Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 XLVII
Saturday, July 9, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
My trip to the Birmingham track meet was cut a day short with Hurricane Dennis bearing down on the Gulf Coast. By Friday night, we learned Interstate 65 was to be closed off to southbound traffic by 8:00 AM the next morning. So, several Mobile officials decided to head home Friday night. I finally got home at around midnight.
In the morning, the weather was beautiful, so I headed to the bay at 7:00 AM to take advantage of it before the hurricane got any closer. I put in at 7:12 with clear skies, 76 degrees, no wind and a rising tide about half full. There was little vehicle traffic either way on the Causeway, as most people who were going to leave town, did so on Friday.
As I started out eastward, I saw workmen out early putting up hurricane protection plywood on the restaurant windows of the Cock of the Walk. Not much else was going on, with no boat traffic or shoreline fishermen. As I was paddling against the current, I made the Apalachee turn in 8:49 and back by the parking lot in 15:35.
The lower Chacaloochee Bay was fairly calm, so I made good time along the Causeway and on to the Interstate bridges. The birds and gators must have been anticipating the storm, as there was not much activity yet from the regular bay residents. I arrived at the bridge turn in 32:08 and stopped for a quick drink. The wind started up a little out of the southeast and made it a little more difficult on the return. My total trip time was 50:30 for an average speed of 10:07 per mile over the 5 mile course.
After loading up and waiting to exit the parking lot, a Daphne resident pulled in and asked me a few questions about purchasing the right first kayak for him. I suggested he check out our website and come along on a supervised paddle after trying out a couple of models from the Fairhope Boat Co.
Once home, I proceeded to board up the windows on our house, and we headed for Alexandria LA to wait out Hurricane Dennis, before returning home on Monday, July 11th.
My trip to the Birmingham track meet was cut a day short with Hurricane Dennis bearing down on the Gulf Coast. By Friday night, we learned Interstate 65 was to be closed off to southbound traffic by 8:00 AM the next morning. So, several Mobile officials decided to head home Friday night. I finally got home at around midnight.
In the morning, the weather was beautiful, so I headed to the bay at 7:00 AM to take advantage of it before the hurricane got any closer. I put in at 7:12 with clear skies, 76 degrees, no wind and a rising tide about half full. There was little vehicle traffic either way on the Causeway, as most people who were going to leave town, did so on Friday.
As I started out eastward, I saw workmen out early putting up hurricane protection plywood on the restaurant windows of the Cock of the Walk. Not much else was going on, with no boat traffic or shoreline fishermen. As I was paddling against the current, I made the Apalachee turn in 8:49 and back by the parking lot in 15:35.
The lower Chacaloochee Bay was fairly calm, so I made good time along the Causeway and on to the Interstate bridges. The birds and gators must have been anticipating the storm, as there was not much activity yet from the regular bay residents. I arrived at the bridge turn in 32:08 and stopped for a quick drink. The wind started up a little out of the southeast and made it a little more difficult on the return. My total trip time was 50:30 for an average speed of 10:07 per mile over the 5 mile course.
After loading up and waiting to exit the parking lot, a Daphne resident pulled in and asked me a few questions about purchasing the right first kayak for him. I suggested he check out our website and come along on a supervised paddle after trying out a couple of models from the Fairhope Boat Co.
Once home, I proceeded to board up the windows on our house, and we headed for Alexandria LA to wait out Hurricane Dennis, before returning home on Monday, July 11th.
posted by brint @ 7:23 PM
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