As David Booth and I headed out of Sulphur, Louisiana Friday morning at 7:30AM, I couldn't believe I was actually going. I had wavered back and forth between going and not going for the better part of two weeks. I had so many things I wanted to do around the house and I knew it would also cut into my running time. So it kept pulling on me right up until that Thursday. With kayaks and gear all loaded we were heading east on I-10 into what I hoped was a great adventure. We arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi and headed south down Pascagoula Street towards the Gulf. We were able to see Round Island and Horn Island from the mainland as we headed west towards the boat ramp. David and I were on the water by 2:30PM and heading towards Round Island, a small island between the mainland and Horn Island. Landing Site on Round Island - 30*17.660'N, 88*35.030'W The wind was out of the southeast at a moderate 8-10 mph. This was the first time I paddled my kayak with such a heavy load. I was carrying a tent, sleeping bag, Therma-Rest, pillow, chair, food and water for 5-6 meals, and my running clothes. Both hatches were full and the large dry bags carrying the sleeping paraphernalia were latched on top of the hatches! It took us about 1.5 hours to get to Round Island in waves that were no more than 0.5 feet at best. The distance according to the GPS was 3.9 SAM (selective availability miles). We would stop at Round Island for a small break. Here we walked a very short distance to what was left of an old lighthouse. All that was left was the base and about 4 feet of the lighthouse bottom. The hurricane had knocked most of the old lighthouse away. There were signs posted asking visitors not to remove anything from the historically designated sight. Heading back towards our kayaks, David pointed out a Portuguese Man-o-war that was washed up on shore. After about a half-hour we were back in our kayaks making the turn towards Horn Island. Round Island must have provided some protection because when we were out in the open towards Horn Island the waves easily doubled in size and may have reached a couple of feet on occasion. It wasn't long before I found out how "self bailing" my sit-on kayak was. The kayak has always drained to my satisfaction but then again it had never experienced a frontal assault like this. Wave after wave came crashing over my bow, filling my seat and leg areas with seawater. I ended up paddling most of the way out to Horn Island with about 40-50 extra pounds of water. I have paddled in the ocean several times but never this far away from shore or for this long. The last time out I got motion sickness for the first time. It wasn't a pretty sight as I had to paddle to shore with a lap full of * you get the picture. So for the first time I took Dramamine. I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would work in the constant up and down motion that I was now beginning to experience. After a few hours of paddling, we made a direction change to take us more towards the east end of the island. We finally put ashore at 6:30PM and started setting up camp. The Dramamine worked! From our stopping point on Round Island to our campsite was 5.3 SAM. For the trip to Horn Island we had traveled 9.2 SAM and it took us 3.5 hours of paddling and 0.5 hour of rest. Camp Site on Horn Island - 30*13.499'N, 88*35.557'W (interesting note * My house is nearly on the same north latitude reading, 30*13.278'N, as where we stopped to set up camp). We successfully set up camp before dark and actually were able to get something to eat as well. David gathered some driftwood and we built a fire. The mosquitoes were out in force just as the sun had set. I sprayed down and that helped a lot. There were still a few mosquitoes that braved the chemicals (probably mutants!). The fire really helped keep all the bugs away, including the deer flies. It was so peaceful sitting by the fire watching the sun set. What a beautiful sunset it was with the sky all orange, the sun orange with some clouds breaking up the pattern. It was absolutely gorgeous. After hitting the sack I spent the first few moments trying to swat at the few mosquitoes that snuck in the tent. As usual, the first night on the ground I kept waking up frequently. I could hear "distant" buzzing sounds that kept me wondering if I was still being visited by those blood suckers! Saturday Sunrise: 6:01AM Sunset: 7:40PM Moon * New I got up early (5:50AM) and found out what all the "distant" buzzing was about. There were 2-3 dozen mosquitoes trapped between the rainfly and the tent. I put on my running gear and ran west along the beach as far as I could go. I eventually came to an opening that led into a pond. Since I wasn't interested in getting my running shoes wet I decided to go back. Based on my time and the GPS reading I gathered later in the day I ran about 6 miles. Along my run I saw several dead horseshoe crabs, several osprey and their nests, alligator tracks, and one couple camping about 2 miles from our site. After getting back to camp I changed, made some coffee, and ate a Pop-Tart. David was up and we started breaking camp. Our plan was to head to the west end of the island and set up camp there for Saturday night. We eventually made it out of camp by 9:00AM and headed west. The island is 13 miles long so we were in for several hours of paddling. The wind was still coming from the southeast, as it was the day before so our westerly direction was quite easy. Going across some of the shallower areas, we started seeing sting rays (or skates?) darting away or in between our boats. At first we saw a few individuals but then we came across two separate groups of 4 or 5. One made a quick dart towards the surface, chasing a small fish that jumped out of the water to try and escape. We made excellent time to the Ranger Station pier and pulled in on the west side, arriving by 11:00AM. The distance from our camp to the pier was 4.7 SAM. While we were relaxing a couple pulled up in their motorized boat and tried to dock. The waves were coming through the pier pretty strong and along with the wind they were having trouble docking. They decided to anchor on the east side of the pier and walk into shore. As it turned out it was the Ranger's mother. When David and I started to walk to the Ranger Station she flagged us down and asked that we tell the Ranger that "His momma is here." Ranger Station Pier - 30*14.289'N, 88*40.043'W I had taken off my shoes for the walk up the sandy path to the station. The sand on the beach was cool so I figured the sand along the path would be cool as well. Nope! About half way to the station the sand was getting very hot and it was mixed with pine needles. I should have gone back for my shoes but I was too stubborn to give in. We met the Ranger and informed him that his mother was at the pier. We talked briefly about our plans and about how the hurricane affected the island. It was interesting to note that David and I referred to the changes as "damage" and he never used that word in our conversation. He called it "natural processes". The island lost a lot of vegetation, especially on the east end. On the west end the vegetation used to come right up to the water in a lot of places. Now that is replaced with sand. He also said that a lot of the dunes have been re-shaped. Some dunes are gone but new ones formed. The island also lost 80% of its osprey nests but luckily most of the osprey returned and re-built their destroyed nests. The hurricane also exposed an eagle's nest for the first time. The nest has been there for years and the park has never had to "isolate" it from the public because it had remained hidden. But now exposed they had to post the area off-limits. Right now the nest still had a chick in it which is unusual for this time of year. Usually the eagles have already headed back north. The other "natural process" was the extensive salt-water damage done to the interior vegetation. An enormous amount of pine trees were dead due to the salt. The problem this created is the potential for fire. According to the Ranger, the park service/city have talked for years about a control burn on the island but now it appears it has become crucial. In heading back to our kayaks, David stopped to use the water hose at the generation shed for a quick shower. The Ranger passed us on his 4-wheeler equipped with a trailer. His mother came by and thanked us for letting him know she was there. "He knows that when we visit that means food. A home-cooked meal." We were back in our kayaks heading west to look for a camping site. Pretty quickly we came upon a Skimmer's nesting site. We tried to give them a wide berth so as not to disturb them but quite a few took to the air anyway. We couldn't find any site up to this point worth setting up camp at. We stopped and tried to look further but didn't see anything real promising. So we headed back towards our original campsite. It was tough going as we now headed into the wind and the waves. The waves constantly wanted to push my kayak (I have no rudder) towards the shore. So I ended up pulling the paddle with my right arm a good deal of the way back. I tried short paddle length on the left and longer paddle length on the right to no avail. I also tried short left strokes and long hard right strokes. This didn't work either so I was stuck with lots of right arm strokes and a few left ones. We pulled up a little short of our campsite to eat and take a break since there was a boat anchored at our original site. They didn't have anything on shore so we hoped they were there only for a short visit. As we got back in our kayaks they were loading up their boat and pulling away. We pulled ashore and set camp back up on our original site. The total this morning and afternoon was 11.7 SAM. After setting up camp David and I relaxed in our tents and read or wrote in our "journals". After reading a few chapters of the Civil War battle Chancellorsville, I was ready to go back out on the water. I wanted to paddle down to and around the east tip of the island and out into the open Gulf for at least 100 yards or so. David was game so off we went. We cut a tangent to the tip instead of hugging the shore because we would be pressed to make it back by dark. After making it around the tip we were confronted with large waves, maybe three feet in height. After about 50 yards or so we decided to turn back. What a ride! I was close to the tip where the waves were the largest and I got in a little surfing action for the 50 or so yards back into the protected area north of the island. On our way back we finally came across the Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin! There was a group of 4-5 that appeared to be corralling fish. Usually only their fin and back broke the water but a couple of times one would stick its nose and head out as though it was checking us out. Once they were out of sight we started back again only to run into another small group. This one announced its presence with one of its members sticking its tail fin vertically out of the water. We stopped to watch what we could before they too were out of sight. What a beautiful sight, watching dolphins with another spectacular setting sun. The only thing that could have made this better was being able to share it with more paddlers. We got back to our campsite just as the sun set. A little journey of 4.2 SAM for a day's total of 15.9 SAM. We started another fire and had a quick bite to eat. Unlike Friday night we stayed up at least an hour later, hoping to take in as much of the serenity as possible. At darkness the mosquito aircraft carriers had docked and attack squads took to flight. Luckily the breeze was a little stiffer tonight and what few we had buzzing were easily persuaded to move on by the bug spray and the fire. Sunday Sunrise: 6:02AM Sunset: 7:40PM Moon * New I woke up around 6AM and walked along the shore towards the east end. I took a walking path to the south side of the island. There the beach was constantly battered by the waves. I also noticed a lot more seashells cast upon the beach. I hurried back to camp to see if David was up yet. We broke camp and packed all our belongings on and in our kayaks. After all was packed we walked back down to the path and on over to the south shore. We saw two Oyster Catchers and David found a sand dollar. On our way up towards the east tip David was describing for me a Reddish Egret. He was telling me how strange this bird's actions were while feeding along the shore. While not a rare bird it isn't a common one either. Low and behold a few minutes later I notice a bird prancing around the shoreline. It was a Reddish Egret! Here was a bird David was describing that I might not see for quite sometime, prancing around right before my eyes. What luck! Back to the north shore and back to our kayaks. We pushed off at 10:20AM and headed north towards Round Island. This did not turn out to be an easy paddle for me. The wind was from the east-southeast and the waves were coming in around the eastern tip at a east-northeast direction. My difficulties started right away when my kayak (remember I have no rudder) wanted to point into the waves. After a lot of right hand paddling the day before I was forced to do the same again. This time the journey would be longer and the strain would be greater on my right arm. While I wasn't sore from Friday or Saturday's paddling, I was sore today. This was especially true for my right arm. Most of the soreness was on the shoulder/neck muscles and the right deltoid. We made it to Round Island by 12:10PM and only stopped briefly to ease the pain that was now starting to show up in my butt. The arms were grateful as well but they could easily have gone on. No so with the butt! Going out we navigated around the east side of Round Island. Going back we decided to go around the west end. Again the waves were noticeable different on this side of Round Island. Instead of being gentle like they were Friday, the period was longer than any waves we paddled all weekend. Coupled with an angular attack on the kayak, this would have been a high motion sickness potential. Thank God for Dramamine! As I struggled into the boat ramp I was happy to have this part of the journey over. I was also sad that the trip was coming to and end. I have got to go back to Horn Island. I'm sure there are a lot of places in the world that are just as beautiful or even more beautiful than Horn Island but I still have places on the island I haven't seen yet. Maybe next time a circumnavigation is in order. All told David and I traveled at least 34.3 SAM over the weekend. What I have found about my GPS is that when the Selective Availability is turned on the mileage so far has always been less than actual. My best guess is we put in 36-38 miles. That was a lot for me. Previously I had never paddled more than 10 miles on two consecutive days. Matter of fact I don't think I have ever paddled more than 15 miles in any one weekend. On to another adventure, to be named later. Rod Hammons Sulphur, LA rhammons_at_cvcnet.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu May 20 1999 - 09:18:07 PDT
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