The world turns

And rides on a pivot, so we have(drum roll please)

WEATHER!!!

Couple things about that; somedays you can somewhat predict it, others, its a seat of the pants sorta t’ing.

Todays weather has been hit or miss, one minute teasing you with a splash of clear sky, the next growling shes gonna get ya soaked to the bone.  No thunderboomers, but they are forcast by the meteoro-guess-doh-gists,, 

For me; Two points of order today.  First, I brought out the ‘new and improved’ Aleutian paddle.  I trimmed back that ridge (3/8″, end to end) and reglued a section of lamination that started splitting apart, AND I varnished the hell out of it.  (wallymart had the same varnish as the local digs, but at $13/qt: wonder why some of the locals can’t stay in biddness???)  Result: feels better, even has a little ‘kick back’ at the end of the stroke. (My Carbon fiber GP is far too rigid for that, but I have felt it in my wooden GPs)  .  Biggest thing, she will NOT tolerate bad form, feedback is immediate in flutter or plowing straight down(and pulling you that way FAST).  Paddled about a mile with her before I switched back to the GP, but I am not as dissatisfied as I was previous.  That ridge seemed to make the whole thing a lot less stable.(even though it was on the back side of the power face,, go figure)  No GPS with me so I have nothing other than ‘feelz’ as to if she is faster or not.  The Aleutian paddles are suposedly faster,  but I think they are comparable, and why I switched back to my GP for the rest of the day (more forgiving, and I wanted to just chill too)

Second point of order was something I have been meaning to do but never got around to: I loaded ALL of my camping gear in Blue Jean, just to see 1: if it would fit properly and 2: how she would respond to it.   Good for me, it all fit in the rear hatch just fine, though I wont be taking any folding chairs like I can with Ghost. And she didn’t change any handling characteristics at all. (Well, maybe a touch more weather helmed,,,  thats where she will turn into the wind while moving, its a ‘feature, not a bug’ (but is still quite managable)

Met two (new to me) members of the congregation today.  Was paddling along, only person on the lake today and saw these two points headed my way.  Very low in the water but making wakes and definitely headed towards me.  I stopped paddling and was reaching for the phone to grab a pic when one of the points raised up out of the water to get a better look, then both splashed out of sight.😪 I did get a good enough look though: a pair of Muskrat, and BIG ones for this area.  Their heads were as big as my fist.  They look just like otters.   Too many people around here, usually, for them to get real curious about quiet moving boats, but this pair wasn’t concerned until I was almost on top of them. (And I never saw them come to the surface,  so I was near their nest.  They have both above ground and underwater entrances, just like beaver will do.)

Lots of wind today too.  Made for some tougher paddling.  Seven miles, just for grins, and only took one break, never getting out of the boat: just popped skirt to access my drink stash.

Still at the lake, just sitting back enjoying the fantabulous, almost early fall like weather, without the melt your eyes out humidity.  It still hasn’t figured out which way it wants to go,,,