[Paddlewise] Hello!

Hi,
     I'm in my third year of kayaking, a sport I took up after years of
owning various power boats and then a dozen years when I didn't have a
boat.  I have two kayaks, a plastic WW touring boat that I use for
everything from Class II whitewater to winding, timber-choked blackwater
rivers (but you don't want to get out on open water when the wind is
blowing).  My other boat is a Dagger Meridian that I really like.  I paddle
it on lakes, rivers, and the coast in Virginia, the Carolinas, and
northeastern Florida.
     One of my favorite recipes for a trip is to put in at a public access
on a river, paddle upstream for 2-3 hours, and then paddle back to my
starting point.  I enjoy birdwatching and have added a number of new
species to my life list during the past two years.  Last fall I was easing
my way through a creek off of Doctors Lake in north Florida when a pair of
green herons and an unidentified white egret (snowy, immature blue heron,
or cattle egret?) landed in a tree overhead.  That was one of the
highlights of my trip.  On my first trip to Jordan Lake in central North
Carolina last year I was treated to a reasonably close look at a bald eagle
while paddling in the upper end of the New Hope Creek arm.  Recently, while
paddling near Sunset Beach, NC,  I saw a flock of white ibis--beautiful
birds!
     Sometime in the next year I'll probably trade in my plastic boat and
purchase a two-man canoe.  I want to be able to take my wife places that
she'll never see unless I supply the paddle power.  Also, my daughter and
her husband would be able to make use of a canoe.  A fiberglass (composite)
kayak is capable of lasting 20 years.  I hope I'm able to paddle that long!

Bob


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