“Spend as much time as possible on mountains, in small boats, or otherwise out in the weather; if you never get wet, cold, exhausted or scared, you won’t properly appreciate being dry, warm, rested and safe.” ~ Peter Jay

"I’m an adventuring river rat at heart. Put me on a floating piece of driftwood and I’m happy." ~ Christina Glauner

"There’s folly and foolhardiness on one side and daring and calculation on the other." ~ C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels

Thursday, January 6, 2011

First Paddle of 2011

At work this morning I was keeping track of the temperature. When it appeared obvious that the high would be 40 degrees, I took the afternoon off to go paddling. After gathering my gear, I headed down to the causeway. The dock on the causeway boat ramp has been removed and chunks of ice litter the ramp and the riprap adjacent. I headed upstream using a "new to me" paddle I recently won on eBay. It is a Flyer #3 wing paddle. Essentially, a wing paddle is another paddle type mostly used for sprinting or endurance racing. More information can be found at http://www.fastkayak.com/wing.html.
I paddled a bit upstream, taking pictures along the way. After, maybe half an hour, I turned about and headed back downstream. I tried to wait for a large chunk of ice to hit a pier on the railroad bridge, but I grew impatient and continued on. I am not sure about the wing paddle yet. The website is correct in that it can add to instability, but I could feel potential when paddling correctly with it. More paddling/testing is needed :)
And on to the pictures...


2 comments:

  1. Pat,
    I was using the "Next Blog" button and wound up going through a bunch of blogs about people who live on boats, which you do not but your blog was mixed in the bunch... (Unless of course, you somehow manage to live on a kayak.) Looking at blogs is a lazy way of being a voyeur. One gets to see so many different life styles and points of view. I was positive that you and I had almost nothing in common. I've never built a bridge. I've never been in a kayak. I've never been to The Dakota's. But then, I looked at your profile and right there, in your favorite music, you and I share something after all! I love "Great Big Sea." Then it occurred to me, I love rivers and streams. I've white water rafted and done lots of fishing on giant rivers right on down to picturesque, little streams, high in the mountains. And so I wanted to let you know that I enjoyed catching just a small glimpse of who you are. Thank you. (and I thought it was cold here today at 50ยบ:)

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