We've been doing very well so far timing our paddling with the tide. We usually had current with us on rivers, and haven't had any problems at campsites with low water.
Until today.
Last night was a full moon very close to the Winter Solstice. For you landlubbers out there that means the lowest tides of the year were this morning at sunrise.
Sure enough, we woke up and Sink Creek had sunk. There was just a few inches of creek, the laggard drops scurrying to the ocean, having been caught snoozing by the early light.
We tried a few ways to paddle. Fran got her feet stuck in the muck trying to walk her boat. Rod sat in the boat and knuckle walked it along. Every once in a while there was enough water to paddle ten feet or even more. Eventually we both resorted to pulling the boat behind as we trudged through the muck.
Fifty hard minutes later we had made one mile. We walked and pulled all the way down the river and out the mouth until a mile offshore. We were still surrounded by sand bars (and water birds standing on them laughing at us), but could start to trace rivulets that would barely float us enough to paddle.
Paddling in shallow water is slow. The water resistance goes up ridiculously as the water gets less that 18 inches. The 5 inch deep water we were in just grabbed the boats like molasses. No sweet stroke and glide, no elegant sea kayak knifing through the water.
We headed out for deeper waters. Since we didn't have reservations in Cancun, eventually we quit heading out and started paralleling the coastline.
Three hours later we had covered three miles. That's less than half of our speed paddling into 15 miles an hour headwinds.
Finally in the fourth or fifth hour the tide came back in to get us moving well again. And sure enough the 15 mile per hour headwind come up to validate that we can do 2 mph.
Fran was pretty wiped out today. Nearly eight hours, all of it hard work. She was asleep by 6:45 PM.
Oh, but it was a good day. For the first time since St Marks we were in clear water with healthy sea grass. We saw blue crabs, sea urchins, little fish and all kinds of stuff.
One small complaint. Do you remember those air boats or fan boats that you see in the movies, flying through the sea grass? Except that in the movies the sound is less than that if a fighter jet turning on the afterburner. There was one guy here with one. Now most fishing boats sit in one spot and fish. Not him. He'd blast over to one spot for a couple of minutes and then blast off again, like a gnat buzzing around your head. He ran the boat last evening until midnight and was back at 7AM for another full day. All day any other sounds were drowned out by the air boat.
But all is quiet now.
And Fran is very happy. You should have seen the ecstasy on her face as she sipped the hot chocolate before bed.
Distance 14 miles
High 70, Low 61
Wind 0-15
Water 61
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