Category: kayaking

'scene' along the way, adventure, boats, friends, fun, kayaking, nature, perseverance, photography, sky, weather

A day on the water…

naturecoastimagesblog

Off we went to Hog Island to launch the kayaks on an absolutely perfect day. A little relief from the miserable heat we have ‘enjoyed’ all summer, and a blue sky with lovely clouds instead of thunderstorms. Even the water itself cooperated. A glassy surface with wonderful reflections. Sunburned knees were a small price to pay for such a perfect day…

This last one reminded me of the snow capped mountains in the Tetons. But it has already snowed there, so I guess I need to appreciate all that we have to enjoy here at home.

'scene' along the way, friends, fun, go with the flow, Just do it, kayaking, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Santa paddle…

naturecoastimagesblog

They called it a Santa paddle, and paddle we did.  Hours of paddling on Silver Lake.  I spent most of that time fascinated at the thought that the scenery was so natural.  I wondered if people paddling this place years ago looked at an identical scene.  If you notice the trees you’ll see the high water line, and the few houses that we did see on the shores suffered flooding when the water rose.  It was hard to imagine the water so high.

The feature photo shows the most alligator-ish sight that I saw.  And for that I was thankful.  It was too cold for the gators, I was told, it was meant to reassure me.  But where would they go?  In my mind every log floating just beneath the water was suspect, but I did forget about that after a while.  Maybe it was the overcast day that caused such gorgeous reflections in the water.  It was a lovely paddle.

12-24kayak112-24kayak212-24kayak312-24reflect112-24reflect212-24houseI wish all a very Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year will be kind to one and all.

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, birds, Camping, fun, Just do it, kayaking, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Scarborough Marsh…

naturecoastimagesblog

I went to Scarborough Marsh a day ahead of the sunset canoe trip, both to see if there was space for me to sign up, and to decide if I really wanted to go.  I had a little experience in a kayak, and absolutely no experience in a canoe.  My hiker/backpacker friend says kayaks are ‘tippy’, but sitting up high as you do in a canoe feels a lot ‘tippier’ to me.  I enjoyed watching the woman in the feature photo as she blew up her inflatable kayak and proceeded to head out on the Dunstan River.  It’s great she says, and weighs in at 40 pounds.  She also said that her husband hates it, which is why she was paddling by herself.  You see how high the river was that morning?  Well, by Friday night it was low tide and our group of inexperienced canoeists were bumping into each other and getting stuck in the mud.  But no tipping!  And no alligators.  Oops, I just thought of a reason to not get an inflatable kayak.

Knowing this was an official Audubon facility had me expecting some big, fancy building, so this little place was a surprise.  But I quickly learned that these people were very professional and experienced, and with a lot of information on how essential the marsh is to the ecology of the area.  Maybe I’ll go back and rent a kayak.  They said if I put in there they’ll know to look for me if I fail to come back.  That seems to me to be a plus.  Taking pictures from the canoe was almost impossible, I thought any move on my part would tip us over.  But I did manage to get a couple that morning, and also on the trip… with the iPhone of course.  I wasn’t about to risk the ‘real’ camera.  I posted one picture on Facebook already, so if you’ve seen it I apologize.marshofficemarshegretmarshdinnermarshscene2marshscenemarshscene4marshcormorantmarshsunset28-30-19canoeDid you notice that the seagull is bringing home the bacon, er, crab?

adventure, boats, family, fun, grandchildren, kayaking, nature, photography

Down by the riverside…

naturecoastimagesblog

I’ve been wanting to go kayaking for a while now.  I pictured quietly floating down the river and taking pictures with my iPhone.  That was what I had wished for, but what I never dared to wish for was someone to go with me, especially my grandson!  It will be easy I told him. It’s intuitive, I said.  And it was, for a little while.  When I saw him shift his weight towards one side of the kayak it seemed as if I had a lot of time to will the kayak not to tip over, but it did.  With a splash the water was full of floating shoes, and hats, and Spence was sputtering when he came up because he’d dropped his phone.  What wasn’t hanging around was his kayak, it was being carried by the (strong) current and I had to leave Spence there (did I mention that the water wasn’t too deep), while he looked for his phone, and I took off after the kayak.  It was a relief when he recovered the phone and after he’d determined that his waterproof phone was really waterproof, but that’s when he realized that his glasses were also among the missing.  So this story doesn’t have a happy ending since we never did find the glasses.  And of course that makes me feel badly, but still I have been laughing my head off over this all day.  I think I lost it when he snagged his shoe as it floated by.  I guess you had to be there.  I haven’t recovered yet, maybe he isn’t the only one who went off the deep end…3-30fishergirl3-30riverside13-30riverside23-30riverside33-30riverside43-30riverside53-30riverside63-30riverside73-30staghorn3-30Riverside83-30riverside9

fun, kayaking, pastries, photography, silliness, Yummy

On a sugar high…

naturecoastimagesblog

Is it possible to be pathologically cheerful? Because if it is, and if I am, then I know why. Pastries are what I deal with all day.  I ice them, and pack them, or bag up goodies for  customers of my local supermarket. Plus cookies, and pies, and donuts, I pack them all.  All sorts of goodies, all day long. I tell my doctor that it’s not that I eat too much sugar, I just inhale it all day at work. I’m not sure he is impressed with my logic. Maybe I should show him these pictures.

 

But these slightly risqué water rolls?  That’s not on me…rolls

birds, bucket list, friends, kayaking, life, nature, photography, unintended consequences

Bucket list…

naturecoastimagesblog

One of my visitor’s long time bucket list items has been to go kayaking. Rotator cuff issues had kept us from attempting this on her previous visits, but we were a go for yesterday. We got to the Kayak Shack early as an attempt to avoid the worst of the heat of the day, and the unintended consequence of that was that we had the river to ourselves for the first couple of hours we were out there. That was a good thing since I was the experienced kayaker with three previous kayak trips under my belt, and she had never been in a kayak before. But we got the hang of it and paddled for 2 1/2 hours against the incoming current, passing by houses with docks and decks overlooking the water. I thought how lovely it would be to sit out at the river’s edge and watch the manatees swim past. We also paddled through areas that were completely natural, and marveled at the crystal clear water.  Which is only a foot or so deep in a lot of areas.  Which explains the instruction that was given to us that if we tip over ‘just stand up’.  As the day went on we saw more and more kayaks, and paddle boards, and people of all ages, and even boats with motors, which is when our inexperience at maneuvering our two person kayak really showed. But everyone was unfailingly friendly and it was a truly perfect day, especially when we saw several manatees as we headed back.  And the trip back, with the current, only took a little over an hour!

So peaceful…

Some expected, and unexpected, ‘wildlife’…

And while many people had pulled their kayaks over to swim, and kids swung on rope swings, we didn’t stick a toe out of the kayak after seeing this…fairwarning

We hope to do this again while she is here, but my friend says that next time she wants her own kayak!  Now that she’s a pro like me…