Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 LXXXVIII
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
While there is a blizzard crossing the country today, I feel so lucky to be able to go out and paddle in the winter. This afternoon, I rushed out to the Causeway to get in a workout before darkness, arriving at Riverdocs at 4:30 PM. The temperature was 59 degrees as the sun was going down fast across a perfectly clear sky. There was an uncharacteristic westerly breeze coming in with a rising tide. This caused an interesting dichotomy with part of the paddle on calm water and part with a 1-2 foot chop.
I started out paddling east down Pass Picada with the wind to my back, but into the rising tide. Although it seemed like I was riding the waves, it was obvious by my time and the number of strokes that I was moving slowly. I reached the Apalachee River turnaround in 8:40 at 5.4 mph. While turning around, there was a nice 25 white pelican V formation crossing overhead. On the return, I was crashing through the chop into the wind, but moving along at 7 mph and passed the parking lot in 16:00.
The chop continued to the Causeway, where the tide changed direction. When the tide and wind are moving in the same direction, the water surface is basically calm, so the rest of the paddle west was much easier, albeit slower. I reached the bridge turn in 33:27, which was slow, but knowing the return would be much faster. The sun was down, but there was still a lingering glow on the horizon, while the lights on the Interstate bridges turned on.
With the light fading and no moon out, I was motivated to get back before it got much darker. The first part of the return was quick over calm water, until I passed the Causeway culvert again and got back into the chop. Even so, I pushed through the waves, reaching the parking lot in 50:44. The temperature dropped another 5 degrees, which motivated me to get loaded up and out of the wind. I am still grateful for the good weather and just hope it continues for a few more weeks.
While there is a blizzard crossing the country today, I feel so lucky to be able to go out and paddle in the winter. This afternoon, I rushed out to the Causeway to get in a workout before darkness, arriving at Riverdocs at 4:30 PM. The temperature was 59 degrees as the sun was going down fast across a perfectly clear sky. There was an uncharacteristic westerly breeze coming in with a rising tide. This caused an interesting dichotomy with part of the paddle on calm water and part with a 1-2 foot chop.
I started out paddling east down Pass Picada with the wind to my back, but into the rising tide. Although it seemed like I was riding the waves, it was obvious by my time and the number of strokes that I was moving slowly. I reached the Apalachee River turnaround in 8:40 at 5.4 mph. While turning around, there was a nice 25 white pelican V formation crossing overhead. On the return, I was crashing through the chop into the wind, but moving along at 7 mph and passed the parking lot in 16:00.
The chop continued to the Causeway, where the tide changed direction. When the tide and wind are moving in the same direction, the water surface is basically calm, so the rest of the paddle west was much easier, albeit slower. I reached the bridge turn in 33:27, which was slow, but knowing the return would be much faster. The sun was down, but there was still a lingering glow on the horizon, while the lights on the Interstate bridges turned on.
With the light fading and no moon out, I was motivated to get back before it got much darker. The first part of the return was quick over calm water, until I passed the Causeway culvert again and got back into the chop. Even so, I pushed through the waves, reaching the parking lot in 50:44. The temperature dropped another 5 degrees, which motivated me to get loaded up and out of the wind. I am still grateful for the good weather and just hope it continues for a few more weeks.
posted by brint @ 8:37 PM
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