Kayak

First day out with the kayak, as the weather this spring has cooler than usual. Just north of us, where the river widens out, there were a dozen or so little terns. Every now and again I'd hear a "plop!" and turn around to see one of them had just dived into the water nearby. One of them had claimed the top of one of the channel marker pilings, and another one was bringing her the minnows he caught. At the tip of the island on the other side of the river, a Canada goose has a nest. In the shallows a little farther along were some empty oyster shells, which I'm guessing were the work of an otter or something similar.

First Kayak

Took the kayak out for the first time this year. The water is still cold, and I didn't see any first jumping, but I did see a goose on a nest, and pair of ospreys hunting where the river widens.

Cooperhead

Out kayaking this morning, saw a small copperhead sunning (clouding?) on the rocks on the other side of the river. As soon as he realized I saw him, he vanished into the rocks like magic.

Kayak and Jellyfish

Went out for an hour near sunset, and the jellies have started to arrive. These are not fish made of strawberry jelly. These are translucent white, three to six inches across, the big ones streaming tentacles that reach eighteen inches long or more. They're hard to take photos of--the camera wants to focus at the light reflecting from the water's surface, so the jellyfish shows up as a ghostly blob.  Right now there are relatively few of them, but soon it'll be about three jellyfish per cubic foot of water.
Also saw an osprey, some gulls, and some little birds, white and black with sharp wings, who pulled up into a hover and then dropped straight down into the water. And a heron who was rather annoyed when I slipped in view around some marsh grass only ten yards away from him; he hopped into the air and flew off, croaking.

Casa de la Garza

I spent a couple of hours in the kayak a little bit upstream from our house, harassing herons.

Skates in the Bay

Josh started at Chick's Beach and kayaked upriver (with the tide but against the wind), and reports seeing a school of rays, something like this.

Kayaking Season 2011

The weather for the past few weeks has been "beautiful on work days, cold, windy and rainy on weekends." Today was cloudy but good enough to take the kayak out for an hour. Something moving in the marsh grass; I silently paddle up and watch from about fifteen feet away, until the raccoon suddenly sits bolt upright, looks at me, and scampers off. Fish jumping, geese swimming with their heads bobbing back and forth, an osprey hovering overhead.

Crossing the Bay

The wind this morning was more East than North, which wasn't helpful; there were a few minutes when it was in the right direction, but the sail I made needed more sail area to be effective.However, the current was in the right direction and I made the trip in about 1 hour 20 minutes, including a lot of time spent drifting.

Sailing prep

Tomorrow is supposed to be clear, winds from the north, and high tide around 1pm. Accordingly, I'm planning to launch the kayak from the Lesner Bridge, south across Lynnhaven Bay and up the Lynnhaven River towards home, roughly five miles. I've made a sail and the wind should be at my back; we'll see how well that works.

Next week we'll celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, but that has nothing to do with this expedition. Really. Aaaaarh.

Under the Road

For today's expedition, I dragged the kayak across the marsh to the river, then went north to the point, east to Great Neck Road, under the road, and up to Wolf Snare, where I called Diana to bring the van and pick me up. This is the first time I've been under Great Neck Road; last time I tried it, the water wasn't deep enough, but this time I set off right at high tide.

No spectacular photos, but all the pines are getting ready to drop pollen, and the fiddler crabs make a noise like a rushing wind as you walk through the marsh.

The main thing for today was getting to a place I've never been before. I hadn't looked at the map before I left, so once I got to the east of the road, I looked at the channel heading southeast and thought "I have no idea where that goes." It gave me a new appreciation for early explorers.