Kayak Canoe Alabama

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 LXXVIII

Thursday, October 27, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil

This was our last weekday evening workout of 2005 in daylight, as the time changes this weekend to standard time. Roland and I started out at 5:10 PM with excellent conditions. The sky was clear, sun setting, a light northeasterly breeze, 68 degrees, low pool level with the tide still going out. While we were putting in, a couple of fishermen were attempting to pull their small powerboat up the ramp, but with the low water level, their wheels bogged down in the sand, so they gave up and tried at the Drifter's Lounge ramp just east of Riverdocs.

We started off at a pretty fast pace, which felt good in the cool late afternoon. The water was calm as we skimmed down Pass Picada to the Apalachee River. We reached the turn in 7:09 and back in 14:51. When we approached the Causeway, we got a little close to the shallows, slowing us down for a few strokes, but recovered trying to stay in the channel. The section along the lower Chacaloochee was still very shallow and it was difficult to find water deep enough to avoid the shallow 'heavy' water effect. Once under the Interstate bridges, the water deepened a little, allowing us to gain speed to the turn in a pretty fast 32:20.

The return was slightly slower until the last quarter mile, where the current turned and we sprinted home in a total fast time of 49:35 for a 6.0 mph speed. Next will be the weekend and some long easy paddles.

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