The Chesapeake Bay! Saturday, June 7, 2008
It was a wakeful night on that hard concrete floor. I got up at 6 AM and packed up my things. It was very foggy. I could barely see the skipjack at the end of the dock. Everything was silent, as if a blanket had been thrown over the whole area. The place felt spooky, like some old English murder mystery.
I had my coffee and oatmeal as usual. We have only ten miles to cover today. No need to be on the water before 8 AM. Our goal was to round Lookout Point into the Chesapeake Bay and land at a state park there by about noon.
We left St. George's Island and the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab in dense fog. This presented a serious safety concern, as our first task was to cross the mouth of the St. Mary’s River where it empties into the Potomac. The mouth of the St. Mary’s River is quite wide and heavily traveled by both commercial and pleasure boat traffic. Our task was to stick together, while listening for boat engines.
Paddling in this heavy fog felt like existing inside one of those snow globes that people use as paperweights. In our case, the snow globe had been thoroughly shaken. All we could see was milky white in every direction. It was very disorienting.
Robert asked me to lead and gave me a heading of 1350 to follow. I had a devil of a time trying to stay on course. I was over correcting wildly, weaving back and forth like a drunk. It occurred to me that I had never tried to follow a compass course blind, without any visual reference as a guide. It wasn’t until the fog began to lift that I started to figure out which side to paddle on to round the boat up to the north or fall off to the south. As visual references began to appear, things got a lot easier. Now and then we could hear a boat engine. They were mostly moving at idling speed, probably crabbers checking their pots in the fog. Still, the lack of visual contact caused a certain tension within the group until the fog eventually burned off.
As the fog lifted, the predicted hot, humid and hazy day made its appearance. Temperatures were predicted to reach 980 (they never did). With humidity, the “discomfort index” was to reach 1050! Weather numbers aside, it was a beautiful day and great to be on the water. We paddled for some time. Periodically, I would plunge my hat into the water, and place it dripping back on my head. This helped to cool me down some.
I noticed that Foster wasn’t looking too well. He had run out of water and I think he was becoming dehydrated. I gave him some of my water and a packet of electrolyte energy gel. Then I shadowed him to be sure he was OK.
Soon we found a long beach at the remote end of a park. At one side there were two picnic tables in the shade. We pulled out there for a long break to refresh ourselves with food and water. It seemed that everyone knew that once back in the boats our next stop would be the park at Lookout Point and the Chesapeake Bay – the end of out trip.
We paddled past Lookout Point and into the Chesapeake at 11:38 AM. Rounding the point, we could see the van and trailer parked next to the beach. Ashore, we were congratulated by the land crew. The paddlers went to each other for congratulations, pictures, hugs and high-fives. Then it was unpack the boats, load the van and trailer and head for the showers. We stopped on Solomon Island for a celebratory lunch at a great restaurant before completing our journey back to Bladensburg and our cars for our individual trips home.
Picture taken at St. George’s Island. From the left: Foster, Yackman, Robert, John, Marge, Gabe, Lee and Mike.
Final Thoughts:
The paddle to the Bay was a great experience. I really enjoyed it and would do it again in a minute. I don’t know to what degree Robert encourages participation by folks from out of the area. The number of possible participants is very limited. I feel very fortunate that John and I were invited to do this trip. However, if you are interested, contact the Anacostia Watershed Society (Look on the Links Page) and inquire.
Paddle to the Bay Blogs
This trip report has been interrupted by several other trips and family events. It is scattered among several other reports and articles. Below I have listed all of the bolgs in this series with links to the relevant pages, for your information.
oWashington D.C. to the Chesapeake Bay
oPaddle to the Bay: How I Got Into This In The First Place!
oPaddle to the Bay: Washington to Indian Head
oPaddle to the Bay: On to Clifton Beach at Davis Point
oPaddle to the Bay: Day 3
oPaddle to the Bay: Saint Clement’s Island
oPaddle to the Bay: An Early Wake-up Call and The Night of the Ticks!
oTo Lookout Point and the Chesapeake Bay
oArticles on Robert Boone and Paddle to the Bay
The Cast of Paddlers to the Bay
Robert Boone, our fearless leader.
Gabe Horchler, Robert’s right hand man.
Lee Cain, Tom Sawyer’s cousin :-)
Mike Breen, intrepid traveler.
Foster Stolte, just kept on truck’in.
Marge Perko, the lone woman on the trip. Marge was a quick learner who never complained.
John Resch, my paddling buddy on many trips.
Don Yackel, a.k.a YackMan
