we'd wanted. There were very few houses, some industries, and several stretches where the west side was marked as a nature preserve. It was almost completely tree lined. Birds and frogs were around in various stretches but not omni-present. There was very little street noise so, all around, it was a nice bucolic paddle; even though were going through the western half of Lincolnton. Just a number of fishing spots (only one being used by a fellow). No landings, ramps, or stairs implying consistent usage of the river. We came quite close to three Muscovy ducks and saw two pairs of wood ducks off in the distance. On the way back, Andy spotted a deer. And we encountered a couple in a canoe with the guy fishing. Here's a sample view up and downstream at a random spot.

Click on the upstream photo to get the bigger image and note the riffles in the water. The current was pretty strong. We'd had a rare February snowstorm the week before, preceded by heavy rain. The further upstream we went the stronger the flow was. And we were able to keep going ... and going ... and going. There were a few spots where trees created snags (a.k.a. strainers) that forced us through narrows. For the most part, these weren't constricting snags that really amplified the current. Just narrow spots that were tricky to get through. Kathleen, having the widest kayak (at 29 inches), had more difficulty with these. We found a really nice sand bank to beach on and have lunch. Andy's GPS had us 3.7 miles upriver and an 1 hr 15 min in. Note Kathleen and my different clothing strategy ...

The current here was quite noticable. All of us found it "interesting" that we'd be paddling along and, without any particular water sign, the current would get much stronger. The river was quite muddy, so we couldn't see more than a few inches down. We never saw the bottom - way too much silt from runoff. We kept humping it upstream but the afternoon was getting on, so we started entertaining thoughts of turning around. Lesson learned from our previous Huffman's Bridge paddle, this time I had a map with the river/creeks colored in so that we'd have some landmarks (and could stay on course). As we approached the bridge for Reepsville Road, we decided to make this our turn-around point. We'd paddled 5.6 miles in 3 hrs 30 min with a short and long rest. There was this really nifty looking structure where we "parked" on the water and rested again. It reminded me of X-Files episodes where unlabelled structures would lead into deep underground caverns for all kinds of government-run experiments.

The current here was the strongest we'd encountered. You could see the water undulating as it went past this structure. There was even a small ledge at the top. We decided to give it a go for the sake of being able to turn-around and ride it back down. Kathleen went first, me second, and Andy third. Kathleen didn't make it on her first attempt. I went a little further toward the opposite side and made it up. Since the current was still strong after clearing the mini-ledge, I went further up to where a big tree was aground midstream, created a barrier, and gave me a spot to park and rest. I didn't look back but I heard Andy's comment when he didn't make it past the mini-ledge. Here's a picture of Kathleen trying again with Andy waiting for another turn ... and me taking a picture of myself on the tree. (Sure looks like I could use to lose some weight.)

Little did I know that while I was taking pictures here, Kathleen was making her fourth unsuccessful, and disastrous, attempt. As Andy described it later, she tried going up on the far left, got off her straight line upstream, got turned towards her right, ran up on a mostly submerged tree, tilted upriver, and the current flipped her over into the water. Luckily, in her big cockpit Pungo 120, she fell right out of the boat and didn't get caught up in it or the spray skirt she uses. The current pushed her and the boat downstream quickly and she ended up in an eddy up against the steep river bank on the left. The PFD did it's job and she stayed afloat without much struggle even though the water was over her head. The flip occurred so fast, she can't even remember it happening. Now, the trick was getting back into the boat! Hence, as we refer to it later, the "excitement" goes into much slower motion. Okay, maybe, longer-running activities is a better description.

Andy is right there, but I'm upstream. After putting away the camera I look downstream and something doesn't look right. I see Andy in his yellow kayak and I see Kathleen's green one. But her black hat is not above her yellow PFD above her green kayak, it's at the end of her boat and I don't see her PFD. Yikes! "Are you in the water?" I holler. Incredulously, she asks Andy, who's next to her now, "Did he really ask if I was in the water?" At this point, she's flipped her kayak upright again but the cockpit is completely full and only the stern is above water. The bow is about 6 inches below water. I head back downstream and stop at a section of the mysterious structure upstream of them and on the opposite side. All I can do is go downstream just beyond them and join them in the eddy spot. Kathleen is holding onto a branch sticking up from the water. Andy has his bilge pump out and is starting to empty out the cockpit. Even though the air temperature is in the upper 70's, the water temperature is not. Kathleen is breathing in shallow sharp gasps and I'm thinking she needs to get out of the water as soon as possible. It takes a wee bit of "persuading" to get her moving towards the river bank where she can get up. It's a good thing she's got her NRS Mystery Gloves on, because it's rather brambly where she gets up. I try to guide her to her left where roots and branches are available but once she gets out of the water, she keeps going right through the brambles and up the steep bank.

I pull out our bilge pump and between the two of us, we eventually get the water pumped out. Andy had to reach down and grab the bow handle to keep the cockpit combing above water. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere with the pumps. We finally get Kathleen's kayak pumped and sponged out. She's up in the sun getting warm. Actually, she's not getting warm but, at least, she's not getting colder as fast as if she were in the water. She determines that the bank by the nearby bridge pilings should be okay for getting back down to the boat. Andy's handy-dandy tow rope, in it's first trip out, is tied to his bow handle. He ties the other to her bow handle and heads 15 yards downstream towards the landing spot. Kathleen's boat trails him and the current carries it past where Andy turns in, but he reels it in without difficulty. I follow along and pull up next to her boat. After inspecting his GPS data, Andy guessed it was about 25 minutes from her tipping until we got her boat to the landing spot.

Luckily, that morning, I'd insisted that Kathleen put her extra cloths in the back bulkhead to stay dry. Previously, she'd just kept them in the open bag she has right behind her seat. I popped her easy-open 2009 model rear hatch and threw her dry clothes and crocks up to her. After changing, she makes it down the bank and her now-wet-and-dirty, original outfit goes into the same hatch. With our wedging her boat in to the concrete rip-rap, she's able to get back in. We've had enough for a day and start heading back. Below the bridge, Andy measures the current at 2.5 mph. Even though the excitement had a happy ending, we are more subdued on the return. This time, the current is helping us out and it's a good thing. We were rather tuckered out. When we got back to the put-in, we'd been out for 6 hours.

Throughout the excitement, Andy was calm and collected. Kathleen stayed calm too. (I was a bit more agitated.) She got a little disoriented in the water - the water temp might have been in the 40's (F) and was certainly in the low 50's. Andy and I talked through options, agreed on actions, and executed. Thanks, Andy, for being there and getting us out of a real jam! And credit the precise timings and distances to him and his nifty wrist GPS wonder gadget.

Next post ... lessons learned.

UPDATE: (2009/03/12) More of Andy's photos.

Lost off Huffman Bridge

2009-02-15T19:48:00.004-05:00

With no chatter of an ad hoc group paddle, we decided to check out another section of the Upper Catawba River Valley. The Huffman Bridge Access, near Valdese NC, is #16 on the river trail map. It's another nice paved parking lot and I learned that "canoe access" means shore access, no ramps. The shore wasn't mud, or sand, but pebbles. Here's a river view downstream from the put-in. And another, just upstream from the bridge, of Kathleen entering the shallow cove ...

Now for the embarrassing part: After checking out this little cove, which I remembered seeing on Google Maps satellite images, we headed further up the river. In no time, I became directionally challenged. I could see three different choices and nothing that indicated which was the river. We choose the rightmost option and started off. I knew there were several feeder creeks coming into the Catawba - including the Johns River, which we paddled last week. After a period of time, I lost confidence in the choice and we turned back. As we went up each of the other two options, we hit dead ends in no time. Sheesh! But they were attractive dead ends; one had a wood duck box in the water and the other was clearly a cove. Lesson learned = Always bring a map in the boat! (After getting back home, these detours were obvious on Google Maps.)

In any case, we turned around and headed back up the river. A partial justification for my confusion - the Catawba here is completely impounded. In other words, it's backed up and has no noticeable current. It can't be that deep either. Here I am holding on to a tree stuck in the middle of the river ...

The southern side of the river is, for the most part, more attractive since it's formed by hills along most of our paddle. The northern side tends to flatter sections. We didn't see a whole lot of wildlife, but what we saw was marvelous. A good sized eagle, a half dozen wild turkeys (a rafter of turkeys?) scurrying up a steep hill, and a huge owl. We'd never seen wild turkeys before. And Kathleen thought it was an owl, but couldn't tell what kind. I only saw something with a 3-4 foot wingspan flying back in the woods very quietly. In the non-animal kingdom, there was this really striking mushrooms or lichens on a floating branch ...

As we kept going up river, we passed a couple feeders on the north side, one of which was the Johns River. But we didn't make it all the way up to the next bridge where US18/64, Lenoir Road, crosses over. It was getting late for our turnaround point, and gunfire from a nearby shooting range was a bit unnerving. Between the hills and some really tall, completely open, hangars for a municipal plant, the gunshots produced some really odd echoes. Not distant echoing but rapid retorts almost like an automatic.

All in all, about 3.5 hours on the water.

Mystery Waterfall at Moss Lake

2009-02-13T20:45:00.004-05:00

Being the last day of a February warming trend in the Carolinas, I stopped working early and went for a short paddle. Who knew I would encounter .... (bring up opening chords to Beethoven's 5th Symphony) ... the Mystery Waterfall at Moss Lake!!!

I donkey my Necky down to our access ramp and put in mid-late afternoon. Not much time, so not much planned. I head across the calm water for coves opposite us on this big open area. On my way through one, I notice a spider walking on water. I'm thinking this guy got itself in a pickle. How can he grab anything to eat if his legs are keeping him on instead of in the water? I remembered to bring the camera so I snapped some but, being a rather small spider, none came out very well. I keep puttering along and I realize that this cove ends, not in a dredged out section with houses and docks all around, but an actual natural area. There are grasses with frogs croaking to each other. They sounded like thick leather being twisted: uuurrrr-uh, uuurrrr-uh, uuurrrr-uh. Quite fun. From my running days, I know we have scads of smaller frogs that peep like crazy in the early hours of cool spring days. Here, I'm snuggled into the grasses looking back out the cove ...

Going further in, I start hearing running water over the frogs. The way is covered over by an evergreen hanging down to the water. Ah-ha! I know I've got a secret spot because Kathleen, being afraid of snakes in trees, wouldn't follow me through here ...

After I clear the evergreen (a laurel of some kind?), I go a little farther and catch sight of a magnificent waterfall! ...

And here's a closer look ...

Okay, well, maybe not so magnificent. But I was amazed to see anything like this at all on our lake. The little valley here must extend back aways and cover enough surface area to have a continually running creek. I'll have to poke around maps to confirm. In any case, I'm not putting any location here because I want to kick off my career as a tour guide and charge $5 apiece for a trip into this unexpected little delight in our neighborhood.

As I keep puttering around the perimeter, I come across a house I'd never noticed before. It sure likes like the seminary I spent a year doing pre-theology before deciding to get married instead - except it wasn't on a lake. (For non-Catholic readers, pre-theology for us is, now, two years of philosophy.)

On my return back, I'm a little surprised to see one of our many Great Blue Heron up on the roof of someone's dock. With terns flying above, I think it's a nice picture to round out the day ...

Clear Water in the Johns River

2009-02-08T19:14:00.001-05:00

I wanted to investigate part of the Upper Catawba River Trail. After consultation with Rick from Outdoor Supply Co, inspecting the trail map, and checking trips in "Paddling Asheville," I settled on the Johns River. We intended to put in at US 64/18 (between Morganton and Chesterfield NC) and see how far upstream we could go. If it turned out to be too short, we could keep going downstream past the put-in and head to the Catawba River proper.

We got to the access point (#15 on the wonderful river trail map) close to noon. Our only company were a couple of power boaters - one pulling out, the other putting in. Here's a view of the access point and the bridge.

Almost as soon as we cleared the shadow of the bridge, we realized there was something different here. The water was crystal clear! We could see the bottom even when the river seemed quite deep. I haven't been in much of any water yet that wasn't muddy. This really changed my perspective on these rivers. I barely noticed anything about the scenery - I spent the whole time looking down! Probably a good thing. The Johns here is in a fairly wide valley. With the water level a good 6 ft below the ground level, we didn't see much except the trees that bordered the river.

The river bottom demonstrated a fascinating variety. When sedentary, either shallow or deep, there were always ripples in contour and even in color: sand, brown, and orange sometimes with valleys containing leaves. There were tons of trees and branches to be seen on the bottom. When the current was strong, coarse-grained sand, pebbles, and stones. Interestingly enough, I think it was displaying a morphology described in Luna Leopold's "A View of the River" where the depth undulated fairly regularly - deep pools evident quite regularly along the length. There were a number of swinging ropes suspended from trees over the river - clearly favorite spots for kids to come play.

Additional variety was provided by the rocks along the way. Compared to other paddles so far, the rocks here aren't much to look at above the water. But HOLY FREAKIN' COW, under water was a completely different story! The river went WAY DEEP by the rocks. Duhh, the sand/dirt underneath erodes out much faster than the rock. With the really clear water, we could see the deep ledges created and the striations in the rocks themselves. So, even when there was barely any rock above the surface, there was plenty below. Stunning.

The water clarity also allowed us to see the shear quantity of trees, branches, snags, etc that were down there. More than you would guess from seeing at the surface. The snags were fascinating - most were natural but many were not. The spookiest thing was seeing the trees reaching up from the bottom, like drowned things, trying to drag us down to join them.

We didn't make it all the way up to the Corpening Bridge. If I'm spotting the big aluminum barn on Google Maps properly, I think we made it about three quarters of the way. About 3 miles as the crow flies before the current got too strong and rocks blocked us here:

As it was, we were 3 hours out with a couple munchie breaks. Heading upstream first was great because we could really see what was in the water. It only took us 1 hour & 20 mintues to get back. I think we would have missed a lot if we'd been paddling with the current the whole time. I wish I had better pictures. I couldn't take any of the really nifty stuff in the water.

We had a really nice time and a really positive experience in this area. It's only about an hour or so away from us. We will definitely be up this way again soon.

P.S. Should I have put a "science geek" warning at the beginning of the post? Oh, well, too late now.

Warm Winter Weekend on the Way

2009-02-05T22:25:00.001-05:00

After several nights of temps in the 20's, we are supposed to get into the 60's on Saturday and Sunday. We're unable to paddle on Saturday, but thinking about the Upper Catawba River somewhere for Sunday. It's mostly chains of big lakes managed by Duke Energy, but there are some short free flowing sections too. Hoping to find someone who can make recommendations to avoid rapids beyond our skill level. Otherwise, it's pouring over old trip reports on various web sites.

Dutchman's Creek

2009-02-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Mike S's solo venture, the Cruisers had an adhoc paddle up Dutchman's Creek, off the Catawba River at Mt Holly, on Feb 1. We made it there before the push off time and joined a dozen other folks. Ray, Dorothy, and Andy were present again. It was a short trip.

The creek winds through mostly residential areas. Traffic noise was never far away. It did have some nifty (unpainted) rocks. It also had low block wall spanning the creek but with a 8 foot wide break in it. The water level was high enough to provide decent but not heavy current to paddle against. With a head of steam, it wasn't hard to navigate. But, without it, it took some harder paddling to make it through. Silly me - I neglected to take a picture. Further up, there were rocks that would have required getting out and walking through. There was one narrower gap where several guys tried to paddle. Ray got far enough through the gap to get into a bind when he got off his line. The current pushes your bow perpendicular and can wedge you in a narrow gap. I missed the action but watched a few others give it a try. Kathleen had a nice time talking to Ginny. Ginny is currently working at Presby-Matthews where Kathleen did several on-call stints in CT and also worked their mobile MRI unit. The trip was short enough that it was hard to have long conversations with everyone. I talked a bit with Kary and Eddie who are also new kayakers having bought their boats last summer.

Eddie contemplating his line before trying the gap in the rocks:

Andy, Kathleen, and a road over the creek:

Ginny:

Bridges (2 RR and 1 road) over the Catawba River below the creek:

Rootsicles?

2009-01-27T22:23:00.001-05:00

Belated post describing a Jan 18 trip....

I went out on my own on a cold, but not windy, Sunday. I wore the farmer john, hydroskin top, and splash jacket together for the first time. The temperature was in the low 40's to start with an expected high of 45F. I wore a thin wool cap to keep my ears warm. While the neoprene wasn't restrictive per se, it was a little binding as I was twisting my torso during my paddle stroke. I wondered if I was going to be chafed around the armpits when I was down. As it turns out, I didn't notice any. About halfway through the paddle, the clouds cleared earlier than forecast and the temperature started to rise to 50F. I shed the cap first, then the splash jacket, and just sweat through the rest of it.

Big lesson learned on this trip is - don't forget the camera! As I'm paddling around I notice icicles on roots in some spots that are north-facing. Most are scalloped out spots where the water has washed out dirt under moss or root supported ground. There are also icicles forming from water dripping out along clay layers in the soil. Really neat. Really wish I'd brought the camera to get some pictures.

Little lesson learned - the wetsuit outfit will be just fine for temperatures in the 30's or when I think I can get wet when the water's cold. The winter so far has been either really cold, or rather warm; not many highs in the 30's.

Several 1st's Today

2009-01-11T20:10:00.000-05:00

Today was ...

first road trip for a paddle
first highway speeds for kayaks on our truck
first group paddle with folks from the Catawba Cruisers (Lake Wylie, Rock Hill SC and downstream)
first time using a mailing group to meet up with folks
first time on Mountain Island Lake

We met Ray, Dorothy, Mike, and Andy at the North Canoe Access in the Latta Plantation Preserve - hooking up via the Google-based paddling group that Jeff pointed me to in a comment on an earlier post. I was stressing out due to rain the night before preventing us from loading the boats on the truck on Saturday and bullet point #2. We had to do everything that morning. The 7am alarm wasn't enough lead time for us to leave at the desired 8:30am. We made the 9am real deadline and arrived at the put-in at 10am. The group was already in the water and waiting to see if we'd make it. Fortunately, nothing went awry on the road. I would have been more than a little annoyed if the straps on this fancy rack get-up weren't tight enough to keep a kayak from going airborne at 70 mph.

Conversation on the water went very well. Everyone was relaxed and having a nice time. Andy, Mike, Kathleen, and I had all bought boats in the last few months. And Ray and Dorothy had multiple boats apiece! We went west and south on the lake then east towards (and up) Gar Creek. I was surprised by the number and size of big rocks on the shore and IN the water. Mountain Island Lake seems somewhat bigger than Moss Lake but less developed. Here are some of the pictures taken - for hopefully, just the first of many trips with this group. It was cloudy, so the pictures are on the dark side. By the way, Kathleen can't wait for her splash pants to arrive tomorrow. She's sick and tired of carrying beach towels to cover her lap.

Ray in his red Dagger Atlantis (a 17 footer), Kathleen, Dorothy in her recycled plastic Old Towne Cayuga 110.

Mike and Andy - notice their excellent taste in kayak manufacturer. Necky Manitou's dominated the day's paddle: Mike in a Sport, Andy in a 14 (footer), and me in a 13 (footer).

Big rocks on the shore.

What look like little rocks - but this is out in the middle of the freakin' water!

A beaver almost did this tree in. Another Hugo and this one's a goner.

UPDATE (Jan 13): A friend of mine has a self-described "money pit" on the cove to Gar Creek. He crushed my fantasy by saying the water here is actually quite shallow so those rocks, in the water, aren't quite as magnificent as I thought.

More (and better) pictures by Ray and Dorothy.

Garage Storage Racks

2009-01-04T19:49:00.001-05:00

Another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place ... long term storage of the kayaks in the back of our garage. Our previous location, on our covered back porch, was neither esthetically pleasing nor stable. The two kayaks, 12ft and 13ft, sorta fit under/alongside our 24ft rowing shell. But Kathleen's Pungo 120 was just leaning up against the shell supported by a hair, almost. A good wind and it was pushed right over. Now ... here we go!

These are from Suspenz Kayaks. I found them via paddling.net. They're more expensive than plain old J-cradles available at the local stores, but much better engineered in proportion to the higher price. If the J-cradles were $30-40/pair, I might have been tempted. $69 vs $99? No way! I was able to adjust the strap and bottom bracket after taking the picture, so the kayaks hang better now. The trick now will be to NEVER EVER bring the cars in too far.

Cold Water Apparel #2

2008-12-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

Kathleen's re-sized neoprene showed up awhile back. However, when she (finally) tried it on (yesterday), she didn't like it at all. Too confining overall and way too binding in the arm/shoulder joints to be desirable. And the extra long zipper on the Ultra Jane turned out to be surprisingly encumbering. No hiking about in it!

She really liked the splash jacket though. So, it looks like she'll go with splash pants for her lower half. In other words, dressing to stay dry. Perhaps, for the level of water we're looking at, I've overestimated what we'll need.

No picture of her clothing worth posting yet. I forgot to take a picture at the start of our paddle. We finished after 5pm. The sun was down in our cove already. The camera needed the flash then and none came out well. However, they did demonstrate the reflective piping on the edges of her PFD - very handy to know about.

[photo from Dec 30 paddle added]

During this end of year vacation, I was thinking about going to one of our lakefront neighbors and practice getting wet in my wetsuit. Not trying to do a wet exit or self-rescue with the boat, but just seeing how the cold water feels in my outfit. Stay tuned to see if I pull it off.

Roof Rack - RESOLVED!

2008-12-29T18:50:00.000-05:00

For earlier episodes of this competency drama, see this.

Episode 3 - Searching each kayak makers' web site for recommended separations for roof rack support comes up empty. Kayak storage solutions recommend one support lining up with the rear bulkhead. Call to Necky customer support goes unanswered - same for an email. Wilderness Systems customer support guy is much more helpful. He says anywhere between 3 and 6 feet should be fine. I settle on 4 feet.
Episode 4 - After really bad infection and a week laid up in the house, I get back to chiseling. This time, measure first - actually, measure many times. Keeping the bar attached to the braces makes relocating the braces a piece of cake. New location much closer to one of the bedliner attachment points making the liner much harder to move in and out. Getting the underbrace hooked in, not easy either. Fingers mangled; but, ultimately, completed. Et voila! ....

It took a call to the guys in Hickory to figure out how to put the darn straps on properly. The mako saddles have their own special set of doo-dads. Of course, I guessed wrong and used the conventional strap & buckle set on them instead of on the hully rollers. Oh, well. It takes longer than planned today, but it is finally finished. Now, if only I figure out how to use their bow/stern tie-downs so I can do highway speeds. Until then, it's 25 mph only through the neighborhood to the lake.

Temperatures in the 60's today, it's paddlin' time!

Creeping Crud Prevents Paddling

2008-12-21T16:59:00.000-05:00

The past couple of weekends have been wash outs for any kayaking. I've been feeling cruddy and we've had rain too. However, I have been reading about paddle trails in the Carolinas and I'm making a list!

NC Wildlife Federation

2008-12-12T18:13:00.000-05:00

One reason for my strong attraction to flatwater kayaking is the ability to see wildlife from a different perspective. I hope to build on what we've already seen just from puttering on our home lake: Great Blue Herons are easily seen from the shore, but Kingfishers are not. I've found a paddler's group in the NC Wildlife Federation. We've not participated in anything, nor joined; but I have high hopes for this as an avenue to increase our naturalist rating.

First Cold Day Experience

2008-12-07T18:21:00.000-05:00

Today, Kathleen wasn't feeling up to going, so I was on my own. Temperatures were in the upper-40F's with a brisk breeze W-NW. I took my new neoprene top, splash jacket, wool beanie, and neoprene gloves. The farmer john is being held back for 30's; at least, attempting to be held back.

After donkeying the kayak to the water, and walking back to the house for the paddle, I was warm enough to remove the splash jacket and wool beanie - but carried with me in the boat just in case. I wore an earband and baseball cap for the head. The 0.5 mm Hydroskin neoprene did just fine for me. The new Astral Willis PFD also contributed to heat retention. I was generally cool and, during my long stretches of exertion, sweating underneath - but my viking blood likes that. All in all, it was a good start to getting the feel of the neoprene. The farmer john's will come on as the water temperature continues to drop even if air temp does not.

Interestingly enough, I saw ice on a sheltered section of one of the side coves! It was actually fragile crystal-like strands in a calm spot in the middle of what's more like an extension of the creek rather than a typical deep cove. The patch was good sized, nearly 20 ft by 20 ft. Another smaller one was nearby. It was very strange to see.

I also noticed something else quite nifty in the same general area. Water drops are always flying off the paddles. If the water was calm, rather than ripply from the wind, the drops would break up into much smaller droplets, when hitting the water, and skitter across the surface further before merging without a trace. The droplets appeared whiter when skittering, reminding me of hail. I'm guessing that cold water has a higher surface tension.

I haven't bought a portable thermometer yet, but the temperature in Shelby really was in the upper-40's. The lake water is warmer than the air temperatures at this point. Looking forward to finding an explanation for both observations.

P.S. We're still working on getting all the proper gear - making a list, prioritizing it, checking it twice.

Books about Rivers & Streams

2008-12-05T22:22:00.000-05:00

I've done a bit of searching for books about lakes, rivers, and streams written for science-oriented laypeople. In other words, writing like John McPhee's. I picked up a copy of A View of the River by Luna Leopold - lots of interesting information but better skimmed than read in a long sitting. I also found a curriculum for water sciences at Water on the Web, the result of an NSF funded project from several years ago. I haven't poured over this material, but I'm assuming it will be in the same neighborhood as Leopold's book. I'll keep looking. With the perennial interest in environmental sciences and greater exposure to ecology due to global warming debates, there's gotta be a number of good books or websites.

My goal in reading will be, not just becoming a better person, but be more of a "naturalist" and observer of the rivers and lakes we paddle. Whoop-de-do!

Cold Water Apparel #1

2008-11-30T13:29:00.000-05:00

Since we started late in the season, learning about cold weather paddling is high on our priority list - especially after receiving the Great Outdoor Provision Company's latest eNewsletter with this post. Bill Mauney has now scared the bejesus out of me. It sounds like we need to upgrade our apparel even further. My mother, who scuba dives, also let me know that she uses a 3mm neoprene wetsuit for hour+ sessions in 84 degree pool water. For 61 degree water, she rented a 7mm suit. Yikes. While paddling is a more active sport than scuba diving, somehow, I think cold water will more than equalize the two.

I'm calling this "Cold Water Apparel #1" because I expect to accumulate information in snippets and post here over the course of the winter. Over the course of running for 20 years, I developed a good sense of my clothing needs for various weather conditions. I need to do the same for both sculling and paddling. They won't be the same. Interestingly enough, the chances of a spill are much higher for single sculling but normally you get wetter while paddling.

UPDATE (Dec 5): Melanie Besson put out similar cold weather information on her site for Moss Lake. At this point, we're prepped in many aspects but not all. And, for the risk averse, probably not enough. We're working to get better!

Funny Clothes

2008-11-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

My youngest sister said that people ordering funny clothes for their hobby means they've gone off the deep end. Well, here goes (and I'm not talking about the slippers):

This is a 0.5 mm neoprene shirt and a 3 mm neoprene farmer john wetsuit from NRS. Still waiting on my wetshoe booties. Gonna be working on that general bulge in the middle!

Kathleen's clothes didn't fit so we're having to exchange it for a different sizes. Her top is one of their Mystery shirts, 1 mm thick with a slick outer surface, for increased warmth and wind shielding.

I was getting warm with just my top on, so we probably could have paddled comfortably today. The wind, more than the cool temperature, kept me off the water. Instead, we cleaned up outside of the house in anticipation of Thanksgiving visitors.

Terns Feeding

2008-11-23T16:11:00.000-05:00

We had an amazingly pleasant paddle on Moss Lake this afternoon. Shelby high temperature was supposed to be 51 degrees. It sure felt warmer than that. I'm gonna have to get me some thermometer gear!

We were treated to quite a sight: terns feeding on the open water. They were swooping and splashing. While watching, I saw a big splash from a fish. I don't know what the water temperature gradient looks like yet. Maybe the fish are staying closer to the surface during daylight to stay warmer.

I'm amazed that terns are here. I thought they were coastal birds.

Moss Lake Water Temperatures

2008-11-22T12:08:00.001-05:00

I asked around about winter water temperatures for Moss Lake. I was pointed to Newt Henson at the Water Treatment plant. Here's what he sent me for temperatures read from 5 ft or 15 ft depths where their intakes are located:


              Avg          Low           High
11/07          59           54            66
12/07          52           50            54
01/08          46           45            54
02/08          46           45            46
03/08          52           46            54
04/08          59           54            61
05/08          66           61            72
06/08          79           72            81
07/08          82           79            84
08/08          84           81            86
09/08          79           72            82
10/08          68           61            72

He said the coldest they've measured was 39 degrees.

(Much bigger) Lake Norman temperatures are here. Looks like it's warmer there.

Roof Rack Rigging & Rigamarole

2008-11-16T13:47:00.000-05:00

Here's the saga of setting up a truck rack system:

Episode 1 - Anxiety over a pure truck bed or a roof+truckbed solution. Decided to go for positioning the load as forward as possible. Yakima Outdoorsman 300 in back and standard Q-tower rack on cab. Later leads to broken finger and another trip to Hickory by Kathleen to ask the guys to do the cab installation.
Episode 2 - Agonizing over cutting through the 1/8" bedliner to get the Outdoorsman attached. Simplified by finding wood chisel in toolbox and going to town with rubber mallet. Fairly nice fitting cutouts are fashioned and rack is mounted. (see below) Kathleen's kayak is wrestled on to rollers and mako sharks ... to discover that the racks are two far apart. Separation of 7'6" leaves the racks trying to hold predominately vertical surfaces on our 12-13' kayaks rather than horizontal ones. Gonna half to bang out another 18" on each side of the bedliner to shift the rack forward. Darn it! I neglected to measure first.
Episode 3 - Who knows yet?

I forgot to mention one of the drivers behind going big on the separation ... We could then transport our double shell which is 24' long. A racing single would be 26' long. I'll be able to use as much of a shift forward as I can get!

UPDATE - Dec 29: Read about the thrilling conclusion here!

Competitive Flatwater Kayaking

2008-11-13T22:04:00.000-05:00

Now that's a workout! I don't think we'll be carrying ours at our side like that. I wonder how much those lightweight kayaks cost?

Past Leaf Peek Paddle

2008-11-10T13:33:00.000-05:00

Temperatures were cooler this weekend. Family was visiting Kathleen's parents, so we decided to paddle up the cove near their house. Kathleen's finger is getting better. Here she is smoking past me:

I made the video with a Flip Video Ultra, a small handheld "point & shoot" camcorder. I haven't had much practice with it yet - hopefully, our recordings will improve. Leaf colors were better last week. Leaves are dropping and there wasn't much red.

At the top/bottom of this long cove is a bridge for Old Stubbs Road. I wanted to go into it to see the other side and whether we could paddle up this feeder creek. Well, it's really not a bridge; nor is the passage a culvert. But it is narrow! There was a leftside opening and a rightside opening. Coming up to them, we saw branches caught up at the other side. I picked one and started in. Lesson learned - if the tunnel is narrower than the paddles, it's going to be hard to make good progress! Using the paddle on one side and our hands on the wall for the other, we made it the first 20 yards or so. The last 5 yards were tricky due to hanging up on the branches. I made it through but had to come back around to pull Kathleen over them by her oar. There were mud dauber wasp nests higher up on the wall. Empty now, but probably not so when it's warm! Not much to see on the other side. Just a small pond with submerged branches where the water drains in. The adventure here was very literally in the travelling (through the tunnel).

Whiteoak Creek

2008-11-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

Whiteoak Creek is a minor feeder into Moss Lake. From Google topo maps, it appears to originate just above Waco. From our sculling runs, we already like the cove that leads up to it. With the leaves starting to turn, I thought it would be a good tripto make, so we headed out after lunch to take advantage of a pleasantly warm fall day. Kathleen's fractured finger isn't impeding her much - except when she catches it on the bow handle when we trying to flip the kayak over!

Very few boats on the water this afternoon. Somewhat cooler temperatures and football season seem to keep most power boaters ashore. Some fisherman. And a few boats with couples just sitting out in the middle of the water. I wonder whether they're taking a nap or ???

The trees are a very nice mix of colors. Some red maples have turned. The sweetgum trees are their full rich dark red. Most trees are yellow so far. This particular cove has many wooded lots - either no houses or owners who didn't strip out the trees to clear their view. Too bad I forgot the camera.

As we approached the creek, we took a closer look at some of the submerged (narrow) tree stubs, two abandoned partially completed beaver dens, and what looks like a guard rail in the middle of the water. The guard rail is not metal, but plastic with reflective strips on it. It's pretty secure in the water. When we first came up here with the shell, it would have been a disaster to hit it. Lots of ducks up here; all mallards. I haven't recognized a wood duck yet.

We couldn't go far up Whiteoak Creek. We could get about a hundred yards past the submerged trees before the creek petered out. After a little inspection, I realized a beaver dam was blocking the creek! I didn't try getting out to see if we could portage up and go further. On the return, Kathleen pointed out that another half-blocked spot on the creek was due to a half-dam. What fun! Except, I suppose, for the folks who had the their trees gnawed off by the beavers. ;-)

This trip was another 3.5 hour paddle. We covered more distance than last Sunday, but didn't explore nooks and crannies much to be able to make time.

Up Buffalo Creek

2008-10-26T20:08:00.000-04:00

After a day of recuperation, and on the last day of my week off, we took our new kayaks to Moss Lake. Here's Kathleen all ready to go at our neighborhood's access ramp:

The black thing around the cockpit is a splash skirt. While the big open cockpit was a big plus for the buying decision, dripping cold water onto oneself is a bummer. Splash skirts normally cinch around your waist and help minimize water intake during a roll. Kathleen was sold on this one - which leaves a big hole for her (normal) entry & exit, but should keep the drips from the paddle off her self. The orange doo-dad in front of her is a bilge pump for emptying water in the event of a capsize. Since she wants to go out on her own during the week, we decided she would be the official carrier at all times.

Here she is, in action, on the open water of the lake:

Out of our home cove, we turned up another cove to proceed to the headwater for Moss Lake - Buffalo Creek. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the upper 60's in the afternoon. Here I am, at some point along the creek, when we did a camera swap:

It's amazing how quiet and peaceful this creek is. And it's practically in our backyard! There are stretches where you'd have no idea that residential development and a highway are nearby.

We went all the way up, under the bridges for NC150 and Airport Rd (SR1926), until we couldn't go any further:

The lake is full so we were able to get all the way up to this neat old stone dam. The water was really shallow in spots but there was no problem running aground. In the shallow water, it was really nifty to see great blue heron and, what I'm guessing, are some kind of snail tracks.

Here's a nice shot of Kathleen approaching Moss Lake with some colors in the trees on this steep high hill.

Note the trees that are hung up on the sand to the left of Kathleen. When I bought our vessel licenses at the Moss Lake office (yes! we have to buy a flippin' license to use the lake!), the lady said these trees, when floating out in the lake, create a bit of contention between the boaters and the fishermen. The trees are dangerous for the former, but the latter want them to get water logged and sink for fish habitat. A really big rain will wash these out into the deeper water. Rain from Hurricane Fay, last month, did just that. I described our rowing experience here. No collisions, but an interesting amount of stuff washed in.

We puttered about for almost 3.5 hours. It was a great, relaxing time. Kathleen had a ball. Flatwater kayaking can be either a great escape and stress reliever or a heck of a workout. It all depends upon the pace you choose.

Kathleen's Fingers

2008-10-25T15:06:00.000-04:00

Maybe God doesn't want Kathleen to be paddling? Or maybe she should be less stubborn and listen to her husband?

Last night, I was trying to install the Yakima Q-posts onto our Dakota's cab. (Incidentally, our hope to paddle on Lake Hickory yesterday, after picking up Kathleen's Pungo, was washed out by a rainy forecast.) I'd gotten the two posts on each end of a 66" bar and asked her to help on one side and lift the bar up from resting across the bed to sitting on top of the cab. She didn't want to pick it up over her head and insisted on getting our short stepladder. As she was going into the house to retrieve it, somehow she managed to slam the door on her right middle & ring finger - pretty good too. She was in a semi-fetal position for a good 5-10 minutes. She says the middle finger feels fractured. We splinted it with a cut down wooden shim and scotch tape.

That pretty much wrecked the plan to paddle up Buffalo Creek on Saturday and go to Lake Lure on Sunday. Saturday became an off-day. The splint has been working okay - with some boosts from painkillers. Kathleen is hell bent to take her kayak out tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, Kathleen says our back porch is looking like "Kinarsy's garbage dump" (some New York Irish expression). I don't know what she's talking about:
You can't tell here but Kathleen's Pungo is a pretty lime green while my Manitou is a puky lime green. Hers is actually a mottled coloring so the white background gives it a lighter and brighter look.

Impetuous Purchases

2008-10-22T19:58:00.000-04:00

Kathleen and I jumped into flatwater kayaking with both feet - purchasing brand new kayaks in a rush as the weather is turning to cold and I have a week off. I've chronicled the lead up in posts on my sculling blog. Here's the Pungo and then the Manitou:here and here. We bought a Pungo 120, by Wilderness Systems, for Kathleen, and a Manitou 13, by Necky, for me. We picked the ladies version of the Pungo so we couldn't walk out of the Outdoor Supply Company store. Great Outdoor Provision Company, in Charlotte, did have the one I wanted so we have it home already.

Not only is mine home, but I took it out for a first paddle already. I went out our cove, around the bend into the headwater cove, and went as far as I could up Buffalo Creek to the old stone dam, now broken. I'll get pictures next time. We are picking up Kathleen's on Friday. We are hoping the rain will hold off long enough for us to get both into a lake or river near the store in Hickory. Keep you posted!