Pelican Island
Saturday, January 8, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
It was a day befitting Elvis' 70th birthday, as a crazy number of Lower Alabamians converged on Dauphin Island for the first parade of the 2005 Mardi Gras season. There was bumper to bumper traffic backed way up the highway and bridges leading onto the island, which meant I arrived at the golf club about ten minutes late. The last part of the drive was along the parade route, where hundreds of party-goers were setting up tailgate parties in anticipation of the floats, bands and throws.
I had to hustle my boat down to the beach and was able to catch up to rest in a couple of minutes before rounding the near end of the island by the pier. The temperature was 62 degrees with cloudy skies and about a 10 mph northeast wind. The tide was probably two feet higher than two weeks ago, so we were able to circle around the island much closer to it. There were seven paddlers to start, with Gene and Carolyn starting even later than I, and not catching up until we made it all the way back.
As we made our way along the outer (Gulf side) of the island, it was evident right away the water level was higher, as we came across a wide high tide cut through the island, which was not there two weeks ago. The water was fairly calm, with some two foot breakers in close to the beach. When we got out to the end of the island, where there is the normal cut with a small piece of island isolated, there was a much wider cut than usual with a much smaller, almost non-existent piece left. We took the cut and had a good time surfing through to the bay side.
Once on the other side, we came in to the beach for a supposedly short break. The wind picked up somewhat from about 10 mph to probably 15 mph. While we stood around eating and jawing, we saw Gene and Carolyn on the other side, and decided to wait for them to come around and catch up to us. We watched them go past and keep going off into the mist and fog and kept waiting. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I started to get a little chilled, so George, McKenzie and I decided to head on back. Once in the water, I decided to paddle back out towards the lighthouse and look for Gene and Carolyn and see what they were up to. Once out around the end of the small cutoff piece of the island, the water got pretty crazy, with about 4' swells coming in from three directions, producing what Bob calls "confused seas". I never saw the tandem out there, and decided to turn back. Once back by the others, all got back in and started the return to Dauphin Island. I found out the others saw Gene and Carolyn paddling back along the outside of Pelican again, so at least they were safe and heading home.
We say rays, some dolphins and a myriad of local birds (Pelicans, Gulls and Cormorants) as well as a number of varieties of duck which were migrating through, including Scaups, Mergansers and Buffleheads.
It was a successful and interesting paddle, with a completely different view from what we saw just two weeks earlier.
It was a day befitting Elvis' 70th birthday, as a crazy number of Lower Alabamians converged on Dauphin Island for the first parade of the 2005 Mardi Gras season. There was bumper to bumper traffic backed way up the highway and bridges leading onto the island, which meant I arrived at the golf club about ten minutes late. The last part of the drive was along the parade route, where hundreds of party-goers were setting up tailgate parties in anticipation of the floats, bands and throws.
I had to hustle my boat down to the beach and was able to catch up to rest in a couple of minutes before rounding the near end of the island by the pier. The temperature was 62 degrees with cloudy skies and about a 10 mph northeast wind. The tide was probably two feet higher than two weeks ago, so we were able to circle around the island much closer to it. There were seven paddlers to start, with Gene and Carolyn starting even later than I, and not catching up until we made it all the way back.
As we made our way along the outer (Gulf side) of the island, it was evident right away the water level was higher, as we came across a wide high tide cut through the island, which was not there two weeks ago. The water was fairly calm, with some two foot breakers in close to the beach. When we got out to the end of the island, where there is the normal cut with a small piece of island isolated, there was a much wider cut than usual with a much smaller, almost non-existent piece left. We took the cut and had a good time surfing through to the bay side.
Once on the other side, we came in to the beach for a supposedly short break. The wind picked up somewhat from about 10 mph to probably 15 mph. While we stood around eating and jawing, we saw Gene and Carolyn on the other side, and decided to wait for them to come around and catch up to us. We watched them go past and keep going off into the mist and fog and kept waiting. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I started to get a little chilled, so George, McKenzie and I decided to head on back. Once in the water, I decided to paddle back out towards the lighthouse and look for Gene and Carolyn and see what they were up to. Once out around the end of the small cutoff piece of the island, the water got pretty crazy, with about 4' swells coming in from three directions, producing what Bob calls "confused seas". I never saw the tandem out there, and decided to turn back. Once back by the others, all got back in and started the return to Dauphin Island. I found out the others saw Gene and Carolyn paddling back along the outside of Pelican again, so at least they were safe and heading home.
We say rays, some dolphins and a myriad of local birds (Pelicans, Gulls and Cormorants) as well as a number of varieties of duck which were migrating through, including Scaups, Mergansers and Buffleheads.
It was a successful and interesting paddle, with a completely different view from what we saw just two weeks earlier.
posted by brint @ 9:58 PM
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