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Paddling Journal September 2003 On the mend. Slowly getting out there again. Trips this month: 4
09/8/03
Slowly, I seem to be on the mend and getting back out there where my soul is. I'm having to be careful and not push it hence it has been a couple of weeks since I last got in the water. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache and I was worried that it would keep me off the water. However, I felt good enough to try it after dinner and headed out intending to put in at old reliable - Hannah. When I got there the put-ins were both occupied so I did a U-turn and went instead to Cedar Point. My trip was more or less uneventful until I got to the point where Cedar Point and Hannah Mills join. There was a group of tri-colors, greens and egrets gathered on some sea daisies so I stopped to take some shots as the sun set to the west. I then opened up a Perrier and decided to begin floating back with the current while I watched the sunset. Just as the orange ball slipped between the clouds and the horizon and the full moon rose in the opposite sky, I heard the wonderful sound of a dolphin exhaling and looked just a few feet from my boat to see one disappear beneath the water. It was so incredibly quiet where I was that the sound of his exhale seemed to be magnified. It was getting too dark to get any good shots of him and as he rose and exhaled I began to wish that I could take a picture of the sound - it is so awesome - Huuuuffftt - Puffffft! I know that I have described it in the past as the same sound that a sleeping infant makes when they are lying on your chest sleeping the deep sleep that only the innocent can get away with. Maybe it's because I spent the weekend scanning old photos of my now not so innocent kids when they were at that age that it reminded me of that once again. It usually brings tears to my eyes and tonight was no different. It was starting to get quite dark out there and I so I started to head back thinking that we had finally parted company. Suddenly he rose out of the water just a few feet from my boat again. It almost seemed as though he was keeping me company so I felt like it would be rude for me to leave him out there all by himself. I stayed and watched as he crossed back and forth across the creek at times exploring the little coves in the marsh. I could see the little "blooms" from his fluked tail popping up in a row as he swam beneath my boat and then surfaced near the grass. Finally, I had to leave so we said goodbye and I headed back barely able to make out the banks against the darkening sky. As I headed back the sky was still light enough to see the groups of night herons flying overhead letting out their characteristic "WOK!" as they flew. Occasionally, the clapper rails would cut loose with their rusty swing call. I guess that I'm familiar enough that area that I can find my way back blindfolded because that is pretty much what I did. See the pictures from this trip
09/22/03
The last trip two weeks ago set me back some in my recovery so I backed off a little and stayed ashore. Last week was blustery with Hurricane Isabel offshore so chances are I might not have made it out anyway. I felt pretty good today and the tides were high and the winds relatively calm and so the urge overcame the pain and good sense. With a high tide at 7:30 p.m. I had originally planned to go out after dinner but I changed my mind and set out after work. There was a pretty stiff breeze coming from the southeast and even though it was barely past mid-tide, the water was well over the high tide mark. I could feel the power of the water surging into the marsh, pushed by the offshore winds. I passed my usual photo ops and rousted the usual crew of tri-colors and then headed north to the confluence of Cedar Point and Hannah which is also approximately the center point of the marsh and usually the quietest point in the area. Unfortunately, Mayport was active and the wind was blowing from directly over the base, it was pretty loud and annoying. It was quiet enough and I pulled into a little creek and drank a beer as I lay back in the boat and watched the clouds and listened to the rails squeak and the marsh wrens chatter away like over-excited children. I stayed out there a couple of hours tooling around and set out for home - feeling pretty decent. Hopefully I'm over the worst of it. See the pictures from this trip
09/23/03
I was feeling pretty decent after last night's journey so I decided to push it a little and try an after dinner paddle. As soon as I walked out of the house I saw the black line of clouds overhead and very nearly called it off. I went ahead up to my Cedar Point put-in and as soon as I pulled off the skies opened up. I sat there for a while debating and finally said "what the heck?" and headed out. The rain stopped almost as soon as I hit the water and the sky began to do some really spectacular things. The sun was peaking through the clouds to the west as it set and to the east were dark clouds and bright squall lines sweeping across the horizon. I paddled up to where Cedar Point heads north to join with Hannah - where I was last night but I didn't go far due to the lateness of the hour and rapidly disappearing light. When lightning started crackling overhead I turned it around and dug for home. Most of my pictures came out pretty blurry but a watercolor filter saved a few of them. See the pictures from this trip
09/29/03 Hope and I had been unable to get out together since mid-July so we made a date to go out today. I knew it was supposed to be the start of cooler weather but as soon as I exited my truck I was hit by the blast of wind coming from the northeast and I almost turned around and headed home. I for sure wished I had remembered to bring along my fleece - I guess its time to start getting out the winter gear. It's weird to think that just two days ago we were at the beach enjoying the sun and surf! My original plan was for Hope and I to head to the ICW and string our hammocks on one of our islands and veg-out. I quickly realized that neither one of us were in good enough shape to fight the stiff breeze and rough water so we headed due east toward the old Sister's Creek marina. We stayed in the small stream that runs parallel to Heckscher and stayed close to the north bank so that the grass would shield us from the wind. Even that was difficult since the extra water in the marsh put our heads well above the grass line for most of the way. It wasn't too bad of a trip, however, and we quickly made our way toward the ICW, enjoying the brisk breeze and and beautiful sky. Once we got to the old marina we could see just how high the tide was getting - it was already covering parts of the walkway and the water was over the banks and had reached well into the picnic area. We had a pleasant lunch and conversation and then headed back and with the wind at our backs and barely paddled. Not many photo ops. The birds were staying well hidden on a day like today.
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