[Paddlewise] short paddle report

  Whew,  like a few others the rudders thread began to give me a
headache.  I use mine sometimes, I really don't give it much thought.
nuff said.
  I was supposed to meet up for a short "get acquainted" paddle on
Saturday morning with a couple of folks that I had recently met .  I
showed up at the appointed location right on time and in a steady rain.
But no little Toyota pickup truck with two kayaks...hmm..went to get a
latte' and back to more waiting in the rain - they never showed after a
45 minute wait in the rain.  Strange, because rain is so typical around
here that it doesn't ordinarily hamper outdoor activities.  I tried
calling them at home, but there wasn't any answer.  
  Not willing to let a perfectly good rainy day go to waste I drove out
the road (our *only* road) to a little cove well protected from the
steady southeast wind.  Loaded up the kayak rather quickly and was out
on the water in a few minutes.  Paddling up the quiet cove in a gentle
rain the mountains in the distance were obscured, but I was treated to
the pleasure of watching a sea otter for about 15 minutes - diving
periodically for mussels and pounding away at them on the surface.  Very
cool!  While I was just sitting there sculling, watching the otter (and
reflecting on the idea of Julio's solid paddle float), I was treated to
the long, eerily beautiful howls of a wolf in the distance for about 5
minutes.  Moments like these are why I paddle!  I paddled a couple of
miles and went out into a larger, less protected bay where the waves
were whitecapped chop, but felt a little uncomfortable in my Seaward
Ascente - I finally have concluded that it has too much volume for me
(150lbs) to paddle it comfortably when it's not loaded at least for an
overnight - might have to skip on down to Canada for some Ballast Rocks.
A quick return of a couple of miles (and innumerable bald eagle
sightings) and I was back at the car clambering out of the drysuit.  A
short paddle, but very enjoyable.

Dave

David Seng		/  david_at_wainet.com
Wostmann & Associates	/  phone - 907.586.6167
223 Seward St.		/  fax - 907.586.2996
Juneau, Alaska  99801

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