A head cold kept me from leading the paddle today but Brian stepped forward to take the helm...
Phyllis
Yes, I did show up for Phyllis’s Paddle although I didn’t sign up for it. After going to Fall Maintenance and driving home Sunday I clean the tools and put them back in the shed. Got to my house around 4:30 P.M. and had a call from Chippokes State Park, wanting to know if I would come up on Monday and help them clear a few trees that the storm had taken down? I drove up there and worked till 5:00 P.M. and didn’t think I would be going on the paddle the next day. I woke up at 5:00 A.M. and felt good so I loaded my kayak and called Bill to find out where he would be having breakfast. We met at Hardees on Hwy. 17 and in a few minutes Jack show up. We had our meal and headed to the put-in where I found out that Phyllis was under the weather and Brian was leading the kayak trip today. We had eight all together that came out in this bad weather to keep the Tuesday Group going. We knew it would be a great day when a Bald Eagle landing in a Pine Tree next to the boat dock. (See Bill’s close up picture) We all headed out towards the bay and the wind was blowing from out of the north/west and this made the paddle very easy until we reached the bay. Here we talked over what each person though would be best for them and we had some that wanted to go on as planned and a few decided to stay in the calmer water, so Brian took 2 with him and I took 3 and headed towards the island. It was a bit ruff until we reached the island where we took our first break. Then we talked it over and decided to continue on around the island to the York River Side and here it did get ruff but nothing we couldn’t handle. To be on the safe side we paddled close to the shore where the water was only one or two feet deep. The cold front moved in from the north with a little rain but luckily the temperature didn’t drop as we had been told that it would. There was no stopping on this side of the island as we have in the pass for a rest break and to play in the water. After we made it to the 3 poles that marked the cut through we did find a sandy beach and took a short break. Here the cold front had moved on and the water was very calm with very large waves that you could ride on as they were going our way. We had about 8 to 10 dolphins swimming around us and popping up out of the water for us to see and for them to look at us. I had never seen any on other trips that we took out to The Goodwin Island and it was neat to see them. We voted not to stop for lunch and moved on to the south side of the island heading towards the take out. On the return trip we also saw the Bald Eagle sitting in top of a dead Pine Tree. (See Bill’s Pictures). Brian had give me a call about an hour before we made it back and said they had a good paddle in and around the creeks and was heading home and I told him about our great paddle and that we would be in shortly. We paddle a little over 9 miles and was on the water about 4 hours and all had a great time even with the strong winds. Thanks to Phyllis for a great paddle. Bruce
View Bill's photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmtZDxjL