This past weekend, on Saturday, April 18, I joined a paddle with the
Watersedge Meetup group at
Gunpowder Falls State Park. The weather was supposed to be in the low to mid-70s with 5-10mph wind. Being in my Dirigo, I try to be pretty aware of what water conditions that I'm getting into. It's good for flat water and very mild chop - not much messier. As it turns out, this trip was a perfect test for the boat and its paddler!
The put in was alongside the Dundee Creek Marina at a car-top boat launch area. For boat rentals, this also happens to be one of
Ultimate Watersports locations - Dundee Creek. This was a nice launch with plenty of parking, facilities (because of the marina) and was an easy shore launch. There is a $10 fee to use Dundee Creek Marina, but there is
no charge for car-topped boats (canoes and kayaks).
This is a wonderful beginner's location with plenty of calm/flat protected water if you stay towards the back of Saltpeter Creek. Our paddling goal was to go out Saltpeter Creek, around Battery Point and north to the Hammerman Beach area (which also happens to be the 2nd
Ultimate Watersports' location). Each way was about 5 miles. The one thing to point out with our paddling plans - a large portion of it was along part of Aberdeen Proving Grounds... which means,
no landing!
The paddle out was very uneventful. The other paddlers reported seeing an osprey (or some other large-animal) catching and eating a fish. I missed it, but I did get some nice views of hawks and eagles on the way out and on the way back. I'm not used to paddling in an unstructured group, so I found it a little odd that from the lead paddler to the rear was easily a mile, if not more for most of the paddle. And, apparently we lost 1 paddler entirely - the trip organizer thinks he turned back at some point. Being that it's been 5 days and I haven't heard anything about a "missing paddler", I've got to think she's right.
We landed at Hammerman Beach. We were greeted by a variety of folks - from those enjoying the sunshine and beach, to a guy in a whitewater boat practicing rolls and there was even a stand-up paddle boarder. He looked pretty new, judging by his twitchiness. I was impressed that the whitewater boater and stand-up paddle boarder (and his friend in a kayak) were all wearing wet suits.
Speaking of wet suits - the water is still very, very cold. I had checked the
Thomas Point buoy [station TPLM2] the night before and it was reporting water temperatures at 50. I had the same dilemma as before, warm/hot weather and cold, cold water -- if I wore my wet suit, I'd roast. If I didn't wear my wet suit and capsized, I'd be in trouble. Again, safety took over and I wore my 3mm farmer john wet suit under a pair of rain pants and a t-shirt. Truth be told, the only time I was hot was when I was getting the boat ready. I think next time, I'll get the boat packed and ready and THEN get changed. I also carried with me a dry bag full of warm clothing, a compass and a first aid kit.
We ate lunch, enjoyed the sun and socialized for a while. It turns out that the big building that looked like it should have restrooms was closed. The only restrooms that were open were at pavilion #2-8 - wherever that may be! A couple of the woman reported that you could find across the road, behind some trees. If it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me! While we were at it, you couldn't help but notice that the wind was picking up and that we'd be paddling back into it.
The paddle back gave us 6" to 12" windblown chop and boat wakes. I opted to put the skirt (with help) onto the Dirigo. (The cockpit is so large that I need to have someone help secure the front of the skirt because I can't reach while sitting.) I'm glad I did as I had enough water to come across the bow of my boat and onto the skirt! It was actually very quite cool - the boat felt good, the skirt held and I felt great.
Getting wound back into Saltpeter Creek, there was a little confusion over how to get back to the launch. On the paddle out, I had tried to make mental marks of the paddle out-- but, apparently I didn't start right away. I felt pretty good about where we were going and I got confirmation from another paddler who, like me, was "pretty sure" we were going the right way. Note- this is another strange thing about this large of an unstructured paddle -- all of the people with experience for this particular paddle were near the back. I did feel irresponsible that I hadn't printed out a chart or map for the area. In the end, my mental maps held and we made it safely back to the boat launch.
My lessons-learned for the day were: 1, print a chart! 2, check the weather that morning (not just the night before). 3, wear sunscreen (very red face and arms)!
0 comments:
Post a Comment