Except for the pesky raw water pump which had been ordered, but hadn’t
yet arrived. Cambria was disabled until it was replaced.
Leigh and I both independently came up with the idea to kayak
over. The party was too good to miss. Great people, great
location and that party seems to kick off the cruising year for
us. The tandem is a virtual station wagon and the weather
looked ok for paddling Saturday and Sunday with a wind event sandwiched between
the paddling times.
Steady rain and steady wind would have deterred us, but we could deal
with a mix of weather and as it turned out, the weather as a bit better than
our expectations.
What’s so special about this particular cruise? The
people. This isn’t your fair weather cruise crowd. Not that there’s
anything wrong with that, but this particular group of people year after year
are experienced, interesting, and the conversations around the fire are entertaining
and illuminating.
Saturday morning was a case in point. Over coffee an interesting
discussion revolved around war movies, world war I and II. A few of us
had seen ‘1917’ and the movies touched discussed were Gallipoli, They
shall not grow old, Dunkirk, Midway, among others. Informed views
discussed over coffee and a fire. Guys and gals, and a mix of generations
contributed to what I found was a fascinating discussion. The weekend was full of discussions, reacquainting
with old friends, making new acquaintances, just a wonderful time.
Overall the kayak camping worked well.
The only real failure came in the morning after we had gone to the shelter
to make a fire and crank up coffee. Wind
gusts increased and finally the tent partially collapsed. Had that happened at night with the rain, it would
have been a different story.
Our learning with the kayak continues and I need to give thought to a
navigation set up so I can better compensate for leeway.
.
