09/05/2011 - Dog River

Launch: Home
Destination: Dog River entrance to Mobile Bay to play in the waves.
Distance: 13 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 4 hours
Weather: Air temperature about 78 degrees, Winds 15 with gusts to 30 mph out of the south and southeast. Mostly cloudy. High tide with a 3 foot storm surge. Current about 0.5 mph. Water temp about 80 degrees.

Header image is a photo of pelicans taking refuge behind The Rivershack Restaurant while a momentary opening in the clouds allowed the sun to shine down.

Conditions were calm on the sheltered side of Dog River at take off (launch).

Pelicans seemed to be congregating in areas sheltered from the wind. The drenching rains have turned the drought brown grass to the color of spring green.

The Grand Mariner Restaurant and fuel station. Water levels were 2-4 feet above normal. I smelled petroleum but did not see any petroleum sheens on the water.

Pelicans were relaxing behind The Rivershack Restaurant.

Dog River Fuel and Supply dock - underwater. 

I don't believe gas pumps and water mix. Yikes.

Scenic Yacht Basin parking lot was under water. Luckily for the motorcyclist, the water was not that deep.

The end of Tropical Storm Lee and 3 wonderful days of kayaking.

Above: A 4 minute video of kayaking fun in a tropical storm. Enjoy.

Note of Caution: Two young kayakers ventured out into Mobile Bay while it was calm between feeder bands today south of Dog River. According to WKRG, the lucky kids, experienced kayakers and lifeguards, were found near midnight after about an 8 hour swim in Mobile Bay, mostly in the dark. One news report said they were not wearing life jackets. Experienced kayakers and lifeguards, not wearing a life jacket while venturing out into the wide open fetch of Mobile Bay while under a Gale Warning? Duh! Praises galore to the Coast Guard and Alabama Marine Police, plus everyone that was involved in the successful search.

I do not advocate kayaking in adverse conditions (small craft advisory, and especially today with a gale force advisory). Even though I kayaked in these conditions today, I stayed close to sheltered waters, have plenty of experience in open water, and was kayaking with a pedal boat which makes all the difference in the world when it comes to moving the kayak through the wind. I would not have gone kayaking in today's conditions with a paddle kayak because strong wind and paddles do not mix well - one gust of strong wind hitting the paddle and over you go. Also, the Adventure kayak is a wide, STABLE kayak, which also makes a big difference in choppy water. Choose your kayaking locations sensibly on windy days. They should have known that tides 4 feet above normal were going to drop quickly meaning there would be strong current going against opposing wind which can generate wicked seas, especially when the winds change direction like they were doing with Lee.

Think twice before venturing out into conditions on the water that you are not comfortable with, be it current, wind, waves, temperatures, etc. If in doubt, DON'T! Kayaking is FUN, but, hey, be careful out there! Wear that life jacket, especially in adverse conditions.

08/31/2011 - Mobile Bay Xing

Launch: East end of Dauphin Island
Launch Cost: Free
Destination: Cross Mobile Bay from Fort Gaines to Fort Morgan, then south to the Sand Island Lighthouse, then to Sand Island, and then back to the launch site. I was going to lead this trip on Labor Day weekend but due to the forecast of tropical seas (8-10 foot swells), I chose to do it today due to the ideal conditions.
Distance: 17 miles (round trip).
Trip Rating: Difficult due to distance. Dangerous due to location: Open Water, Big Fetch, Possible strong current, wind and big waves.
Time Pedaling: 5 hours
Weather: Sunny and warm - 85 degrees. Winds out of the east 5 mph increasing to 15 mph in the afternoon. Crossed at Low tide. Current 0.5 to 1.5 mph. Waves increasing to 1-2 feet.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

Header image - Sunrise near the Double Oil Rig between Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan.

Smoke from the recent Audubon Park bird sanctuary forest fire lingers on the ground near the beach.

Sunrise off Dauphin Island. Note the change in the water surface from waves to slick in this photo. The waters off the East end of Dauphin Island are subject to higher waves due to wind and current interaction. This area can get rough.

The shipping channel has to be crossed to get to Fort Morgan and these ships move fast.

Photo taken from the Fort Morgan beach. A hazardous cargo ship sits anchored in a designated area.

Over a dozen people were removing a lot of tar balls related to the BP oil spill from the beach on the Fort Morgan peninsula. I did not see many tar balls on Sand Island.

The workers scoop up tar balls in a net. The tar balls were about the size of a quarter. I fear that the heavy pounding that the beaches here are about to get will result in even more tar balls.

The trip from Fort Morgan south to the Light House went quick thanks to the aid of current. A crack in the light house running from top to bottom can be seen in the brick. Might as well visit it before it collapses in a storm.

Many of the pipe valves on this rig were rusting. A salt water environment will eventually consume these oil rigs if they are not maintained and I understand many oil rigs are not maintained anymore.

The trip from the Light House to the southeast tip of Sand Island was uneventful and I had the luxury of a tail wind. Sand Island is a bird watcher's paradise. 

The trip from Sand Island back to the Launch Site was more fun because winds picked up to 15 mph and the wave height increased to about 2 feet. I got soaked from waves like this but it felt good.

If any of you are thinking about paddling in the Dauphin Island, Fort Morgan, and Sand Island triangle, I urge you to plan your trip well with respect to wind and tide forecasts. I timed this trip today to cross at Low tide and prayed the morning wind forecast of low winds would be accurate, which thankfully it was. Off the East end of Dauphin Island, the current/wind/water depth interaction causes bigger waves and today I crossed that while it was calm (see photo 2). Same with the Sand Island Shoal (shallow sand bar), and the Dixey Bar. The waves off the West end of Fort Morgan can get ridiculously bouncy due to wind interacting with strong current and deep water. You may find the waters calm for most of the crossing only to see standing waves for the last half mile of the 4 mile crossing. Turn around quickly if you find yourself in challenging conditions that are out of your comfort zone. You can find marine maps like this online - Click Here.

08/12/2011 - Goat Island and Canal Maze

Launch: Fowl River Marina off Cedar Point Road
Launch Cost: $5
Destination: Goat Island and the maze of canals north of it.
Distance: 13 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 4-1/4 hours

Weather: Mostly Sunny. Hot morning. Heat advisory warning for the afternoon. Storm generated some winds. Rain started the minute I got back to the launch site.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

Header Image. Why Bother? Because I care!

Headed toward Mobile Bay.

Split sunrise as seen from just north of Goat Island (not the Goat Island near the Battleship).

Marsh Fleabane was in bloom, also known as stinkweed.

The scenery in the maze of canals north of Goat Island ranges from low pine lands like this to salt marshes with no trees.

A heron and a egret watch out for each other.

Saw many black-crowned night herons.

I had just rounded the corner of Goat Island and gotten into Mobile Bay when this photo was taken. Only had 1/4 mile (0.4 km) of open water to paddle to reach the entrance of Fowl River.

Nature threw me an "in your face" reminder that she deserves respect on open waters. With no real warning, in less than 60 seconds the wind went from zero to about 30 mph. (Dauphin Island recorded 44 mph winds related to this line of storms.) Waves were soon slapping the kayak and wind driven spray completely soaked me. I didn't dare stop to take any more photos or to try to put on the spray skirt. I was struggling just to make forward progress and it took a long time to paddle that 1/4 mile. In hindsight, this makes me think, "What would I have done had those winds been 60 miles per hour (96 km)?" Hmmm, I've never given that much thought. I definitely will pay more attention to turbulence clouds (which you can see in both these photos) from now on and will have that spray skirt on BEFORE the squall line hits.

After finally reaching Fowl River, I smelled petroleum and saw petroleum. That is the Dauphin Island Parkway bridge going over Fowl River in the background.

I paddled around trying to find the source of the fuel leak and it appeared to be coming from one of the motors on this vessel. The wonderful people at Fowl River Marina helped me report the fuel leak to the proper authorities. Thanks!

07/23/2011 - Mobile River & Three Mile Creek

Header Image is a photo merge of Spanish River just before sunrise.

1) A slight hint of dawn is seen in the sky after launching at Shirleys in the dark.

2) Sunrise in the Bay Grass area was jaw dropping. 

3) A perspective of how I get a photo of the sunrise.

4) An osprey eagle nest on Spanish River had two occupants.

5) Over a dozen white ibis were hanging out on a tree along Mobile River.

6) The CSX railroad track is close to Mobile River.

7) A roll cloud passed by overhead near the entrance to Chickasaw Creek. It briefly generated some wind which sure felt good on a hot humid windless morning.

8) A juvenile heron.

9) I kayaked to the shoreline several times to take photos in Three Mile Creek. As the kayak bumped into vegetation, it rained ants all over me and the kayak. The underside of this coco yam leaf shows why - it is covered with ants feeding off aphid nectar. Coco yam is an invasive foreign species from Africa called Elephant's Ear or wild taro (Colocasia esculenta). Pigweed was another species of plant that the ants took over.

10) The invasive Apple Snail eggs can still be seen in Three Mile Creek.

11) The flower shown here is one I've never seen before. Anyone know what it is? (Update: The wildflower is a Turks Cap or Wax Mallow (Malvaviscus drummondii (some classify it as a sub-species: Malvaviscus arboreus var drummondii).)

12) A green heron looking for food.

13) Symptom of our disposable society and Mobile's tolerance of roadside trash.

14) There are some big ships in Mobile River.

15) Despite boats being in the vicinity, no one came to help these boaters whose engine had broke. The painfully slow trek back to their boat launch using a trolling motor was aided by wind power. One guy said they even got on the radio and asked for help. So, you think if you have a problem while kayaking that people will instantly come to your rescue if you holler for help? You might want to rethink your rescue strategies so you have a backup plan "B". What if you break an arm or injure your shoulder and you can't paddle? Based on what these guys did, investing in a WindPaddle might be a good idea.

06/11/2011 - Presley's Lake and Escatawpa River

Launch: Presley's Lake
Launch Cost: $5.00
Destination: Up Escatawpa River about 4-5 miles and return.
Distance: 9.4 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 3-1/2 hours
Weather: Sunny, almost no wind, and hot!
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click here.

Header image. Presley's Outing has a nice firm sandy beach to launch your kayak on.

1) Presley's Lake beach and kayak launch area.

2) Maggie with the Mobile Bay Canoe and Kayak Club led a group paddle up the Escatawpa River and the paddle was to end with self rescue practice. Paddlers from left to right are Richard, Maggie, Linda and Jerry.

3) We had to be watchful for large wasp nests in the limbs along the river. This is Jerry in his Current Designs kayak.

4) Not only did we have to watch for wasp nests in the tree limbs, but also people in trees. Do you see the young girl about to jump out of the tree?

5) The water sure looked inviting. Maggie and Linda chat while leisurely making their way up river. The current was negligible in the wider portion of the Escatawpa but when it narrowed down, current was running about one mile an hour.

6) Not only did we have to watch out for people in trees, people including infants could also be found in the middle of the river.

7) Linda is paddling by some yellow pond lilies and floating heart aquatic plants that float on the surface of the water.

8) A close up shot of a floating heart flower (Nymphoides aquatica or cordata).

9) With temperatures in the 90 degree range, the water provided a very pleasant cooling experience. A short lunch ensued.

10) Maggie and Linda swapped kayaks for testing purposes.

11) According to the owner, this dog was fishing. I suspect it was trying to stay cool.

12) A small turtle wanted the opposite - to get warmed up by the sun.

13) Going downstream did not require much paddling effort. Notice no one has paddle in the water... What is a trip on the Escatawpa near Presley's lake without the hassle of boaters and beer? While many boaters were courteous, some were not. 
The word Redneck comes to mind.

14) In the case of this knee-boarder, the word A$$hole comes to mind. On purpose, he completely swamped my kayak with water on his second attempt to get me wet. Little did he know I had the camera in front of me and was ready this time. This picture is worth one word. Busted! The rest of the kayakers in the group are lined up along the edge of the river, ready to ride out the boat wakes. I'd like to hear him trying to talk his way out of this with the marine authorities who now have a copy of the photos, including one with their boat registration number. Idiots like this can get someone hurt, including himself. He might not appreciate a paddle upside his head as he glides by two feet from my kayak. There is absolutely no reason for a speeding boat or water skier going full speed to be within a paddle reach of a kayak.

Sidenote: Maggie encouraged everyone to practice self-rescue after the trip. Thank you Maggie! I had not tried to do a self rescue (get back into the kayak after a capsize) with this kayak since I bought it over a year ago. Oh heck, I practiced self rescues 6 years ago. It's like riding a bicycle, right? This experienced kayaker did not know how to remove the air from the paddle float. It was a new paddle float that I'd never used before. Have you ever tried to get a paddle float off your paddle while it is inflated? Have you ever tried to paddle with a paddle float stuck on the end of your paddle? Maggie came to the rescue and showed me the trick to deflate the paddle float. Do YOU know how to use YOUR gear? I didn't. (Head hanging shamefully low.)

When water temperatures are cold, you can quickly lose the use of your limbs. Knowing how to get back in a kayak quickly is important. If you have not practiced self rescue in your current kayak and using your current gear, I encourage you to do so while the water temperatures are warm. It may not be as easy as you think. Some kayaks are definitely easier to re-enter than others and the process of getting back in can be physically exhausting after a dozen attempts or practices. (You'll probably experience a few bruises on your legs a few days later...)