The air temperature was predicted to top out at about 42 degrees in the Washington DC area, and the water temperature in the Potomac was about 38 degrees - perfect weather for kayaking. The alternative was doing some Harry Homeowner chores and those could obviously wait. It seemed to make much more sense to put my investment in kayaking gear to use, rather than actually accomplish anything useful. Also, as you can see, I cut such a dashing figure in my sorta dry suit that I do look for excuses to wear it now and then.
There hadn't been any CPA rumblings of group trips and this was a last minute decision, so I headed alone down to Columbia Island Marina where I had paddled with Cyndi, Dave and Marshall back in January. I told my wife where I'd be and when I should be off the water, donned my thermal underwear and UnderArmour top, and commenced to throw drysuit, gloves, boots, hat, change of clothes, pump, paddle float, PFD, spray skirt, kitchen sink, paddle, GPS, water, sextant, spare gloves, camera, 8 x 10 color glossies with pictures and arrows on the back and all kinds of other stuff into the truck and headed on my way. Then I turned around and went home and actually put the kayak on the truck, too.
I was unloading the boat when just by chance it turned out that Cyndi, Dave and Todd pulled in to go paddling. They invited me to join them, so we had a varied array of boats and gear: Cyndi in her dayglo Nemo, Dave with his greenland paddle, Todd with his Inuit (or Cyrillic) inscribed kayak and me with my caution yella Capella. As we were heading out of the marina over the Potomac, we ran across the Washington Canoe folks preparing to move their docks back up to their boathouse on the Potomac in Georgetown - a sure sign the river will shortly ice up completely.
We decided to head downstream, go around Hains Point and up the Washington Channel. There was very little activity on the river, just a lone rower over by National Airport, but there were scads of people out at Hains Point. There had been an article in the Washington Post about the moving of the Awakening statue to the new National Harbor development but it is still there - turns out they will move it during the coming week. We saw a bald eagle high in a tree on the Fort McNair side and lots of gulls were working the tourists on Hains Point and at the Maine Avenue seafood places for handouts.
We paddled up to the end of the channel where steel gates keep you out of the tidal basin, and where a bunch of night herons were hanging out in a tree. We paddled back along the Ft. Mcnair side on the way back, trying to pick out yachts for Todd to buy as a kayaking mother ship once he retires. I was amazed to see video cameras on street lamp poles every 100 feet or so along the Ft. McNair seawall, doing a fine job of keeping those amphibious terrorists from attacking the Women's Titanic Memorial. Three military helicopters buzzed a few feet over us, with one pilot waving at us and another tilting sideways as he flew over us - that was pretty cool, but the bald eagle just snorted in disgust and turned his head away from their antics.
We ran into one other kayaker as we arrived back at the marina but it was a quiet, spectacular day on the Potomac. About 9 miles total, Googleized map below, some other maps and views here.
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