Kayak Canoe Alabama

Friday, December 30, 2005

Apalachee River to Causeway 2005 XCV

Friday, December 30, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil

At 11:30 AM, we had another beautiful winter morning for paddling in the lower delta. It was 62 degrees, no wind, partly sunny with a low water level, but rising. I decided to increase the course distance from 5 mi. to 6 mi., by moving the western turnaround out further to where the Tensaw River crosses and empties into Mobile Bay.

As I paddled out into Pass Picada and turned east, there were plenty of shorebirds and fishermen out enjoying the noontime sunshine. The Oyster House was full for lunch, as I cruised by the long northside picture windows overlooking the water, high up on the stilted structure. I started out fairly strongly with a 7:16 to the Apalachee and 7:29 on the return, which motivated me to give it a good push the rest of the way. But, the water level was low, with no way around the shallows in the lower Chacaloochee, which slowed me down considerably for awhile, until I was able to get to the bridges. Once in deeper water, I was able to at least get back up to 5.8 mph heading into the rising current. My new turnaround time at the Tensaw was 36:35, where I stopped for a quick drink.

The return between the bridges was better at 6.4 mph, until I got back into the shallows and then into the rising tide in the last 0.75 mi. Under the circumstances, I was pleased with an overall 59:04, at an average speed of 6.1 mph. I like the new longer course and will probably start using it from now on, as the afternoons are starting to stay lighter just a little longer. Now, it is off to New Year's Eve celebrations. Hopefully, I will be in decent enough shape for a good paddle on New Years day.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home