Kayak adventure! (a short story)

After a few days of bookkeeping and chores (yes, even a tramp still has to work once in a while), I set out with my friend Dan for a 2 night camping trip in coastal NC. First stop was Bear Island (this was originally a typo, there have never been bears there) in Hammock Beach State Park. This time of year, the only way to get there is by canoe/kayak. So we rented a tandem kayak and paddled over. Thanks to the folks back in CO for the loan of dry-bags and a life jacket!

Well, it was low tide, so nothing looked like the map, we got stuck on sand bars 3 times, probably paddled 2 extra miles, and did not make it to the intended campsite. But we still made it there before dark and we had the entire uninhabited island to ourselves (not counting the animals). The sunset was gorgeous! Pics to come soon...

After a "late" night of double solitare (pretty complex game, actually), we got up the next morning and paddled the rest of the way to our original campsite. We could make it in now because it was high tide. After some exploring, shell and trash collecting (Dan was a bit annoyed, I think, at all the litter), we made a bit of a hasty exit, since the tide was going out and we did not want to get stuck again.

Before heading back to return the kayak, we decided to paddle out around the bend and into the Atlantic a short ways. Well, we did not get too far before the swells picked up and the waves were getting choppy and unprectable. Not big, but the is no better way to ruin a trip than by capsizing a river kayak in the ocean, even if it is only 50 yards to the beach. We turned back.

Well, now we were in for it. It turns out that the Bouge inlet that drains the waterways between the mainland and the islands here develops a non-trivial current while the tide is shifting. Enough so that one person paddling alone is only enough to hold position. Gluttons for punishment, we still decided on a longer course back to the kayak launch, and then regretted it for the next 3 hours. Man, that was hard work! But eventually we got far enough away from the inlet and enough time went by that the current subsided and we pulled into the launch beach tired, but happy and satisfied.

The next night we camped and hiked in the Croatoan National Forest, but it was relatively unremarkable. Mostly we just talked and debated all sorts of things, including if we could finish a marathon without training, and within the allowed time. I think after the 12 mile hike today, we are pretty sure one would have to do at least a little bit of conditioning.