Century Club: Tim Ford

Once more trip to do some basic maintanence on the sailboat, but that darn rack of kayaks is always beckoning, so....

Shoved off circa 1145 hrs....that south wind was a bit more than last week, but still manageable. It's surpring that on the north shore of the Magothy, the south wind is so cold!  But it's blowing over a decent fetch to the other side and it gets refridgerated by the river's surface temperature, still 36 F. 

I took a rod, figured maybe the yellow perch had shown up, or a stay pickerel that hasn't already felt the barb of a hook.  No luck, or maybe it's better to say:  no skill.

Old Cranky was back in the northeast branch again, and to my amazement, he let me get pretty close and he put on a fishing demonstration.  Turns out you have to wade in ankle deep water, stand very very still, crook your neck back like a snake getting ready to strike.  And then have at it.  He was successful about half the time.  Which beats my success rate: 80 or so casts, zero fish.

At least the alligators were not back yet, like this one I saw on Decenber 2, 2021.

Wx: 47 degrees F, South 8-14

Critters: The usual suspects

Gear: same as it ever was

Tide:  very low, as in FULL MOON

A long time ago, I co-owed a small keelboat with a friend of mine.  We were slightly crazy and more than slightly obsessed and we'd pick odd times to go sailing.  Like Feb.2 every year.  This was a tradition that went on for about 6 years.  One year we got boarded by the Coast Guard who asked us repeatedly what the HECK WE WERE DOING OUT THERE!

So to keep the tradition alive I thought I'd go out and maybe just put the jib up for a little while and ghost around in the very light breeze.  But there was so much ice in the creek I knew that was out.  I put the kayak in with not a huge set of expectations.  The ice had the harbor locked in except for where there were bubblers cranking away.

But it pays to persevere.  After pounding away at the ice for 30 minutes with the icebreaker kayak, I made it to open water.  About 200 buffleheads were not happy I did, but they just paddled out of range a bit and ignored me.  I love how clear the water is in winter and I can make someone a great deal on a swim ladder.  Just email me and this baby is yours....

Cheers to the Blackhole Creek east shore resident who yelled out, "Never seen a kayak used as an icebreaker before!"

Wx:  calm and 45 F

Gear: bibs and spray top.

Critters:  dabbling ducks

Went down to the boat to effect a repair, in advance of significant precipitatoin. I'd noticed that the weather/ice the week prior had left one of the (many) inspection ports somewhat compromised.  What better way to do a repair in 23 degree weather? Tape!!!

So having taped I thought...huh...wonder if it's too cold to paddle?  Went to the car and geared up and heck, I'm ready to paddle!  The temp has risen to a comfy 24 degress and the breeze hadn't topped 15 since I'd been there. Let's do this. One motivation was I'd never explored the creek in a tide this low and I wanted to suss out the sand bar on the southwest side of the little island in Blackhole Creek...a shortcut I take with the board pulled all the way up on the i550. 

The tide was super-low (springs I guess, and a bit of a North wind blow-out).  And though we'd had a day or two of warmer weather in the interceding days since I had paddled last, there was a disappointing amount of ice, especially in the coves I like to paddle into.

One thing for sure: I gotta get new gloves, ones that actually work in mid-20s temps!  My Henri Lloyd neoprenes result in unusable digits after 15 minutes of contact with a metal double-ended paddle.

Weather:  mostly cloudy, 24 - 26 degrees F  Breeze N 8 gusting 14

Gear: tech base layer, thick flannel shirt, thick wool sweather, ultra thick fleece top, old battered spray top and SLAM bibs

Critters:  two great blues and a lot of buffleheads, which surprisingly I could get very close to...too cold to fly!