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Finally! The outage is over, the time has changed and the weather is getting better. We took our first camping trip of the year this month. Trips this month: 7
04/6/03 Well the outage is finally over but the soreness I felt in the last entry finally became a full-fledged flare-up during the last week of the outage and I had to cool it as far as paddling. Fortunately, it turned out to be a minor bump in the road and I was over it by the end of the week. It did cause Hope and I to cancel our camping plans for this weekend however and with the weather turning out so great it was a shame we couldn't go. I did manage to convince the "church lady" to play hooky this morning to take her first trip since October and we set out in Hannah Mills around 10 and headed to my latest favorite island spot. We stopped along the way to eat breakfast and then made it to the ICW where we quickly re-affirmed why we rarely leave our house on weekends. The waterway was literally bumper to bumper boats and we had to negotiate huge wakes going in all directions for the few yards it took to get to the landing. Once there, I was able to show Hope how cool the place was and we found a rather remote location on the back side where we could string our hammocks away from the boat traffic which was incessant for the three hours we stayed on the island. We ate, slept and read and I swam a little and then we headed back home. We filled up two garbage bags with bottles at our put-in before we left. See the Pictures From this Trip
04/12/03 Well, this is not a paddling account but it is a significant moment in Jacksonville's history - the opening of Tiger Point Park on Pumpkin Hill Creek. All of the dignitaries were there (me of course) - Mayor Delaney, Councilmen Alvarez and Daniels and the Betz family. I went with the tour on the path that was laid out for us by ropes but I soon decided to set off on my own into the areas of the park I was most interested in. I walked a couple of miles north past the fields the Betz's had cleared in anticipation of turning this into a huge development, and finally reached the actual Tiger Point area which is where Pumpkin Hill and Edwards Creeks join. I could look across to the Nassau River a few miles to the north and with the exception of the houses on Black Hammock I could see an endless expanse of unspoiled marsh land. The park will be opened for hiking, fishing and horseback riding by Memorial Day but it sounds like it will be some time in the future for the canoe and kayak launch to become available. Hopefully, it will come sooner rather than later because this is going to be one of my favorite places to paddle when it comes. See the Pictures From this Trip
04/13 - 14/03
It has been almost two years since Hope and I have been able to kayak camp together and nearly 18 months since I have been able to do it myself. Most of the reason for the delay has been my back which acted up on me last spring just when we were ready to do some heavy duty camping. Well, this weekend everything finally came together and even though my back was a bit tender I decided that I wasn't going to let it stop our plans. High tide was around 7:30 so we set out in Hannah around 4:00 with our heavily loaded boats. We fought an incoming tide and a 12 knot easterly breeze but we still made decent time - arriving at our destination in 45 minutes. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon, the ICW was relatively empty. We beached out boats and began packing our stuff onto the island where we selected the same general spot where we picnicked the weekend before. Soon, I had our hammocks strung and a fire pit dug to cook our steaks. After eating and finishing off a really fine bottle of merlot, we went back out to the ICW where we sat and watched the herons fly in across the way to roost in the cedars on the island opposite us. The sun was starting to set so we moved back to our campsite where we could watch it disappear to the west. We sat by a roaring fire of cedar well into the night talking and enjoying the warm breeze and night sounds. We started to doze off so we jumped in our hammocks and read. Normally, when we have camped on the ICW it has been incredibly quiet. I don't know if it was because the island we chose was so close to the bridge or if it was just an unusual night but there was a loud hum coming from the shipyards at Atlantic Marine punctuated by loud metallic clunks. It was loud enough to keep us up most of the night and at one point I got up to walk down to the ICW and watch a barge go by. I finally got to sleep about 2 and slept for a couple of hours and then again for another hour or so - getting up just before the sun came up. Sleepless nights camping are the norm for me but Hopey didn't fare much better and we were both pretty beat the next morning. It would have been tempting to stay on the island all day and doze in our hammocks - perhaps swimming a bit but we both had things to do so we loaded up to catch the tide and made it back home by 11:00 a.m. My back actually felt pretty good the next morning after a night in the hammock and we both agreed that in spite of the noise and sleeplessness that were going to try real hard to make a habit of this. See the Pictures From this Trip
04/17 - 18/03 A couple of quick trips on the east side of the bridge in the FGR. The first one was very impromptu and lasted only an hour before I headed back in. I mainly wanted to check out the feasibility of doing it with all of the bridge construction going on - not a problem. The next night was our first planned paddle picnic since last October and I was able to once again persuade the "church lady" to play hooky on Good Friday (I'm a really bad influence on the girl - it's scandalous). Anyway, we got going quickly and hit the water about 45 mins after low tide and had very little current to fight as we made our way out to the highest point on the sandbar just before the breakers. The sandbar was still connected to Huguenot Park and we had some visitors pass by on foot eyeing our fire pit and admiring our steaks as they sizzled on the grill top. We drank some beers and munched on olives and bread and then emptied our bota of merlot as we ate our steaks. Steaks cooked on the beach taste really, really great for some reason. We sat for a while as our sandbar began to quickly shrink in size. I took my first "official" swim of the year and I took some pictures of a large group of terns hanging out near the ocean. We wanted to stay out for the sunset but it was obvious that our sandbar was going to be long gone by that time so we packed up and headed in - grateful that the current made paddling unnecessary since we had way too much to drink to think about working hard. We capped the evening off by driving out to our friend's house on the west side of Ft. George Island and watched the sunset from their back porch while we sipped another beer and talked. Great evening! See the Pictures From this Trip
04/21/03 My plans were to head out to Alimacani for a paddle/swim but the clouds and breeze picked up as I got off work and I almost cancelled my plans altogether. I saw there was plenty of water in the marsh so I decided to put in at Cedar Point Creek and at least get some good exercise. I set out and watched a least tern hover about 20 feet above the water for several seconds before falling like a rock into the water. The redfish were also very active - several times scaring me as they swirled out of the grass as I passed by - often rocking my boat as they passed underneath. The marsh wrens were singing up a storm too - their song is a kind of frantic cheeriness and their distinctive silhouette could be seen in the tops of the marsh grass. These birds bend the tops of the grass into neat little nests and if you look very closely you can see them this time of year. I paddled all the way to where I see the place where Cedar Point branches off heading north to the ICW and east to join Hannah Mills. I turned around at this point and headed back - passing three or four crows fighting over a roosting spot on an oyster bed. See the Pictures From this Trip
04/24/03 The weather was forecast to turn bad this weekend probably ruining my camping plans so I decided I would take a paddle up to the island I intended to camp on - just to check it out. The wind had really picked up by the time I got in the water making it a bit choppy. It also sent the bird life into hiding - except for the redwings. I made it up to the island on the northern branch of Hannah where it joins with Cedar Point in about 45 mins. The recent spring growth had nearly obscured my opening into the island but I got through and checked out the interior of the island. It was a bit buggy since it is so closed off to the outside elements. I may bring a machete when I do camp here and do some housekeeping. I didn't stay long but before I left, I decided to take a panoramic photo of the marsh for an upcoming school project on the salt marsh that Andrew is doing . In the photo you can see just about all of the elements of the marsh - the creek, the mudflats, barrier island, upland growth, rushes, reeds, glasswort and sea daisies. You can also see the Power plants and port facilities in the distance and get an idea how heavy industries and the marsh can co-exist. Anyway - I headed back and had the wind at my back or at least my side for most of the trip. Maybe the forecast will change and I can get out there tomorrow.
04/28/03 A beautiful clear but breezy spring day. I had thoughts of heading to the FGR and taking a swim but the breeze put that out of my mind and so I started checking out spots as I headed east. Finally, I settled on Cedar Point even though I could see white caps kicked up on the water close by the put-in. I figured that with the incoming tide and stiff easterly breeze that I would have a good workout on the way out but a pretty laid back return trip. I harassed an egret on the way out and scared up a few clapper rails - not an easy feat. I paddled quite a ways up the northern branch until I came to the confluence of Hannah and Cedar something I have done from the opposite direction before. I found a sea daisy island and got out and watched a couple of S-3 Vikings following the river home to NAS Jax. I believe that I heard that they are from one of the carriers stationed in the gulf that was due home from their deployment in Iraq. My trip home was easy and uneventful. Made me wish for a sail. |
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