Apalachee River to Causeway VI
Tuesday, August 10, 2004 brint.adams@us.army.mil
The weather was the key tonight as I tried to fit a paddle in between two thunderstorms. I arrived at Riverdoc's at 6:00 PM with ominous skies hanging over Mobile. Earlier in the afternoon, a big storm blew through and left the temperature low at around 80 with no wind and a falling tide with a fast moving current. So, at the moment, I had very good paddling conditions.
I headed east, passing some live jazz music on the Blue Gill's deck and blew on past with the nice following current, making the turn at Apalachee in 6:57. The return was, of course, much slower as I passed Riverdoc's in 16:30 and headed toward the dark skies and a few bolts of lightening. Once past the Causeway culverts, the current turned and I cruised in to the Exxon turnaround in 36:16. While I was turning around, a large gator came out from the bank to check me out a little closer, out between the interstate bridges. I clapped the water a couple of times with my paddle, but he didn't submerge, so I eased out of his way. After a short water break and the storm getting closer, I hightailed it back to Riverdoc's. The thunder was clapping just behind me, so I pushed on as hard as I could go. The rain started to come just as I was loading my kayak on the car. My time was another PR in 54:16, so training is still good!
The weather was the key tonight as I tried to fit a paddle in between two thunderstorms. I arrived at Riverdoc's at 6:00 PM with ominous skies hanging over Mobile. Earlier in the afternoon, a big storm blew through and left the temperature low at around 80 with no wind and a falling tide with a fast moving current. So, at the moment, I had very good paddling conditions.
I headed east, passing some live jazz music on the Blue Gill's deck and blew on past with the nice following current, making the turn at Apalachee in 6:57. The return was, of course, much slower as I passed Riverdoc's in 16:30 and headed toward the dark skies and a few bolts of lightening. Once past the Causeway culverts, the current turned and I cruised in to the Exxon turnaround in 36:16. While I was turning around, a large gator came out from the bank to check me out a little closer, out between the interstate bridges. I clapped the water a couple of times with my paddle, but he didn't submerge, so I eased out of his way. After a short water break and the storm getting closer, I hightailed it back to Riverdoc's. The thunder was clapping just behind me, so I pushed on as hard as I could go. The rain started to come just as I was loading my kayak on the car. My time was another PR in 54:16, so training is still good!
posted by brint @ 9:19 PM
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