Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 LXXV
Thursday, October 20, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
The conditions were a little different tonight as Roland and I set off at 5:00 PM from our usual Riverdocs starting point. The wind shifted and was now a northwesterly breeze, although not kicking up too much of a chop. The water level was mid-level and still rising, with clear skies and about 75 degrees. We pushed off eastward into the current and passed the still vacant restaurants. Progress has been agonizingly slow, while their competition has been open for a month already now. We reached the Apalachee turnaround in a slow 9:31 and 4.9 mph.
It was alot more fun on the return, covering the same distance in 6:20 and 7.6 mph. I tried to follow closely behind Roland and his screamin' K1, but I couldn't keep up enough to use his wake. He veered off towards the Causeway shoreline for some reason and got into the shallow water effect, so I was able to come even with him as we passed the fishermen and the crazy water around the culvert. He continued to stay closer to the shore, while I paddled out in slightly deeper water, allowing me to stay up with him. As we came to the Interstate bridges, Roland tucked under almost immediately, while I eased in 300 meters further down course. When I came in under the bridge, I was able to stay within 5 meters behind and we cruised in to the turnaround in 31:53.
On the way back, Roland decided to hang right behind me and pushed it hard, making the parking lot in a total time of 49:38. Roland saw our good ol' gator buddy, who was probably finishing up dinner on a couple of three day old drum someone left along the shore by the launch area. They left a strong odor, enough to bring in the scavengers from afar.
The conditions were a little different tonight as Roland and I set off at 5:00 PM from our usual Riverdocs starting point. The wind shifted and was now a northwesterly breeze, although not kicking up too much of a chop. The water level was mid-level and still rising, with clear skies and about 75 degrees. We pushed off eastward into the current and passed the still vacant restaurants. Progress has been agonizingly slow, while their competition has been open for a month already now. We reached the Apalachee turnaround in a slow 9:31 and 4.9 mph.
It was alot more fun on the return, covering the same distance in 6:20 and 7.6 mph. I tried to follow closely behind Roland and his screamin' K1, but I couldn't keep up enough to use his wake. He veered off towards the Causeway shoreline for some reason and got into the shallow water effect, so I was able to come even with him as we passed the fishermen and the crazy water around the culvert. He continued to stay closer to the shore, while I paddled out in slightly deeper water, allowing me to stay up with him. As we came to the Interstate bridges, Roland tucked under almost immediately, while I eased in 300 meters further down course. When I came in under the bridge, I was able to stay within 5 meters behind and we cruised in to the turnaround in 31:53.
On the way back, Roland decided to hang right behind me and pushed it hard, making the parking lot in a total time of 49:38. Roland saw our good ol' gator buddy, who was probably finishing up dinner on a couple of three day old drum someone left along the shore by the launch area. They left a strong odor, enough to bring in the scavengers from afar.
posted by brint @ 8:23 PM
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