Bugs, Beavers, Dogs, and Ducks

today i thought that a nice leisurely trip would probably be better than struggling with a new design. i just wasn't feeling creative and decided not to try and force it. Plus, i have been wanting to get back into the lake tributaries again ever since my last trip there a few weeks ago.

it was a beautiful morning. the air was cool, but not cold, there was a gentle breeze, and the lake, as far as i could tell, was completely empty. the only one fishing this morning at 7am were ducks and geese. it took about 10 minutes to cross the lake, and another 5 minutes to make my way back to the dock by the park. i was surprised at the amount of algae and weeds that had grown in the area in the last 2 and a half weeks. areas that were completely clear then were now so crowded with vegetation that it was difficult to see the top of the water. i thought about ending the trip there and just circling the lake instead, but decided to press-on and see how far i could get.

After passing the dock i came to a fork in the stream. last time i went to the right. this time i went left. if the maps on google were correct they should come back together. and as i recall from the last trip, i did see a spot where it may have been possible. after paddling a little way i noticed what looked like a small lagoon to the left and decided to go check it out. it was pretty cool, but very overgrown with weeds. after accidentally scaring some ducks, i noticed a bunch of bare sticks and logs littering the entryway. on closer examination i realized that the bark had been stripped by a beaver. so, maybe the thing that i saw last time was a beaver after all and not in fact a muskrat. i guess i'll never know for sure, but this was sure some good evidence for the beaver argument.

after snapping a few pictures i decided to see how far into the lagoon i could get pushing through the weeds and lilies. it turned out to be about 6 feet. as i started through the weeds i felt something on my arms. i looked down and saw thousands of little tiny bugs all over the place. they were on the kayak, they were on my, they were everywhere. apparently the were living on the lilies and when i went through they decided to jump on board. i back paddled as quick as i could and started brushing them off. banging the kayak with the paddle scared a lot of them off, but not all of them.but, i was more worried about the ones on me anyway. i decided not to try to go through the lilies again and headed back out of the lagoon and continued on my original path. i eventually came to a sharp bend around which i found a bridge and a house. a house with 3 dogs that are probably not used to people paddling by. two were tied up and just barked, but one was loose and thought it necessary to stand on the bridge and bark at me the entire time that i was passing under the bridge. i must say that it was a little intimidating. it was a big dog. it wasn't very far past the bridge that i finally came to a dead end. this was almost to the point where i was supposed to meet back up with the other forked stream, but i was definitely not making it through. it was completelyovergrown with cat tails and reeds. it was a good time to turn around anyway. i took to long messing around in the lagoon and was already behind schedule. the trip back was uneventful. when i made it back to the lake i finally splashed off the rest of my little buggy hitchhikers and then paddled like crazy to make it back to the car in time to make it to work.

it looks like there is one more tributary to the lake. i'll have to try that one next time.

Today's Stats and Map

Teddy Bear Picnic

so, yesterday was pretty busy. two of our kids had a doctor's appointment, our youngest had her teddy bear picnic (kindergarten orientation), and since both my wife and i were taking the day off of work so that we could make it to the picnic we decided to go to Waldameer in the afternoon. since i wasn't going in to work and the i ddin't need to do the kid's stuff until 10am i decided that it would be a prefect morning to go kayaking.

in honor of our daughter going to kindergarten and our last teddy bear picnic i decided to do a teddy bear design. the day before yesterday i figured out a great bear design. the sketches look pretty cute, but the finished project looks more like a grumpy old bear that has seen better days. i don't know what my problem was yesterday. maybe it was because i haven't been kayaking enough lately or maybe i was just having an off day. whatever the reason, i had a very hard time keeping myself on course. that and the fact that i had to work around three fishing boats that all happened to be in key location made the cute little teddy bear very grumpy.

it started out well enough, but after making the first fishing boat adjustment i realized that i was quickly running out of room. i ended up squeezing the right side of the head to get it to fit in the lake. after that, it all went downhill.

looking at it now, it actually turned out better than i expected when i was making it. it is no where near as cute as i intended it to be when i designed it, but it is a lot better than i thought it would end up when i was struggling to make it. i think this may be one that i need to try again someday.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

p.s.  oh right... a busy day. i didn't post this yesterday because after kayaing at 6am, a doctor's appointment, the teddy bear picnic, an unscheduled trip to Claytopia, and an afternoon at Waldameer i was dead tired and had a screaming headache. it's not just because i'm lazy. although that is usually the case.

Happy Birthday

Sunday was my birthday. i turned the ripe ol' age of 33. it was a good birthday. busy, but good. for my birthday, my lovely wife got me an iPod. i've never had an iPod before. i usually just listen to music on the computer, on cds in the car or i just listen to the radio. but, so far, i am really enjoying having an iPod. i tell you this because the iPod is also the reason that i have not kayaked for the last two days. both monday and tuesday mornings ideal mornings to kayak. the weather was nice and we had someone to watch the kids. the problem is that i have a lot of music on my computer and i have been trying to organize it in my iTunes library. for the last three nights i have stayed up late trying to get the correct songs onto the correct albums with the correct covers etc., etc., etc. most of the albums that i have were compiled from various sources and not all of them have the same information. needless to say, it is taking a while to sort everything out. and since i have been staying up late, i have not wanted to get up early to go kayaking.

so, last night i didn't stay up quite as late and got up extra, extra early because i had to figure out how to load the kayak onto a different vehicle. my father-in-law is currently working on my car. and until he is finished i am borrowing his van. it didn't turn out to be a very big deal. i was able to load it without any trouble and in about the same amount of time as normal. but since it took me about a half an hour to load it on my car the first time, i thought it would be nice to give myself a little extra time just in case it ended up taking that long to load it on the van for the first time.

now fun stuff... since sunday was my 33rd birthday i decided to just make a giant "33." this was the first time that a design turned out to be easier than i expected. everything just seemed to fall into place without any trouble. i kept thinking that the hard part was coming up, but it never did. and, in the end, i think that it turned out pretty well. the only problem that i had was at the beginning. when i started out into the water i noticed that my gps was tracking my movements in the correct direction, but not in the correct location. it had me positioned in the middle of Lakeside Drive. now, i'm good, but i can't paddle on dry land. i've tried. its a great workout, but not very fun. all it took was a quick reset to get the gps, and me, back on track. the whole design only took about 30 minutes to complete so, after i finished, i paddled down to the 6N bridge to use up the rest of my time. all-in-all, it was a really good day. now if i can only get my iTunes library straightened out...

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Up a Creek

this morning, with a fresh battery, the car started beautifully and i headed out to the lake right on schedule. for the entire ride i tried to decide which design to do. but, after i got out on the water i decided that i just wanted to paddle around. the water seemed clean and clear i wanted to see if some of the tributaries on the northern end were clear enough to traverse.

I had gone up one of the streams before on one of my first kayaking trips to the lake but, i didn't end up going very far. the water looked really nasty, and it also looked like it was a dead end. but after looking at some google maps i was surprised by how many different nooks, crannies and streams there were once you got past the park on peninsula drive. ever since then i have wanted to get back in there and see how far you could actually go up some of those streams. but by that time the water had begun to fill with algae and weeds. i tried going a few times, but never even made it to the park. i was probably just being a wimp, but i really didn't want to get into all that nasty water.

in the last few weeks the water seems to have gotten better. maybe its all the rain we have been getting, maybe it is something else. whatever the reason, the water this morning was probably as good as i can expect it to get, so i gave it a try... and it was great.

as i passed the dock at the park something ahead of me in the middle of my path caught my eye. at first i thought it was just part of a log sticking out of the water. but, after doing a double-take, i realized that it was moving... and it had eyes. so naturally i freaked out a little bit. it saw me at about the same time i saw it and it dove below the surface. my first guess as to what it was, was a beaver. i grew up around beaver ponds and the brief glimpse i got of this fella looked a lot like a beaver. i didn't think there were any beavers in the area, but i decided it was possible that there was a dam around that i just wasn't aware of. i wish i could have taken a picture. anyway, after my heart stopped racing i continued up the stream. i made it almost 7/8 of a mile before i came to a log blocking the way. i probably could have squeezed around the left hand side but, it was time to turn around anyway. it had taken me about 30 minutes to get there and i only had about 30 minutes to get back and load up or else i would be late for work.

the trip back was pretty uneventful. very pretty, but uneventful. as i neared the dock at the park i went on "beaver patrol." but i didn't see it again. and on the long trip back across the lake to the car i decided that maybe what i had seen was a muskrat. i wasn't exactly sure what one looked like, but it made more sense than a beaver. and ,after googleing muskrat after i got to work, i'm pretty sure that that is what i saw. although, saying that i saw a muskrat doesn't have the same ring to it as saying that i saw some beaver out on the lake this morning.

i can't wait to go back there again. maybe next time i'll start from the dock at the park. that way i can have a lot more time to explore and i don't have to worry about the 30 minute round trip across the lake. what a great day to kayak.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Two Mile Run

last night the kids stayed with my in-laws. so, tonight after work we went to pick them up. my father-in-law helps out with the local boy scout troop and tonight they were canoeing at Two Mile Run. we met them there and went out canoeing with the kids. we didn't take a long trip, but it was still a lot of fun. it was nice to go out somewhere other than edinboro lake. but, i will say this—canoeing is a lot harder than kayaking. the boat is bigger, heavier, less stream-lined, and there are a lot more wasted movements in between strokes. it was fun, but it felt like a lot more work.

we also got a new battery for the car and we got home in time for me to install it before it got too dark. so, tomorrow morning i'll be good to go. plus, our neighbors are watching the kids tomorrow. so, if i can stop watching Family Guy and go to bed at a decent time i'll be able to get up early and go kayaking in the morning. sweet.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Dead Battery

so, this morning i got up early, got everything ready to go kayaking, went out to the car, turned the key and... nothing. i had a dead battery. i was able to jump start it with my wife's van, but decided to skip kayaking this morning. i didn't want to get to the lake, have a nice relaxing trip, and then get back to shore to find that the battery didn't hold a charge and was dead again. the lake is pretty quite at 8am and i thought that it may be hard to get a jump.

turns out that was a good plan. when i got to work this morning i pulled into a spot and shut off the engine. i then immediately tried to start the car... nothing. the battery hadn't held a charge and was dead. but at least here at work i'm sure that i can get a jump start to get home. it probably would have been harder this morning at the lake.

the plan is to get a new battery tonight. but, i'm not sure if i'll make it out tomorrow morning to kayak. i may have to bring the kids to work. and if that's the case i can't leave early to kayak. friday is questionable too. this may end up being a dry week. bummer... stupid battery.

Bright Idea

yesterday i took some time to sit down and actually come up with some design ideas. after the horrible outcome of my last unplanned design i decided that i really needed have a game plan before i hit the water. so after scribbling down half a dozen different possible designs i picked the best one and planned to do it this morning. there really isn't a whole lot to say about it other than that. it was a beautiful, clear, quiet morning on the lake. the design idea worked well with only a few minor glitches and i ended up having a wonderful time. it was a great day to go kayaking.

probably the best part about planning the designs yesterday (aside from not ending up with a crappy looking design this morning) is that i now have four or five more possible designs to work with. some are better than others and some still need to be refined. but the next time i'm heading to the lake with no clear plan i can pull out one of these babies instead of trying to come up with something from scratch.

and maybe next time i'll be green and do a cf light bulb.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Karma

i really didn't feel like kayaking this morning. i didn't sleep well last night and i was really tired. plus i had to get up extra early this morning to get a shower because i didn't get one last night. i seriously considered just staying in bed, but i decided that, since it had been 5 days since i last went out, i really should go. by the time i got in the car and left the house i was feeling a lot better about going kayaking and decided that i should probably do a design ,since it had been 5 days since the last one. i really just wanted to go casual, but decided that i really should try and come up with some kind of design.

before i go any further let me just say that, so far, in my experience when a design starts out like this—planned in the car on the way to the lake—it usually ends poorly. that and the fact that my head really wasn't in the game this morning are the reasons for the crap that follows.

all i can say is that a quarter of the was through this design i almost turned off the gps and quit. i could tell by then that it wasn't going well. i did end up finishing it, but only half-heartedly (its the suits in a deck of cards if you can't tell because its so bad). in hindsight i should have just kayaked for the sake of kayaking. gone out on the lake, paddled around, and relaxed. as it was, i ended up feeling more stressed out and worse that when i started. it sucked. i like kayaking because it is a way to get away from everything, relax, and clear my head. that is the opposite of what happened today.

lesson learned: don't force it. just let it all come naturally... oh yeah, and plan ahead (i thought i already learned that one).

next time will be better... it can't possibly be worse... right?

Today's Trip Stats and Map

An Awkward Greeting

so i wasn't feeling very creative this morning and i couldn't come up with any really wicked, sweet designs so i decided to do a simple one that was suggested by a friend of mine. but, as i am beginning to figure out, it doesn't really matter how simple the design is, it is always going to be a little tricky. this one started out a little funky, got better, got worse, but ultimately ended up finishing alright.

it was foggy again this morning. really foggy. i don't know why i always seem surprised by this. it's always foggy. its just that some mornings are a lot foggier than others. this was one of the really, really foggy ones. this was the kind of fog that almost seems like smoke. the kind of fog that, when you are out in the middle of it and take a nice deep breath, you can feel entering your lungs. its cool, moist, and heavy and brings about visions of irish moors. its also damned impossible to see through and that is the reason that the first line of my "H" looks like the hunchback of notre dame. after i made the first turn at the top left corner of the "H" i stopped to snap a couple of pictures of the fog and then started padding again.

the original design called for a capital "H" and a capital "I", but after finishing the top of the "H" i decided that i just didn't have room for the extra lines on the capital "I" and decided to make it lowercase. as i was heading down the right side of the "H" i noticed a fishing boat to my left (where the "i" was supposed to go). it looked like it was slowly moving out into the lake so i wasn't worried about him getting in my way or vice versa. things are never that easy. as i made my turn to start the "i" i realized that the fishing boat was now moving towards shore and right into my path. as i paddled up the "i", i had keep moving over further and further to avoid getting in the way of the boat. eventually i was able to make it around it. unfortunately my "i" ended up looking like the leaning tower of pisa. in hindsight i should have slowed down or stopped, let the boat pass, and then continued on my way. oh well, what are ya gonna do, right?. anyway, for all the improvisation with the "i" i think the whole design still turned out well. and i learned that, when you are trying to paddle it in a kayak, no design is as easy as it seems.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Algae Update

apparently i wasn't the only one who noticed all the brown and white algae in the water on edinboro lake yesterday. it was called in to authorities as a possible paint spill. the Erie County Haz Mat crew came out and, after sending some samples to the lab, discovered that it was a naturally occurring algae and not paint or oil.

i must admit that when i first saw it floating on the water yesterday morning my first impression was that it looked like thin pieces of latex paint. but after seeing so much of it in so many different areas of the lake i decided that it must be naturally occurring. i thought that it was mold growing on top of the algae. i didn't realize that it was a type of algae. but like i said yesterday i'm no algae expert.

anyway, you can click here to read the whole story as covered by WICU12.

A Nice Leisurely Trip

today on the way to the lake i decided not to try any new designs. i figured that i needed a break. i just wanted to buzz around the lake and look at the scenery. that decision actually worked out well today. when i got to the lake there was someone water skiing so, i couldn't really go out into the middle of the lake anyway.

that doesn't mean it was an uneventful morning. i actually got to see a lot of different things. since i have been hanging around the southern end of the lake i haven't had a chance to see the progression of algae on the northern end of the lake for the last few weeks. no big loose there. it seams as though the green algae has given way to brown algae. now, i'm no expert, but i think that i have heard that brown algae is worse than green algae. i don't know for sure. i could google it and find out, but i haven't had a chance yet. it definitely looks and smells worse. it also looks like it has mold or something growing on top of it. again, not an expert, but yuck.

i did paddle my way through some of the less algae covered areas and was able to see a blue heron. it was near the same place where i have see them before and i am going to assume that it is the same one that i have photographed in the past. i wasn't able to get very close before it flew, but i was able to get up close to some flowers on the bank nearby. i don't think that they were completely in bloom yet, but they were still cool. i'm not sure what kind they are but i'll probably google them latter too.

on my way back across the lake i heard a noise, looked up, and saw three single-engine planes. they were fairly low, but other than that it really wasn't that special. i just didn't expect to see them. i took a couple of pictures but they're not very good. just a big blue picture with three black dots. woopie.

the water skier didn't end up staying out for very long. if i had known that i could have done a design. but, it was nice to just relax and look at the scenery around the lake. it has been several weeks since i have done that and it was a really nice change.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Sailboat II

6:00am seemed to arrive a little extra early this morning and the alarm clock sounded a lot extra loud. after fumbling for the snooze button and a few minutes of groggy contemplation, i finally decided that kayaking, not bed, was the better of my two morning options.
i toyed with the idea of just going for a leisurely paddle around the lake but instead decided to press forward with another design. one suggestion i received was to do a celtic knot. at first i thought that would be an ideal design. a celtic knot is one continuous line that loops around with a few twists and turns. piece of cake, right? well, after 15 minutes of googling and drawing celtic knots i discovered that, when drawn very large with a thin line they look very unimpressive. they really need to have a nice thick, chunky line to make it look right. i wasn't quite sure how to get that look and i really didn't have any more time this morning to try and figure it out. so, now that i was 10 minutes behind schedule and idea-less, i hit the road hoping that i would think of something on the way.

let me just say that a morning without coffee is definitely not the best time to come up with a new, inspiring idea. as i pulled up to the boat launch i decided to give the new sailboat design a try. it was that or nothing. so, still being 10 minutes behind schedule and starting a design that i was sure would take about 45 minutes to complete, i unloaded as fast as i could and hit the water paddling.

the fog this morning was extra chunky and made the it hard to paddle the straight lines with no on-shore reference points. luckily, at about a quarter of the way through the design, the fog began to thin enough that i could make out shapes on the shore. the lake was empty and calm and i was able to make some pretty good time.

all-in-all i was able to create a 3 mile design in under 45 minutes and the final design turned out a million times better than the first sailboat. there are a few small details that i would like to have done differently but, overall i and very satisfied with the final result. i'm really glad that i revisited this idea with a design that was pre-planned and not spur-of-the-moment.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Sailboat

let me just start by saying that i'm not satisfied with how this one turned out. it's not horrible, but it is not what i had in mind.

the other day my lovely wife suggested that i do a sailboat shape. i thought that was a great idea and fully intended to come up with a good plan for padding it. obviously this did not happen. my planning period consisted of me sitting in the car at the boat launch scribbling on the back of a walmart receipt with a pen. the result ,as you can see, was less then stellar. I NEED TO PLAN BETTER. i already have a better plan for sailboat 2, but i'll save that for a another day.

it was also very, very foggy on the lake this morning, mostly on the eastern shore. i'm not using that as an excuse for the sailboat, but it did make it more difficult. i had a lot more trouble doing the straight lines without being able to see reference points on shore.and the flag on the top of the sailboat? that was a spur of the moment decision the went awry. i'm not even really sure how it got so drastically messed up. but, that is just another example of why i need to have a plan and stick to it.

i'm not sure what shape to do next, but as always, suggestions are welcome.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Lake Shark

ok, so today i tried a shark. i think it worked out alright. not great, but alright. i think that i definitely need to plan these things out a little better. i almost had to get out and carry the kayak across the shore to make the dorsal fin because i didn't start far enough out in the lake. it also turned out looking a little upside down. i'll plan the next one a little better and hopefully end up with something cooler. i will say that this one was a lot easier than the first one. since the shark was mostly straight lines i was able to focus on landmarks on shore instead of relying totally on the gps screen. that made it a lot less disorienting.

it looks better rotated on it's side. see?

since the shark only took about a half hour i still had some time to kill. so, i just did a quick 10 minutes out and back. nothing exciting, but that explains the second map and stats.

Today's Trip Stats and Map
Lake Shark
..and the rest

and again, if anyone has a suggestion for another shape, let me know.

So, this was my idea

after looking at the tracks that i uploaded to garmin the other day i wondered how hard and or cool it would be to try to kayak a design. use the kayak as my pen and the gps track as my ink, so to speak. i was really excited to try it out, but i wasn't able to go kayaking until today. that gave me a couple of days to decide what design to try. i wanted to do something simple to start, but also kinda cool. my first thought was a flower. i don't know why. it just sounded good. but then i wondered if doing all the petals would be to difficult for a first try. so i thought about other simple shapes like a fish , or a letter, or something like that.

when i left this morning i had settled on doing a simple letter C. for curtis. i set the gps on my lap so that i could use it for reference and set out. but as i started paddling out into the lake i made a last minute decision to go for the flower. i figured, why not?

the stem and the circle for the center seemed pretty easy. the hardest part of that was deciding how far out into the lake to end the stem and start the center circle. even matching up the end of the circle to the beginning of the circle was easy. then i started on the petals. the first two went well, but as i continued on things got a little more difficult. since i was trying to match up all the track lines on the gps, most of my time was spent looking down at my lap. since i really had no frame of reference on the water for where i had been, that was the only way i could make sure that i was lining everything up properly. the problem was that whenever i DID look up at the scenery i got very disoriented. with all the 360's and loops around to do the petals, i was never in the spot, or facing the direction that i thought i should be. it was very confusing. and by the end, you could tell that my petals had suffered because of it (the last one looks pretty sickly). finishing the stem and staying parallel to the first stem line was a lot easier that i thought it would be, but for some reason the leaf seemed extra hard. i think i was still a little disoriented from the petals. all-in-all i think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt.

it was a lot of fun, a little confusing, very cool, and very satisfying to complete. i don't think that this is something i will be doing every time i kayak, but this is definitely not the last time i will try a shape.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

have a suggestion for my next shape attempt? let me know.

So, I've got this idea...

i don't want to say what is is yet, but i think it could be really cool. The next time i go out i'll give it a try and see how plausible it actually is. it has to do with the gps tracks that i have started posting. that's all i'm going to say for now. i'm really excited about it. i hope it works.

The Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
     -Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

this fog was more like a big ol' fat cat. it was a warm, humid, and foggy day on the lake today. when i pulled in and started unloading at about 6:50am the temperature was 71F and the fog out across the lake was the thickest that i have seen. pea soup, or more aptly, clam chowder came to mind. after about 10 minutes out on the lake the combination of  humidity and fog made my glasses start to steam up and they didn't clear up until i was getting ready to leave.

it must have been too foggy for almost everyone else because the lake was almost deserted. when i started out there were two guys out water skiing and on my way back i saw a guy fishing. other than that it was nice and quiet.

as i was paddling out to the north end of the lake i saw some movement out of the corner of my eye to my left. i looked over to see a blue heron flying by. it was about six feet above the water and about 25 feet away from me. that was pretty cool. it made a wide arc and looked like it landed near where i had seen the heron on the log almost 2 weeks ago. i was headed in that direction anyway, so i thought it might be cool to swing by that spot and see if, by chance, i could see it. well, by the time i got over there i had kind of forgotten about it (short attention span) and as i passed buy i glanced over and, sure enough, the heron was standing on the same half submerged log. i decided to try and get closer. i circled around through some of lilies and weeds (opposite of where i was last time) and was able to get pretty close before it finally flew. i was close enough that i could hear its wings beating the air as it took off. that was pretty cool. the pictures i got are not nearly as good as the ones from our first encounter, but it was still pretty cool.

Today's Trip Stats and Map 

Slime Free

...well, almost. looks like all that rain that we got at the end of last week really helped to clear out the algae and slime that had begun to build up in the northern most regions of the lake. it was so thick in places that i really wasn't able to get close to the lilies or the shore on that end of the lake. today i was actually able to go back into some of those areas, a little way at least, before it started to get too nasty. in all reality, i could go back into these areas. i have tried. it is actually physically possible to go into them, i just choose not to. the algae wraps around the ends of the paddle and falls off onto the kayak, or me, or both. and, maybe it makes me a little bit of a wuss, but yuck! i don't want that nasty slimy stuff all over everything.

anyway it was nice to be able to visit those parts of the lake again. hopefully we can get a few more rain storms like the last one and really get the water cleared up.

Today's Trip Stats and Map 

Moby Musky Dick

so, its been a while since i went kayaking. the last time i went was monday morning. it was the day after the 4th of july. the lake was very busy. mostly with fishing boats. but, other than all the extra traffic it was a very uneventful trip. today on the other hand was full of fun.

we haven't had a lot of rain lately, and you can definitely tell by all the algae and crud growing in the corners of the lake. with no new water coming in to the lake all of the still areas are really beginning to stagnate. all the little nooks and crannies that i slipped into a few weeks ago are so grown over and nasty looking that i have begun to keep my distance. it just looks icky (yes, i'm a grown man and i said "icky"). hopefully we can get enough rain to get the water in the lake moving a little and get some of this algae out of there.

over night we were scheduled to get some rain. that's great because we need the it, but it was also bad because this was the first morning that i had a chance to go kayaking and i really didn't want to go in the rain. so, when i got up this morning to a dry ground with stormy skies i was pleasantly surprised. i quickly loaded up and headed for the lake to try and beat the rain. it sprinkled a little while i was out on the lake and then stopped and didn't start again until i made it back to the boat launch. that's when it really started to come down. i stayed dry out on the lake, but got soaked loading the kayak. figures...

but by far, the best part of today's trip was that i saw a fish. normally this isn't a big deal. i see fish all the time. it's actually pretty neat to sneak up on a school of fish that is near the top of the water and watch the splashes as the scatter. but this was different. i was about 100 yards from shore and saw a big splash. bigger than i usually see. so that was cool. i paddle a few more minutes and saw it again a little further away. this time it splashed along on the top of the water for about 30 seconds and about 10-12 feet. so i paddle over to see if i could get a closer look. over the next 10 minutes i followed this thing around as it popped up to the surface and splashed around. the closest i was able to get was about 2 feet away. it was big. a lot bigger than i thought when i first saw it. my best guess at the size was that it was a couple of feet long and the body was about as wide as my thigh. after about 10 minutes i stopped seeing it and decided i had better get going anyway. when i got to work i looked up the species of fish that live in edinboro lake and decided that what i had seen must have been a muskellunge (or musky). apparently they can grow to be over 4 feet long. a 20-35 pound musky is not unusual, and the PA state record holding musky was 54 lb. 3 oz. that's a lot of fish.

what a great day to kayak.

Sneakier Than I Thought

so today i decided to head up to the north west corner of the lake. i had only been in that area once and i decided that i wanted to see a little more of it. there wasn't anything really exciting over there. it was pretty much what i remember it being from the last time. i did go back in around the lilies a little further and found a nice quite little area. nothing exciting going on back there either unless you count me almost getting stuck on a submerged log. thank goodness the kayak had a very flat, low profile bottom.

anyway, on the way out i decided to cut through some lily pads instead of going way out around the large patch of them. i was halfway through, minding my own business, when i look up and see this big fella. i'm not sure how i was able to get so close. i wasn't even trying to be quiet. the last two times i tried to get close to a blue heron it flew before i was even a little close. so, either my ninja skills are getting better or this guy wasn't paying attention. as quietly as i could, i reached for my camera and took it out of its ziploc baggie. since the last ziploc fiasco i have started putting the camera in the bag and just folding the bag over instead of actually zipping it shut. it isn't as water proof that way, but as long as i don't submerge it the stays dry. and i figure that if the camera is being submerged then i have bigger problems.so, i was able to get a couple really good pictures before the heron decided that it had had enough of me and took off. very cool.

see more pictures of this heron in the photo gallery

Rough and Calm

so, yesterday morning i didn't go kayaking. our three boys were leaving for a week of camp and i needed to see them off. luckily, since that meant that we only had one kid left at home, i didn't feel guilty about going out after work. and what a day it was. when i got to the lake at about 5:30 the wind was blowing pretty strong and the water was pretty choppy. sweet.

now, there is something to be said for a nice quite trip on a calm lake. its relaxing and fun. if you want a good workout you can paddle fast and hard and get one, but if you want to take it easy, you can do that too. that being said, there is definitely something to be said about really choppy water. it is so much fun. there is really nothing like the feeling of battling the water. every wave attacking you and trying to push you in its own direction. the splash and crash of the waves over the front of the kayak. the spray in your face. that wonderful slapping sound the kayak makes as it falls back to the water after a particularly large wave. that's what it was like last night. and what a great workout. there is no taking it easy in water like that. if you do not work the whole time you lose ground fast. i was only out on the lake for 30 minutes, only managed to go 1.73 miles, and still was completely exhausted afterward. plus i was soaked. i don't think i could have been any wetter if i had just jumped in the lake. and then i met danielle and zoey at Big Moe's for diner. it doesn't get much better than that.

this morning i was out again. i was still a little tired from last night, but i figured why not. the lake was quite and calm. nothing like last night. i decided to take it easy and not push it to much today. i did 2.38 miles in 38 minutes. not to bad for a leisurely morning.

today was also the coldest morning that i had been out. the thermometer in the car registered 47 degrees as i pulled up to the boat landing. once you get moving, and especially once you get out in the water, it really isn't that bad. the lake water is always a lot warmer than the air, and being out on the lake makes a big temperature difference. but, some of my stuff was still damp from last night so that made it feel a little more chilly while i was getting things ready.

the first place i headed this morning was down towards the spillway. i went down that way the other day, but i didn't get any pictures. so, i decided to go back and get a couple of pictures of the bridges. after that, i headed back out to the lake. i took it easy and enjoyed the calm, cool quite and easy paddling  for the rest of the time.

check out the bridge pictures and other stuff in my  photo gallery

Day 7 and Day 18... oh, and something else from Day 6

Day 7 (6-18-2010)
i can't think of anything really interesting that happened on this day. but that doesn't mean that nothing interesting happened. i'm starting to have a hard time remembering what happened on some of these earlier days. for example: i forgot that on Day 6 i had a very good kayaking trip, got to work and realized that i had forgotten to bring a change of clothes to work with me. so, i had to spend the entire day in my wet swim trunks and wet alice cooper t-shirt. Lucky for me WQLN is pretty laid back and it wasn't a bit deal. plus it isn't like i'm meeting with important people all day. most of the time i just sit at my desk. pretty exciting. everyone gave me a pretty hard time about it for the next couple of days. it was pretty funny.

so, i think that this will be my last "flashback" day. i just can't really remember what happened from day to day in these early days anymore. and the forgetting my clothes thing was really the funniest thing that happened anyway. i guess i could just make up stories for some of these other days and no one would know the difference. like the time i saw a shark out in the middle of the lake and it attacked me and took a big bite out of my kayak. i was able to fend it off using only my paddle and my flying fists of fury. then i patched the hole in the kayak using only reeds, lily pads, and one very confused duck. but, that's a story for another day. in conclusion, no more flashbacks.

Day 18
today i went further that i have ever gone before. i went 3.11 miles in 47 minutes. i don't really know if that is good or not, but compared to what i have done so far, that's pretty good. i really didn't think i had done that well while i was paddling. it was very windy on the lake today. for most of the trip i was fighting a headwind. maybe that's why i did so well. i knew that i would have to work harder to compensate for the wind and just ended up overcompensating. or maybe the 3 day break helped to rejuvenate my tired muscles. or maybe i'm just freakishly awesome. i think i'm going to go with freakishly awesome.

p.s. thanks to my lovely wife for finding a sitter for the kids today so that i could go out this morning. i know that it worked out better for her too, but thanks anyway.

Day 6 and Day 17

Day 6 (6-17-2010)
this day i paddled as far to the north side as i could. i went all the way over to where the water comes into the lake. this was also the day that i discovered the camping are and park at that end of the lake. this was also the furthest distance that i have gone in a single trip. 2.96 miles in 50 minutes. good times...good times.

Day 17
no kayaking again today. took the kids to work this morning so...well there ya go. tomorrow danielle is taking the kids to a sitter's so i will get to go kayaking in the morning. horray.

Day 5 and Day 16

Day 5 (6/16/2010)
this is the first day that i did a lap around the lake. up until now i had just gone back and forth along the one side. today i want counterclockwise around the whole lake. it was really cool. this was also the first time that i went back into some of the lily pad areas. it was really cool. about a 3/4 of the way around the lake my gps batteries died, but other than that... what a great day and a great trip.

Day 16
no kayaking again today. i probably could have gone this morning but,... i slept in. then we had church and a long day at Waldameer. tomorrow the kids need to go tho work with me, so tomorrow morning is out, and tuesday morning doesn't look good either. how many days can i go with out kayaking?... i guess we'll see.

Day 4 and Day 15

Day 4 (6-15-2010)
this was the first day that i went kayaking before work. everything went according to plan. i left the house at 6:00, was in the water at 7:00, loaded up and on the road by 8:00, and to work by 8:20. went inside, changed my clothes and was ready to work by 8:30. just like clockwork.

Day 15
no kayaking for me today. Danielle works on saturdays and i watch the kids. plus Danielle had a jewelry party (she sells park lane jewelry on the side) scheduled for this evening so the kids and i were cleaning the house all day to make it presentable. Danielle did offer to let me go kayaking this afternoon, but i would also ave to go to the store for groceries. i wasn't really feeling up to going to the store and dealing with people today so i decided to skip it. oh well, maybe i can go tomorrow before church...we shall see...

Day 3 and Day 14

Day 3 (6-14-2010)
I didn't get to go kayaking on day 3. Danielle had to go in to work early and someone need to take the kids to the sitter's house. that was me. but i did think about kayaking a lot that day...

Day 14

it was a beautiful foggy day on the lake this morning, and i decided to go geocaching. it actually started on monday. i noticed that there was a cache at a picnic area on the north side of the lake. on one of my previous trips i had also noticed that there was a dock at the picnic area. so i decided what better way to combine two of my favorite things... as long as i can get in and out of my kayak at the dock without falling in. well, on monday i was able to get in and out of the kayak without getting wet, but i did not find the cache. in my defense i was in a bit of a hurry. i really only had about 5 minutes to look around. so today i paddled as quickly as i could across the lake to give myself as much time as possible. i had also read some of the comments left by other people and look for hints. after that, i was pretty sure i know exactly where it was. and it was right were i thought it was. i just hadn't looked close enough last time. plus it was in a wicked cool container that was camouflaged very well. i'm glad that i gave my self so much extra time to get there because i sure needed it. by the time i was finished messing around with the cache i only had about 15 minutes to get back to the boat launch in order to stay on schedule. i knew i could make it, but i also knew that i would have to paddle like crazy to do it. well, at least i got a good workout.

on a side note, the picnic area that had the cache is really nice. it has picnic tables, pavilions with grills, a volleyball court, a basketball court, horse shoe pits, playground climbing equipment, and porta-potties. plus it is nice and secluded location away from town and traffic. there is even a camping area nearby. i cannot comment of the camping are because i have only seen it from a distance, but i would highly recommend the park. very, very nice.

Day 2 and Day 13

Day 2 (6/13/2010)
After having such a great time the first day i decided to try going out first thing in the morning before my family and i went to church. Plus i was curious at just how long it would take me to do everything. I was hopeful that, if i could do everything quickly enough, i would have time to go out in the mornings before work. i figured that it should take me about 20 minutes to get to the lake, 10 minutes to unload the kayak, 15 minutes to reload the kayak and about 20 minutes to get to work. add 45 minutes of kayaking and 10 minutes for incidentals and you've got a nice round 2 hours. definitely do-able on the average morning as long as i stuck to the schedule, got up a 6 instead of 7, and showered and stuff the night before.

i also remembered to bring my GPS along. i bought the GPS a few months earlier to use for geocaching, but decided that it would also work great for tracking my kayak outings. i could track my path, distance, speed, etc. i had a little trouble connecting to the satellites at first so i missed the very beginning of my trip, but what i was able to record showed that i had gone about 2.25 miles in about 45 minutes with an average moving speed of about 3mph. i was pretty impressed especially with the fact that i stayed on schedule, confirming the possibility of kayaking before work. sweet!

Day 13
last night we had thunderstorm and tornado warnings. the tornado warnings expired sometime last night, but the thunderstorms were supposed to stick around until this afternoon. i was pretty bummed, figuring i would not get out to the lake this morning. at 6am i rolled out of bed anyway just to check the weather and see... it actually looked fairly nice out. things were wet from the rain the night before, but i t wasn't storming now, so i hit the road. while i was unloading stuff i discovered that i had forgotten my GPS. no biggie, i don't need it, but i do like to have it.

speaking of GPS and geocaching, i have wanted to hide a geocache for a while, i just was never sure where to do it. since i got the kayak i have wanted to hide a cache that was accessible by boat, so today i looked for a spot. back in one of the corners of the lake (where i saw one one the heron yesterday) there are a lot of tree stumps sticking out of the water that i thought might make a great hiding spot.so today i looked for one that would work and i think i found one. now all i have to do is actually get a container and do all the set up. i really don't foresee myself doing that any time soon (time and motivation), but when i do i'll know where to put it.

oh, and the rain didn't hold off for the whole time. about half was around the lake it stated to rain. it was a light rain and only lasted for a few minutes, but i did get pretty wet. luckly it stopped and did not start again until i was almost finished loading up. on the way to work was when it really started to come down. glad i missed that. i mean, who wants to get wet out in the middle of a lake?

i also found my glasses strap. i lost it when we went out for father's day on sunday. i was sure that i had dropped it near where we parked to unload, but didn't have much hope of it actually being there. but to my surprise, it was right there, plain as day. score! i really like that strap.

Day 1 and Day 12

ok, so i'm starting this blog a little late. i should have started it on day 1, but c'est la vie. until i get caught up i'll just post 2 days in one--the current day and a flashback day
(cue wavy lines).

Day Beta (6-29-2009) and Day 1 (6/12/2010)

technically speaking, 6-29-09 was my very first day of kayaking ever so i did not want to exclude it, but my real kayaking journey with consecutive kayaking experiences began on 6-12-10 which, henceforth will be referred to as "Day 1."

i have wanted i kayak for as long as i can remember, but as usual, time and or money constraints have always stood in the way of my dream on kayak ownership...until last year when my brilliant wife found a big blue plastic kayak lounging in the sunny warmth of someones front yard at a yard sale. knowing my affinity for big blue things, she bought it for a mere $80 and presented it to me for father's day. needless to say, i was ecstatic. on father's day i took it for a spin (along with Danielle, her father, and the kids in canoes) and immediately fell in love. that was day beta my very first kayaking experience. that was also a year ago. i did not get another chance to go kayaking again that year. one reason was because i did not have my own life jacket (i had used one of my father-in-laws jackets) and i had no way of transporting it (i had loaded it in my father-in-laws truck with his canoes). plus we had some time issues, you know, the usual. this year i was ready. i bought a new life jacket and a kayak roof carrier and waited for my chance. that chance came the weekend before father's day, when on saturday, june 12 when Danielle got home from work and suggested that i go kayaking at Edinboro lake. while she took the kids to the beach. Woo-hoo! with the help of my new roof rack i was loaded-up and ready to go in about 30 minutes (i had a little trouble with some of the straps). by the time we got to the lake it had become cloudy and and rainy so i was only able to get in about 15 or 20 minutes of kayaking, but it was worth it. i met two other kayakers that day. Mike and Will. they said i looked pretty good for that only being my second time kayaking. they also offered that, if i ran into them again, they would show my a few stokes. i wasn't sure if it was a kayaking thing or a gay thing, but i said "ok" anyway. at that point i figured i could use all the help i could get.

Day 12 (6-23-2010)

today i saw blue heron. i normally only see ducks, geese, and swallows, but today i saw blue heron. two to be exact. i watched the first one fly in and land among the lily pads about 200 yards way. i hoped, that if i was stealthy enough, i could sneak up close enough to get a good picture. i made it within about 50 yards of the majestic bird padding so carefully that i was barely moving and was hardly making a sound. i reached for my plastic bag clad camera and and opened it. "ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiip." on a quite lake in the early morning a ziploc bag opening makes A LOT of noise. the heron flew before i could even take the camera out of the bag. damn you ziploc and the superior technology of you gripping zipper! i tried the same technique with the second heron i saw this morning (except i got my camera out of the bag earlier and farther away) but my ninja skills were not up to the challenge and the heron flew before i could get close enough for a good picture. this is a picture of where the blue heron was. it was still a good day on the lake. 

oh,... and i decided to start a blog too.