Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 XIX
Friday, April 8, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
It seemed like a good idea at the time, to get in a Friday afternoon paddle, before heading to New Orleans the next day. Most of the weather cooperated with 70 degrees and partly cloudy skies at 4:30 PM. But, the wind was up in the late afternoon on the open water, to about 20 mph coming out of the Northwest. The water level was high, but still rising a little. The wind was blowing in so hard right where I was putting in at the old Riverdocs parking lot, it was difficult to even get in the kayak and get turned around to get started. There were whitecaps and two foot rollers coming right in at me.
Once I got out away from the shore, and heading east, I was surfing diagonally along Pass Picada down to the end where it opens into Apalachee River. I made the turnaround in 7:05, turned around and started the fight right back into the rollers for the next 30 minutes. I passed the parking lot in 16:11 and then got out into open water at the base of Chacaloochee Bay. The rollers got bigger and I found it would have been nice to put on a spray skirt. But, even without anyone around, I did not want to appear to be a wimp in my own mind, so gutted it out, crashing through the waves and trying to limit the amount of spray falling in my cockpit.
The stretch along the Causeway in front of the culverts was especially crazy today, as the wind-swept rollers mixed with the rising tides coming in from two directions, all converging in the same spot and bouncing off the shoreline. I was bobbing around like a cork, as I fought through this treacherous area. The people driving by must have wondered why I thought it was a good idea to be out on the water in such conditions. But, I just thought of it as good balance training to be prepared for paddles or races when the conditions turn bad and you are just forced to deal with them.
When I got to the Interstate bridges and cut over beneath the westbound lanes and then into the middle area, I was protected just a little and not getting beat up quite as much. I made the turnaround in a slow 36:35 and stopped for a drink.
Once I got going again, it was a completely different fight, as I was being pushed along diagonally from where I wanted to go. So, I would zigzag some in order to get out aways and then turn back to let the waves push me directly from behind. This method worked for about a mile until I got past the Causeway and headed down the homestretch at a different angle to the waves. I finally reached the parking lot in 54:36 and was glad to get off of the water. It was even difficult to put the kayak up on the car rack without the wind blowing it around and maybe off. It was a good hard workout, but still a little crazy out in water like that.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, to get in a Friday afternoon paddle, before heading to New Orleans the next day. Most of the weather cooperated with 70 degrees and partly cloudy skies at 4:30 PM. But, the wind was up in the late afternoon on the open water, to about 20 mph coming out of the Northwest. The water level was high, but still rising a little. The wind was blowing in so hard right where I was putting in at the old Riverdocs parking lot, it was difficult to even get in the kayak and get turned around to get started. There were whitecaps and two foot rollers coming right in at me.
Once I got out away from the shore, and heading east, I was surfing diagonally along Pass Picada down to the end where it opens into Apalachee River. I made the turnaround in 7:05, turned around and started the fight right back into the rollers for the next 30 minutes. I passed the parking lot in 16:11 and then got out into open water at the base of Chacaloochee Bay. The rollers got bigger and I found it would have been nice to put on a spray skirt. But, even without anyone around, I did not want to appear to be a wimp in my own mind, so gutted it out, crashing through the waves and trying to limit the amount of spray falling in my cockpit.
The stretch along the Causeway in front of the culverts was especially crazy today, as the wind-swept rollers mixed with the rising tides coming in from two directions, all converging in the same spot and bouncing off the shoreline. I was bobbing around like a cork, as I fought through this treacherous area. The people driving by must have wondered why I thought it was a good idea to be out on the water in such conditions. But, I just thought of it as good balance training to be prepared for paddles or races when the conditions turn bad and you are just forced to deal with them.
When I got to the Interstate bridges and cut over beneath the westbound lanes and then into the middle area, I was protected just a little and not getting beat up quite as much. I made the turnaround in a slow 36:35 and stopped for a drink.
Once I got going again, it was a completely different fight, as I was being pushed along diagonally from where I wanted to go. So, I would zigzag some in order to get out aways and then turn back to let the waves push me directly from behind. This method worked for about a mile until I got past the Causeway and headed down the homestretch at a different angle to the waves. I finally reached the parking lot in 54:36 and was glad to get off of the water. It was even difficult to put the kayak up on the car rack without the wind blowing it around and maybe off. It was a good hard workout, but still a little crazy out in water like that.
posted by brint @ 8:45 PM
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