Yesterday was a big day for 2008; it was my first paddle of the season on Moses Lake from in front of the lake house. Of course, our "beach" is rip-rap and cement debris and until the water gets high enough for an entry from the dock, I have to do a balancing act just to get into the kayak. The neighbors love this time of year and show up with their video cameras to take pictures to send to the kids. Moses Lake acts as one of the reservoirs for a vast system of irrigation water in central Washington. They lower the level each year to try to kill off various weed growths that can clog the canals and then raise the water level again in the spring. This year the water level came up a foot all by itself due to the runoff from a big snow season. A week ago the lake was frozen and now it's liquid again and even if it's not quite up to normal, I decided to go for it. I pulled the Mariner Escape out of the shop mostly because it was the only kayak I could get to and extract by myself. Like animal lovers who rescue dogs and cats, I "rescue" kayaks and the Escape was a rescue from last fall. I'd only gotten into the cockpit once and paddled a short distance but stopped because the runners for the sliding seat had come adrift. The Escape is an early Broze Brothers creation and it doesn't have the sweet lines of the Express; what it does have is a huge cockpit (I am pretty sure I could wear my hiking boots and still have extra room) and a capacious hull for carrying loads. I installed some foam pads on the seat bottom (for *my* bottom) and knee grips under the deck. I had to put in a lot of foam because this cockpit is not just deep, but long too (35 inches!!!). The temperature of the day had peaked before I quit working on the muthah-ship and got the kayak on the water but it was still almost 50F. I set off for the I-90 bridge and into the main lake. While I paddled along (with frequent rests - hey, it's early in the season) I noticed two people paddling some sort of vessel towards the southern end of the grass island I use as a pylon on my workout paddles. As I rounded the southern tip I saw that they had pulled their boat onto a dock assembly that had grounded in the same shallows I was trying to push my kayak over. During a very short chat the men said something about the docks coming loose in the ice as it moved out. "That's why we move our docks ashore in the winter," I replied over my shoulder. The reply was that they had tried to tell their boss that but to no avail. Maybe he'll listen next year. With ice-out the lake teems with birdlife waiting to continue their migration patterns north. About halfway up the eastern shore of the grass island seven swans took off and climbed for altitude right in front of me. What a beautfiul sight and what a nice greeting for the first day. Usually my first day of paddling for the season involved bashing through ice but not this year. But as the evening move on the temperature dropped into the 30s and I was happy to paddle back under the freeway and onto the home stretch to ... um, home. Getting back out of the Escape was made easier by the huge cockpit but it still wasn't easy. Thank god it was too dark for the neighbors to come laugh. After only 5 minutes of struggling to get out in the rocks and rubble while the kayak tried hard to slide backward into the water again I managed to exit. I parked the Escape on the dock while Mindy barked at me in reproach for not taking her along with me. Mindy had been our farm watchdog and with no farm any more she may be trying to re-train to become a water rescue-dog. So that's it. My first paddle on the lake, if not my absolute first of the season (which was two weeks ago with Pam). It's not much... but it's a start. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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