Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 VII
Monday, February 7, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
After a busy Mardi Gras weekend of partying in New Orleans, it was a welcome relief to be back on Mobile Bay this afternoon. I put in at 3:00 PM at the old Riverdoc's parking lot under cloudy skies, no wind with a temperature of 68 degrees and a rising tide. There was a Brown Pelican sitting on an old pier post right where I took off. He didn't flinch or even move his head as I glided past about 15 feet away.
The current was flowing rapidly as the tide was midway between low and high, but there was hardly a ripple. I moved out rapidly and thought I would have a pretty good split at the Apalachee turnaround. But, paddling against the current left me with a slow 10:00 split. I turned around and pushed hard again heading west with the strong following current and made up time, passing the parking lot in 16:07. The water around the culverts was swirling and deceptive as it tried to twist and turn me around as I passed from a following current to heading into it. With no chop out in the bay, I was still able to keep a good rhythm going and made the turnaround between the bridges in 32:30.
The return was slower, even though I put on big push and sprinted the last quarter mile to finish in 51:57. After all of the beer, seafood and king cake over the weekend, it was a good start to the week.
After a busy Mardi Gras weekend of partying in New Orleans, it was a welcome relief to be back on Mobile Bay this afternoon. I put in at 3:00 PM at the old Riverdoc's parking lot under cloudy skies, no wind with a temperature of 68 degrees and a rising tide. There was a Brown Pelican sitting on an old pier post right where I took off. He didn't flinch or even move his head as I glided past about 15 feet away.
The current was flowing rapidly as the tide was midway between low and high, but there was hardly a ripple. I moved out rapidly and thought I would have a pretty good split at the Apalachee turnaround. But, paddling against the current left me with a slow 10:00 split. I turned around and pushed hard again heading west with the strong following current and made up time, passing the parking lot in 16:07. The water around the culverts was swirling and deceptive as it tried to twist and turn me around as I passed from a following current to heading into it. With no chop out in the bay, I was still able to keep a good rhythm going and made the turnaround between the bridges in 32:30.
The return was slower, even though I put on big push and sprinted the last quarter mile to finish in 51:57. After all of the beer, seafood and king cake over the weekend, it was a good start to the week.
posted by brint @ 8:50 PM
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