Fairhope Yacht Club to I-10
Saturday, August 20, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
Roland and I pushed away from the FYC beach at 5:48 AM, under a brilliant full moon in the western sky, reflecting off of a fairly smooth Mobile Bay. It was already 80 degrees with high humidity, so we wanted to get in an early start, so we could get off the water before it got into the 90's. The tide was falling, but there was a slight northwesterly breeze, which pushed a small chop down towards us, as we headed north along the coast.
We paddled along at a good 5.6 mph pace, but for the effort and rising tide, I was expecting a better push. We stopped for our first water break at four miles in 43:30. By that time, the sun had pushed up over the wooded bluffs of Montrose and Daphne, and the temperature started to rise. Roland decided to turn around at 7:00 AM, no matter where we were. I was about 25 meters ahead at the time and when I looked back, he was turning around already. We had gone six miles in 1:06:57.
I decided to continue north to the I-10 bridges, but made the mistake of staying near the shoreline, which took me past Scrub Point, up into D'Olive Bay. But, with the water level low, the bay was only about one foot deep, so I turned west through a cut, reaching deeper water and turned back north up Blakeley River. Once reaching the I-10 bridges, I stopped in the shade for a minute, after clocking exactly eight miles in 1:28:11.
On the return, I stayed about a half mile off the coast to get the push from the Blakeley and the breeze, and to get around the shallow water of D'Olive Bay. The heat started to take its toll and I tried to take on more fluid, but apparently not enough. It was a struggle to make it back in, as I probably pushed too hard for a negative split. I did make it back faster, with a total time of 2:52:55, for the 16 miles. But, when I got to the beach, I got out and had to lay down in the sand for awhile before loading up. I struggled loading the boat, as I was light-headed and woozy. The trip home was better, as I cleared the fog before getting behind the wheel.
Roland and I pushed away from the FYC beach at 5:48 AM, under a brilliant full moon in the western sky, reflecting off of a fairly smooth Mobile Bay. It was already 80 degrees with high humidity, so we wanted to get in an early start, so we could get off the water before it got into the 90's. The tide was falling, but there was a slight northwesterly breeze, which pushed a small chop down towards us, as we headed north along the coast.
We paddled along at a good 5.6 mph pace, but for the effort and rising tide, I was expecting a better push. We stopped for our first water break at four miles in 43:30. By that time, the sun had pushed up over the wooded bluffs of Montrose and Daphne, and the temperature started to rise. Roland decided to turn around at 7:00 AM, no matter where we were. I was about 25 meters ahead at the time and when I looked back, he was turning around already. We had gone six miles in 1:06:57.
I decided to continue north to the I-10 bridges, but made the mistake of staying near the shoreline, which took me past Scrub Point, up into D'Olive Bay. But, with the water level low, the bay was only about one foot deep, so I turned west through a cut, reaching deeper water and turned back north up Blakeley River. Once reaching the I-10 bridges, I stopped in the shade for a minute, after clocking exactly eight miles in 1:28:11.
On the return, I stayed about a half mile off the coast to get the push from the Blakeley and the breeze, and to get around the shallow water of D'Olive Bay. The heat started to take its toll and I tried to take on more fluid, but apparently not enough. It was a struggle to make it back in, as I probably pushed too hard for a negative split. I did make it back faster, with a total time of 2:52:55, for the 16 miles. But, when I got to the beach, I got out and had to lay down in the sand for awhile before loading up. I struggled loading the boat, as I was light-headed and woozy. The trip home was better, as I cleared the fog before getting behind the wheel.
posted by brint @ 4:13 PM
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