Week Three: Short miles, the wait, and quality people.

I left Singing River Yacht Club and moved east. The sun was out but the winds were shifty that day. I made it past Grand Bay where I came upon two different set of duck hunters. One was in a blind as I rounded a corner. I saw what I thought was a hunter. I did not want to risk getting shot accidentally, so I let myself be known. They were wondering why I was out there in my kayak. I told them and headed east across the bay. I would come upon another group of hunters in a blind I did not see. I scared away the ducks that were close. That is when the shotgun bangs went off. They were not shooting towards me, but at the ducks I just scared off. I had to say hi since I realized what I did. One hunter was not too happy with me being there. I apologized and got a move on. He told me to be careful because there were at least 4 other camps out there hunting. I was not too comfortable with that so I pushed out to deeper water. I would not make it to the town I was aiming for, but I did make it past the point I wanted to pass. I paddled into the night along the shore till I found dry land and a beach to set up on for the night. This would be the first of a few nights this week that I paddled into the night.
The next day I paddled to a small island off of state road 193. The wind was coming out of the NE and brining in cooler air. The sun had set before reaching the area I wanted to go. I had the option of hitting land on my left or making the right choice to press on. The moon glistened on the waves and helped light the way. I do not fear the dark, whether on the land or the water. I have grown to feel the curves of the water as they collide with my kayak. I know that there is a life below me, but I can not worry about that. I am without a dry suit and the fear of hitting the water overrides everything else. Doing that late at night would be trouble, so I just don’t do that. The moon became masked by the clouds and the darkness of the night settled in more. I could focus on the street lights a few miles ahead of me. I found a rhythm and moved. I used my Google Earth maps to find a beach on the island. It was close to the highway, but I would not be reached. I made dinner, set up my ivy sack, made a wind block out of driftwood trees, and crashed out.
The next day, I was up early. I wanted to beat the winds coming up from the south and the rains with it. I left at 8:10am that morning. Mother Nature was waiting for me to get on the water before she let the wind loose. The seas were very rough as I hugged the pillars of the bridge. The rain came too, but that did not bother me. Just keep paddling. I made it to Dauphin Island. I had ordered some floating stabilizers for my kayak. The ones I rigged up, while effective, simply were not cutting it. They had way too much drag and were really slowing me down. I talked with the marina guys for a bit and then headed out. I found out that there was a ferry crossing Mobile Bay. I headed towards it. I pulled up just as it did. I asked if I could go with them. They told me I had 10 minutes. I put my kayak on wheels and moved. I made it on it and for $5, I saved about 3-4 house of hard paddling in rough seas. I could make it, but I was not up for risking it if something were to go wrong out there. I landed at Fort Morgan and only made it a few miles frown the beach. I pulled up to a small beach in a residential community and waited till someone god home. I would ask to stay under their stilted place. I met the Woods and they let me stay under their place as it was going to rain that night. They invited me up and I had PB&J sandwiches with some chips for dinner. I traded stories and had a good time. The next day, the storms did not come in like expected. I left late, but I figured I would risk it. I am glad I did. I paddled along some of the most beautiful shoreline. It was of an untouched marsh coastline filled with trees. I was captivated by the beauty of the untouched. I enjoyed it as I knew there would not bee to much up this coastline on this long journey. While enjoying that time, it cost me miles and making it out of Mobile Bay. There was a big front coming followed with gale force winds for two days following it. I paddled until the big storms began to creep up on me. I landed outside of Bob’s place.
I tied my kayak up to the seawall and scouted a place to sleep for the night. There were two houses. One did not have someone home, thought it was active and a doormat neighbor. I opted to set up there because there were nasty thunderstorms coming. I pulled my kayak up and over the sea wall because I knew the winds would have roughed it up. Bob did not come home till after dark. I introduced my self by name stating who I was, what I was doing, and I was unarmed. You just don’t come up to strangers in remote areas at night. He was cool and I went to bed. I just had snacks for dinner as I was tired, but wanted to watch the thunderstorms. The lightening and thunder were incredible that night. I fell asleep to it only to wake up to close my rain fly to protect me from the wind that was coming. Bob came over to check on me at 8:00 as the winds were howling around 30mph. It brought the cold with it as well. I figured I would just stay hunkered down in the tent for the day. Before that, I had to Skype with my friends classroom of little ones. I believe if I can light a spark in the young ones, I have done my part. I want to provide them with enough stories and ideas for them to want to explore more. I had a fun talk with the class and then headed back to my tent. It was cold. A little bit later, Bob came back. He invited me in and offered me a shower. I was ripe, so I took him up on that. We would end up talking all afternoon. He ended up offering me a room to stay that night. I would be out of the cold and dry. I was thrilled as my arms needed a bit of a break too.
The next day, we just talked about life and the culture of the area. He was a good guy. I took him out for lunch that afternoon to just get out. He and his wife are in their 70’s. It was nice to speak to an elder from the South. That night, I caught up on some emails and called it an early night. The next day, the winds had dropped to 20-25mph. Still not suitable for a kayak. We made a grocery store run and just enjoyed the conversations of the day. That night, we went to get his wife that was having some test run at a local hospital. We got back home and everyone turned in early. I was out for an early morning start the next day. My 8:00 wake up and 9:00 departure was slightly delayed. I made breakfast, but we started talking again about politics, the presidents ,and history. That and loading up the kayak took about 2 hours. Of well. I enjoyed the conversations. I would paddle and make it out of Mobile Bay that day. I entered the Intercostal Waterway. This would be smooth water for a bit. I stopped for a quick lunch and was ready to head out. The waters were smooth and I wanted to get some miles under me. I would only have to deal with barge traffic. I turned on my marring radio. I was called a ‘recreational vessel”. I did not chime in on the radio. I just had it to keep my ears open for traffic going both was in the canal. It was tight, so I had to stay aware and keep my head on a swivel. I caught one of my best sunsets that night. I was on flat waters and I was moving. I was feeling the adventure happening as I was the only human powered boat on the water.
I made it into Wolf Bay. The water was smooth and I had the opportunity to get in some good miles. The only thing was it was freezing. I was paddling under the moonlight, but I did not have the proper gear to do it that night. I decided to head to a beach. I scouted one out on my phone. I found this small little one between some residential houses. I aimed for it. Once I got there I jumped out. The water was freezing and now I had wet feet. I went up to the house with people in it and knocked on their door. I startled them a bit, but I did the who I was, what I was doing and requesting regarding camping and that I was no threat. They were cool with it. I would sleep on a wooden pool lounge chair. I had my pad and bivy sack. I only had one pair of wool socks on that night and I did not heat up water to warm my feet. It took forever to warm up, but I did as I watched a beautiful fool moon rise above. me. Even though it was cold, I still loved sleeping under the stars.
It was a week of moderate risk and meeting some incredibly kind people. I could not be happier with who I have met on this trip. I am sure I will meet more, but I am grateful for each awesome person I encounter. This is adventure.
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Never. Miss. A. Moment.