Pelican Sunday

Posting this a week later. This particular Sunday the water was calm and I went out to the gulf and a little beyond. The Pelicans were sitting on the piers just outside the mouth of the bayou. I got a bunch of pictures of them, as they patiently waited for me to leave.



The GPS shows this as about 8 miles.



I keep seeing this baby heron (what kind?). Whenever I pass the spot, he croaks and flies up out of the bushes and into the tree.



The Great Blues are everywhere, as usual. They are the largest birds around, but the easiest to spook.



The Red-Winged Blackbirds make their happy declarations from their grass perches...



And here is the tiny beach I think of as Graveline Beach, just at the mouth of the bayou as it enters the gulf.

Skimmers at Sunset

The thunderstorms that went through today visited my house in the form of a lightning strike so close to us that it 1) blew the cable amplifier on all the houses on the street, and 2) shocked me as I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes. (Note to self: don't wash dishes in a thunderstorm. Luckily it wasn't a bad one.) Once I was sure they were out of the area I went paddling out on the remarkably plain looking water:



But had a few nice adventures, including a flounder jumping out of the water right next to the boat (I didn't know flounders would jump like that, but I guess I startled him), meeting the Pelican View crew (nice folks!), talking with another former resident of the area who was trolling in the bayou, watching a pretty good sized walk around boat meet the challenge of getting out of the water and up the ramp with unusual style, and finally, on the way back to the dock, seeing a surprise sunset and the first skimmers I've seen this season.

Water Everywhere

Here's an evening paddle picture:



We didn't see any gators, even though we went up the bayou with the most sightings. Heard a big splash around the last corner. I guess THEY saw US.

That Old Town Millenium is really a good boat. The only thing I don't like about it is that there are no leg braces. When I get a chance I'll try another sea kayak with leg suppport and see if that makes a difference. I'm sticking with the rudder, though. Horn Island... Maybe this weekend!

This past weekend made a visit to Destin, FL - no kayaking, but had to visit the beach and it's beautiful white sand, emerald water.

Pedal, Paddle, Sail

Put the sail on the Hobie today. I'm new to sailing but I've done a lot of stunt kite flying and this seems similar to me. You just find the wind and let it work its magic.



The wind was gentle today and just right for giving this a first try. The sail combines really well with the pedals. You can pedal to keep moving and help catch the wind, work the rudder with your left hand and the sail rope with your right hand. It felt quite steady - I don't know how much it would take to capsize the boat, but didn't have any close calls.

The most challenging part was getting underway, away from the dock - using the paddle first, pedal next, then the sail. Talk about multitasking...



Sunday was paddling but yesterday we went out in the boat, halfway to Round Island then up the Pascagoula river almost to I-10. A pod of dolphins was playing, jumping, and catching fish out here in 3 feet of water. The shipyard is visible in the background.

Hobie at Graveline

The Hobie is great to take out for an evening ... pedal. It paddles well, too!

Florida - Chipola River and Merritt's Mill Pond

We went to Florida for Spring Break again this year. Leaving some factors known and some unknown, we stayed at the same location at Arrowhead Campground in Marianna, which all in all is a nice place to stay. It's kid-friendly, and made for a great location for Tyler his friend that came on the trip with us to strike out on their own and explore.



On the way there we bought a new kayak at Fairhope Boat Company, on the east side of Mobile Bay. It seems that all kayak dealers have the same price for boats, so the biggest factors in where to buy them are 1) selection, and 2) whether you can take the boat for a water trial. This store had both features and we found what we were looking for - a Hobie Mirage Revolution, Fishing model.



The boat is awesome. We got the sail to go with it, but haven't tried the sail yet. Basically, the Mirage drive lets you pedal the boat instead of paddle it. It is a very efficient and enjoyable way to travel by kayak. It provides good leg exercise and is very comfortable. The boat is really easy to drive, and the kids were able to do it with no problems. I'm sure it's also awesome for fishing but it hasn't had that opportunity yet. It's certainly rigged out for it.


My fantastic kayak trip of that week was an 8-mile trip down the Chipola River, from just north of Marianna to just south of I-10. I was in Beriniki (Mom's kayak), as we had decided to take that one instead of mine, giving us more seating options. That boat, a Wilderness Systems Pamlico 145T, was really a great vehicle for that water. My boat would have been hard to maneuver in some spots, but hers was great. The current was mild but variable, and the depth of the water was 1 - 10 feet, mostly around 6 feet I would guess.

Adding a GPS Track that shows my trip down the river. The worm-looking thing in the upper right view is Merritt's Mill Pond. The spring is at the northeast end and Arrowhead Campground is at the southwest end (north side). You can also see where the water from the pond enters the Chipola.



The water was muddy in most places, but where the creek ran in from Merritt's Mill Pond it was crystal clear. Just before that point I had spotted one other area where the water ran clear... aha! I just knew it was a spring. Sure enough, I headed up and around a corner and found it's source, a beautiful blue spring in a deserted spot in the middle of the woods. I had what I think of as a "Manatee Moment". Last year on the Wakulla I was so delighted to see the manatees and sit there on the river enjoying the moment -- something you hope might happen and when it does it's a wonderful combination of surprise, fulfillment, and amazement -- you just can't help smiling even though no one's around. Sitting there on top of the spring was just like that. I though there might be a spring or two coming into the river, but following the clues, finding it, and then experiencing looking down into the limestone and blue, blue water, fish darting around, sun shining through the trees, and all the surroundings completely natural... it was awesome. After I left and headed back down the river I passed the only other river passengers I saw that day, a man and his son in a canoe, and I told him where the spring was so they could check it out as well.


The camping trip was all the basic fun of water sports, cabin, tent for the boys, campfire, MREs, and a few other adventures like visiting the Florida Caverns State Park - a nice cavern tour and really nice part as well. Maybe one more time next year...



Many thanks to Peggy, for tips on a better way to post/link the photos, and also for our inspiration to camp and kayak in Northern Florida!

Too busy paddling to blog

I've had a lot of good paddles lately. Hate to get behind in chronicling, but when faced with a choice between sitting at the computer and going outside, I've got to go for the non-computer choice. Having a job where a good bit of the day is face-to-face with the computer will do that to you. Actually, the computer is not so bad, it's just that SPRING is so awesome! The trees and flowers are looking great this year. No more of this struggling, hurrincane-recovery look. Things are back in full swing.

We kayaked out around Deer Island and about a mile south where the old OS-Biloxi bridge is being piled up to create a fishing reef. 2-3 foot seas on the way out made it a fun trip; upwind on the way out and downwind going back. The picture above is at that spot, taken at the southern-most point shown in the green GPS track on the map.

Other great paddles lately in Graveline, Davis Bayou and Magnolia Bayou, Graveline... oystering, fishing, bird-watching, gator-watching.

Hoping to get to Florida during spring break vacation week next week - to the Wacissa!