And On the 101st Day...

Trip dates: 
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Trip length: 
1 day
Type of watercraft: 
Kayak/canoe/rowboat
  • 100 Days - Done!
  • An Eagle Hunts From a Mud Flat
  • North East, at the Head of the Northeast River
  • Nosing Into Stony Run
  • Sun Highlighting the Banks of Stony Run

...she rested!

Yesterday I achieved my goal (Dobbs did too) - 100 days on the water, on my own boat (since I work on other people's plenty), in 2020.  It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.  First, COVID-19 kept us away from recreational boating.  Our 31' sailboat was on the hard until September as we made major improvements.  I had to WORK (sigh), and usually what I do for Walden Rigging is so physically demanding that the idea of one more hour on a boat at the end of the day is unappealing.  Then, the weather turned windy and cold.  Duck hunters stalked our favorite paddling places. 

I logged most of my 100 days between September 15th and the end of the year, 2/3rds of it on "Grace", our 1966 Columbia 31 and the rest in my kayak or occasionally "The Pea Green Boat", our 10' sailing dinghy.  Is it worth it, spending so much time on the water?  YES! - it's time that challenges me physically, enriches me mentally, and calms me emotionally.  I think of it like Mahatma Gandhi saying, " I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one."

My last boating day of the year entailed an hour spent in my kayak, in 41 degree air and a Small Craft Advisory, poking around the head of the Northeast River.