The paddling log that I mentioned in an earlier post is a computer database file. It has 7 fields: date, place, boat, conditions, comments, total time, and hours on water. Total time is used for a single trip. Hours on water is a summary field that totals the data in the total time field. I try to be as honest as possible in recording paddling time. Here is a sample entry: Date: 4/12/97 Place: Doctor's Lake, Florida Boat: Meridian Conditions: Air temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Very windy. Chop a foot or higher in open sections. Comments: Put in at the Fleming Island landing at 12:50 and took out at 4:30 p.m. Did two stretches of water with maximum chop, one on the way to the upper end of Doctor's Lake and the other on a ferry across Mill Cove. Total Time: 3.5 [hours] I chose this entry because it is a "benchmark" for me. It was a very rough trip. On the way to the upper end of the lake, I paddled directly into the wind and chop for approximately 1.25 mi. through the middle of a section that is .75 mi. wide, seeing gusts of wind hit the water and flatten the chop. In brief, a knock-down wind. When I returned to the landing, I had plenty of time left, so I paddled around the perimeter of Mill Cove, taking advantage of shallow water and eel grass beds that effectively killed the chop. I paddled up the opposite side of the cove until I was roughly across the cove from the landing. After cautiously testing my comfort (fright) level while I was still close to shore, I ferried across, paddling at roughly a 45-degree angle to the wind and chop and letting the wind blow me across. The distance was maybe a third of a mile and with that wind blowing across approximately 1.5 mi. of open water, I made a very quick ferry, which seemed to last three times as long as it actually took. I've paddled Doctor's Lake twice since then. On my second trip there I did a circuit all the way around the lake in breezy but tolerable conditions. On my third trip, I explored the large creek on the south side of the lake, pushing up into the swamp and looking for interesting birds. I thoroughly enjoyed the second and third trips. I survived the first one but I won't repeat it. On a day with that much wind, there are safer places for me to paddle. My log entry serves as a reminder not to do that again. It was a good training exercise but I don't need to learn that lesson a second time. I'll redo the second trip another time because it was fun. The third trip was successful because the El Nino rains in January combined with a rising tide to open up areas in the swamp that would not have been accessible by boat under normal conditions. Bob -------------------------------------------------- Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Research and Planning Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311 910-630-7037 rperkins_at_methodist.edu *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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