Paddle: Janes Island

Tuesday October 5th was a very sunny looking day, but looks were deceiving! It was quite chilly (50ish) and the winds were quite blustery! Nevertheless, kayaks were loaded onto the trailer and 14 people loaded into the van and we were off for a paddle at Janes Island in Maryland. This is on the Chesapeake Bay side of the Delmarva and was chosen so that we could had a slightly different experience. Different it was! Our route was the yellow trail heading west then taking the red trail north, rounding the tip then back south to the parking area.

Everyone bundled up in long underwear, Gore-Tex and gloves and hats as we prepared to paddle off into the marsh.

See...from the dock it looks pleasant doesn't it!

Today, I was in the back, paddling as well as learning how to operate the rudder. What a great day for a newbie....NOT! The wind and waves were fairly constant and ruddering was difficult, Bobbie would holler to me "right right right", and I would holler back, "I am, I am"! I was pressing with all my might on the right foot, but it was horribly difficult (in these conditions).

Here we are only about 1000 feet from the dock and it took FOREVER to get this far.

Time for a mini-lecture, we were told to run up onto the marsh grass while Mark gave a little talk, couldn't really hear him over the wind though...

The marsh grass was abundant with tiny periwinkles! I just had to get a closer look!

So, with my paddle, I was able to lift a few off! Interesting....but, time to paddle on, reversing out into the wind was...tough. Bobbie and I paddled with all of our might and finally made it across the bay with 2 others (any time paddling was stopped, you were blown back 20-30 feet in a few seconds! So we paddled on and beached ourselves while waiting for the others. Whew, was I tired! But, they had come to the decision that it was too difficult and potentially dangerous to continue on battling 15+ mph headwinds and 1+ foot whitecaps! So, we got the kayak turned around and headed back into the dock. Going back was pretty easy! No paddling required, we simply laid our paddles across the kayak and used the blades to catch the wind and blow us back like a sailboat! Lunch was had on shore....that was some difficult paddling, and while eating the wind seemed to pick up even more! 'Twas a good lesson learned, don't attempt to paddle if you have to struggle to get anywhere, but was glad I found out that I could paddle against strong wind and waves if I needed to! After the ride back some hot cocoa and a hotter shower were just what I needed, as well as some lineament for my neck and shoulder muscles! What a workout!