OK, that's it for me. I think it's 103 days total.
Loved every one of them. And leaving 2023 with a new boat that has furniture below. Well, not a new boat. New to me. It's 52 years old. It's got an active One Design class.
And I can sleep on it at anchor somewhere.
I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
Fought the Ritchie Hwy traffic up from Annap in time to get to PSA for a quick paddle. Mercifully calm and not too cold, great way to end a very productive day containing way too many errands and obligations.
I put a kayak in to get soundings in a PSA slip. Perfect timing, as today is a New Moon and it's "springs." So the tide was unusually low, I'd say at least 9-12 inches below MLW. So the soundings in the slip were very low, but a great indication of what the worse case scenario might be for a boat of a certain draft. I'd be lying if I said I had no personal reason to perform this task for the club.
Then I grabbed lunch and paddled out to one of my usual lunck spots. Closed due to lack of water. But there's one just as nice around the corner. For day 101 in 2023.
Looked at a boat with more creature comforts than the i550 and then went for a paddle to think about things, including owning a bigger boat and all the complications that come with that responsibility, e.g., clothing, housing and feeding of such a beast.
On one hand what a pain to have to haul and paint the bottom and inspect the rig etc, and then the joy of being able to spend a night or two on board in something other than the abject misery of the i550's coffin-like house.
I don't know....but it was an interesting way to spend day number 100.
Went down to put the cover on the boat for winter, and to remove any bilge water that may freeze and do damage. Then I looked at the forecast for the next ten days and I figured, Hey! I might get a sail or two in (high temps mid to high 50's in the next week or so). So the cover stays off for now.
With the tide being so high, I put in a kayak with the idea of maybe having enough water to thrash thru the back of the creek to get to the isolated pond that is visible on Google satelite image. Gave it a go and even got out of the kayak to scout the possibilty of making a short portage to this "lost" lake. Turns out there are two hurdles, not just one. Two built up thickets, and maybe a muskrat or nutria hutch, blocking the way into this isolated spot.
I really love marsh and swamp landscapes especially in the winter. So even though my goal was denied, it was still a very nice day on the creek.
Very low tide, maybe one of the lowest I've ever seen on the Magothy. A good time to get a visual on where the shoals are the worst.
I think today was Day 98, so just two more to 100....should be easy to grab next week, weather permitting!
0911 hrs, a cold but quick delivery down to Annap, helped out by a knot or two of ebb and a bit of north breeze kicking in. Since we were early for the noon crew pickup at SSA (thanks SSA!), we took the touristy ride into Ego Alley and back.
Race was in light, sometimes non-existant, air but it was short and sweet with a bit of drama at the start when two boats went THUMP. We took third, had a really great time at EYC and then departed on a very cold but beautiful delivery back to the Magothy.
Long but excellent day on the water, for late November!
I think this was day 96...a long paddle with LZ. Gorgeous Novemebr weather, colorful leaves, clear water (sort of) and even a bite on our paddletails from decent sized Yellow Perch. The lighting this time of year is just terrific.
I took the fishing rod out for a paddle, but the tide was so low, I never tried a single cast...why bother? I did find some interesting stuff on the bottom, including what was once a nice aluminum oar, but it looked like it had been on the bottom for awhile and it was nasty. Pulled it out of the water and left it ashore.
Back in the NE arm of the creek, it was so pleasant that I ooched down in the kayak and fell asleep for 10 minutes. Kind of an all-purpose paddle: lunch, exercise, a stint on a beach and a nap. Beautiful November day!
We were having our trophy and oyster party, but I needed to paddle for a couple of hours to blow off some steam and get my head right. Perfectly lovely conditions for a floating lunch and few casts into likely spots, which luckily for me, produced no response. But it was an excellent paddle, probably good for two NM in absolutely perfect November condits.