Kayaking With Big George - September Edition.

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Kayaking With Big George - September Edition.

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Last seen: 02/17/2010
Location: Connecticut
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Submitted by Big George Waters on Mon, 2009-09-14 12:27. Exploring

Today finds me realizing that September is just about half over, and since I last wrote - I never made any further epic journeys out to the Stratford Light / Middle Grounds. There is a good reason for this - the month of August saw very hot weather each time the tides were in sync with my trip plans - so they had to be put on hold. Now this past Saturday I had planned to go out to the Middle Grounds and I started to pay very close attention to the NOAA forcasts - and by Friday thing's were starting to not look so good. I woke up Saturday and rechecked the forcast yet again. It was better, but I did not relish the idea of a NNE wind - this would make the trip back a very demanding experience. So I thought and thought and thought the whole time about 'should I go, should I not go' as the clock kept ticking. Finally, I decided that I would go sea kayaking but not to the Middle Grounds, instead I would head due east with my trusty Ocean Kayak Prowler Trident 15 and just have fun. My normal sea kayak is a very tricked out Wilderness Systems Tsunami 175. While I really wanted to use this boat, the SOT would be a better choice for the trip I was now going to do. Once fully loaded, I drove to my parents house for a nice brunch, then it was off to the Birdseye Street dock in Stratford. I took a different route than usual - which brought me past a very nice small home which is very close to this dock. I know the home, it's the grand parents home of my ex Gina Connor - and to my horror and surprise - I saw her car parked in the driveway. "She must be visiting" was the first thought that ran through my mind - because a mutual friend told me that she lives in Milford. Well, either way this was some food for thought - since I always felt that the way I was dumped was not justified...

I launched at about 14.00 hours or so. As I paddled out towards the mouth of the Housatonic River, I hugged the Milford side of the river by the Charles E Wheeler marsh. The incoming tide was very strong - which caught me off guard - because the tide was just starting to come in - so I had maybe 4.5 hours to play with before I had to be back - which was fine for this trip. I was a bit disapointed because I was not feeling those NNE winds as predicted and I started wishing I took out the "Tara J Sullivan" (Tsunami 175) instead of the "Sunshine X" (Trident 15) but I made a choice and felt that I would make the best of it. Initially, before I left I wrote on my dry ease board that I was going 4.5 miles out towards the Middle Grounds, but I changed this to 4.5 miles due east from the jetty. A good practice, for should a police officier cruise through the parking lot at night and I am overdue - he could summon the proper people.

As I passed the breakwater jetty and turned port, I suddenly relaized that I did make the right choice. That NNE wind started to howl and at best I could do about 2 kts into the wind and the race current. I decided that due east was the best direction of travel - this way the wind and race would bring me home. As Charles Island got closer - but I was way offshore - I realized that once again, I was not going to make it nearly as far as I thought I would - which again was fine. The 1 - 2 foot seas provided some good "Victory at Sea" moments as the entire bow of the Sunshine X would go under water then pop out real high, a fun ride indeed. The skys were breathtaking - almost black over Long Island, and very dark gray over CT - but somewhat clear were I was, with occasional breaks of sun. I had my MW reciever on to listen for static bursts - which would indicate a thunderstorm - but the airwaves were quiet. I tuned in a distant station and listened to it for a bit. Then it was time to head home...

I figured that if it took me 2.5 hours to get where I was, I would only need an hour to get home with the wind and current pushing me home. As I was surfing the waves back, which were now starting to kick up a bit - I thanked myself for having the wisdom not to go to the Middle Grounds. I also thought about the most recent kayaker who drowned in this area, which I think bring's the total to 3 this year. One thing I cannot emphisise enough is safety. Wear your life jacket, have a trip plan posted in your car, and tell people where you are going and when you will return. Have a VHF radio, radar reflector, flares, sounding device if going offshore... and above all - monitor the weather. You can always turn back or not go if conditions don't seem right or start to deteriorate - but if you choose to go offshore and something goes wrong, then you are forced to deal with it. And because I was not paying attention, I myself came close to losing it...

About a mile east from the breakwater jetty I started to think about my ex Gina and if she was now living in the former home of her grandparents - who I realized were now deceased. I thought about how great it felt to hold her hand when we would go for long walks through the neighborhood she / we lived in at the time - also in Stratford. I thought about how much we loved each other, how much I wished I could marry her, even to the point of maybe driving by and asking her outright if she would - when all of a sudden - without warning - while surfing the waves back - still a good mile east of the breakwater jetty - the Sunshine X unexpectedly made a sharp right turn and pitched hard to the port side - which is a very very bad situation to have happen off shore. As I felt the water coming in on my left side I realized that there was a very good chance I was going to roll - so I need to remain calm and focused. Somehow - I don't know how - I got out of it - maybe I kicked the rudder hard left and leaned right - I don't know - but daydreaming about an ex girlfriend from 10 years ago almost caused me to capsize - which would have really sucked.

I took this as a sign from God - and although I passed by her place on the way home - and again 2x yesterday while I went out with my parents to Knapps Landing to celebrate my mother's 67th birthday - I realized that it's best to le the whole thing go. Especially after seeing her yesterday working out on her deck - possibly on some kind of arts and crafts project. There she was: prettier than ever, still barefoot as always and obviously living the good life. Yup - best to let that go - especially since the thought of marrying her almost cost me to flip my boat. If that's not divine intervention, I don't know what is...

Because the weather is generally good right through October - I am still hoping to make 1 more trip to the Middle Grounds. The lighthouse that's there (Stratford Light) is a sight to behold - and while I have the image as my wallpaper on this machine - it's not the same as seeing it in real life - especially when you take in the vastness of the L.I. Sound too - because when you go to the Middle Grounds - you are in the middle of the LI Sound.

Next month I'll talk about my marsh trips. I start doing those in the fall because by then most of the boaters who ruin it for everyone - the yahoo's - are out of the water and out of sight until next Memorial Day...

Until next time, happy boating - and if you see a piece of trash, pick it up and help make our planet a cleaner place...

For the Air, Trees, Water, and Animals
- Big George

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