Eastern Neck Paddling Trip

Every few months, the Chesapeake Paddlers Association goes on a trip to Eastern Neck in Maryland. This is the first time I have participated in a large CPA outing and it was lots of fun. The weather was rather nasty, with winds up to 30 mph and the water was quite choppy but I had lots of fun and enjoyed myself which is what counts. The wind did make it difficult to set up tents. Every tent raising had at least 4-5 people helping to hold things in place and hammer in pegs. I was testing out a new tent and the high winds made for good testing conditions.

I once again borrowed a better boat from a fellow paddler. This time he brought a different seat back so I could swap it out to help with the leg falling asleep problem. It mostly worked but I still got occasional numbness creaping in. There is just something about the seat design that I can't figure out what is causing the numbness. In the end, I find myself shifting around a lot to relieve pressure points. It is a nice kayak but I think I liked his Force 4 better. They are quite pricey but I think that after looking around, that is the boat I ultimately want to get as I feel I will grow into it best. Anything else I feel will just get replaced with this one in the end, so I am cutting to the chase.

Since the weather was rather inclemental, about half of the group ended up turning back, mostly due to inexperience with such weather and rough chop. The die hards ended up paddling against the wind which was really hard. I later heard that we only managed to average about 1 mph. The area was very nice and I wish the wind had died down sooner so we could enjoy the day more fully. As it was, we turned back early and rode the waves back to the cars. The wind mostly died down after that, of course. I was a little sad that the guy form whom I had borrowed a boat ended up leaving that night so I couldn't participate in any of the Sunday morning paddling. I tried to borrow from another person but everyone ended up splitting up into many little groups and leaving that it never worked out.

The after paddle picnic dinner Saturday night was great. I felt a little bad that my pie didn't survive the trip to the site, but in the end, there was sooo much food that it really wasn't necessary to add such a sweet dessert on top of everything. As it was, people kept bringing out dish after dish. I found myself full from the first few dishes, then had trouble keeping away from subsequent dishes.