Tuesday’s paddle and Siberia’s Arctic Blast, but first things first.
Bill Billings and I equaled the total of two who made up Tuesday Group’s Poquoson paddle yesterday. Forecasters predicted the day would be wet and chilly with the worst, the Siberian Arctic Blast, not expected until the afternoon.
No problem there. We already planned to launch early, return before noon, paddle in protected waters, and we both had the clothing required for “the weather to dictate what you wear and not what you do”.
Our first unexpected surprise for the day came right at our 9am launching when, in the lightly falling rain, Jack Shepherd suddenly appeared at the marina to see us off……that was a real treat.
The paddle, as expected, was pleasant, interesting and fun although it continued to be a wet one. Fortunately the rain remained a fairly soft one, and the morning was not particularly cold or windy. We paddled past homes bordering both sides of approximately three coves we visited off of the Poquoson River. Interestingly enough, many of the homes sit on just narrow fingers of land, meaning they have water both in front and in back of the houses. Also interesting was the fact that most homes we passed were modest ones and not the huge expensive homes one sees when driving to Whitehouse Cove Marina. We saw just two or three of those homes and all were sitting among the dozens of more modest waterfront homes and neighborhoods we passed.. One such home in particular was almost unreal in size, looks and expense and sadly, in my opinion, looked completely out of place and kind of ridiculous sitting there among the modest homes surrounding it.
As it approached 10:30 we headed out toward the Poquoson River just to see something different, and we were not disappointed. We took a right turn into Bennett’s Creek which is a wider open body of water between Poquoson’s residential areas and Plum Tree Island, and it was there that we saw the larger expensive homes on their large lovely waterfront lots.
Fortunately, it also was where we decided it was best to head back to the ramp, and a better decision could not have been made, particularly at that time.
We no sooner made the left turn back into the more protected waters when, faster than one can say “Arctic Blast”, high winds, pelting rain and bitter cold temperatures hit us hard from behind. This second sudden unexpected surprise came at exactly 11 am, and not after 12 noon, as predicted ☹ OK, lesson learned!
The difference between our morning’s earlier paddle and what remained of our paddle back to the ramp was like night and day, and frankly, had the winds hit us from the side, or if we’d had to paddle into them, it could have been a real problem. As it was, the winds moved us along at a good pace, and the most important skill needed by then was just trying to keep the kayak from veering off course, something that would have been impossible to do without my rudder.
We were protected somewhat as we got closer to the rump just as a Poquoson Fire and Rescue vehicle roared into the parking spot next to the ramp. The passenger was looking out over the water, and I waved. He waved back, turned and said something to the driver, and then they backed out of the spot and drove off at a normal speed.
Bill and I both believe someone must have called from one of the lovely homes we just had passed on Bennett’s Creek to report two kayakers out in those terrible conditions. Thank goodness they were not needed!!
As mentioned earlier, Bill and I were dressed for rain and colder temps but by the time we reached the ramp, the temperature in seconds had fallen from almost 50 earlier to 40, and the high winds and hard rains remained relentless once they arrived. Needless to say by the time we had taken out the boats, unloaded them, loaded all the gear into the cars and the boats on them, we both were soaking wet and freezing. Bill swapped into dry clothes while in the porta-potty. He not only had his long return drive to Franklin but was driving to Richmond that night. I don’t know how he did that but I wasn’t changing into anything in that porta-potty and only had a short drive home. However, by the time I got all the wet gear out of the car and unloaded the boat, I couldn’t get into the shower fast enough and then stayed there until the hot water was all gone😊
In looking back later last night after the shower while all wrapped up in a cozy robe, I was happy Bill and I made the paddle. It was different, interesting, fun, adventurous and wet but it also proved that a TG paddle, in good weather, from Whitehouse Cove Marina will be a new and interesting fun one for everyone. The paddle in yesterday’s weather was not one for the TG by any stretch of the imagination. Even though Bill and I had a great time with a not so great end, it could have been much worst. We were lucky we were out of Bennett Creek’s open waters when Siberia’s Arctic Blast hit Poquoson and us!!!
Sandy
Click on the link to view Bill B's pictures: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJrrhpy