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I'm back; barely!
Topic Started: Jul 22 2017, 07:19 AM (223 Views)
Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
At 8 last night, a GMC with 3 teens and myself pulled into Dranesville United Methodist Church, ending our odyssey. We were all tired, sunburnt (some more than others), extremely smelly, and having a better appreciation of air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and ice.

Posted Image

We left as part of a group of 20 from the Harker's Island Visitor's Center Tuesday morning, with the middle point of Shackelford Island as the first day's destination (only a 2 mile paddle, but a rough one as you are fighting a current that wants to take you out past Cape Lookout and into the Atlantic to the Southeast.The guides said it was equivalent to a 5 mile paddle on calm waters). As soon as we cleared the stone jetty you could feel the current. Still, all we had to do was turn right and paddle hard. Unfortunately, my kayak refused to turn right. In fact, it kept turning left, out to the sea. I looked back and saw my rudder was useless. It had been damaged during unloading and was jammed in a position that would only take me to the left, and I couldn't get it raised to just go by paddle alone. I tried something that I knew was likely a bad idea, and rowed backward on my right side hard to swing the boat back in that direction so that I could paddle a few times to the right, then correct again, and repeat. I knew it was a bad idea because the turns would be very sharp, while fighting the rudder, the current, and with the 18" swells, but it was all i could do. It worked six times. The seventh time, I found out how important the training on exiting the kayak while upside down in the water really was. After I kicked free, I had to rescue my oar, kayak, and one watershoe that was dislodged. So there I was in 10' deep water holding a shoe and oar in one hand, a kayak in the other, and tding to maintain position while one of the guides (a really cool guy from Boston named Turtle) came out. Together, we pulled off a textbook T-rescue (He called it the best he'd seen in water where you couldn't stand). By this point, we were about a 1/3 of the way towards the open ocean. He got behind my kayak, and was able to get my rudder repaired, but by then we were about halfway and the current was getting stronger. We could even see the Park Services boat preparing to come out and effect a rescue. From that point, there was nothing for it but to paddle your ass off. It felt like we had to paddle five times to gain a foot and the boats were getting heavier with water my spray skirt was off from the capsize, and his was dislodged during the rescue, and we didn't have time to fix them). In the middle of this, Turtle starts laughing and yelling "Oh yeah, baby! Whoo!". After what felt like hours, we finally cleared the channel and got to an area where we could rest and clear the water (which was literally just soaking it up with a sponge and squeezing it out over the side. This took a while, then we went another hour and caught up to the group at the island (with Turtle repeatedly talking about how intense that was). We actually got the island only 30 minutes after the other group. Man, I was beat. We set up camp, then hung out on the south beach, where it was open water and not the sound. We had a small group of horses come right up to us (20 feet from our tents), that was very cool. And this was only day 1.
Edited by Luke's Dad, Jul 22 2017, 07:20 AM.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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George K
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Finally
:hair:
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
Told you you'd make memories...
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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Copper
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Shortstop

Let's do it again!
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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Luke's Dad
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Copper
Jul 22 2017, 07:53 AM
Let's do it again!
Definitely!

I may not have been yelling "Oh yeah, baby!" like Turtle, but there were moments when I was close.

Edited by Luke's Dad, Jul 22 2017, 08:02 AM.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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Rainman
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Fulla-Carp
Great story so far! Looking forward to some pics hopefully?

I did a canoe trip when in scouts, from Eugene all the way down to near Portland on the Willamette river, then down the Clackamas river with white water and rapids we sometimes had to walk around. Like you, I was glad we practiced several times in a lake, flipping the canoe and having to learn how to upright it and get back in, in deep water. We flipped going through rapids where the undercurrent sucked us back into the trailing edge of the boulder which kept refilling the canoe in an instant.

I'll bet after a couple of days, you and the guys all became quite expert and efficient at paddling, especially working as a team.

Sure brought back some memories for me, and we all told you you'd have a blast! And, the memories!!
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kluurs
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Fulla-Carp
With Stephen Ambrose gone, we were looking for someone to take his place.
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
While you were away, spicer resigned and trump toyed with the idea of pardoning everyone including himself.

In other words, u didn't miss much
"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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Luke's Dad
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I am amazed that I came a few hundred yards from being Tom Hank's character from Castaway, and most people's response on this board has been :yawn:

Thanks Rainman, Copper, Jolly, and George. A big fat raspberry to the rest of ya'all!
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
u started talking to a basketball named wilson?
"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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Rainman
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Fulla-Carp
What I enjoyed about canoeing is how much skill is developed and involved, and how much teamwork let alone always trying to be as efficient as possible. And as you found out, within a few moments things can go haywire and nature takes over.
From now on, when you watch those "reality" shows, you get to watch and make comments on how they're doing it wrong.

Next step, canoe rack on top of your car?
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Luke's Dad
Jul 23 2017, 09:55 AM
I am amazed that I came a few hundred yards from being Tom Hank's character from Castaway, and most people's response on this board has been :yawn:

Thanks Rainman, Copper, Jolly, and George. A big fat raspberry to the rest of ya'all!
hey, just saw this now! Sounds like quite the heart pumping episode; good thing you didn't panic and do something stupid.

So what happened on day 2? :popcorn:
Edited by sue, Jul 23 2017, 11:06 AM.
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brenda
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..............
Luke's Dad
Jul 23 2017, 09:55 AM
I am amazed that I came a few hundred yards from being Tom Hank's character from Castaway, and most people's response on this board has been :yawn:

Thanks Rainman, Copper, Jolly, and George. A big fat raspberry to the rest of ya'all!
I'm glad you made it back. :hug:
“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
~A.A. Milne
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
brenda
Jul 23 2017, 11:25 AM
Luke's Dad
Jul 23 2017, 09:55 AM
I am amazed that I came a few hundred yards from being Tom Hank's character from Castaway, and most people's response on this board has been :yawn:

Thanks Rainman, Copper, Jolly, and George. A big fat raspberry to the rest of ya'all!
I'm glad you made it back. :hug:
Day 2, I awoke to find that the sand sticking to the water shoes was scratching the heels of my feet so badly that sand was getting embedded into my skin. I spent the early morning going through a painful cleaning and disinfecting process on the feet (as well as a nasty gash I got on my right arm from the capsize the day before. I'm hoping it leaves a scar.) After that, I decided to go barefoot (which caused my current problem). From there, we kayaked back across the channel, and up the shore to Cape Lookout lighthouse and the abandoned village. A fascinating place:

Posted Image

It was a long paddle and required a lot of patience, but it wasn't difficult. Luke was flagging a little towards the end, but he got stuck on a sand bar close to the end and had to get out of his boat. He slipped and fell into the water while pushing his kayak off the sandbar, and that revived him.

When we got there, everybody fell in love with the island. The kids loved the 8 foot waves on the ocean side, and the adults loved the fact that there were bath facilities on the island (a national park, It's open to the public via ferry from 10-5. Scouts are allowed to camp there) and the sound waters right on the area were calm and there were a lot of great sights to take day paddles out to, so we decided to maintain base camp there and travel around the area rather than try to Kayak 48 miles just for the sake of doing it...That afternoon was spent enjoying the surf with an evening paddle to the abandoned village and back. That night, the most incredible display of stars came out. Luke and I sat on the beach looking at the stars and talking about his future in HS and college. We saw 3 shooting stars, too.

The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
bachophile
Jul 23 2017, 10:00 AM
u started talking to a basketball named wilson?
Volleyball, dammit! Volleyball! :tongue:
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
wow, does that ever look like paradise. Sounds like an amazing place - wonderful that it is being kept so protected. Great memories made on this trip, right?
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brenda
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..............
Luke's Dad
Jul 23 2017, 12:47 PM
That night, the most incredible display of stars came out. Luke and I sat on the beach looking at the stars and talking about his future in HS and college. We saw 3 shooting stars, too.

That right there.

That is why we do these crazy things with our kids. Important time spent right there. Good for both of you! :)
“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
~A.A. Milne
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taiwan_girl
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Fulla-Carp
Sounds like an awesome trip!! Glad that it turned out okay, and in the end, was a lot of fun. :)
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