Saturday I headed out around 11:30am and launched from Birdseye Dock. This time I kept my t-shirt on, and was careful to put sunblock on my neck, face, ears and arms. Having the rigging on the front of my board is great - I brought a frozen Vapur anti-bottle of water, my type 4 pfd, my inflatable lifejacket and my dry bag, which held my car key, cigarettes, lighter and sunblock.
It was low tide when I launched, so I headed across the river towards the marsh. I paddled upstream a short ways to the main entrance to the marsh and made my way in. There were not a lot of boats as people tend to avoid the marsh at low tide, but it's perfect for a paddleboard! I paddled up the main channel a ways until I hit a spot where the wind was whipping through and I had to kneel down to cut down on the resistance. I was about 1/3 of the way through the main channel when I took a left and headed into a smaller channel in the marsh where I could see very little current and protection from the wind behind the tall marsh grass.
As I slowly eased into the narrower channel, I was worried about bumping my fin on the bottom. I sat down and had a cigarette and some water, then slowly made my way forward through the smaller channel on my knees so that I could clearly see if I was going to run aground. After continuing for a ways the small channel broke off into two, and having been paddling through for 10 minutes or so I stood up, confident I wouldn't be hitting the marsh floor. I took a right and continued forward a bit, with every bend bringing another set of shocked ducks bursting from the water! Soon I spun around and headed back the way I came, concerned about getting lost (a justifiable concern, see Part 2!).
Before exiting the small channel I sat down again and burned one, then had a cigarette and some water and continued out towards the main channel. I headed upstream a ways, then turned into another smaller channel that had a decent flow of water through it. As I paddled through I could see fish splashing at the surface along the banks, and as I continued forward I again encountered a lot of shocked ducks. I continued through the channel as it widened out, and started thinking about where this channel was going to come out. I was heading downstream quickly and was approaching Milford when I finally saw the way out to the river.
Paddling out towards the River was quite a chore. The current was pushing against me strongly, and the wind coming off Long Island Sound made standing and paddling a pointless endeavor, as any forward motion was defeated by the wind and current. Kneeling down I paddled towards a beach at the entrance to the river, working hard to fight my way there as I passed two kayakers leasurely paddling in the opposite direction. As I reached the beach I was relieved, as I needed some water desperately. I drank most of the remainder of my water and sat for a few minutes, preparing for the remaining trip back to the dock.
As soon as I launched from the beach I was surprised by the size of the waves. It didn't help that boat traffic was at it's max, with large vessels charging through the waves leaving big wakes for me to contend with. Most of my way back to the dock was done kneeling as I can make a lot more headway in the wind and chop kneeling. I actually like to almost sit but in a kneeling position, and use my core muscles as much as possible as I maintain a windmill-type motion with the paddle, six strokes per side.
When I finally got back to the dock I was spent but at the same time felt great. It's a very freeing feeling being out in the open water, nothing but you and the board. I did try fishing with my homemade trolling rig, but it's too awkward trying to let the line out while paddling or even drifting and trying not to have it tangle on my leash or end up on the bottom from going to slow. Sometime soon I'm going to bring my regular fishing pole out with me in 2 pieces and just assemble it out there. Can't wait to get out there again!
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