Kayak Canoe Alabama

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 XCI

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil

This afternoon was one of the calmest days on the bay I have seen in a long time. As I drove along the Causeway at 4:00 PM, the sky was clear, the bay was perfectly flat and the temperature was a balmy 62 degrees. What a great day to be alive and paddling in LA.

I put in at 4:16 PM and with the approaching Major Lunar Standstill in two days, the tide was moving in pretty rapidly as I sped eastward down Pass Picada. There were lots of shorebirds, fishermen and diners along the way, all enjoying the afternoon sunshine. My time to the Apalachee turnaround was a slow 9:11 and 0.12 mi. behind 'Roland', my virtual partner set at 6.0 mph. On the way back, I quickly reduced the deficit with mile splits of 7:55 and 8:51 and pulled ahead before I passed the parking lot.

The water was so flat and deep enough, I was able to work into a strong steady pace and continued to pull ahead, even after I passed the culverts and started against the current. Fishermen were lined along the Causeway, as I pulled in parallel to the shore and quickly left them behind. The last half mile slowed considerably as the current stiffened while paddling under the Interstate bridge. I hit the turnaround in 31:17 and stopped for drink while the sun sank behind the downtown skyline.

My return started out fast enough with a 10:03 split, before hitting the tide wall and finishing the five mile course in 49:28. As soon as I started to pull out, the wind started up out of the south as the temperature dropped about 7 degrees. I was glad to have gotten on and off the water when I did, for a good winter paddle workout, and satisfied to beat 'Roland' by 0:32.

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