Category: Paddle Bob

cove_sunrise.jpg

Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

Another beautiful sunrise this morning while I was paddling. Went downstream this time, past the osprey nest and into the cove this photo was taken from. Sadly, the entire, wooded shoreline is littered with for sale signs, so I guess once the economy picks up this will become some sort of subdivision. But for now, it’s a great place to paddle amid the smell of pine trees and the shouting of waterfowl.
As I was heading out this morning, I paddled toward a mother duck and her ducklings. She cut away from the youngsters and started flopping and thrashing in the water, trying to convince me she was injured so I’d follow her rather than her little ones. She kept the act up for a hundred yards or so before she finally took off and flew a wide circle back to the ducklings, who were safely in the middle of the lake by that time.

The weather remains amazingly temperate for this time of year, with the lows dipping into the low 60s at night. We have all the windows open in the house. Hard to believe we were sweating through hundred degree days at this time last year.

sunrise2.jpg

Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

Shot this today during my morning paddle. Another incredible sunrise to complement the weather we’ve been having. Last week’s heat is gone, leaving weather so temperate that we’ve turned off the AC and opened the windows.
I paddled upstream this morning, just past Choto Marina before turning around and heading back home to Duck Cove.
I rented a Hurricane Tracer 165 for a week, but I decided to stick with the canoe for my morning paddles. The kayak is really tippy at this point, and I’m having a hard time getting it to track straight (the skeg is broken and won’t come down, which I think has something to do with it).
The other, bigger problem, is that I really have to squeeze into the cockpit. I didn’t fall out during my inaugural paddle this weekend, but I want to make sure there are people around to help yank me out of there if I end up underwater. So for the longer solo paddles, I’ll stick with the canoe and play around with the kayak in the evenings.

paddling

Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

During Tuesday’s paddle to Prater Flats, I used a Gorillapod to secure my digital camera to the canoe’s thwart and shot this video.
Aside from my horror movie heavy breathing that dominates the sound, it came out better than I expected, but i didn’t count on the fact that the bow of the canoe would ride so high in the water that most of the view from the thwart is canoe instead of water.
I’ll make adjustments next time …