The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Friday morning I decided to paddle 6-7 Nm south down the Intracoastal Canal to get some pictures to use to finish up the virtual tour of that area on my website. Slowed by my usual morning sluggishness I finally dropped the kayak into the edge of Packery Channel at the east end of the JFK bridge at 10:00 am. Luckily the early morning calm was holding longer than expected as I paddled the quarter mile to the Intracoastal and turned south under the bridge. There is a new fishing pier that runs parallel to the channel so I moved over to paddle right up against the pier. I did this to pass under all the fishing lines rather than serve as target practice for those fishermen casting several ounces of lead out into the deeper water. As I continued down the edge of the channel I was surprised at how calm it actually was. The reflections of the channel markers were distorted into funhouse mirror forms by the slight ripple on the waters surface. As I stopped for a picture I realized that I not only had a great reflection but also had an osprey sitting on the marker. Maybe today was going to be a good luck day. Normally there is not much to photograph in the first couple of miles south of the bridge, but today I did stop and get some pictures of a tug and its double wide barges heading north. Just over 2 Nm south of the bridge I stopped at the Whitecap entrance channel to wait for some boat traffic to clear. This channel runs back into a very large development of canal homes. Once the boats clear the developments no wake zone they throttle up to full speed as they approach the Intracoastal so kayaks definitely have to yield the right of way. As I crossed this channel I noticed a couple in a small boat just off the Intracoastal landing a fish. I approached from the side opposite their lines and asked how the fishing was going. They said it was pretty slow and that the fish I saw them land was just a hardhead that they threw back. Hardheads are a saltwater catfish that are all bones and very little meat and are rarely kept by fishermen and despised for their bait stealing abilities. As I turned to head back south I thought about taking a picture of them. I reached to take my camera out of my PFD pocket and realized that the zipper on my key pocket was open. I removed the camera and felt for the keys. The key pocket was empty. Today was going to be a bad luck day. There was nothing to do but head back to the car. My mind was filled with all manner of thoughts and questions. Did I put the spare key in my wallet that was in my dry bag? If the keys came out when I used the camera would I have heard them hit the spray skirt before they went into the water? Could they be laying on my back deck (memo to self do not do any edged turns on way back)? I could visualize putting the keys into the pocket and then taking them out to lock the car hatch but I was a complete blank on what I did with them after that. If I left the keys lying on the car would the car still be there when I got back? Each thought produced that same feeling in my stomach that I get when the elevator makes that first drop as it starts to descend. I do not know if it was the current, the wind increasing behind me, or some increased adrenaline, but I made it back in about half the time it took me to go out. I exited the kayak and checked the back deck again before lifting it out of the water. I stepped up over the rocks at waters edge and laid the kayak down as close to its original launch spot as I could remember. As I rolled it level I looked back toward the stern and there they were. My keys were laying about 1 in outside the edge of the kayak just visible above the grass. I was elated. It was a good (no great) luck day. Since it was too late to try to make the full trip back down the Intracoastal I decided to eat my lunch and then paddle up Packery Channel to check out how the dredging out to the Gulf was going. It may have been the great weather (sunshine and 70 degf) or the relief of finding the keys, but for whatever the reason that peanut butter and blackberry jelly sandwich was one of the best meals I ever ate. After eating I got a good workout paddling against the wind to the head of the channel. I was surprised to find a small opening through the sand barrier that separated the natural end of the channel from the new portion being cut through the island out to the Gulf. I paddled through it and was greeted with a view of about > Nm of concrete lined channel that I had never seen before. They had cut through the island right up to the front edge of the dunes at the beach. You could see some of the huge granite blocks for the future jetties stacked just past the end of the cut. I guess they will leave the cut closed until they finish building out the jetties. I am sure that people will like having the new access to the Gulf but one of our favorite spots for kayak gatherings is now just ugly concrete and rocks. I took a couple of pictures and paddled back to the car finishing up a 10 Nm paddle. Summary: The Good: 1. I found the keys I thought I had lost. 2. Any day on the water is a good day but osprey pictures make it even better. The Bad: 1. That really sick feeling paddling back thinking the keys were lost 2. I did not get the pictures to finish up the virtual tour The Ugly 1. The nice beach at the head of Packery is now a concrete lined ditch. 2. Me paddling in my sun hat with full neck and face drape and the violet tinted racquet-ball goggles I use for paddling. (More dorky than ugly but in either case pictures have been known to frighten small children). May the sun shine brightly, the wind be always at your back, and your keys stay safely at your side on all your paddles. You can see some of the pictures on my website at http://home.earthlink.net/~hkwp1 (Trip of Week site). Mark J. Arnold *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:41 PDT