Hello all! Sorry I disappeared at the end of last season, but when the weather got too cold there was nothing new to post so I moved onto other things. However, with the long-awaited warm weather this SUP season has finally begun!
Sunday, June 1 was a beautiful day, so there was no way I was missing out on a day on the water. I loaded my board on top of my car and my new Ke Nalu paddle (picked up a factory 2nd blade which saved me some good money) in my car and headed for Caswell Cove in Milford. My last launch of last year was at Caswell, and it was a nice change of pace from launching at Birdseye.
When I got to Milford the marina was very busy, and there were two guys launching jetskis forcing me to wait a few minutes to launch. After stretching, putting on some sunblock and connecting my waterproof speaker to my phone I hit the water. I was slightly concerned because the wind was blowing constantly, but stepping into the water I was pleasantly surprised to find it a comfortable cool, probably around 65-70 degrees, not icy feeling at all. As I headed out of the manmade cove some guys fishing from shore brought in a large bluefish.
I paddled out into the river, checking both ways before heading across and slightly upstream with the current, enjoying the added push provided by my upgraded paddle. I reached the other side and headed around an island that divides the river, planning to head downstream against the current around the island then ride the current back to the cove. Even though it was only 2 hours from high tide the current was strong, making my paddle more difficult than expected. By the time I was a third of the way through the island I was winded and my arms were exhausted, but any time I tried to take a break I would lose all my progress as the tide brought me back upstream. I focused on the music and the pleasant view rather than the burning in my arms, and after some painfully-slow progress I finally reached the tip of the island, which fortunately featured some small marsh channels that allowed me to rest for a few minutes and burn one, only having to paddle lightly every 30 seconds or so to keep myself from drifting backwards.
It was at this time I noticed all the red jellyfish! I had seen a couple during my strenous paddle downstream which I found strange since they usually come with the warmer water, but in the slow-moving water of the marsh there were thousands of them! I had to be careful not to scoop water onto my board for fear of bringing a red jelly into contact with my feet! After burning one and having some water I headed out a channel on the other side, enjoying the easy ride with the current pushing me. I gave my new paddle a bit of a speed test and really dug in as I crossed, hitting a new top speed for my board (not that that's saying much!)
I enjoyed my music as I cruised back to the cove, but turned it off as I paddled back into the cove past the fishermen, not wanting to scare the fish away. I went all the way around the protected cove, checking out the egrets hanging out on a sunken log in the middle of the cove. Finally I floated back to the ramp, easily taking my board out without even getting my suit wet. Overall a great day and a great start to the 2014 season!
-TreeburnerCT
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