More than we thought we could accomplish
Start: River Mile: 227
Finish: River Mile: 208
Day Total: 19
Trip Total: 446
Today was our third day of having Shawn as our logistics manager. We had stored our boats at the Waterloo Alabama community center last night. So, we were able to load our boats with Lunch and emergency gear and were on the water by 8:00 am.
We knew from the weather forecast there was a good chance for high wind and big waves. So, we did the best we could to have bug out options at 7 miles and 12 miles, where we could get out and either wait for the wind to break, or have Shawn pick us up and call it a day. The initial challenge was we were on river right, and we really needed to be on river left. This would at least put us in the lee of the wind some of the time. In order to get there, had a 1.5 mile open water crossing. The wind driven waves were coming from our left front quarter. Rather than risk a crossing like this, Jon suggested staying on river right as long as we could. We were still dealing with the wind a waves, but at least we were close to shore in case either of us got swamped by a big wave.
The first two hours netted up a whopping 2 miles of hard fought progress. It was definitely easier to deal with these conditions in an empty boat. The added buoyancy really helped us to ride the waves. There were a few times during this part of the day that we questioned whether we’d even make our first bug out at 7 miles. We just keep paddling and making slow progress. At mile 4, we felt like there was on opportunity to cross to the left. At this point, we had a solid mile of open water, but the wind had shifted and it would be mainly in our faces if we paddled straight across.
Jon led off. His paddling style is more effective going into the wind, he is much stronger in his upper body than me. I followed and watched him pull away, making good progress. We were both paddling as hard as we could sustain for the 30-45 minute crossing. Every time I thought Jon was getting close to shore, he just kept going straight at it. About 1/3 of the way across I noticed a 15 barge tow coming up river, from our right. My initial read was that I had plenty of time to cross before he got to us. Well, the more I paddled, the shore seemed to be getting no closer, but the barge certainly was. At the time he was half a mile away and I was still a good safe distance from him, I started to paddle straight down river, paralleling his path. With him coming up river and me paddling down river, he passed me in about 15 minutes. I still had to keep my distance to let his wake dissipate before I starting making my final push for the shore. By this time, Jon was on the far shore and paddling downstream. 15 minutes later we were reunited on river left, that critical task achieved.
Jon battling the wind and waves
Now, we had options for cut out if we needed to, either due to weather or simply running out of day to make it the 20 miles to Pickwick Lock & Dam. By this point, the wind and shifted again and was now following at our right shoulder. While this is still a challenge for paddling, it was a vast improvement to the conditions we had the first 3 hours. Once we adapted our technique to the new conditions we actually started to make decent time.
The scenery on this stretch of the river is beautiful. Rugged limestone bluffs, worn to unique shapes by wind and water. We took a break to stretch our legs on a cool little beach that was made of up of little flat, smooth pieces of limestone. Perfect for skipping. Unfortunately with the wind, the best I could do is a triple skip. Jon’s wife Leslie works as a social worker, working with elementary school kids. She likes to give her kids “Worry Stones” to rub when they are feeling anxious, so Jon is always on the look out for these types of rocks. Well, this little beach was a treasure trove and he paddling off with a PDF pocket full of perfect Worry Stones.
Worry Stone beach
At 4:30 pm, we paddling into Pickwick Dam State Park, finally back in Tennessee. Today is the last day Shawn is with us. We have rooms at the Hampton Inn, about a mile from the boat landing. Delbert, who works for the marina directed us to a great spot to store our boats for the night. Checking in to the hotel, we learned to our horror that they did not have guest laundry. Luckily there is a Maytag Laudrymat just down the road, and only half a mile from the Mexican restaurant were we planned to celebrate Cinco de Tres. So, laundry in the washer, head to dinner, margaritas and chips, run over to the laundry to move clothes to the dryer then back to finish dinner. It was like a well oiled machine.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I was exhausted. I tried to start writing the blog post, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. That is why this post is so late. As I write this we are looking at this possibility being a zero day as there is a strong thunderstorm moving in that will likely wipe out the day. More to come.
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