Batten Down The Hatches

Greetings to you,

A couple of days after I got home, I saw on the weather we would be getting a few days of rain…my body was getting tight, so I went to paddle before the storm…I went to Hudson Beach with Yum Yum…many animals were about and playing…a mother duck even brought her children to check me out…this is a wonderful inlet with next to no current until you hit the gulf…a quiet family beach and people here are friendly…it is $2 to park, but so worth it…the swim area is rocky bottomed…I had gone about a mile in the gulf when the weather started to change…waves started crashing over my feet and I turned back…I had just gotten everything loaded in the truck when the sky opened up…little did I know it was not going to stop for days...

The rain fell and fell and fell…overnight it went from rain to Tropical Storm Status and her name was Debby…coastal communities were flooding and the rain was still falling…yes, I paddled the storm culvert in front of the house…this coast has become a part of me…I worried over the animals and the damage to the shore…around town tents and carports were crushed by the weight of water…houses were flooding…seeing people step up and help each other was heart warming

When the rain finally stopped, many neighborhoods were closed as were many of the parks…as soon as it was allowed, I was a Hudson Beach…the water looked like glass, but just 2 inches under the surface was another story…it seemed as though I had a different/strong flowing current about every 50 feet…my friend Debby had come with me and she took pictures of my paddle in the air an Yum Yum on the move with the current…even though it was low tide, the water was elevated approx 3 feet above normal high tide…from the sign posts in the inlet I could see the water had dropped by about 21/2 feet…the sea grass beds looked slightly worse for wear…not many animals were to be found…I saw the Momma Duck- her ducklings were missing and I fear they are dead…this was a hard paddle on many levels…I paddle year round on average of 3 times a week with an average of 10 miles or more per paddle- My chest hurt for 2 days…fighting the many currents was fun, but my arms were screaming…This paddle worked my paddle skills- my wide blade was handy…with the current so strong, I used the paddle more like a rudder…I was happy to have the 8 foot Yak- in this situation- it gives you more control…I paddled around the inlet for several hours and thought about how far I had come as a kayaker- my skills 2 years ago would not have been good enough and my muscle endurance was crapp…this is NOT a beginners paddle

I have a friend in that lives in Holiday and I asked her to let me know when Anclote was open…about 2 days later, she let me know as soon as Anclote was open…I loaded Debby into Wilma and we were off…we arrived right after the park opened…the water was a mucky brown…healthy sea grass was strewn about the beach…though it was low tide, the water was the lowest I had ever seen it…the current was so strong…my paddle did not stop for 3 hours…flood waters carry what one might call confused currents and can turn into a bad day very quickly if you are not careful or do not have the skill level…the mullet had returned and a few of the birds…Debby planned to get some sun- only the beach was full of bugs, I now keep the insect repellant in the truck…lol…the bugs were due to the receding water and are not normally there

I am now in my last class for my Bachelor’s Degree- Acupuncture…that has been hard as my computer has gone down twice this month due to humidity ruining some components…clients are playing catch up…so if I am slow returning a call, message or e-mail- please bare with me…do not take it personally…

We are arranging days at Orlando and Cocoa Beach in the next month…if you wish to come and hang out let me know…I will keep you posted on times and places…

I hope you are having a safe and happy summer:)

Captain D