Yesterday's gunk in our little cul de sac of Crab Creek made the bottom of my 'yak as dirty as I've ever seen it. That's why I always bring a towel -- to clean her up as well as I can (except for the grafitti from last year which lingers). Today, I barely needed to wipe her down, except to get off the gunk that I missed yesterday.
The stroms yesterday cleared the air and the water, but brought a bit of breeze. Went to Church Creek today.
On the way to the kayak landing this morning, I spied a turtle crossing the road. Its shell was decorated with jellyfish designs. Does this mean a bad jellyfish season? Can it be worse than last year's was?
Breezy today, even in the creek, with extra high tides. The breeze helped keep things cool, but made things choppy.
This morning, I decided to join Rick on his SUP trip. That meant getting up at 5:30 so as to be on the water by 6:00 a.m. I don't want to make a habit of it, but there is a beauty to the calm of the early morning on the water. Glassy calm and minimal boat traffic. We went from Crab Creek to Shadow Point.
Long ago, I learned to have compassion (and empathy) for my fellow sailors when misfortune befell them (unless they are aggressive, arrogant, or just plain douche-y -- that's when schadenfreude kicks in). It's been a few years since we've tiptoed into Crab Creek on Calypso, and even with Heron, we take care, because the entrance is tricky and shifty. Unfortunately, this guy -- with a 6-foot draft -- is stuck there on a falling tide. He managed to get in, so he'll manage to get out when the tide comes up. But in the meantime, hope his schedule isn't too tight.
Summer humidity has made its appearance today. Paddled into LIttle Aberdeen with light breeze.
June days that start crisp and continue sunny and warm without getting oppressive and humid are a rarity. We definitely took advantage.
With Skip and Harriet, we took a ride from Liberty Marina to the West River for lunch at Stan & Joe's. A quick and competent-looking docking preceded a Bay-perfect lunch of softshell crab and rockfish sandwiches.
Next stop was anchoring in our usual stop in the Rhode River, but only Rick and I partook of swimming. Our new ladder worked great. Then a meander up Harness Creek.
The wind picked up just in time for us to make a hash of docking at Liberty. It took multiple tries, help from dockmates, and only a single display of impatience.
Another spectacular morning in Crab Creek. The herons weren't afraid of me today; it was so quiet. I even had a few moments when I was paddling WITH the tide -- which was especially low today.
After yesterday's rains and storms (weak tea, thankfully), the air is swept clean and clear. The herons were catching rays on the riprap. Who could blame them?
After a Monday of forecast but largely un-realized storms, the air is clear and cool, and much of the gunk in our creek is gone (no longer feeling like the sewer in Shawshank Redemption). Beautiful day to be out on Crab and Church Creeks on the kayak.
Should I check "power" below? We took the sailboat, but never raised a sail.
The weather forecasts were off in a big way, and the weekend -- or the bulk of it anyway -- was pretty decent weather-wise. We got ourselves out of Spa Creek, making the noon bridge, and made our lazy way to the Rhode River on a Friday afternoon. We anchored in our "usual" spot -- just past Camp Letts.
It was a happy surprise that the water felt warm enough (but by no means actually warm) for comfortable swimming, and we were not going to miss a second of it. Inertia struck, and we and the Whisper gang, basically spent the weekend swimming, drinking, eating and lazing, on repeat. We spied friends, had a drive-by, and had two boarding parties.
In anticipation of bad weather Monday, we motored home on Sunday. But the early start on Friday gave us 3 good days.
I'd heard deer swim, but had never witnessed it until today. A fawn was in the water and was looking for a spot to get back ashore, and sure enough, it swam. It also made a sound I'd never heard before -- something like a little kid's bike horn, with the rubber bulb at the end. Something new every day!
Steamy this morning, and I was paddling between raindrops, but I'm ahead of the worst of it, I think. Stayed in Crab Creek.