On the warm day of June 24, 2023, I accompanied the Twin Rivers Paddle Club, of which I am a member, on a leisurely paddle trip on Swift Creek near Cool Springs, NC. The weather was alternately sunny and high clouds. We put in at the NC Wildlife Resources Commission Cool Springs boat ramp. This trip was my first in my new sea-going kayak when I went from point A to point B. The trip was pleasant and full of camaraderie with fellow members, and encouraging advice from the expert leaders Greg Blanchard, Bill Webb, and Terry Rich. We had views of Spanish moss-covered woods and saw right many birds and jumping fish.
My experiences on the trip had three main features. The first was getting familiar with my sleek, long, narrow, fast, and technically difficult NIgel Dennis Romney Excel kayak. I only recently learned how to brace my feet against the forward bulkhead, my thighs against the cockpit combing, and my butt against the sea back. When locked in like this, I found the boat to be considerably more stable and sea-worthy. I was also testing an Eskimo Greenland-style paddle which is narrower and sleeker than a modern bladed paddle. A Greenland paddle provides for a smoother and less jarring entry and exit to the water which is more stable. It also is more useful when doing emergency boat exit self-rescues. I took to the paddle like a duck to water and instantly liked it. Later in the trip when I traded my paddle with Bill in return for comparing his modern bladed paddle, I strongly preferred the Greenland.
The second experience was that after suffering six months without any significant exercise, due to three months of pain before my hip joint replacement surgery this past March, followed by three months of physical therapy and recuperation, my body was in weak physiological condition. Within 15 minutes my thigh, abdominal, shoulder, and lower back muscles were in unbearable pain. The rest of the trip was a suffering fest trying to paddle back to the takeout ramp. When I finally arrived at the ramp, my triceps muscles were too weak to do a back-side push-up and gracefully get out of the boat. My only choice was to roll over and fall out of the boat into the water. No harm, but not good form and embarrassing.
The third experience is that for several decades I have been working with increasingly complex electronic devices to help me navigate. My current GPS is a Garmin Montana 750i. As far as I know, it is the most comprehensive outdoor sports GPS on the planet. It has hundreds of functions and will do nearly everything but cook breakfast. For about a year I have been struggling with making it show me the location of my trip with latitude and longitude numbers after the trip is over and I have gone back home. Then, I can plug these numbers into my computer and publish them on my Blue Ridge Outings web site. This feature shows in the published article the location on an Internet map where we went. The reader can click on a button to a hyperlink showing the surrounding forests, creeks, marshes, roads, and anything else nearby. This morning I finally hit pay dirt. I was able to program all the features to function together and show the real-time location to a reader, which am adding to this article here.
A good time was had by all.
