On the Rappahannock

Yesterday, we went out on the Rappahannock out of Port Royal.  The weather was good.  I like that entry into the Rappahannock because it is so easy.  The town does not allow power boats to enter at the point and there are not usually a lot of people going in and out of the water. So it is great for quick entry and exit.

The water is usually very calm and this is a very shallow part of the river.  If you are a beginner, this would be a great place to learn.  Most parts of the river are not very deep.  Mostly a lot of mud.

We paddled down stream for about an hour and then back upstream.  While there is not a lot to see in terms of scenery on the river at that point, there is a lot of wildlife that you can see. Yesterday, I got to see a bald eagle soaring across the sky.  Earlier trips on the river gave me the chance to see a bunch of Osprey.  And I got to see an osprey catch a fish.  Lots of water fowl on that stretch of the river: Cormorants and Great Blue Herons, etc.

I am going to put in at other points to see what else is out there.  I have put in at Tappahannock but that was a long time ago.

On the Mattaponi

The other day we took a bit trip down the Mattaponi.  I am interested in visiting all the local rivers and seeing what is around the corner.  It was a great day to be out on the water.  The weather was nice and the water was smooth.  I had to use my old oar because of a mishap that I will share later.  

We put in at Walkerton.  I usually try to use public access.  This access was private but run by the Walkerton Rescue Department. We had to put $5 in a little envelope and then we were fine. We snuck in between a couple of bass boats and got onto the water.  

The water was smooth, even with the several boats going by now and again, it was not bad.  We weren’t knocked off our boards at all.  (This has happened on a number of occasions.)  The Mattaponi is a relatively shallow where we were.  It is not very wide either.  So the boats that were coming and going did have to come a bit close. Due to the time of the year there were lots of lilypads but they were in the real shallow areas.  It is funny, the mud is pretty deep when you accidentally fall off into it.

All in all we paddled about a half hour out, in hopes of seeing the river open up and we were wrong,  upon looking at the map when I got home, I found that it does not open up until the Mattaponi meets up with the Pamunkey River at West Point, VA.  There it forms the York River. So,  it looks like I may have to take a trip down there to see what that is like.  

I will have to work on putting some pictures up in here.

Mattaponi River out of Walkerton

Switch Paddle Boarding

I have not reflected here for a while, but I wanted to take a moment to think about changes I have made. For the last few years, I have taken up paddle boarding rather than kayaking. I like the feeling of standing and paddling down the rivers and lakes rather than sitting in a kayak.  It is just a little quicker to get into the water.

Thinking laterally

I was finishing up some work today and listened to Furled Sails podcast. The episode was #145 On Island Time. It was a interesting interview of a gentleman who kayaked from I think from Tampa to the Caribbean. That was an incredible feat. It got me thinking, I have got to go back outside. I spent my 20's doing things outside and going places that I have never been and lately, I have not done those type of things. But now I am inspired to go back outside. I live in an area with a lake and within which I can Kayak, and learn to do a better job of Kayaking. I have been inspired to get out of the house, stop sitting inside and looking up nonsense online and get out of the building.

So I am going to take the opportunity afforded to my low paying salary as a teacher to spend this summer learning how to kayak proper and learn how to windsurf as well. I have always wanted to be a sailor. So this is the summer that I begin my study of sailing and windsurfing. Imaging a guy falling off his board in the middle of a placid lake for the foreseeable future and you will know what I am up to. I intend to take some video. Will I be honest in the putting of all the boring video of myself falling into the water. While I get a laugh out off this, I don't know. But I will be certain to put up some things to that people can see that I am trying, have a laugh, and doing actually what I have set out to do.

So while I am learning to windsurf I will also be learning how to kayak. Good luck me.