Gettin’ tired, and lost,,,

There is a point where I should have crossed,  but didn’t recognize where I was,  so added another mile or so to my trip.   Its that big loop where the lines seriously diverge.

I was getting quite tired at that point,,, Still holding steady speed of nearly 4mph,,,   That during hard winds from the south-west, and good sized swell action going on.   Some of them easily took the front deck under water to the cockpit.  That slows a body down a bit, and makes for more work to get back up to speed.

But damn were they fun!!!

Looking at the track, there is one area where the line is orange.   I had picked up a passenger and she was dragging me down big time (seeing how she was still in the water holding onto my back toggle: TONS of drag on my poor upper body,,,)    She had fallen off the tow-able float and the driver didn’t notice at first,,,  I was right nearby when it happened, so I swung over and had her grab on while I towed her to the boat that had finally came to a stop.    It was about this time where I took my wrong turn,,,,

I started realizing I took a wrong turn when the waves started dying down.   I knew I had exited the main channel at that point, and I didn’t have my chart with me and the phone was tucked up in my PFD (can’t read it in that light anyways, even with the backlight maxed.)  It was as I rounded a point and saw a little finger of land I had been on before that I started making that turn to cross back over and make the trek BACK to the main channel.

And when I hit it, the wave action was even more energetic.   No complaints, I have my sea legs back, but paddling ‘uphill’ can be a challenge, and there were a few times where that was exactly how it felt.

that last slog across the bay to the boat ramp, there is a loopy in the middle.    I dropped my waterbottle and had to hook back around to retrieve it.

Lady at the ramp had sat there and watched me cross the whole way.   She said I must have ‘brass balls to get in that dinky boat in those waves’…

Funny, when they are hitting like that, they don’t phase me at all; just another day at the office, keep paddlin’.  I worry more about getting ran over by some drunken fool boat operater than I do the waves.   (and part of why I leave the water before the late afternoon/evening hits,,, the alky-haul usually starts getting hit heavy then,,,, )   BUT, that crossing did me in,,, I had to sit on the backdeck and get my strength back before I even contemplated getting Buffalo and getting all that gear up to the truck from the water.

I’m getting stronger,,, and slowly getting some stamina back, but its harder to do when I only really go out once a week.   I could probably hold a lower speed and do it all day long, but my muscle memory keeps kicking in and I paddle like a metronome: don’t even think about it, just keep going.   I don’t even think about sweep strokes or bracing strokes or any of that while out there; its all on automatic now.   Still, it takes energy and that runs down with time.  

Gonna say it: Mark Ervin was a danged machine to be able to paddle 10000km in a year.   30 to 40 miles a day,,,   Try it just once and you will see just how much it takes to do a third of that.   wow.

Time for a shower, eats and feeds of the kittehs.   Then dawgums is gonna wanna walkie to leave badCuz a gifty,,, (evil smirk)  

Keep on livin’, laughin’ and loadin’